Celebrating Baby

We were incredibly spoiled this week with baby celebrations! I know that I gush about what great friends we have a lot, but truly, we have the kindest, most generous, loving group of friends anyone could ever hope for.

(35.5 Weeks!)

The weekend kicked off with a gift that Pete gave me, a photo session at Body Photage, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It's no secret that I haven't felt the greatest this pregnancy - physically or mentally, and a couple of hours with Darrell was all it took to make me feel like the most beautiful pregnant woman alive! Who knew that it could be so much FUN to be nude for 2 hours in front of essentially a stranger? We viewed the proofs just a couple of days later, and we're really excited to have some of his gorgeous work to forever reflect our celebration of this new baby.

Saturday we had a couples shower thrown by Casey & Jevan, Natalie & Christa, and it was so much fun. Casey went all out making a huge spread of yummy Southern food, and we lingered for hours just enjoying the company of friends that we don't get to see very often. It meant so much to us that everyone made it a priority to celebrate this occasion with us, we are so thankful for everyone's time & generosity!

Sunday I had a girls shower with my amazing "mom friends". We spent the morning in Boulder at a yoga class and having brunch at one of my favorite spots, the Boulder Tea House. They put together the most thoughtful "blessingway" gift, which included a henna belly painting, a sitting for newborn photos with the photographer who did Evan's 1 yr. pix, and all kinds of things to use for labor & postpartum - such a cool idea, and so very me! Their support and friendship continues to be the rock of my existence as a mother.

It's hard to believe we're down to only 4 weeks (give or take) - it's gone really fast this time around, although I'm sure the next few weeks will drag in anticipation. I'm feeling pretty good, considering. Just anxious to not be pregnant, and to meet our little girl! She's rolling & pushing all the time like she's trying to escape the confines, and I just can't imagine that there's anywhere else for her to go but OUT - I feel huge, and like I have to put in some serious effort to keep from doing the pregnant waddle. I don't remember feeling like this with Evan until the last week or so, even though I was much bigger with him.

Happy Easter!

I didn't really remember how fun this holiday can be! I mean, most of the Easter's we've spent in Denver have been with friends & lots of cocktails, which is undeniably fun - but leave it to a toddler to remind you of being a kid and how days like this can be magical. We started the festivites bravely with Toddler Egg Dying 101 - and even survived without any major catastrophe, despite lots of kids with short attention spans and many cups of dye. Then Evan got to make and eat cookies with Nana - a huge hit, especially sneaking bits of the sugar sprinkles. This morning was like Christmas with all of the basket gifts (and candy), followed by brunch with the Easter bunny and an egg hunt. Evan was pretty frightened of the grown man in a bunny suit for about 10 minutes, then he warmed right up and was yelling, "Hi, Easter Bunny!" the rest of the time. He even willingly followed him outside for the egg hunt (and more candy)! We visited with good friends at a mid-day party where Evan was a little testy (I'm sure it had nothing to do with all of the excitement...and candy), then spent the afternoon napping and getting Evan's "big boy" bed all set up in his room for the inaugural night - hopefully the sugar crash will knock him right out and it will go smoothly!

They're being so careful!

Practicing his babysitting skills

Making cookies at Nana's

Hiding from the scary bunny, he'll never get me in here.

Oh wait, - he's not so bad!
(After we reminded him that the bunny brought him candy)

Egg Hunting!

2 Going on 20

You know it's NCAA tournament time when your 2 year old (after a few days of no games) asks: "Mommy, is anybody playing basketball tonight?". !?!

Followed by dinner time, in which he touches none of the rice, macaroni salad, or teriyaki that would usually interest a toddler - but instead asks for, "More sushi, please!!". These are going to be expensive tastes to keep up with...

One of his favorite foods lately is tofu, what a true Colorado boy :)

We had some friends over to watch the games and enjoyed 2 amazing MSU wins last weekend - wow! We also celebrated Gm. Lundgren's 65th bday - hard to tell if Evan liked saying "Happy Birthday, Grandma" or eating his mini cupcake more. He still wishes me a happy bday almost daily, and mine was 2 months ago!

He's been telling anyone who'll listen that he "has a baby sister in mommy's tummy", which is pretty adorable. And the other night while we were out to dinner we caught the beginning of this funny conversation between him and the older man next to him:

Evan: "Hi, I'm Evan!"

Man: "Well, hello Evan. How are you?"

Evan: "I'm doing good. I'm cute! You cute, too?"

Ah - the honesty of a toddler. Obviously, he's been told that a few times before! He's really into trying to figure out all of his friends mom's names lately - and getting straight all of the new babies in the group. He's doing pretty well, it's a lot for a little one to remember. I just love that he's growing up with such a great group of moms who watch out for and love him, and that he's so comfortable with!

I had my 32 week appointment with the midwives today and everything is going great. I'm still measuring small, but nothing concerning. I've definitely felt a huge energy drain in the past couple of weeks, and we're getting anxious to meet this little one! She's been doing some borderline painful gymnastics in there lately, but it's fun to pick out the body parts as they move around - such a cool & bizarre sensation. It's been so wonderful this time to have other pregnant friends to share the experience with, and I feel really confident about the support system we have to look forward to - for Evan and for us! I remember feeling pretty alone while pregnant & isolated from our friends the first time around, this is much better for the hormonal psyche :)

We attended a really fun class at the zoo, where the kids got to go on a "safari" finding different animals, make a photo book about their journey, and touch cool stuff like a rhino horn, a jaguar fur & a 7' boa constrictor: