33 weeks and happy halloween!

last weekend brought a whirlwind of activity. it started off with a halloween party with other teachers at our school. i decided against my uncle joe's idea of painting my abundant belly like a soccer ball and showing it off all night. sorry uncle joe...probably would have made for a unique costume, but not really my style :) instead, i dressed as mother nature, only needing to add a few of our house decorations to my comfy pregnancy clothes. jason went as father time. he spent significant time watching tutorials on how to wrap the sheet "just right", like a toga of sorts. it was a proud, shining moment for him when the sheet stayed up. the trickiest part of his costume was how to make him age substantially without the help of a costume store. i think you'll appreciate mama's suggestion...don't worry it's a new mop! here we are...

and here we are with our friends...

this past weekend we also spent some time "nesting", as some would call it. i shopped and bought the grocery store almost out of stock of their gluten free baking mixes. i have enough to make bread, muffins, brownies, scones, pancakes... you name it, for the first few months of this baby's life. :) we also cleaned and assembled the car seat that a co-worker is loaning us while we are here. we bought one for ourselves a few weeks ago, only to learn that, although it was a graco, it was only manufactured for the UK and so it would be impossible to get attachments parts and the base for the car in the States. we quickly returned it and started the search for a loaner. we're super grateful from the response of a few teachers who were willing to lend us one until we go home in june and can buy one for ourselves. it's even cute and gender neutral, and will always remind me of my friend dani, who is obsessed with owls! :) jason also assembled the pack and play we brought down as the one stop shop for this baby. it has a raised bassinet, an attached changing table and a vibrating chair. it's pretty fun to see a few more signs around the house of the changes we are soon to experience. the babies clothes are washed and put away. we have some diapers and wipes and other essential "first days" items. now we wait for the bundle to arrive. man i wish it were being dropped off by a stork :) our last bit of nesting was to put up our christmas decorations. early? yes, i know... but i have been having more and more labor related dreams and i even saw our sweet little face in my dreams last week, so hard not to think our days are numbered. i have always been a little over-prepared, why stop now? the christmas decorations help us to feel a little more at home here, and will give the house a nice sparkling, glow when we bring home our december baby. more pics to come...

and now some baby talk... Cambios & Noticias as we finish 33 weeks and begin 34...

the baby is now measuring about 5 pounds, about the weight of a cantaloupe (via ultrasound) and continues to show wonderful growth and overall development. as far as moving goes, "when is the baby not moving?" would be a better question. jason's pretty excited to raise a soccer play, I'm thinking more along the lines of latin dancer or swimmer, but somehow we know all of this moving will go to good use at some point. for now, all the moving keeps me on my toes, and stops me from getting a full night's sleep. my guess is those days are long gone, at least for a while- a small price to pay for all the joy that is to come! oh, and the baby definitely loves music. not a surprise to me either and our musical family. the moving picks up quite a bit whenever we listen to music, or even when we're just talking to each other as we lay in bed. it's like the baby doesn't want to be left out... "don't forget about me! i'm here, too!" at least that's what we imagine is going on. all this to say, we're getting pretty excited to meet this little bambino/a! 49 days until d-day. seriously, goodness!

we had an appointment yesterday and learned that the contractions i have been feeling are stronger and more regular than i had realized. after monitoring me for 20 minutes, and 9 strong contractions later, dr. bueso ordered me to bed rest until at least the end of the week. he if following up with some infections i have been fighting and will stop by for a house visit sometime today to check on my contractions. good news is, although the baby rotated over and is in position, head down (has been for several weeks now), my cervix is still closed and the baby is not "engaged"...whatever that means ;). his hope is that with some medication and a lot of rest my contractions will stop or slow down enough to avoid pre-term labor. he said he wants this baby to stay warm and cozy in my uterus for at minimum three more weeks.

my mind is kind of all over the place with all this. i have had a sneaking suspicion i wouldn't make it all the way to december 19 (sorry jacqueline), but this child has been growing so much and is so active (and i feel so huge), that i couldn't imagine carrying this load for a full 40 weeks. i was also born a month early (surprising, i know), so it's always been a possibility in my mind. but, i'm definitely not ready now! for today we're hoping and praying for another month of a healthy pregnancy, but in the same breath trying to trust in will of our creator god, who allowed this miracle in our lives 8 1/2 months ago. we know his ways are not our own, but are always good, and are finding rest in that truth alone.

my crazy talented sister... part II

how am i so lucky to have not one, but two crazy talented sisters? i haven't been the most stellar big sister, not always realizing and celebrating the gifts and abilities that my sisters have. sorry for that. but, now i am making up for lost time, i guess :)

here's a sneak peak at the amazingly, adorable gifts my sister liz made for her little sobrino/a. she even made sure everything was gender neutral since we have wanted to keep the gender of bambino/a a surprise to everyone... even us! sorry for the sub-par pictures, they definitely do not do her handiwork justice. here goes. and yes, she is "for hire". :)

hand-painted and stenciled onsies

one in a million toys: ribbon blanket and rattle

the boppy cover

baby bloomers

more baby bloomers

a baby burrito bag

insert bambino

thanks larm! i am so sure bambino will love all of his/her stylish clothes... keep up the good work!

my crazy talented sister

which one? great question... for this post i am going to showcase the amazing talent of my sister Joey. (you're welcome sister) :) dancer, performer, writer, creator... to name a few talents. but the talent i have personally benefited the most from is her skill in photography. she graciously took jason and my unofficial engagement pictures (about a month earlier than our actual engagement, but that's a story for another day...) and then created our save the dates and other wedding related propaganda ;) these pictures are some of my most cherished and favorite pictures of us together. love you sister!

here's a peek at some of your (and your then fiancé's) amazing work from back in the day (nov 2008 to be exact) ... there are a lot, it was too hard to decide which i like the best :)

like what you see? here are some more recent ones. jason and i had the amazing privilege to visit my sister and brother-in-law this summer in virginia beach. they were amazing hosts and showed us a great time! if you need a vacation spot, i highly recommend the havenner's place in va beach. :) in the midst of all the fun, they found time and inspiration to help jason and i document our first pregnancy journey. so here are some shots from that time, again... there are a lot.

18 weeks and in the middle of my second trimester.

baby-mooning & 31 weeks

we are about to finish 31 weeks of pregnancy. with 2 months to go before we get to meet our little bambino, we decided now was as good of a time as any to take one final trip. a baby moon, if you will. we had a three day weekend from school and a recommendation from friends to see Rio Dulce, Guatemala. it was described as chill, comfortable, beautiful and relaxing. what more could an tired, often crabby and increasingly uncomfortable, 8 month-pregnant lady want? right?! if you're ever traveling through guatemala, El Tortugal in Rio Dulce is a must stop! check it out... we were able to stay in la casita elegante, truly elegant.

here we are after our 5-ish hour long bus ride happy and ready to see the rest of Rio Dulce...our "lancha" (river taxi) was about to show up and whisk us away to river paradise

la casa elegante...elegant is an understatement. this was truly natural, eco-friendly, river-lodge...yet comfortable and classy!

our relaxing river stroll along the Rio Dulce to see a castle/fort from the 1500's

here's jason enjoying the view from the highest point of the castle

the updated bump

our sweet little face...

and now some updates all about bambino...Cambios y Noticios

It's been quite the trend lately, but bambino has grown quite a bit! He/she is between 18-19 inches long and over 3 pounds (imagine the weight of holding four large oranges). Our doctor measured our little kicker's foot, and it's quite long already. He said bambino's length is close to what we'll see on d-day, and from now on he/she is going to start packing on the pounds. goodness.

Another constant. the moving. this baby is quite the kicker. we've been blessed with a pretty steady show of flipping, kicking, punching and swimming. my stomach has also been showing off some pretty strange shapes as well. one of my students explained during class this past week, "miss! what's happening to your stomach!?" :) it feels like we (bambino and i) are on a constant stage now. a lot of staring, touching my stomach and "como estan los dos?" (how are you two doing?) questions are daily reminders (as if i needed any) of this pregnancy and soon to be birth day for bambino.

how am i feeling? well a lot more of the same. it's hard to find a part of my body that isn't feeling the pressure, strain and added weight of pregnancy. i've gained 26 pounds so far and it feels like it constantly pulling down on my ever-growing belly. i've been suffering from a couple different bacterial infections the past couple of weeks, and am on my second round of antibiotics trying to kick it. i'm fundamentally against antibiotics and had high hopes to be 100% natural in this process. my doctor (and mom) assured me the antibiotics were necessary to attack the infections and the consequences of the bacteria growing and spreading were far more dangerous than fighting the infections with antibiotics. as far as we know, and from all of our appointments, this baby is quite healthy. it's a miracle really.

i was reminded this week in light of a serious pregnancy scare my friend experienced, just how fortunate we are in this process. i've hoped and waited for years for the blessing of pregnancy. medically speaking, the messages i had been given about the chances of a healthy pregnancy (if at all) were unlikely at best. from the moment we learned we may be pregnant, we accepted the news with a lot of joy and an equal amount of reservation, and even a little fear. from appointment to appointment and week to week, we prayed and hoped and crossed our fingers that we would hear good news. now, 31 weeks in, i have already forgotten what that felt like. i no longer walk into dr. bueso's office reserved and nervous, while holding my breath until we hear that heartbeat. today, i'm given the gift of assurance of what is unseen. god has strengthened my faith amazingly through this. my faith, however, was shaken this week when we heard the scary and uncertain news of my friend. thankfully, today we know that her treatment is working and she'll likely experience a full term pregnancy and deliver a very healthy baby. the blessing in this for me is that i am reminded of the grace and provision god has lavished upon our little growing family. i am reminded of my need to express regular and authentic gratitude to god for all that he gives, good or bad, whether we understand what he gives or not. i am reminded that i need to embrace and enjoy each step in this process. we are never guaranteed the end, the result we dream about and plan for. all we know for sure is that when we commit our hearts and our wills to the glory of god, he will work all things for our good. he is sovereign. in that i am sure. i will love, honor and thank him in all things and through all circumstances. so as our due date quickly approaches, we recognize the sacredness of this pregnancy and of all pregnancies. the gift of new life is one only god can provide. so we offer this child, born or unborn to the will and protection of he who can give and take away and remain completely holy and good, true to his promise of grace.