Halloween Party

Last night we went to a Halloween party and of course I had to find a way to incorporate my belly into my costume. I didn't have a black graduation gown that I could use to recreate the witch costume Mom wore 29 years ago to the party the night before I was born, so I had to come up with something else. I wish I could take all the credit for this, but I did see a picture on-line of this idea.

So without further ado... The cat who ate the fishbowl!

Little Red Rocker

Part of my baby shower gift from my Uncle Paul and Aunt Jan was the "little red rocker." The little red rocker is a rocking chair that has been passed down on my mom's side of the family for at least five generations. This story came from my Grandma Cole and hopefully I get the details right.




As far back as we can remember this chair was in my Great-great-grandma McDerment's (sp?) house. She had a sale to clear out some things before her daughter, my Great Grandma was married and my Great-great-grandma Huston bought the chair. Great-great-grandma Huston put the chair into the house of her son and his new bride, my Great-grandparents, as their first piece of furniture. Great-Grandma Huston rocked all of her children in this chair and then passed it down. My Grandma was the first of her siblings to get married so her mother gave her and my grandfather this rocker as their first piece of furniture when they were married. Grandma rocked Uncle Paul and Mom in this chair when they were babies. Grandma then passed the little red rocker onto Uncle Paul and Aunt Jan when they were married. Uncle Paul and Aunt Jan added the seat cushion. They decided to save the chair for the first of us to have children, and since that is Dan and I, we now have the little red rocker. Abby is planning on making a new needle-point cushion so that Aunt Jan can have her's back.

This chair is currently sitting outside our nursery on the little landing at the top of our stairs. This will probably not be the main rocking chair we use, but we will treasure it and pass it on with it's story someday.

31 Weeks

Today we are at 31 Weeks, only about 9 more to go (give or take). I feel like our little girl has had a growth spurt over the past few weeks. I used to feel most of her movement lower on my belly, near my belly button, but now she kicks me in the ribs one second and in the side the next. She is all over the place.



We do have a name picked out for our little girl, but we are saving that surprise for when she is born. We keep having to bite our tongues so that we don't give it away when we are talking to people. We picked out names before we knew boy or girl so we have a boy's name picked out just in case the doctor is wrong. Dan and I refer to her by name at home, so we really have to be careful when we're around other people.

We had another doctor appointment today and everything is still going great. The doctor says I am measuring right on track, so hopefully she'll arrive on time and we'll have her home for Christmas. I was able to get my flu shot today from the least gentle nurse I have ever met. But now Dan and I have both had them and we will hopefully be a flu free household again this year.

Our next appointment is in two weeks and pretty soon after that we will be going to weekly appointments. Dan has been able to make it to every appointment so far and hopefully that will continue to be possible. We are getting very very excited and hopefully time will keep speeding by.

Baby Shower

We had a beautiful baby shower in Bad Axe a couple of weeks ago and everyone was so generous. We got a lot of really wonderful things. Our bedding set, lots of pink clothes, some gorgeous homemade blankets, and a monster from Aunt Abby. Aunt Abby and Uncle Max came up from Florida. Great-Aunt Jan and Great-Uncle Paul came from Ohio and brought Great-Grandma Cole with them. Grandma Lucy came down from Alpena. Great-Aunt Annie and Kaitlyn came down from Alpena. Aunt Julie, Uncle Dave, Jack and Luke came over from Lansing. Erin came in from Baltimore. And off course all sorts of local friends made it to the shower as well. We had a wonderful time with everyone and cannot begin to express how thankful we are for everyone's love and support.



These were the centerpieces.



Our adorable ducky cake.



Aunt Abby, myself, and Great-Grandma Cole.



Great-Aunt Jan, Grams, and Cherri



The Monster from Aunt Abby.



Dan, Kaitlyn, and I with the diaper cakes from Great-Aunt Annie and Kaitlyn.



The gorgeous alpaca afghan and hat Grams made.



And just in case you can't guess...

Gramps did some shopping and our little girl has all sorts of Ohio State onesies, bibs, and booties!