37 week - 19 days to go...what?!?!

Yes, 19 days until her due date. Although she is technically full term right now! I am not sure if she will cooperate or not, but this Saturday (the 22nd) would have been my great-grandmother's 100th birthday (my mom's grandmother). Her name was Katherine, and that is where Kate comes from for the baby's middle name. How fitting for her to be born on that special day :) We'll see, I guess...though, it is not looking promising! Kate was also my grandpa Boehler's mother's name, as well as Paul's great grandmother's name. Whew...that's a lot of Kate's!

We had a doctor's appointment last Friday and saw the nurse practitioner. She did an ultrasound to check that baby's position, and she was head down. We are hoping she stays that way at this point. The NP said that she was still high, and had not really dropped yet. I was also NOT dilated...bummer! But, everything else looked good. We go back on the 25th and will see my doctor. I will be 38.5 weeks at that point. Let's hope for some action by then!

In the mean time, we have almost finished her nursery. We are still waiting on the glider and ottoman, which will be delivered this Friday. It was fun to finish putting her closet together, put clothes in her drawers, and hang the art work. The cats think we have done this all for them, and have taken to the soft changing table pad. I find them napping in there daily. They also like to play around in the crib. I am sure they will find the nice soft glider a fine napping spot as well! Here are some pics of the nursery so far!






And of course her closet...




Work continues to be exhausting, but keeps me busy and active. Bending, squatting and getting on and off the floor a hundred time a day must have some positive effect on getting this baby to come out, right?! That is what I have convinced myself, anyway.

Well, that is what is going on with us these days...just a lot of waiting :) Here is the latest belly shot...she is poppin' right out!

36 weeks!!! Hello 2011 :)

Wow. It is now 2011. I say good riddance to 2010, and am ready for this new year. It will bring some big changes! Little T will technically be full term in a week. That makes me very relieved! Paul and I finished our series of child birth preparation classes this week, as well as took the hospital tour and pre-registered. CRAZY! We loved our child birth instructor, and no one wanted to leave the last class...she was so helpful. She has been a doula for over 20 years, and stopped counting how many deliveries she has been a part of at 500! I sure hope we can remember everything when the time comes.

I have to say, I have considered myself lucky during this pregnancy as I have no complications, no aches/pains, no weird symptoms, swelling, dry skin, etc...but last week I started getting noticeably uncomfortable. I declared being "over" being pregnant at like 28 weeks, and I now declare it again...I am done! This morning I woke up, and my back and body were sore...seriously, after just sleeping?!?!? Work is getting challenging, too. Getting up to pee 3-4 times has got to stop. The kicks and wiggles, which before a week ago, did not bother me at all, and I loved every one of them, now are starting to become uncomfortable (but are still cool). Paul and I laugh, as you are supposed to keep track of a "kick count." This means that your baby should move 10 times in two hours...ha! How about 10 times in 10 minutes! That is where we are. This kid MOVES ALL THE TIME!!!!

I am getting anxious to get the nursery all put together. Our crib and dresser/changing table will be delivered next week...yay! Today, my good friend Beth came over with six, yes SIX, big bins of baby clothes just from 0-9 months. We went through 4 bins of 0-6 and got things as organized as we could. The amount of clothes this child has is really unbelievable. Beth, her two sisters and Stacey have all shared, and added to, these bins over the last 6 years (starting with Abby) up until now (Stella is 7 months). Beth has also informed me that there will be at least 2 big bins from 12 months on! I feel very lucky and so thankful for these ladies and cute girls! Ellie will be one well dressed kid!!! Here are some photos from today's fun...







Seriously!!! Look at all those shoes!


Last week I did two loads of tiny laundry.


Porter enjoys all of the baby's things...I find him in the bouncy seat all the time.


I found a new, cute table and even cuter clock, which will remind me how much sleep I haven't had! The ceramic musical gnome on the table was given to me before I was born, and to this day, I still love the song it plays. Somehow it survived being shipped here from Billings.


We had a nice quiet Christmas at home this year. It was sad to not be with family, but we did Skype MT, Pittsburgh and even got to Skype with Adam and Keiko in New Zealand. It was fun to spend Christmas in pj's all day long. Sadly, it did not feel much like Christmas as our weather was 50's and sunny all weekend. We finally got our first real snow storm for New Years.

Here is a tiny bracelet for Ellie, that my mom got in D.C. The little "eyes" are supposed to be good luck.


Christmas jammies from my mom (34 weeks).


And we could not escape without something Steelers...from Ben & Danielle.


We will now just continue to wait! Hopefully I can post some finished nursery pictures soon. The most important nursery item, the glider and ottoman, will supposedly be here towards the end of January, so little T does need to wait until that comes! Next week we have our 36 week follow up appointment. They will do a quick ultrasound to determine her position. I have a feeling she is head down, but it will be nice to know. I also hope they can just check one more time to make sure she, indeed, is a she! If not, we are in HUGE trouble!!! It will also be nice to know if they can estimate her weight. Heck, it will be the day before I am 37 weeks, so maybe I will be dilated...that would be GREAT...fingers crossed, please!

Here is the belly picture at ~35 weeks. I have gained 19-20 pounds so far. I am not sure where else she has to grow!

32 weeks - family and baby shower fun (and lots and lots of pictures!)

What a crazy, fun weekend. Last Thursday (12/9) all of the "grandparents" (weird to say) arrived from the airport. Somehow their flights came in 5 minutes apart, and were both on time. We spent the first night chatting and catching up...it was all hands on little T, too! Luckily, she performed for everyone and moved like a crazy woman all weekend. Since I knew the baby shower would be all about pink, I decided to get Paul a more manly gift...though it was painful for me to order...



Yes, a Steelers diaper bag, filled with many things a dad would need, butt paste, wipes, diapers, boogie wipes, surgical masks and gloves, ear plugs, etc. Besides, there needs to be somewhere for all of the dirty diapers to go :)



Of course it needs to include a change of clothes! There were also some Bronco pacifiers :)



A "how to" baby manual is a must have!



Changing pad!



We had a fun day on Friday hanging out in Boulder, as well as our usual eating and drinking (mmmmm, Sprite for me, again!) These were some happy grandma's!



Saturday brought the baby shower fun! Beth and Stacey did an amazing job with the shower. It was fabulous. And Megan drove through a Vail blizzard and back to come down with the cake! I am very grateful for such great friends. I wish all my out of town friends and family could have been there as well. Here are some pictures...

Mom and Lynne


PT gals - Jess, Jaimy & Megan








Abby, my little present helper :)


Yummy cake!


Diaper cake from Jaimy


Sweet, stylish Stella (Stacey's baby) who is so nicely handing down her wardrobe to baby Ellie!


Priceless picture - good catch mom!


Mark found a way to get her into camo.


Joycie made this cute baby poncho and sent it from Pittsburgh.


Ellie's blanket from grandma Kathy!


This is a sweater made by our PT director at Children's, Carol. She is retiring in a month, and over her 20+ years at Children's, has made a sweater for each baby born to the therapists. I just made it under the wire to get a famous sweater!!


Paul's aunt Kathy, from PA, made this bag and EVERYONE was jealous. It is soooo cute!


Paul, Beth and the grandmas surprised me with my Pandora bracelet! They had each picked out a special charm to put on it.


Some great friends!


Thanks ladies for such a great day! Love ya :)


Whew...worn out!!


This is what a lot of the weekend looked like :)


Boehler-Mikolaj family fun!


The fun had to end sometime I suppose, and Monday morning, the parents flew back :( After we dropped everyone off at the airport shuttle, Paul and I were off to our 32 week appointment. All went well, except I was a little dehydrated, and little T is measuring right at 32 weeks. She had a good strong heartbeat. The doctor was happy with everything. We go back at 36 weeks and will have a quick ultrasound to see how she is positioned...hopefully head down! Then again at 38 weeks. Hopefully we won't have to go to our 40 week visit and instead just have the baby! I am trying to convince little T to come on time. Otherwise, they will induce me at 41 weeks. Then the family comes in all over again! We can't wait!!

30 weeks - T minus 10 weeks

No, really, only 10 more weeks! I told Paul she could even come in 8 weeks, and I would be happy. He has chosen to stick with 10! I am sure that this month with fly by, as the holidays always do...and then I am afraid that January with DRAG on and on. For now, we are just counting down the days until our parents get here (a week from tomorrow...yay!!!). Work is getting very exhausting. Today was the first day that I actually felt a little out of breath after working with (or chasing around, rather) a very cute 3 year old, a 2 year old, a 5 and a 7 year old...and that was just the morning! I do find that the belly is coming in handy when treating my babies, as it gives them a little shelf to rest on. Little T does her best to kick and wiggle back. We'll see how the next 8-10 week work out. But, all of my other PT co-workers have worked right up until they went into labor, so expectations are high. Plus all 12 babies born to the PT's at my clinic have all been post-due...these are not good odds for me! I plan to deliver right on time :)

Here is the cute chair that I could not resist buying online. It is for babies as early as 3 months (has a little harness) and then up to age 8. Seemed like a practical purchase!



Porter found the chair just right!



Here is my other little splurge. Knowing that little T has a very high probability of being bald (and staying bald for awhile), I figured I would start her hair accessories now! These are from a great (and inexpensive) website I found where you can mix and match hats, headbands and flowers. The flowers are on little clips, so you just interchange them. I may have gone a little crazy, but now she will have colors to match everything :)







And we HAD to get matching headbands for football outfits, although we will see just how long I will allow her to wear that ugly black and gold one :)



Here is the belly at 30.5 weeks...




I am sure we will have a lot to report after next weekend. Our parents will be here, we will have had our baby shower, and our 32 week follow up with my doctor. Should be fun!!