Merry Christmas!!

Well, its been one amazing Christmas this year! Yiayia and papou got to come into town and stay through toda, which was a wonderful surprise considering they were supposed to leave sunday! we got to take them all around southeastern michigan and visit with tons of family and friends. it was great. we have pretty much gotten to celebrate christmas every day since friday! it has been a lot of fun watching people's reaction to my belly who haven't seen me in a while. luckily, yiayia and aunt nikki picked out some great new maternity clothes for me so i will be all set through the winter as i continue to grow! i will put a new belly picture up later this week.

speaking of pictures...as promised, here is a picture of chris with his beloved hot dog costume/"snowsuit".

if you happen to see chris, explain to him that this is not a snowsuit! here are some more holiday pictures for you too:

this is us with our new jeep stroller (and of course chris' hot dog outfit!) from my gsk work team. thanks guys!

proud yiayia and papou enjoying their visit!

well, that's all for now. time to get ready for more christmas celebration. we wish you a safe and happy holiday!

love, c, c, and bp

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

well chris and i are definitely snowed in today! depending on where you look, there is anywhere between 6 and 10 inches of snow around our house...so far! and it keeps snowing and the wind keeps blowing. chris snowblowed the driveway and by the time he was done with the sidewalks, the driveway needed to be cleared again! crazy crazy. good thing i have him to do all those tough chores for me. also a good thing i am not due this week!!
the baby has been moving around a ton lately. she is beyond kicking and it feels like she keeps doing barrel rolls. it's really a crazy feeling. to be honest, sometimes it weirds me out...sometimes when i have my hand on my stomach i can feel an elbow or a knee or something move across it. i don't know, something about the distinct-ness of a body part gets your mind going that there is something living and moving inside you. it's kind of weird when you think about it! so i try not to think about it :o)
i have a check up tomorrow so i will be sure to keep you posted.
oh, and we got the baby a beautiful dress for aunt nikki's wedding in may! we just have to keep our fingers crossed that she fits into it. i'll try to take a picture of it...and i still owe you a picture of the hot dog outfit. chris keeps threatening to use it as her snowsuit. if you see him, please tell him he is ridiculous!!

love you all! stay warm and safe!
c and bp

Geez

Wow, another whole week passed with no updates! Well, I apologize. Chris and I were pretty pitiful last week though. We both came home with bad colds and spent most of the week whining and laying on the couch...at least when I wasn't warpping presents or trying to finish all of my work stuff. Work is always a little crazier at the end of the year. This year is especially tough though because I have two contracts that I am trying to make sure I complete, AND starting in January I am selling two new products (new to me anyway). So aside from all the end of the year work, I have to do new product training. AND we have a new person on our team that overlaps a product with me, so I have to put together a plan for her, and try to help her get organized so that she knows where she is going in January. Whew!!
On the bright side, YiaYia and Papou came into town over the weekend and we went up north to celebrate an early Christmas. It was really nice to see everyone on my mom's side. And Great-Gram and Aunt Nikki both got to feel the baby kick (hard!). I tell you what, that lil girl is definitely taking after her parents. She is either going to be a soccer player or a drummer with all the kicking she does. Maybe she'll be able to play double bass pedal by the time she can walk. Wouldn't daddy be proud?! Speaking of daddy, Chris and I stopped by the Old Navy outlet up north and wouldn't you know it, the halloween costumes were on sale. So Chris bought his daughter a hot dog costume for $5 and he cannot wait to put her in it! I'll have to take a picture and put it up here so you can see it. Its ridiculous.
Welp, I guess that's it for now. I am going to warn you that this week is going to be crazy too. I have class tonight, a dinner program tomorrow, Aunt Steph is coming over Thursday and Friday I am taking her to the airport then Saturday I am baking all day and going out on a date (imagine that!) at night. So I cannot guarantee another update this week. But for you, I will do my best. Take care and stay warm!
c and bp

Random Updates

It's guy's night at my house tonight (monday night football is always a good excuse to really play super nintendo) so I thought I would sit down and give you all some updates on random things. How does that sound?

First, I had my monthly checkup today and everything went fine. I am still gaining weight at a barely acceptable level, but I am gaining. My blood pressure has been close to my pre-pregnancy pressure the entire time. And I measured within the range for 28 weeks (I don't know if you remember but at my last appointment I measured bigger than I should have). I got a shot today because Chris' blood is rh positive and mine is rh negative. It can be a concern during delivery because if the baby's blood is rh positive, my body can start to make antibodies that fight the baby's blood. So the doctor will test the baby's blood after she is born; if she is positive I will get another shot, if she is negative then we are both safe. From now on I have checkups every two weeks. Oh, and I got a bunch of hospital information today (what to pack, where to go, etc.). So I took that as a hint that this baby is coming fairly soon! How crazy to think not only how close we are getting but how quickly the past six months have flown by!

Aside from my checkup, I have been feeling a little better lately. Although now that my stomach issues are settling down, of course something had to take its place: my back is starting to hurt pretty bad. If I sit for too long my ribs begin to ache. Then when I stand up, it takes a while for my back to straighten out and it is pretty sore towards my hips. I feel like an old man who can't stand up straight! I have been going to my chiropractor every month; I may start going more often to see if that helps. And I found some good stretches for moms-to-be so I am going to start doing those twice a day. Hopefully I can manage okay.

Other updates are that we scheduled a tour of the Birthing Center at St. Joe's. I think you can check it out if you want at http://www.sjmercyhealth.org/ and then click on Family Birth Center under the Video Tour button. We also registered for our childbirth prep class, but all the classes in January were full so we aren't going until the beginning of February. Hopefully the baby will behave herself and stay put at least until after the class!!

Finally, Chris and I started our baby registry for those of you who have been asking. We have one at Target and one at Babies R Us. You can search for our registries online if you want. (If you notice a lot of green John Deere toys, I bet you know who to talk to about that:o) ).

Well I think that is enough blabbering for now. Time to finish some laundry and head to bed. Have a wonderful week!!

love cb and bp

As promised...

new belly picture to the right...

preliminary nursery picture below...

*nursery courtesy of bp's daddy and grandpa - my two knights in shining armor*

let us know if you have any suggestions for accent colors (yes, i am aware of pink) or wall designs.

love you all!

cb, cp, and bp