Baby Kate's Nursery

Here is her nursery! My sweet husband took these nice pictures for me with his camera since it's MUCH better than mine:)

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the curtains and crib bedding are made from the same fabric. Marilyn made the curtains and Sarah Parks made the bedding (bumper and bedskirt). They both did an INCREDIBLE job and I am so very grateful to both of them for the way they blessed me!

This is the mural Jen is working on. Isn't she amazing? Artistic talent never ceases to amaze me. She still has a little to finish, some more details to the birds in the tree and some grass and foliage at the bottom.

My comfy glider! As I mentioned before, I have an identical bedside table to the black one in these pictures and Kath Flanigan is working on painting it white for me. So the black one will be gone:) Not quite the feeling I am going for, hehe, but it works well for right now!

It took months of agonizing to find a crib I liked! Yes, there was some idolatry that was identified:) But the Lord worked in my heart and then led me to this one which I LOVE. He is kind. That is Martha the pink hippo sitting in the little rocker. She is by far David's favorite of all Kate's possessions:)

And here is the cradle that is Larry's handiwork and wonderful gift to Kate. He has worked on it for months and it is stunning! I can't wait to lay our little baby in it!

Today's Check Up

My doctor's appointment today was encouraging! I am 1-2 cm dilated and nearly completely effaced. Also, baby girl has dropped significantly:) I was thinking she had because I've begun to have some sciatic nerve pain at times. Fun stuff that. Now, I know none of this means that she is close to coming. She could still be 4 weeks away. But it's nice to know progress has been made, and without my really noticing anything! Now if only the whole labor could pass unnoticed;) 

Poor Jen has come down with a cold so the finishing of the mural is somewhat delayed. Also, Kathryn Flanigan is painting a little end table for me to have beside my chair in the nursery and that won't be done for a bit. So, I am thinking I will post "mostly finished" nursery pictures as soon as I get some pretty sunlight for the pictures. 

And that's about all that's going on right now. I am just not up to much these days! 

The Final Weeks Are Here

I am now 3 1/2 weeks away from my due date! Pretty amazing. This pregnancy has seemed like it's lasted forever, until this past week when I have felt like it has just slipped by. I can't believe I am truly a matter of weeks away from having my first baby! In the Lord's great kindness I am still feeling really well and I don't have that "desperate to get her out" feeling yet. I am very excited to see her though! The desire to know what she looks and feels like is growing stronger. I go to the doctor next Thursday to start my once a week appointments. That will also be the first time I get "checked". Goodie. :) I'm sure it won't be bad and it will be fun to know if I've started progressing at all. Not that that will mean anything! She could still be over a month away if she decides to linger in her warm, dark home:) 

Baby Kate hasn't yet seemed to figure out that she is almost out of room! She continues to stretch and wiggle very vigorously at times. Silly baby. This is usually fine with me until she is grinding her feet around on my ribs. Also, now that her head is way down when she gets the urge to twist it about.....yes, not a cool feeling:)

Here are some pictures of my now pretty darn big tummy:) My lovely sis in law, Jen, was over today working on the mural in the nursery (check for pics of the finished nursery in the next week!) I asked her to take my 9 month belly shot and since neither of us are photographers, it took us a few tries:) Here are some of them:

The Zoo

I was going to do a post on Kendra, Shaynah, and I's fabulous trip to the Zoo. But Kendra put one on her blog that is marvelous! So go check it out. www.kendrasands.blogspot.com

Belated Labor Day Pics

We absolutely love going up to Boone to stay with Mike and Lisa Flanigan (Chris's parents) when ever we get the chance! The Flanigans are a blast to hang out with and SO very hospitable. Their house sits in a very peaceful valley with an abundance of outdoor activities all over the place. With a pool table and a Wii, there is also an abundance of indoor activities:) On this trip we went to the Mast General Store and the Candy Barrel. Mmmmm!

The place is PACKED with candy! David and I bought $10 worth! But then I left the bag on a low coffee table in the basement and the Flan's two dogs had a feast that night:) Oh well! And I grew up in a house with a dog. You'd think I'd remember not to leave anything edible down where they can help themselves!

Why, it's a Confederate soldier and a train conductor! Hehe, Kath and I thought Chris looked very authentic and that Dave looked like a little boy who was super excited about a museum display! 

We broke open our candy bags as soon as we hit the parking lot:)

Lovin' my tiny girl

Sweet friend:)

Do they look for real? No, we didn't think so either.

Gigantic willow in their back yard.

Midday snack at the super old and super cool Boone Pharmacy. Been there since the 1800's! 

A walk around Bass Lake. It's a very plain name for a beautiful place. As you can see the Lord sent PERFECT weather! It was cool too:) A beautiful foretaste of Fall.

Shortly after that we headed back home. It was a very lovely and relaxing time!

Coming Soon....

Labor Day weekend in Boone

Oh The Joys

It's getting quite comical to shave my legs in a small box of a shower with an ever larger baby impaling herself on my rib cage.....