Showered with Love!

The weekend after Easter, my sisters threw an amazing baby shower to welcome Baby Moyes into the world. I was so impressed with all of the creativity that was behind the shower. There was a lovely buffet with fruit pizza, quiche and our great grandmother's coffee cake, along with some sweets of course! They set up stations for activities, which was a great idea because it allowed people to mingle while going around doing activities. I loved this because I could go talk to everyone and we weren't just sitting down playing games. Everyone decorated a onesie with iron-on fabric cut outs the girls put together. I was so impressed with the creativity and fun people had in designing their onesies. Another fun activity was "find the babies". Michelle had gone around and hid small little babies around the living and dining room in Shannon's house. I thought I did well when I counted 14 babies, little did I know there were actually 23 babies hidden around the two rooms. I think everyone had a wonderful time and Baby Moyes was showered with love. Everyone was so thoughtful in their gifts and we received some wonderful books to add to Baby's library. We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family, and are lucky to welcome our little one into such a loving community. And now, on to the pictures!

Baby Notes Box for Motherly Advice and the mini Babies that were hidden around the room

Yummy Food!

Couldn't resist putting this picture up. My nephew Jack getting love and crazy faces courtesy of Michelle!

How big is the belly??

Beautiful blanket my mom made for baby!

Jack and Kaile saying hello!

Wonderful Gonzaga friends and their two adorable children, Kaile and Charlie (We were missing 3 of us,  but everyone sent their love!!)

My sisters were all about holding the babies! Shannon with Charlie

Some of the onesies, people were so creative! Can't wait to dress Baby Moyes!

"Made in Oregon" onesie....my aunt had to question if this was true, HaHa!

Apparently we were all thinking Pink! With my Grandma and Mom.

My amazing sisters and hostesses! 

Pregnancy Photo Shoot

The weekend of Easter was gorgeous here in Portland. With all of my sisters being home for the holiday, I thought it was the perfect time to have a little pregnancy photo shoot. And we couldn't pass up the sunshine and 70+ degree weather. There is a spot in downtown PDX along the waterfront where we had our engagement and also some of our wedding photos taken. I couldn't think of a better spot to document the next big occasion in our lives. My sisters did a great job taking the pictures and helping with poses and lighting and we finished up in no time! Here are some of my favorite shots from the day! (These were taken at 30 weeks!)

Megan made me this adorable shirt for Christmas!

This shot is very similar to one of my favorite wedding photos!

Mark's shirt is a definition of a Dad, that Megan made!

Belly Photo Update!

I realized its been a while since I uploaded any belly pics, so here are some from the last month or so. 

26 Weeks

27 Weeks (realizing some days I don't look so pretty at the end of the day)

29 Weeks (eve of 30 weeks)

31 weeks!

This last pic is of our nephew Jack. We watched him one night so mom and dad could go out to dinner with friends. At one point while sitting on my lap he started touching my belly. He was so engrossed and seemed to be thinking "it so hard, I can't grab it". This went on for a good 5 minutes, its almost like he knew something, rather someONE was in there!

Thanking the Pregnancy Gods!

Everyday I wake up feeling good, I send up a little prayer to the pregnancy gods (although I'm pretty sure it all goes through God anyways). Overall this whole pregnancy I have felt really good, sometimes great! Of course there have been a few things like fatigue, the constant trips to the bathroom (subsided for now, but I know will be back), and a hightened gag reflex for a few months. But other than that, there wasn't any morning sickness (I thank my Mom for passing on those genes), I am still attending a weights class 2x a week, walking and generally feeling good. Looking over the last 7 months, it truly has been a blessing to be feeling so well. I think Mark is probably thankful that his wife hasn't had but a few hormone induced cry fests or anger outbursts and is feeling good. Otherwise, he would be hearing about it everyday!
I know as we get closer to this little one's arrival, I will become more and more uncomfortable, but I hope that by staying active it will help some.
I also have to give props to Mark for being the most supportive husband during this new adventure so far. He reminds me everyday how beautiful I am, despite some days where I don't feel so pretty, encourages me to keep working out and has been doing a wonderful job taking care of the three of us. He has been a blessing and I know this will only continue once the little munchkin arrives.
So, I'm thanking the pregnancy gods for what has been a good experience so far. While I wouldn't say I love being pregnant (although I love feeling the baby move and hearing his/her heartbeat), for me, its been a pretty easy road so far and everyday I continue to feel good, I am thankful.

Hello 3rd Trimester!

It's hard to believe that we are already into the 3rd trimester. I am thankful that I'm still feeling great and we can't wait to meet this little munchkin! We have attended child birth class, the nursery furniture is put together (with the exception of a chair and bookshelf/shelves), and baby is growing like a weed (at least that's what it seems like to me). Baby's movements have been getting stronger over the past week and sometimes I am left to wonder what exactly baby is doing inside mom! Here's to a good 3rd trimester! 

Dance Parties Everyday!

Now that baby is about 2 pounds and 14 1/2 inches long, his/her movements are so much stronger and I think more frequent. I have noticed at certain times of the day baby is super active for a short period of time, and then rests. These little dance parties are so fun to just sit and enjoy. Sometimes baby punches/kicks/wiggles on one side and then a second later there is a response from the opposite corner! I can't help but wonder what in the world is going on in there! The first time I noticed this two sided movement was at 4:30 in the morning and it was preventing me from going back to sleep! Mark has been able to feel more of the baby's movements during this time too, which is so fun. He didn't realize until he felt several kicks in a row how strong they can be sometimes. Keep on moving in their baby, we'll keep on enjoying your daily dance parties!

The Dreaded Pregnancy Glucose Test

I know usually this test is no big deal, but after hearing how "great" the glucose drink tastes, I wasn't looking forward to it. I purposely made my appointment for as early in the morning as possible because I knew it would be easier to not eat in the morning, than during the day. I woke up really hungry, and just sipped on some water on my way to the appointment. The glucose drink wasn't quite as bad as I thought. Yes it is super sugary, but it tasted like flat, orange soda with a sugary after taste. Then came the waiting game, they took blood at one hour and two hours after drinking the goodness, so I just sat in the waiting room and waited. I was able to catch up on Baby's journal during that time, but the drink gave me a bit of a headache and my stomach wasn't too happy with all of the sugar and no real food. After I was done, I made sure to eat my snack that I brought and stopped on the way home for some real food. I think baby really liked it when mom had some real food too as evidenced by the dance party in my belly!
I got the call yesterday that I passed, which means I don't have to do it again. In fact, I was able to look at my lab numbers and they were great! I did find out that I am a little anemic, so I've got to take an iron supplement, but that is merely a drop in the bucket compared to gestational diabetes!