38 weeks... and still waiting!

Another two weeks has passed... now standing still at 38 weeks!

Things have not progressed too much... I had a few days of some contractions but nothing significant. My doctor appointments are still showing everything is going great for Baby BOG and me... so we are just "patiently" waiting!

Frank and I are still hoping for a 2011 baby... :-)

Love to you all!

Christmas Fun!

I hope you all had a very Merry and Blessed Christmas holiday!

Frank and I celebrated our holiday together on Christmas Eve evening and Christmas Day was spent with the family. However... we did give McGraw and Kayla their gifts Christmas Eve afternoon...







Frank and I got some really awesome gifts from each other as well as his parents. There were very sweet and generous to have sent us gifts... that we will definitely enjoy!

On Christmas Day we went to my parents house early in the morning to open gifts with Zane (my nephew). He was so excited for all of the gifts from his Mom, grandparents, aunts and even Santa! Here are a few photos of his morning:









After the excitement settled, Hilary, Frank and I prepared breakfast for the family... biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, waffles, muffins... YUM!! "Traditionally" my dad makes breakfast on the holidays with pancakes, eggs, bacon, etc. For some reason, he decided to sit this year out! Hopefully this is not the NEW tradition...

Following the fulfillment of breakfast... we moved into the living room and played our tradition of the Chinese Gift Exchange. Consisting of drawing a number and picking a gift or stealing a gift until all numbers have palyed out! I was excited to end with four large variety bags of my favorite candy... M&Ms!!

A few of us decided to go the movies... watched "We Bought a Zoo". HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT... very sweet and loving movie. I could see the kids enjoying it as well.

The evening was a litle less eventful with a light dinner and a game and then home we went... and in the bed! Overall... it was a great day spending time with family and just being in each others presence. That's the best tradition that we can have!

Lots to Share!

So here we are... week 36... There has been a lot going on these past couple of weeks so I better get started on the updates!



The force of a smile... at least I tried!

BABY BOG... and I had a doctor's visit this morning. His/Her heartbeat was 148, my blood pressure was 110/68 and of course a couple of pounds gained! The doctor was very pleased with the checkup and stated that he would be happy with an arrival at any time :-) We were very excited to hear that as well!!

FAMILY TRADITIONS...
It has become tradition for our family/sisters to gather for an Annual Bake Cookies Day in December to give out to family, friends, co-workers, etc. YUMMM... this has become my favorite day of the year!! This year we did our baking the first weekend of December knowing the rest of the month would be busy... and unexpected things could happen :-)

Here are some photos of the day...







The first weekend of December, Frank and I also went and picked out our tree! We intended to go to the mountains of N.C., however, with the long day of Baking Cookies, we decided to just go to a local store to find a fresh cut tree (or the closest to it!). Of course you have to let it sit for a few days befor you can decorate... so we did. Here is our tree :-)



It would probably be a prettier photo if the lights were on... but I definitely was not thinking of that when I took the picture.

Because there is not enough excitement heading our way... Frank and I have been looking and talking about new living room furniture for months. When Thanksgiving came around and the Black Friday shopping spree... there was a specific tv Frank wanted to purchase. However, after discussing the "what if" purchase we finally decided to take the plunge and get new living room furniture vs the pointless purchase of a tv. We are definitely happy about our selection... it adds light and additional space to the room!





HAPPY BIRTHDAY... my sister, Hilary, will be turning 30 on December 22! YEAH!! Since that falls around the Christmas holiday, she wanted to celebrate a couple of weeks early to have as many friends and family around her to celebrate. We all met up at Azteca (her favorite mexican restaurant) and then afterwards some went to a friends house to continue the celebration. Of course I wish I could have... but I would have been no fun sitting on a couch falling asleep! HERE'S THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!







THIS WEEKEND... will be full of fun festivities as well! I will be making gingerbread sandwich cookies and decorating them with my nephew, Zane, as well as getting together with friends for our Annual Christmas Party! I am definitely looking forward to spending time with family and friends for the next few weeks, as it could all come to halt when Baby BOG arrives... he/she will be getting ALL of my attention for a little bit :-)

I will be in touch next week...

34 Weeks... and completed Nursery!

So... 34 weeks... and I am already hoping for Baby B.O.G. to arrive soon after Christmas! OK... so maybe we have been hoping for this since the beginning... but I am definitely wanting this now! Here are a few of the reasons I can think of:

1. I have reached the 30 lb mark of weight gain... and it doesn't help that I feel like I am constantly eating!
2. My back has been aching for what seems like non-stop since a few days prior to Thanksgiving... and no, my constant walks do not help, they just subside the pain for a short period of time.
3. My cloths feel like they are shrinking and I don't want to spend additional money on maternity clothes... nor can I wear yoga pants and a sweat shirt to work everyday!
4. I can barely bend to tie my shoes.. or bend at all!
5. My hips crackle everytime I get up from sitting or lying down
6. I can barely breathe at times
7. I even feel more moody/irritable in general and I am trying to keep that tamed as to not offend anyone.

OK... so I said I had a "few" complaints and listed a little more... but I am enjoying the pregnancy. Every minute of it... and every movement of it! And I still consider myself to have had a pretty easy pregnancy. Just a few minor glitches in these last few weeks...

Baby B.O.G. had his/her check up today and everything went great (as always!). Baby was calm with a heartbeat of 144 and Baby B.O.G. continues to be active... especially at 4am!!

Frank and I have also been working on getting the nursery set and all of the clothes and items washed and ready for Baby B.O.G.s arrival. There are only a few items left to tend to... mainly bottles and bags to pack. I love going into the nursery and sitting in the chair and just relaxing... it does seem to calm me!





We are hoping to enjoy these next few weeks of not doing a lot except for getting ready for the Christmas holiday and spending time with family and friends. We are getting our tree this weekend and decorating the house... I will post photos when we are finished!

I may be posting weekly after this week... and watch out... because I may even post more often in general! :-)

Love to you all!