Marriage Encounter

Just went through a Marriage Encounter weekend. What a great experience it was to get to focus on each other and explore what it will be like to have an additional member in our family. The couples who participated were so wonderful and supportive (many had stories about their own children and giving birth). When you are expecting you hear lots of personal stories and for me, they never get old. We enjoyed the weekend reflecting on so much of our lives and I'm so glad that we got this in before the baby came. Hopefully we can go back in about 5 years and see what new things we will encounter.

If you've never been to a Marriage Encounter retreat, I highly encourage you to look into it. Visit their website at: http://www.marriages.org/schedules-me.htm

Week 28 appointment

No news....doctors said I'll be there next week. She couldn't even reach my cervix so baby f. needs to make its way down more. I'm fine with this since I have a ton of stuff to still get done at work, but it would be nice to have a little progress. I'll keep walking and sitting on my excersize ball. Hopefully next week will bring us some progress.

Next appointment - Thursday, July 2nd. Keep you fingers crossed!

Couples Shower

Thanks to all those that came to our couples shower. It was a blast and the onesies and bibs are so adorable.

The event was hosted by our friends the Schweitzers, Ganders and Brad and Bri. We enjoyed some great food and drink, games and of course gifts. It was fun to be able to experience a shower with John who also got to partake in opening the "Breast Friend" that we got. : )

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Hope you have a happy birthday!!! Love ya!

Woodwinds

John and I toured the hospital where we will be having the baby in a month. The place is absolutely beautiful and the they really make the experience relaxing and positive. We saw one of the large rooms where everything takes place - you never leave the room. It was a little crazy to see the room and to think of myself there being the patient and not the observer, but soon it will be very real. Our tour guide let us know about the morning continental breakfast served on the floor and the room service at any hour and I said, "so how long can I stay?" He let me know that it was a 24 max. Bummer!

Check out the link to an article about Woodwinds: http://www.metromag.com/pages/index.cfm?&article_id=2976&page_id=174&currentPage=1

My 36 week appointment went well. Baby is head down and heartbeat has dropped from 140 to 130. The doctor said it dropped because it is getting bigger. Now I will be going every week to appointments and we are in the home stretch....and when I say stretch, this belly can't get any bigger. Whew! No waddle yet, but man, it is getting to be hard to maneuver this belly.

John's 30th Birthday

We celebrated John's 30th birthday this weekend at our house. The plan was to have a big BBQ in the back yard with friends and family. I had picked up some games for the kids to play, I had planned games for the adults to play and thought we could cap the night off roasting marshmellows by the bonfire. Then I heard the weather report: rain most of the day - off and on - and a HIGH of 58 degrees. I could work with the cold, but the rain was the killer, so on to plan B. We moved the party indoors, having the garage as an additional party room with tables and the drinks. We were planning on around 55 guests, including children so I was hoping that there were enough chairs - lucky for us, our guests don't mind parking themselves on carpet too.

We got a ton of food - too much, so now we joked that we will be having hot dogs for dinner the rest of the week. Ugh!

Clean up went smoothly on Sunday...although looking at the garage when I went to bed at midnight, I thought we lived in a St. John's party house (the "kids" were playing flip cup). John took care of the frat house portion of the cleaning...thank goodness and I took care of mopping floors and doing dishes. Everything is back to normal and I dare say it looks better than before the party. I really wanted to get everything nice and clean with my weeks going by so fast before my due date.

John said the birthday was great and he had a ton of fun too. Music to my ears. I too was so thankful to our family that helped me with EVERYTHING. Made for easy hosting and clean-up. My feet were sore, but that's my fault for just not sitting more. Who can sit when you want to chat it up with so many?

Said good-bye to mom and sisters Sunday and thought about the next time seeing them will be when we have a new baby - so crazy.

No pictures of the party - I never took the camera out so am relying on mom's pictures. I can tell you it all looked fun.

Hot dogs anyone?

Congratulations Katie and Dan

Welcome Mason Daniel Kuyper!!! We can't wait to meet you.