Spring Festival this Saturday!

37 Weeks and Counting Down!

Carseat? Check!

Crib? Check!

Pediatrician? Check!

Hospital pre-registration? Check!

At 37 weeks we have been given the official green light and are ready to go...well, as ready as you can be anyways. After my doctor's appointment yesterday it looks like everything is going-or should I say growing-according to schedule. I was infinitely relived to hear that I tested negative for the Group B strep, and am thus spared the few rounds of IV antibiotics prior to delivery. Praise God!

On the downside, I feel like a whale this week and the scale agrees! In just one week I jumped 4 pounds from 132 to 136....believe me I had to double take as well. Apparently though it's all swelling, and alot of it! Though I'm showing signs of some early edema(plus 1-2) around my feet and ankles, my blood pressure and proteins look great so it's not concerning at this point. Other than that, and adding some extra iron to my diet & daily vitamin regimen, we are golden.

Aside from the normal diagnostics, this appointment took on another tone as we talked about labor signs, on call doctor rotations, and other housekeeping issues like what we have packed for the hospital and carseat safety. Just as Spring has come there is another sweet change in the air these days-baby is definitely on the way!

37 Week Stats:

BP-99/65
Baby's heartrate-140's to 150's and very healthy
Weight gain-4 pounds, 1 week...that's a record for sure!
Milestones-Hitting the "full term" 37 week mark...just a few weeks now and we'll be a family of three-plus our Piper of course. :-) Stretch marks have made their un-glorious debut and I'm feeling beyond uncomfortable by the day's end. Sleep...let's not even go there. However, the end is in sight and we can't believe April has come so soon!

Grillin' Out

Chris and Piper hanging out while waiting on the grill to cook our yummy hamburgers-a great Kodak moment to kick off the Spring :-)

The Scotts in Spring

As Spring has sprung upon us, I am:
36(almost 37) weeks and counting, 1.5 pounds heavier and waddling along. Baby Evan is head down, sitting lower and continues to grow big and with a steady heart rate. Notice the bulging belly button below; it reminds me of a cake rising in the oven or some kind of "ding!" done cooking type signal, haha. Popping buttons aside, I do love this picture of my boys :-)
In other Spring joys, I am loving the special Spring Oreo's and explosion of pastels now lining the grocery store aisles. Piper is also happy to greet Spring and the gorgeous dog park weather it brings. We've been twice in the past week and have had a dog gone good time(we told him to soak it up for now while he's still our furry firstborn!)
Last but not least, Spring has brought a nice close to our congested calenders.Praise God we are finally getting over this "busy" bump we've been whirling through this past month. It seems like every weekend since Febrary has been packed full-with work, school, church events, weddings and doctor's appointments squished in between. Chris has been especially busy lately learning and adjusting to his new job, planing and playing music for a disciple now youth weekend w/a local church, and finishing up his last online class at Southeastern.

On my front, I've been increasingly exhausted baking baby Evan while continuing to work full time and organize all of the details of his arrival-financial, work-wise, nesting and all. Thankfully after our own church's "God Revealed" conference this week and the Spring Festival next weekend, we have blank calendars for a long time-hallelujah(you know, aside from having a baby and all)! Being busy is good, but right now we are ready for a good breather :-) Especially in this beautiful Spring season!

Bathroom Makeover: A Whale's Tale

This past weekend our bathroom got a fun facelift and was swept out from formal Bed Bath & Beyond chic to a kid friendly under the sea theme. We love the new, bright colors and the whales are just too cute :-) As some extra icing, we think it's pretty gender neutral and will be a great kid bathroom for a long time to come. In our future "house house," I can't wait to carry over the theme with a touch of chocolate paint; no doubt blue and brown are a favorite pairing to my creative heart.

Before...

A Whaletastic after, voile!

34 Week Brief

Knocking on wood, everything continues to look great. At 34 weeks, I'm feeling alright, definitely more tired at the end of the day and officially sporting the "waddle" walk at work(in case you were wondering, it's not as cute as a baby duck's waddle). Evan is moving around a ton, and thankfully has finally maneuvered himself into the correct head down position-hopefully he stays this way! The 34 week appointment was blissfully uneventful-and though we were dealt some pretty shocking news regarding the hospital bill to come-we continue to be grateful for a healthy pregnancy and growing baby. Here are the latest stats:

BP-101/65
Baby's heart rate-150
Weight gain-We've officially breached the 130's people! That's about 2.5 pounds since the last appointment 3 weeks ago. Chris says it's nothing but baby weight, somehow I think it's the brownies...
Milestones this week-Feeling baby hiccups, having massive caffeine cravings, and sleeping much less. Also, we are officially on the 2 week schedule for our ob appointments and after next time will be going every week-reality is sinking in!

Speaking of caffeine-and no, I haven't completely abstained-I am in love with Mickey D's new Caramel Frappe's! Yummo-they are out of this world amazing! In fact, things may get a bit out of hand once Evan arrives and I'm not so weary of my daily caffeine count-I'm already plotting our side-trip on the way home from Rex...

Here, there, everywhere!

The takeover has begun. Slowly but surely all things baby have invaded the Scott household. A welcome change, but a change nonetheless. Things like...

More laundry to fold-I'm basking in the cuteness for now!More clutter-Even Evan's room is getting a little cluttered-fortunately Piper is keeping close watch over the misc. toys and things.More home makeovers-Our formal guest bath upstairs is beginning to look less and less "adult" and will soon get a kid friendly makeover. For now, the whale tub and it's many hooded towels and bath toys will have to sit tight.

More stuff-Chris and I LOVE this bouncer. It's super soft and colorful, plays our ipods, vibrates, and also complements our living area very nicely! It's currently sitting by the couch; not pictured is the stroller parked on the opposite side of the living room. On the horizon, we'll have to find some space for a high chair eventually, and how could I forget...the take-a-long swing!
Obviously a change is a comin'! While I just love our new shared space, I can't wait to break free of this townhome living! For now, I'm thoroughly enjoying the new and exciting baby things -here, there and everywhere :-)

Ready to Ride!

Earlier this week Chris and I received an exciting package-our stroller and carseat travel system! We LOVE it and can't wait to bring home little Evan in his new ride. Chris was such a good daddy to be and assembled everything very smoothly. Yesterday he got the base into the car without a hitch, and I am so happy with how it looks and feels; we know baby E is going to be super safe, secure and snuggly riding in his new gear.

Here it is sitting on our porch while Chris got the base in the car....don't you just love that zebra?!
Base installed and proud of a job well done!

Doublechecking his handiwork...can't wait to see a baby in that seat!

Evan's Baby Shower!

Pardon the lack of updates-we have been up to our ears in work and baby business, and time continues to run away from me! This past weekend was an exciting and much anticipated one with baby Evan’s showers, both from work and church! Chris and I have been so blessed by the generosity, kindness and support we've received during this special time. We are so thankful for our church family and can’t wait to welcome our little prince; he is so loved already!

I didn’t have my camera with me for the shower at work, but was so humbled by the gifts and outpouring of generosity there. The cake was adorable and delicious, and I continue to thank God for placing me in such a supportive, flexible and family friendly work environment. Below are some pics from the church shower-thank you Lori! Jeanna did a wonderful job on the cake, it was sooo yummy and cute. And speaking of cute, take a look at that diaper cake-thanks Carol!A special thanks to everyone who came, cared, coordinated and contributed to baby Evan’s showers; they were a wonderful encouragement to Chris and I and I can’t wait to show this little guy all of his fun gifts! Speaking of, Chris and I had a fun time ourselves going through and assembling things, laundering onesies, and trying out all of the exciting, new gadgets; needless to say our laundry room is a pile of cardboard, plastic, and tissue paper-the recycling guys are in for a big surprise this week, haha.

I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed Evan’s baby shower, and how much I appreciate all of our wonderful friends and family.