Snow Pictures

Just a few pictures from the Snowy Day last Friday...

John and Gypsy playing in the snow...

Gypsy LOVES it! She tries to catch snowflakes in her mouth like a little kid!

My two boys... Ryder wasn't allowed to play in the snow, he gets little ice balls in the fur on his feet and it's a HUGE pain to get them out- I have rainboots for him (that are HiLaRiOuS by the way), but it's just as much trouble, and these days, I'm trying as hard as humanly possible to take it easy!

And finally, a belly picture at 39 1/2 weeks pregnant. We were hoping for a little Valentine surprise, but we are still waiting patiently for our little angel! We will definitely meet her by this weekend- if she doesn't come on her own, we are going to induce on Saturday. FINALLY!

Hurry Up & Wait...

I can't believe February is already here! I feel like we have been waiting FOREVER for it! Lately, I feel like getting ready for Lily has been alot like a high-schooler getting ready for the prom... In either case, you think about it and plan for it MONTHS in advance. You decide on your "look", whether it's the perfect dress & shoes or the colors & fabric for the nursery... You get as ready as you possibly can, whether its getting all dolled up or packing for the hospital... Then you sit around and WAIT for your date (or baby) to arrive... and WAIT... and WAIT.

We've had the carseat installed for what feels like weeks now and our hospital bags (mine, John's, and Lily's) have been packed and loaded up so long I've forgotten what's in them!

We are so prepared for her to make her appearance we feel like she will NEVER get here! Without getting too graphic, at my last doctor's appointment on Wednesday we found out that we are getting close! I'm about 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. The fetal monitor they put me on shows that I'm having contractions (little mini-ones) about every 4 minutes on average (that I usually can't feel) ... and Dr. Marino thinks we will see her within the next week, but who really knows???

I feel like I'm staring out the window waiting for my date to pull into the driveway...

Please pray for a HEALTHY LITTLE GIRL and a relatively quick and painless (ha!) labor & delivery... We will post pictures of her as soon as we can! We are so excited!

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME~ I have VERY EXCITING NEWS! My friend Jacqueline, who was due the same day I am, had her baby, WILLIAM (Lily's boyfriend-to-be) on January 12th. We are so happy that even though he was just over 5 weeks early, he is a very healthy little boy! He is absolutely adorable & I promise I'll add pictures of him soon, I have them saved on my other computer! (This is another reason for the overwhelming sense of anxiety for me, knowing Lily really could come ANY unexpected minute!)

My Baby Shower, A Few Nursery Pics, and Christmas 2009

THE BABY SHOWER

Haley, Ginger, Jacqueline, Evan, & Meredith hosted my baby shower at Haley's house. (I happen to LOVE how Haley decorates for Christmas!) It was so much fun and Lily got LOTS of great stuff. I can't thank you girls enough!

Opening an afghan knitted by John's mom (Lily's Nanna)

My Belly Buddy and Me! Jacqueline and Baby William, due the same day as Lily (Feb. 17th)!

AND NOW FOR THE NURSERY...

Lily's nursery isn't quite finished, but alot of you are asking for nursery pics, so I'm indulging you...

Lily's dresser and changing table. Look at the organizer, made by Sherry. How cute is that?


The picture above the changing table is one of the maternity pics I had taken by Flip Flop Foto, mounted and signed by the attendees of the shower, who all wrote sweet notes to Lily!

Lily's crib and bouncy seat. You can't really see the door hanging well in this pic, but it is from her Aunt Ginger and I LOVE IT!

Close-up of the bedding, all made by Sherry! Including the cute bunny pillow!


The glider and ottoman will go in the corner that the stroller is in whenever it comes in... and the lamp on that table was my great-grandmother's!

CHRISTMAS AT THE GWIN HOUSE...

And finally, our den and pups all decked out for Christmas. This was taken on Christmas Eve. I had to work and John had the day off. When I came home my house was clean, food was cooking, every candle in the house was lit, my pups were dressed up in red and green, and Christmas music was playing! It was a wonderful Christmas Eve surprise!

4D Ultrasound Pictures

After the first 4D ultrsound last week was a COMPLETE and total failure, we went again today for another attempt at a decent shot of her face. I scheduled this appointment for 4 in the afternoon which is typically her unofficial in-utero "playtime," and to make her even more hyper I downed a Cherry Coke and a Snickers beforehand. Despite my efforts, I was left with little more than a massive post-sugar high headache and I am quite honestly not looking forward to staying up until the wee hours of the morning paying for the caffeine overload. But I guess I am subconsciously teaching myself a lesson in sacrifice. Ha! (Tylenol PM is sounding like a really good idea tonight...)
We were able to get a few pics from the side at first, but as soon as little girl figured out that we were spying on her again she got shy and turned around to the back again, to the same position she was in last week with her face buried in my back. Perfect, she is already exhibiting defiant behavior. Enjoy!

Maybe just wishful thinking on my part, but her eyes look like they are open in this picture. Also, LOVE the pursed lips and puffy cheeks in this one. The first of many hilarious faces to come one day, I'm sure!

Hands up, hiding her face- AGAIN!

Anyway, that's about it. We are getting closer to being finished with the nursery, except for final touches. Sherry has finished all of the bedding and major sewing projects, which turned out beautifully! Stay tuned for pics of that too!

Fruit of the Womb

When I found out I was pregnant, the first thing I did was sign up on every baby site known to man: BabyCenter.com, PregnancyWeekly.com, theBump.com, etc. What I loved the most was them sending me weekly emails telling me the size of the baby, and most of the size comparisons were fruits. So I decided to make it fun and take pictures of the growing "bump" with the coinciding fruit of the week to give my friends, fellow bloggers and facebookers alike, an idea of the size of the baby... why not? I wish I'd started earlier, around the 4th of July with a blueberry, but this will have to do. So here we go.

Here we are on Aug.5th, at 12 weeks, baby about the length of a lime! Cute, huh?
(Not ME, the LIME! :)
P.S. I had also just eaten an e-normous Birthday dinner at Mikata, which more aptly explains the "pooch" here.

At 13 weeks, the baby now the length of a peach.


And at 14 weeks, the baby is the length of a lemon.

Here we are at 15 weeks, baby is the length of a naval orange.
(Seems confusing to me too, but I'm trusting these pregnancy websites here)

This is me and baby at 16 weeks, where we just found out it was a GIRL! Oh, and she's an avocado.

I skipped a few weeks all the way to 21 weeks (I must've thought the fruits/veggies listed were either boring or ugly) and the baby is the length (and also hoping the weight with all I've put on) of a cantaloupe. Actually, she's just about a pound in this picture. :(

I will take more soon, at this point the websites give you fruits by the month, not the week. We are 25 weeks tomorrow! Our 4D ultrasound is scheduled for next Monday, which should be quite the event with both sets of grandparents joining us for the festivities (you got it, all SIX of us will be in poor Sheila's ultrasound room! Don't worry, I've apologized to her in advance.) Pictures will be posted soon after-- of the baby, not the grandparents. :) Until then!

Baby Registries

For all of you who have been asking, you will be pleased to know that we finally registered! Here's a link to the
Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry. A BIG THANKS to Haley who drove me to Columbus to help me figure out what I needed to register for! I would have been absolutely lost without her! Don't get me wrong, I was still COMPLETELY overwhelmed at ALL of the crazy contraptions and the massive amounts of GEAR that this little tiny girl is going to require!
We are also registered at Target, but I couldn't find a way to post it on our Blog. If you'd like to view it click this link http://www.target.com/registry/baby/portal and just search for us by name. And if you know me well, you will not be surprised to find out that I've taken the liberty of price-shopping and registering for said "gear" where the price was the best. Shocker, I know. AND you're welcome ;) Just kidding, of course. Thank you to all of you for your support! We are so excited and promise to post pics of the progress on the nursery soon!

Lily Style

We have finally decided on a few fabrics for Lily's Nursery... John's Mom is making all of the bedding and window treatments for her and we couldn't be more excited! She is so talented and has recently invested in a new monogramming sewing machine! Of two things we are certain, this little girl will have some really cute outfits and she will never forget how to spell her name. THANK YOU, SHERRY!

The pink Swiss dot fabric is going to be the inside of the bumper pad, as well as parts of other accent pieces like pillows, and part of a throw quilt.

This precious pink and green toile is going to be the outside of the bumper pad as well as the main part of the Roman shades, to be tied with pink ribbon.

This green gingham is going to be the top part of the Roman shades as well as the changing table organizer, to be trimmed in pink ribbon.

This plaid fabric, which is coincidentally called "Pink Lily Plaid" is going to be the dust ruffle and throw pillows.

All together now...
(pardon the quality, I am not good with the camera phone)

I can't wait to get the nursery started! I'm hoping tomorrow we can get the rest of her room cleared out, lately it has been a glorified storage room since we had the floors in the living room, hallway, and master bedroom redone. Now that we are slowly getting our house put back together, I'd love to get a start on her room. With the fabrics ordered, we can now choose a wall color and start working on the wainscoting. Our goal is to be finished with EVERYTHING in our home including the nursery by Christmas! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but not holding my breath...

Here are pics of her furniture, minus the glider & ottoman... The dresser really does match the crib and changing table, the picture makes it look a little lighter for whatever reason. Also, the changing table is not tiny, it is in proportion to the other furniture, despite the scale of the picture.