Top 10 Ways I Know I'm About To Have A Baby

#10  Heartburn with a vengeance.
#9   I no longer walk.  I waddle.
#8  The biggest travesty of my day is when I drop something on the ground, because that means I'm going to have to somehow bend over and pick it up.
#7  When I go to Starbucks and order 1 mini scone, they almost always give me 2.
#6  People refer to me more as "Mama" or "Mommy" than "Ellen"
#5  Major nesting instinct...I could stay up for hours working on Jackson's nursery!
#4  Jackson can now press on my bladder and poke up under my ribs AT THE SAME TIME
#3  I (sadly) can't eat as much as I used to...no more room!
#2  I have dreams almost every night that I am going into labor, only to wake up and realize I just have to pee (again)
#1  Did I mention heartburn?

Windy Gap and 34 Week Profile

It's been forever since we really updated the blog.  Life has been so crazy with moving into our house and trying to get everything ready before Jackson gets here.  But, we did want to give a brief life update.

#1 Jackson
Had a dr. appointment today and he seems to be looking and growing strong!  I go back in 2 weeks, and then I start going once a week and they will check to see if I'm dilated each time (oh let the joys begin...).  I'll be 35 weeks on Friday...crazy!  Here's the latest profile pic...if it looks like I gained about 10 pounds in 2 weeks, that's because I did!  All of a sudden I am huge!  I blame summer camp at Windy Gap...they feed you like 4 times a day there, plus dessert after every meal and at bed time.  Plus when you are with high school kids who can eat constantly and not show it, it's hard not to get sucked in too.  But, oh well!  But when else in life can I gain weight and people tell me more and more how cute I am?

Speaking of that, it's so funny how people treat pregnant women differently than every other woman.  At Windy Gap, it was like all the moms there saw how pregnant I was and immediately inducted me into the Mommy Club.  It's like instant friends that want to help you out, offer to do things for you, and give you all the labor and delivery advice you need.  Then there are those perfect strangers that make your day...like the lady today at the post office.  In my former life, we would have just been two strangers passing by, but today she became my new best friend when she took one look at me and said, "Oh my gosh, you are the cutest person I have ever seen!"  I mean, when are women ever going to compliment each other like that on a normal day?  I don't mean to sound conceited or anything like that, because the truth is, I do not feel cute...I feel huge!  But, it's just been so interesting lately noticing how people just love pregnant women.

#2  Windy Gap

Ryan and I, along with one of our female leaders and Kiley (Ryan's sister) took about 20 students to Windy Gap this past week for camp.  It was SUCH AN AWESOME WEEK!  Our speaker was great and the Lord really moved in so many of their hearts.  For a few of them, their lives will be forever changed by the refreshing Truth of the gospel of Jesus!  On top of all that, we had a blast too! Here are some of my favorite pics from the week:

1890's/Western Night

Ryan about to get flour dropped on his head.  This was after his 1st (but not last) trip to the pie-in-the-face booth and before his guys sent him to the dunk tank...such a trooper!

Speaking of troopers...KILEY IS MY HERO!  Being pregnant prevented me from doing a lot of the activities, so I guess my girls thought I also couldn't get a pie in the face or flour on my head, so they got Kiley over and over again instead of me.  I have the best sister-in-law EVER!!

Square Dance

Giant slide

Blob

Banquet night (hence, the dresses)

This one is my favs!!

The Gray Family

Anyway, it was a great week at camp and I'm so thankful I was able to go.  Promise to post again sooner than later.

31 Weeks Profile Pic

3D Ultrasound

We got to see Jackson today via 3D ultrasound...it was so cool!  He is weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs. 8 oz. and is in the 48th percentile for growth.  So far so good!  Look at how handsome he is :)

We love his little grin!

Jackson's Room In Progress...

Hey everyone,
It's been a while since we've updated the blog, and we don't have a ton of new pics, but we wanted to update you on Jackson's room.  We are totally finished preparing his room except for the baseboards and painting the closet doors.  Here it was before...

And here it is now...

We re-finished and painted the door, put on new hardware, got new closet doors, painted the trim white and the walls blue.

His clothes that are already hanging up are so small!!  Once we get more hangers, we'll hang the rest of them...thanks to so many people, he will NOT be in need of clothing!

We haven't put the crib together yet, but here is the adorable bedding.  Love it!

We also had a friend of ours put in the new tile in the bathrooms.  You can tell from this before pic that there were linoleum floors before (they were the same in both bathrooms).

And here it is now (this is before the grout went in, but you get the idea...

The bathrooms will be completely finished in the next day or so...new toilets, new vanities, new lights, new doors, new hardware.  :)

Our House In Progress

We are finally uploading photos of our house to the blog.  For anyone who doesn't know, we've been renovating this house since we bought it in February.  We still live in a cabin right now, but we'll be in the house by May (hooray!).  Even though we have a ways to go, we've gotten a lot done and we wanted to show some pics of our progress.

You can't tell from this pic, but our backyard is pretty big and it backs up to a farm.  The sun also sets behind our house, and we look forward to many nights out on the deck enjoying the sunset over the farm

The blue tape you see is where windows will eventually be.  (We are enclosing the garage.)

This is the before picture of our living room.  Nice blinds, I know.

Same room, in progress!  New blinds, white trim, green walls, and no carpet.  We are putting in hardwoods in here.

Old kitchen area (the washer and dryer will go behind those closet doors)

Kitchen area in progress.  The hardwood floors will continue in here (this is just opposite the fireplace).  We are getting new kitchen cabinets and countertops, all new appliances, and new closet doors to the washer and dryer area (they will be white).  Ryan knocked out the sophet and we will have 3 pendant lights hanging down over a bar area (obviously different than the light bulbs hanging there now).  Also, we switched the placement of the sink and stove, so the sink will now face out into the living room.

This used to just be a plain wall with a door to the garage on the right side.  We put in these french doors that will open up into our new family room.

Guest Room Before

Guest Room now.  This room is totally done except for putting in new baseboards.  We got ride of the brown closet doors that are opposite the window and are painting new ones white.

Master Bedroom before.

Master Bedroom in progress.  New blinds, white trim, 1st coat of paint up, and we will put in new white baseboards.  This carpet (along with the rest of the carpet in the house) is brand new too.  

Ryan painting one of our new doors.

Mom getting off the oh so lovely border in the guest bathroom.

Dad pressure washing the whole house, including the deck.  It's amazing the difference!

We've had a lot of other people help us along the way too, so thanks to everyone who's already helped out!  We are so grateful for all the help!  

Also, once we get Jackson's room all finished, we will put up a pic.  At this point, we are still deciding on what paint color.

Fun Baby Facts for the Week

Here are some cool things to know about Jackson and his development this week (at 26 weeks along):

-  He weighs between 1.5 - 2 pounds.
-  He's the length of a small pineapple.
-  His eyebrows and eyelashes are well formed.
-  His eyes are fully developed and he will start to open and close them in a couple weeks.
-  The (probably blonde) hair on his head grows and thickens.
-  Little footprints and fingerprints form.
-  He starts using his lungs to mimic breathing.
-  Essential fats accumulate under the skin.

We've also read that he can sense light now, so we shined a flashlight at my belly the other night and he visibly kicked right at it!  On that note, he moves around a lot these days, and it's so funny because we are beginning to be able to see my stomach move as he does...a little kick here, a little punch there.  It's so fun!