Straw House: One Week Left

As of Monday, I only have one week until my due date! I just started feeling Braxton Hicks contractions this week. In fact, last night and this morning they were pretty consistent, so I think things are starting to progress and maybe my body is starting to get ready for delivery! Chase is getting very impatient and wants her to come out now! I on the other hand am very patient mostly because I am not looking forward to the pain of delivery. I am to the point of having midwife appointments every week now. Everything is going good and looking healthy. I got the results back last week that my Strep-B test was negative. I am very excited to not have to have antibiotics at delivery. The baby seems to be in a pretty good position now, so everything should run pretty smooth with delivery. We have one class left of our Bradley Method classes. We have learned the different labor and pushing positions and creating our birth plan. We are looking forward to having our Tuesday nights back.

Work is going pretty good for Chase. He is still trying to get caught up every day, but it is getting better and he is getting the hang of it all.

I was let go from Dr. Baird's office 2 weeks early (I had already put in my notice that I wasn't coming back after the baby). He sold his practice to Apex Dental, a company owned by 2 dentists and 2 administrative people. Wednesday a week ago, I was getting ready to leave and they asked me to stay for just a minute. They came out of the office with some flowers and a thank you card, thanked me for all I did for the office, and said to enjoy some time off before the baby comes. Then they just stared at me and waited for me to figure out that they didn't want me to come back on Monday. Obviously I was stunned and so was everyone that I have worked with for the past 3 years, including Dr. Baird. None of them knew they were going to do that to me. So I went in the back and collected all my things and left. It was a huge disappointment the way they notified me and was just a true display of their character. I was pretty upset about what went down and that I wasn't able to have a proper goodbye. Nothing I can do about it but realize how glad I am to not have to work with Apex dental and enjoy my extra time off.

We went to Phoenix the weekend of July 27^th. I spent Friday making hair bows and flowers for the babies with my Mom and sister. Saturday, we had a joint baby shower for family and friends. It was a great time, we had a great turnout, the decorations were so cute, and the food was so yummy! Chase and I went to my friend Megan's wedding that evening. We had fun seeing her and her parents and meeting her husband Kyle. We got to hang out with my good friend from high school Jason Scott the whole time. Unfortunately, I got pretty warm in the building and we had to leave shortly after eating dinner. Megan looked beautiful and very happy. We went back to Beth's house and the family went swimming. It felt so good with how hot it was! We left on Sunday morning to come back home. The long drive made my feet and ankles swell up so much! So ugly and painful! Ready for that to be over.

Making Bows and Flowers

The whole group

So lucky to have brothers that will attend! (both brothers were there!)

3 (almost 4) generations of mothers

We look like twins...


Cousin Heather made this adorable cake (Juliet's name is spelled wrong...)

A few days later on Wednesday, my parents and Scott and Avery came up to visit us so my mom could come to two more baby showers. My good friend Sarah hosted one for me on Thursday (Aug 2nd) evening. This one included friends from my ward now and the ward we split from and Dr Noorda's office. We had a great time! The food was amazing! Sarah had us play this cute came that had a box wrapped in several layers of tissue paper. On each layer was a getting to know you question and then who to pass it to (someone who has brown hair, painted toes, etc) who then unwrapped the next layer and did another question. It ended up with me on the last layer and when I opened the box, it was Sarah's gift to me – a super cute pink swimsuit and sunglasses!

With Sarah and Carli - such great party planners and hosts! Love these girls!

The girls from Dr. Noorda's office and my mommy

Opening gifts

The whole group - thank you everyone!

On Friday, we all went to tour the birthing center so my parents could see it and Scott got to see it again since Avery was almost delivered there. We then went to lunch at Sammy's in Pleasant Grove and then toured the Kennecott copper mine. We've lived here for 6 years and have never been up there. It was pretty amazing to see the inside of it and see all the huge trucks!

Saturday morning was another baby shower. We went to Jennae's house where family members, Riverton ward members, and girls from Dr. Baird's office came. Melissa planned a great table of breakfast foods and open house style shower that included opening gifts as people arrived, so they could leave whenever they needed to. It was so much fun and super cute. It was so much fun to have my mom there at all the showers and I am so glad she made the arrangements to attend them. She makes me feel pretty loved! That night, we started putting the nursery together and getting stuff organized.

So darling!

Adorable little pink shoes

Family and friends

Melissa's gift to me - a onesie labeled with the month for a photo each month

Love Kelsee!!!


Melissa displayed all the gifts

Over the past few weeks, we have attended 3 wedding receptions and have one more coming up next weekend. Fun stuff! I also went bowling with some girl friends for Sarah's birthday celebration. It was a lot of fun, but I did realize that I'm pretty much too pregnant to go bowling! I had to let my neighbor Carli finish my game for me.

On Monday, August 20^th, I had my final baby shower. Manu from Crossfit hosted a co-ed crossfit baby shower at the gym. She had fantastic food and some people came to hang out and party with us. I'm so grateful for all my friends and family who have shown their support and love through attending my showers and especially to those who have hosted them! I am a very lucky girl.

My best bud Brittney

Jamie!

Manu!! You're the best!

Chase and I went shopping at Target last weekend to get the rest of the things off our registry. We spent the weekend finishing her room and hanging up all her clothes – there's a whole lot of them! But they are so cute!! I'm finally starting to get to my nesting stage...barely. I have noticed a lot of things that need to be cleaned or organized for a while now, but I have been too tired from working to do anything about it. Now that I'm not working as much, I have been able to spend a few hours cleaning and organizing. It helps me feel a little more prepared. We did finally manage to get our bags packed for the birthing center and I got the hand me down car seat disassembled, washed, and reassembled. Now that all that is done, I can finally go into labor. So until then, I will just keep cleaning and waiting patiently.