9 months!

I am nine months pregnant. Cooper will likely be here is about 4 weeks! Here is what we have been up to during these last few weeks before his arrival.

Many friends have stopped by to visit, and they brought lovely flowers!!

We made friends at the local dog park. 

Weight tested Cooper's gear.

Assembled the stroller. THANKS MOM & DAD!

Figured out how to put the infant carrier in the stroller. 

And we just keep growin'!

12 weeks, 16 weeks, 19 weeks, 5 months, 6 months

7 months (top left), 8 months (bottom left), 9 months (right)

A few things to remember about the last month of this pregnancy:

• I am retaining water. No doubt. I see it in my face and I feel it in my wrists and hands. So much so, that I now have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel. I noticed it when my arms and hands started falling asleep while I was trying to sleep. My doctor suggested that I sleep with wrist braces on in order to prevent permanent nerve damage (as well as steroid shots in my wrists!). So far the braces have been working. I feel like an idiot, but my arms no longer fall asleep. Bonus. 
• My wedding ring does not fit
• I am breathing easier! He has definitely "dropped"
• At my last doctor's appointment (37 weeks) I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced! I hope things keep moving in this direction! Now, I realize, I could stay at 2 cm and not delivery until 41 weeks...but I am excited about this start none-the-less!

I forgot to share this little treat. My dad wanted to make sure Cooper has the proper attire for visiting Kpa. Yes, those are infant sized Carhart bibs. 

Seattle Showers

Chris and I have been completely overwhelmed by how much love and support our friends and family have shown us through this whole pregnancy. We are so grateful for EVERYTHING that people have done for us. 

I had two showers in Seattle. Lianna hosted one for me, and she invited all of the wives of Chris's good friends. I have become very good friends with all these lovely ladies. I'm pretty lucky that Chris's friends have found such great women! 

                                      

Lianna and me. She did so much work!! THANK YOU!

Aren't these the cutest?! 

Chris's sister, Keri, hosted a second Seattle shower. Keri did a TON of work! I would hire her as a professional baby shower planner. Seriously. She put so much thought into every tiny little detail. I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

She made these cookies. How? I have no clue.

Baby Jeopardy was super fun! What a great idea!

Dawn is having a GIRL! She is 22 weeks in this picture and I am 35 weeks (ish).

Thank you Keri and Lianna for all the work and thought you put into these showers! Thank you to all the friends and family who have shown so much generosity and support. Cooper is one lucky kiddo to have so many amazing people in his life...and so are his parents! 

 

Thank you Mom!!

We all know moms are great. But seriously, my mom is the best. She is so patient, thoughtful, kind and helpful. I know our family would fall apart without her!

We moved on a Friday... on Monday Chris left for Hawaii for work (his last trip until after Cooper gets here!). So my mom stayed with me to help me get settled, and make sure I don't lift things I shouldn't. Well, in that week she was more help than I ever could have asked for. She kept this very pregnant, very hot, perfectionist in check all week long. No melt downs. No major stress. Just lots of progress. Something only a mom could do. THANKS MOM! I LOVE YOU!

Check out everything we got done in just 5 days!


We washed and organized all Cooper's clothes, blankets, towels...lots o loads of laundry. I do love the new washer and dryer!

It took a day and a half, but we organized the entire closet! This was a HUGE relief! (It was beyond hot in there.) 

Notice the Starbucks cup in the picture above...pretty sure I drink about 10 of those a day.

Sadie is such a good helper. 

The living room.

Thank you Kris for moving the TV hook-ups so I could decorate the mantle. 

The TV is on a swivel so it can be seen in the kitchen or flush against the wall when we are not watching it. I owe my brother big time for moving all the hook-ups to that wall! It was not an easy fix. 

The table is from my Mom, she used chalk paint for the top. The legs are "real" shabby chic. 

Breakfast nook/living room

View of the living room from the stairs.

The front door is at the end of the hallway.

Breakfast nook/kitchen, view from the stairs

I can actually SEE my china and nice serving pieces...maybe I will use them! 

THANK YOU JEANNE for organizing this space and the pantry. I always over think things like this, and it would have taken me years to finish these two spaces.

The pantry

Formal dinning room... I hear my table is done! My dad has kept the final stages a secret. I can't wait to see it! 

Chris's office. I love the french doors. This office is MUCH bigger than his old office space. His furniture looks miniature :) He does work from home, so this space is perfect. It is far from the "family spaces" that can be distracting...AKA his wife being home since June and bothering him all the time :).

Our backyard. 

The nursery!!! Here are some before photos... a mess really.

My father gave me my own tool belt when I was little. No joke. I am thankful for that now! At the time...not so awesome. I just wanted to play with my Shera Castle. 

Oh, assembling furniture...so fun. Especially when you are almost done and realize they gave you one wrong piece and you have to go back and exchange it. BUT my mom and I did all by ourselves. 

And the nursery after...

(you need to have Flash installed in order to view video)

Someone is ready for Cooper :) 

The move

I have the best family. There are no two ways about it. My mom, dad, brother (Kris), and sister-in-law (Janie) came over from Spokane on Thursday August 9th to help us move. On Friday August 10th my aunt and my grandpa came over from Port Orchard, and Chris's parents came over from Spokane.

We had an army here to help us. They were all WONDERFUL! We (everyone but me) filled a 26 foot Uhaul and all the vehicles that were available.

Somehow even on moving day we managed to have similar outfits...

How do you get a king size mattress out of a town house?

 Carefully. 

The army arrived at the new house...and they went to work quickly! I provided beverages and pizza. Then I sat on a cooler near the back of the truck and directed our HELPFUL and UNDERSTANDING family. "That goes to the office...the nursery...the kitchen..."

My mother-in-law unpacked and organized most of our kitchen! Including the pantry! It was a huge help! Janie and my mom helped too! I would still be unwrapping things if they had not been here.

My dad, brother, and Chris did a few weeks work in just two days:

 wall mounted 2 TVs, assembled and installed a ceiling fan, put together the crib, assembled the new lawn mower, re-wired the cable and power outlet in the living room so the TV will not be over the fire place (I really pictured our fireplace with stockings sans TV), did a majority of the heavy lifting of all our furniture, and unpacked all the boxes and took them to the dump (a huge help not to have a garage full of boxes and packaging!).  

I know I am forgetting serval things that people did for us. I can't express enough how grateful I am for all the help!!! My brother, Kris, was a life saver with his electrician skills. My dad is just good at this kind of stuff (including patching up the Lynnwood house for the new tenants!). Mike and Jeanne helped a ton! Mike- I have used my steamer many times and it is working wonderfully! My aunt and grandpa helped wherever they were needed. Janie organized and unpacked SO much! My mom was invaluable...there is a post coming soon showing off everything she did. Yep. She gets her own post. 

I would be a mess without my family. THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!! 

It is starting to feel like home. 

The neighbor kiddos made us cookies and introduced themselves. They are the sweetest family. 

There were more cookies...I'm lucky I got a picture of any of the cookies. They were delish!

Sadie is right at home in her new back yard. That is Mt. Si in the background. The grass was a little parched...we have been experiencing a mini heat wave over here. It looks better now that we have watered it and the heat has let up a bit. 

This is the view out of our bedroom window in the morning. The sun rises right in our window! It is beautiful...and bright seeing as we still need to purchase blinds. :)