Little Underwood, Big Harte

Stefan and I are back from our grand adventures visiting family. Stefan's parents joined him in spending a week in Eastern Canada. They were thrilled to celebrate his great aunt's 95th birthday with her and their relatives. What a blessing that she is doing great! I don't have any pictures of this trip yet from Stefan, but hope to get some! I was able to go to MI to have Thanksgiving with my family and be spoiled by a shower with my Dad's family and some long-time friends. Here are a few pictures as a teaser, but to see all of them check out the album here ! THANKS to Mom and Caitlin for hosting such a great afternoon and many thanks to those who were able to make it there. These gatherings mean so much to me, especially when I live so far away!  Adorable cake - and oh so good! Andrew painted this decoration that can now be used in the nursery. Look familiar? He used pics from the nursery to paint these little guys to match - love it! Shower hosts...

Our latest pic of Baby U! Week 26 We had our follow up visit at the high-risk doctor on Wednesday afternoon. We got the full anatomy scan again and everything looks good! Growth was right on track and the slightly enlarged kidney stayed pretty much the same. They want us back one more time in January, so we'll check with our regular doc to see if we need to go back to them or if she can do that last growth check. Now we are both of for some holiday family time! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Here we go, the finished paintings for the nursery! As a reminder here is the  post  about the nursery theme. Without further ado, the main nursery artwork ... As a reminder, here is the crib bedding. Inspiration #1 Inspiration #2 Inspiration #3 Step #1 Drawings Step #2 "washed" background and painted critters. Step #3 completed paintings (and yep a crib - we are getting there)!

We had a regularly scheduled appointment with our doctor this morning - and to answer many of my friends, no we didn't cave and find out the gender! But, we did get the word all is still going great. Weight is right on track (whew), blood pressure still staying steady, belly measuring perfectly for 25 weeks, and the baby's heart rate was 145. We reviewed our plan for the rest of the pregnancy as we approach the third trimester. We'll be having lots of appointments and will be starting the bi-weekly ones slightly earlier than most. Next week we head to back to the high-risk doc for another full anatomy scan to make sure everything is still on track and the blood clotting disorder hasn't come into play. Everything points to it going well, so we are looking forward to confirming that (and seeing our squirming little one again - there has been lots more movement lately!). I'll do the lab work for the gestational diabetes screening next week as well before I get to...

23 weeks one day shy of 24 weeks - 6 months! There was some confusion, yes I did paint this on myself. Was quite comical actually doing it upside down and in the mirror ;)

"Green is the color of ... nature, fertility, life. Grass green is the most restful color. Green symbolizes self-respect and well being.  Green is the color of ... balance. It also means learning, growth and harmony. Green is a safe color, if you don't know what color to use anywhere use green." Green is the color of ... our nursery! We painted it this weekend. Even though we are in a rental, we know we'll be here for at least another year and our landlords were completely fine with us painting. The light green matches the gender neutral Aussie bedding we are using. From white to green! The lighting isn't great so the colors are a bit off but it gives you an idea anyway. The other two walls are the light green as well. As for my artwork update. The critters are painted and now I'm struggling with what to do with the backgrounds (and if you are an painter you know that is somewhat backwards since it is easier to paint the background first but oh well...

Nine hour road trip vs. pregnant lady and the pregnant lady won! We had a great long weekend celebrating our friends' wedding. Despite being anxious about that long of a car ride while pregnant with a blood clotting disorder and the need to use the bathroom more frequently these days (plus the back aches) I was pleasantly surprised how well I did. Thanks to our car mates, Tyler and Sara, for putting up with me, too! Alright see if you can follow this - Greg, the groom, worked with Stefan in Colorado Springs and now lives about 35 minutes from us in Florida! Tyler, who also worked with them in Colorado Springs now works with Greg and lives nearby as well. Stefan and Tyler were honored to be groomsmen for Greg this weekend! Greg and Brooke had a beautiful ceremony in the fall countryside of Asheville, North Carolina. The setting was perfect and the couple stunning! Here's a few pics from the weekend and a few dressed up belly shots. Reception site. The ceremony was down b...