Peanut and the weather

I am officially 31 weeks pregnant - that translates to over 7 1/2 months. It's getting very strange to think that she'll be here in about 9 weeks. Time is certainly starting to speed up. We are continuing to pray for a healthy peanut who shows up right on time :-) we'll see! She is getting her work outs in already. Sandy and I spend a lot of time these days just sitting on the couch watching my belly move. We can't quite tell which part of her is moving and shaking, but it's strange. We've been enjoying her very much. She had her first round of the hiccups today (or the first I've noticed). That was fun too.

7 1/2 months

This morning we woke up to snow! It was just a bit, but considering that it's the end of April and this is Eugene - this is just not normal. My poor hyacinth are not quite sure what hit them (that would be hail). I was grateful for the weird weather yesterday when I was doing paperwork. It's easier to stay inside and work when you don't want to be outside. I'm certainly excited for it to warm up a bit!

A view from our window

One plant standing, the other......not!

Congratulations Cami and Dave

I finally brought my computer home and can now blog about my sister’s wedding. Sandy and I were so honored to have been a part of it. We drove up last Wednesday for Cami’s bridal shower. A good size chunk of Dave’s family was there as well as a group from Walla Walla. We had a wonderful, funny time. It was so great to get to celebrate Cami J The next few days were full of small projects, decorating and generally preparing. My mom was amazing and did a TON of work. Friday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The church was decorated with Christmas trees and birch tree branches. It looked like they were getting married on a mountain and the Christmas trees made the whole church smell wonderfully. Dave’s family provided us with a tremendous rehearsal dinner. We felt very fancy.
The wedding day dawned early (as it does with an 11:00 wedding). Cami had done a wonderful job of planning and there was plenty of time for everything. She was absolutely stunning! Her dress was beautiful and then mom made a lace overlay for the top. So far I don’t have any pictures of the whole dress (sheesh, I know). But it’s really really pretty. We took pictures (which will hopefully follow soon) and got to enjoying each other before the ceremony. Both Dave and Cami have been and are actively involved in choirs (Cami is the Director of Music at a few elementary schools). They included several selections of music throughout their ceremony making it beautiful and very unique.
At the end of the wedding, they organized everyone for a picture which was taken from the balcony. I’m so excited to see how it turned out. Then it was off to the reception. They had a wonderful brunch buffet including an omlette bar (which Sandy was partial to). Each table was named after a mountain or other outdoor place they had been. Dave is a pretty major mountain climber. They also had clipboards (a nod to Cami’s teacher job) with games and recipes. The recipes were family cookie recipes from each of their families. Next to the cake table, they had ten cookie jars with those same family recipes. They even had cookie bags for people to take some home. We took some more family pictures and generally enjoyed each other.
The upside to a morning wedding is that you have the whole rest of the day. Much of the Snavely side (Nicole’s mom) was in town, so we had a mini-family reunion that afternoon. My (Nicole) cousin Jill is expecting her third child in May. We haven’t been around each other when we’ve been pregnant, so that was fun. Plus, they generously brought us boxes of the girl’s hand-me-downs. I’m excited to sort through them and get them settled in Peanut’s dresser. It’s always so great having extended family together. I think I particularly enjoy it now that we don’t live in the same town as any of them. We stayed up waaaay too late that night talking, but it was worth it.
The next morning we had a brunch at my parent’s house. Cami and Dave came over as did Dave’s immediate family. We ate, enjoyed some more good conversation and watched as Cami and Dave opened presents. It was a peaceful ending to the long weekend. Sandy and I drove home Sunday afternoon/evening and I basically fell into bed that nights.
Dave and Cami have quite the summer planned and I’ll keep you posted on other fun family things. Here are the best of the pictures I have. Dave’s sister Jenny is going to be sending around a thumb drive so we can all add our pictures – that way Dave and Cami end up with everybody’s shots. I’m planning on stealing the pictures as they come to me J

Whoo-hoo. My hair in curlers

Trees in the church

Oooh!

Isle decorations - baby's breath stinks :-)

The work crew

Back of Cami's dress (the part mom made)

Cami and Dave

Cutting the cake

Me with the sibs (Tim is getting married in August-hurray)

Mom and Cami

Quick Note

Well, here I am with a quick note. Sandy and I spent a good chunk of this last week and weekend in Walla Walla for my sister's wedding. I have lots to write about it and lots of beautiful pictures, but I need my computer for that - and it is at work. Hopefully, tomorrow or Wednesday will work to get that story blogged. Needless to say, it was wonderful. Cami was gorgeous, Dave was dashing and the whole event, beautiful. I'm excited for you to see it all.
Until then, I'll have to tell you about Peanut. Two weeks ago, I did the glucose test at my doctor's office. Today I asked for the results. My doctor said, (jokingly) "Did you even drink that stuff? You have an amazing pancreas." Whoo-hoo. I have an amazing pancreas. My blood pressure is low like always and Peanut's heartbeat sounds perfect. I'm excited for my next few appointments.
She continues to try to kick out through my belly button and I'm ever watchful as my inny slowly becomes an outie....strange!

Peanut's Room

We've been working hard on the house this week. I wanted to post some pictures of her room so far. I also finished the last two of the paintings that I'm copying. I realized that the hippo needs some help on his back legs....I'm sure I'll get to it :-) I painted the monkey light switch during a small group evening.
I'll post some pictures of the living room tomorrow, once we get the old bookcases out of it!

Peanut's room

The other side of Peanut's room

The Lion (whose head seems to be
falling off :-)

The hippo

Monkey light switch

Work and Play

We've had a full past few days! We've done a lot preparing for peanut. Sandy has been building tons of stuff - the crib and a bookshelf. I helped enough to get some pictures taken :-) We're heading up to Portland tomorrow to pick up a couch and another bookcase. Yeah, it's hard core nesting time. The Carsons are letting us use their van. Thanks Carsons!
We took a break on Tuesday and took the boxes from the stroller over to the Greens. Macey was a little shy at first, but then spent most of her time trying to climb on top. Ethan crawled right in after we threw his pacifier in there. He thought it was the funniest thing to peek at all the adults through the windows. Good times were had by all.
Then, Jon came over late this afternoon to help us get rid of our old, dirty, holey couches. They're too gross and broken to give to Goodwill and our apartment managers said we could just throw them in the dumpster. Jon and Sandy hauled them out in the truck and then threw them overboard. We are now ready for our new couch and excited to host group at our house next week. Fun fun!

Sandy building a chair

Sandy with a finished bookshelf.

I helped a ton and held up the rail
(It's the lightest thing ever...ssshhh)

Ethan's hand was stuck in this water bottle
with his hand wedged in there with a toy.
He didn't seem to mind and may have
spent his whole nap like that. Talk
about mellow.

Ethan in a box.

Ethan very happy to be in a box.

Macey trying to climb out of a window.

Macey trying to climb into Ethan's window.

Jon and Sandy dumping a couch
(If the video works)

Happy Easter

Happy late Easter! Sandy and I chose this weekend to go on a vacation. It had been a very long time since we had been able to go on a vacation. We decided to take advantage of our coinciding spring breaks to get away (before the baby comes :-) We drove up to Lincoln City on Saturday morning. We arrived several hours before we could check in to our hotel. We hit up the Outlets...so fun. They don't have any maternity stores, but I had fun shopping for Sandy and the baby. Also, the Eddie Bauer outlet does not have public bathrooms, but if you look really pregnant, they'll let you use the staff bathroom (thank goodness). We then went and checked in to our hotel. It's right on the beach and our room had a partial view - which means that we are on the side of the building. We could see the ocean from our room, but we could also we all of the people who walked past. It's a great little place and has recently been remodeled. All in all it was the perfect getaway. We did laugh when we walked in because there were rose petals all over the place :-)
After checking in, we then went to look for the tidepools. This summer I (Nicole) had a family reunion in Lincoln City. Uncle Paul took us all to some great tide pools. So, we went hunting for them and found them hurray! Note to self - tide pools are way more fun in the summer. I pretty much stayed off the rocks because I didn't want to fall. Sandy, who loves to hunt for things, scurried all over them. I amused myself by looking for shells to use in a mosaic project back home. I also took pictures of whatever was around (including my belly - pictures below). After the tide pools, we went back to the hotel.
Easter dawned a very wet, windy day. We spent most of the day inside being lazy. We've discovered that having a whole day devoted to laziness is wonderful because by the end of the day we're really ready to do anything else. We are very productive following lazy days.
On Monday we drove up to Portland to Ikea for a scouting mission. We'll hopefully be going back on Friday. I'll be posting some more pictures this week of (mostly Sandy) building fun stuff for the baby's room.

Our little hotel room...with roses!

Sandy and I on the beach!

Sandy on the beach. I LOVE this photo.
(It's his CD cover shot :-)

Sandy in silhouette

Me and the belly

Ooohhh, pretty water

I had planned on taking a picture of my feet.
Here's what I saw!

There they are. I had to lean over a bit to find them :-)

Highlights

I just got some more pictures off of my camer and decided to post them - a few fun things from the past weeks. I also just glanced at the countdown; 98 days until Peanut's arrival. When Sandy first posted that countdown, it seemed like it would take forever for her to get here. Now, it's all starting to feel fast. It's the same as waiting for anything, I'm sure.
This week was the first time when we were able to see her kick. It's a very very strange thing to watch your stomach move. I'm glad for it because Sandy has finally been able to feel her move. I've tried to get some video of her kicking, but she seems to be very shy! Hopefully, I'll get some soon :-)
The first of these pictures is of my Wednesday small group fun night. We went to Potter's Quarter and ColdStone. We had a lot of fun and everyone's projects turned out very well. Try as I might, I couldn't get a picture where everyone had their eyes open. Ah well!

Painting our treasures!

Coldstone is soooo delicious! Although eating it outside
in February was a bit chilly.

This is me at six months. The belly keeps growing!

I spent a good part of last Saturday working on my patio garden. I still need
to wait for several of my plants as it is still a bit too early for them (even
though I'm ready for them now :-) It was so nice to clean up the patio and
get some plants going. I love gardening - even in pots!

This is my Snapdragon that overwintered quite well and my new
Strawberry pot....ooooooh!

What a fun strawberry planter! I love it.