MICHIGAN BABY SHOWERS!!!

I know it hasn't been four more weeks yet, but our showers were so fun and exciting that I just had to get some pictures up as soon as possible.
Ben and I were able to take one last plane trip up to Michigan before the baby comes. It was a great trip because not only did we get to have some baby showers and get some much-needed baby supplies, we also got to see all of the Zuverink/Looman families! That's something we haven't gotten to do in a couple of years, so it was definitely great to see everyone.

We landed in Chicago on Saturday at 9:30am, then drove around the lake to Grand Rapids with Ben's parents Ron & Jodi. For Texas folks, that is at least a 3 hour drive, with no snow. It was snowing. When we got to Grand Rapids, we went straight to the first shower (the Looman side of the family). We had so much fun!! Here are some pictures:

We can't wait for baby K to get big enough to wear this fun hat!

So stinkin' cute!!

Look at this beautiful blanket!!!

Look closely at this beautiful bouquet!! Is this not the most beautiful fun flower arrangment ever? You may want to sit down for this - some of the flowers are actually onesies!!! So cute! 

After all the wonderful food and fun presents (and watching little Caleb run around and entertain everyone), we headed over to the Zuverinks' side of the family and had a shower with them! Pictures:

We had so much family around, we got to catch up with all the little cousins too! Ben helped Jack figure out how to launch rockets really high!

Look at this beautiful cake!! You guys... it was like stupid good.

Here we are enjoying all the wonderful food that the family brought! I'm always impressed by the creative potluck food from the great white north. So delicious!! 

This is us all cracking up because cousin Christine is hi-larious.

All the Zuverinks gave us really sweet baby books! We read them to baby K already! She likes them. Obviously. Thanks to them, we have probably a dozen kiddo books already.

Look at us digging into the huge pile of presents!

The other side of the big circle - We had a very supportive audience. 

Grandma Zuverink gave us the coolest blanket! We think it'll be great for swaddling. 

HOORAY! We got the activity gym!!! 

And the Pack N Play!!! So excited to get it all set up!

After present time, the boys were very excited to get to play soccer again.

Siblings chattin' it up! 

My wonderful mother-in-law, very helpful cousin Becca and me! 

After all that activity and all the fun we had, we went home and just crashed. The next morning, Ben and I got everything out all together and sorted through everything. How overwhelming!!! 

Look at all of this!! Holy Moly!!

I'm in my pajamas and I'm surrounded!! 

Thanks to the Zuverink and Looman families, we had such a wonderful shower experience with our family! Special thanks to Mom-in-Law Jodi, F-I-L Ron, Kimmie, Grandma Looman, Aunt Shirley and Aunt Sheila, Aunt Gert, and everyone else who was so involved in helping put them together! They were both so beautiful and so fun. We love you guys!

24 Weeks!
Good gravy. I know everyone says this about this time, but I am shocked that we are as far along as we are. It has totally flown by. All the time I get more nervous and more excited all at the same time. Also, I'm getting bigger by the minute! Here's the picture for this month:

Yay for maternity clothes!! So comfy.

Aside from the little accessories that we will be adding eventually (after showers, I'm sure), the nursery is done!! I won't spend any time on the mural because you guys saw that already. Also including cost - we'll tally at the end. Okay so this is the virtual tour of sweet baby K's nursery!

Area 1: Changing Table/Dresser & Mobile:

Dresser: $35 at goodwill. Spray painted brown to match the rest of the room. 

Spray Paint: $8

Mobile: Branches collected from outside the apartment complex.

Birds: I sewed them out of scraps from the crib sheets I made. Great Pinterest idea, y'all. 

Ben and I figured out how we wanted them suspended in the room, he hooked them up to the ceiling and against the wall. We think they're pretty stinkin' cool! 

Area 2: Big Dresser & Night Light: 

Dresser: Hand-me-down. It actually was my dresser when I was a baby. Painted to match. 

Night Light: Another great Pinterest idea! Created from a piece of cardboard we had, some canvas fabric that used to be curtains, some paint, and Christmas lights! Didn't cost us a penny - just an afternoon of painting and drilling holes!

This is what it looks like when the room is lit up. 

Area 3: Crib, glider & Lantern

Crib: $50 at Goodwill. Stain & Shellac to refinish: $15

Sheets/Crib Skirt: Made by Katie (there are 2 extra sets too) - Fabric: $35

Glider: $25 at CCA. I recovered the hideous floral cushions - Fabric: $40. 

Lantern: $2 at Goodwill. I have to be honest you guys - I ADORE the lantern. 

Look how fun!! 

And thus concludes our nursery tour. All for just over $200 (right at $202 I believe). I'm so in love with it because we made or altered almost every single piece in it. It is completely our own and I'm thrilled about it. There's no way I would have been able to accomplish half of it myself. Ben provided most of the handy-work and ALL of the patience required. So excited to put baby K into it!

HOLY HALFWAY THERE!!!

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! We're having a blast here in New Mexico with my folks. Eating good food, playing fun board games, watching all the Christmas movies we can squeeze in... it's been grand! It's also the last Christmas before we're a family of three, which is kind of insane.

Holy moly, we're already half way there! This kinda freaks me out. There's a lot to do in the amount of time left! Ben and my family agree, my tummy grows noticably larger every day, which is pretty funny. They're taking bets on the timing of my belly button going from an innie to an outie. Kole says it'll be mid-conversation, and I'll hear an audible "FFFFP," while Ben thinks inversion will require some force, like from a sneeze. We shall see.

20 Weeks:

(Izzy had a drive-by appearance)

Pregnancy Highlights!!

How Far Along: 20 weeks

Size of baby: 10 Inches from head to heel - the size of a banana! 13 ounces.

Weight gain: +10

Maternity Clothes: Gradually accumulating more and more maternity clothes - amassing from very dear friends and family... and goodwill. Great thing about maternity clothes is, no one wears them for very long!

Gender: GIRL!

Movement: She's been moving around a ton! Mostly when I'm still. Ben can finally feel her from the outside just a tiny bit, which is really cool.

Sleep: I finally figured out how to get the pillows positioned just right... problem is I need like three of them. Once we get all those pillows on the bed, there's no room left for me... Still working on finding that fine line.

Symptoms:  Feeling great!

What I miss: Sushi...

Cravings: I still want lots of milk and pasta, but we're trying to moderate that with veggies so the weight gain isn't to crazy.

Best Moment this week: Ben feeling the baby move for the first time, and getting to spend this weekend with my wonderful and insanely supportive family. They have been so incredible. We're going to have one lucky kiddo as far as grandparents go!!

What I am looking forward to: Going up to Michigan in a few weeks to see all the Zuverinks!!!

BABY ROOM FUN

Okay guys, this may be super lame, but I LOVE THE BABY'S ROOM.

So, we started with the idea of putting a tree on the blue wall. Want to make it girly without having to redo the whole wall. We chalked off the tree on the wall, and covered it in a super light pink paint. "Ballerina Gown" to be exact.

Next is the whole tree against the crib, so you can see how it'll fit in the room. 

I realized it needed many more curly cues. So I added those free-hand. Then I made drew a bird on a piece of paper, cut it out, traced around it with chalk on the wall, and then filled those in with paint. You can see them:

But it needed leaves! So I experimented with the types of leaves I wanted on the tree:

It's decided. Heart leaves it is. So for the next several days, we added leaves and leaves and leaves. Oh and some squirrels too. Final product: 

This is just the tree itself. 

This is tree plus crib full of stuff.

This is tree plus crib full of stuff from a different angle. 

All in all, we're really happy with how it turned out. More nursery pictures when it all comes together, but for now, the wall is momentous enough. 

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Congratulations to all family members! We have another Chica to add to the Zuverink/Bennett/Franklin lines! Dr. says everything looks great. Here are all the pictures we got to keep from today. She was moving around all over the place. 

*Sorry daughter, this is the only time I'll show anyone proof of your gender*

Look at that FOOT!! 

Look at that scary pirate skeleton face!!! Maybe she'll come out with an eye patch and a parrot.

YAR!!

Awwww, back to being cute!!

So that's all for now - big enough news to warrant a post! At 20 weeks (in a week) I will post another bump picture and some pregnancy highlights!!

Growing a Fetus in a Winter Wonderland!

Sixteen week picture: 

Well first off, Ben, fetus and I got to spend 8 days last week in Colorado. We had a blast. We hiked and hiked, climbed mountains, drove along cliffs, rode in trains, breathed clean air... it was incredible. I had my last day at work before we left, and I'm transitioning into part time work from home. I am already so thankful that God led us in this direction. I'm feeling more rested by the day. 


Not much to report yet on the baby's gender. However, I did have a tummy check a couple of weeks ago and got to listen to the baby's heart beat. It was so loud and fast! This kid is already impressing me. Dr says everything looks great and we're set to have the big anatomy appointment on the 15th! I'll let everyone know as soon as we know for sure.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: 4.5 inches long, 3.5 ounces (avocado sized!)

Maternity Clothes: Bella band has saved my life. Wearing mostly my normal clothes, much more awkwardly

Gender: We'll know in 2 weeks! 

Movement: There have been a few times where I think I've felt it flutter around in there, but not sure yet

Sleep:  Good! Have stopped waking up to pee every 2 hours, so that's nice

Symptoms: As usual, not too many symptoms! Feeling great.

What I miss: Sleeping on my back 

Cravings:  I have decided that I could consist entirely on an all carb/dairy diet. All I want is pasta, cereal, milk

Best Moment this week: Hiking with my husband and fetus in the middle of nowhere.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender in a couple of weeks! 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Soooooo... changes have come.

LIFE UPDATE: Because I keep spotting on days that I'm gone from the house for 12-14 hours straight, Ben and I, with consultation from the doctor, decided that it's time for me to stop the insanity. Today I put in my 2 weeks at work (well, three weeks really).

 God has given me such peace about our decision, and it seems that everything around it is falling into place. Our homegroup leader happens to have a few part time, work-from-home, data-entry positions opening up that will last us through February of 2012, so we will still be able to pay our bills. God is good! Something that I would normally get so wound up about just fell into place and without all the stress of worrying about it! From now on, I will be doing data entry from home (or from Allison's home to keep her company while she's on bedrest), going to internship and class when I have clients. I'm really excited about the fact that I'll get more rest.

BABY UPDATE:  We went to the genetic specialist today to check for downs, tay sach's, etc. The doctor said that everything looks great and that my chances of having any genetic abnormalities are really low. Ben and I are so thrilled to have a child, let alone a healthy one! What a blessing. Baby is also 12 weeks and 4 days old, although it is measuring 13 weeks and 1 day (oh boy, here we go)!

The doctor also said that at this point in the pregnancy, he can usually guess the gender, and is correct about 80% of the time, based on the angle of the baby's bizness down there. He told us that he's pretty sure it's going to be a ______.

THAT'S RIGHT! You have to wait! We're not going to reveal until we know for sure in another two or three weeks. At that point we'll let you know whether to start looking at fairy princess or tonka truck toys.

Also - 12 week picture:

Love you guys!