32 Weeks

Time is starting to drag a little. The first 10 weeks of pregnancy went very slow. I was hesitant to get too excited because I was afraid that something would happen. Once the summer came, time started to fly. Now, as we approach the home stretch, things are slowing down again. I suppose that is a good thing since we have a lot to do between now and Bud's birth. But, we are just so excited to meet this little person that it is hard to be patient. Each week, I continue to get a little bigger. My belly button has fully popped out now. It looks like I have another nose sticking out of my belly. Sometimes, it makes me a little self-conscious that it sticks out so much; but it's kind of fun too. I received a flu shot yesterday. Since I am pregnant during flu season, I am in a high risk category. I've never had a flu shot before. It hurt a little, but that little momentary pain was nothing in comparison to how awful I'd feel if I got the flu.

31 Weeks 

Weeks 30 and 31

I'm finally current on my belly pictures. What you see is what I look like. There doesn't appear to be too much change in the past two weeks, but I'm definitely feeling bigger. I had a doctor appt. last week where I discovered that I gained 10 lbs. since the last visit! Yikes!!! I'm still in a healthy weight range and think most of the weight was baby related (and maybe just a little bit was from me caving in to my sweet tooth). As long as I don't have a weight jump like that every time I see the doctor, we should be alright. My regular OBGYN had a baby on Labor Day. So, I've been seeing different doctors in the practice. It is good for me to get to know all of the different doctors since I will get whoever is on call when I go in to labor. The doctor I had last listened to the baby's heart rate and predicted that we are having a boy. The rate was in the 130-140s. A normal heart rate is anywhere from 120-180s. Apparently, boys tend to have lower heart rates than girls. Of course, this doctor did say that we could also have a girl who was sleeping at the time the heart rate was measured. I guess we'll just all have to wait and see!

Here we are exploring Cemetary Ridge. There was so much to see and we probably didn't get to half of it.  

Here is the statue of General George G. Meade. He was the Captain of the Union army during the Battle of Gettysberg and is also an ancestor of Tim Meade, our brother-in-law.  

Our nephew, Jacob, waving at General Meade. There was a flag stuck in the ground in front of the statue of Meade. Jacob picked it up and started waving it around. We snapped a picture of him as he waved at the "horsie". Too cute.  

We spent some time at a museum where Andy enjoyed seeing the various guns that were used during the Battle at Gettysberg. The one he liked the most was the sharp shooter. Later in the day, while we were exploring Cemetary Ridge, he found a statue of a division named '1st Andrew Sharp-Shooters'. Another neat thing about the statue is the quote at the bottom, "In God we put our trust but we kept our powder dry." One of Andy's dad's favorite sayings is "Keep your powder dry." When we saw that, we just had to take a picture of it.

The Kilps/Meade Family Visit

Last Friday, Andy's parents and his sister Laura, her husband, Tim, and their son, Jacob came out to Pennsylvania to visit us. Unfortunately for them, the weather decided to turn sour just as their trip began. It rained for their whole trip out here as well as the whole time they were here. In the midst of that, we still managed to have some fun. Saturday and Sunday were both pretty relaxing days of just hanging out. We tried to show them around town, but with all the rain, there was some flooding in areas and power outages in others. On Monday, we took a trip to Gettysberg. We had a good time exploring and eating at Lincoln's Diner. Other places that were visited include Lititz, Valley Forge, and Philadelphia. We only managed to get pictures at Gettysberg. It was fun to see family and spend a little time together. Next time we see them, our baby will be here!

Here are my 29 week pregnancy pictures. I'm actually 30 weeks pregnant, but haven't gotten that picture taken yet. I guess things have been a little busy around here. My belly is really sticking out now. I feel like it took forever to finally start looking pregnant. Now, my belly has taken over! I'm so big! I can't imagine getting any bigger, although I know that this is just the beginning of the really big stage. Along with my growth has come a few pregnancy aches. My lower back has really started hurting. It's not a constant pain, but can really be severe at times. It's probably the worst first thing in the morning when I get out of bed and any time I move after being in one position for too long. But, I don't want to complain too much about this because it is not serious and a little back pain is totally worth the end result of this pregnancy - our baby! If this is the biggest pregnancy complication I will experience, then I am a very lucky girl!

29 Weeks

The happy bride before the wedding. 

Just Married!!! 

The Kenosha, WI girls: Niki Pederson, Jenny Flowers, Jenny Damore, and me 

The whole wedding party at North Cape Lutheran Church 

The wedding party before the reception. We all had to jump in the air. I tried my best, but didn't get too high! (I'm the second girl from the left). 

We had a great time connecting with old friends Mark & Jenny Damore, Niki Pederson and her boyfriend Mike Faust. 

Kurt and Jennifer Flowers!!! 

Here we are at the dessert reception. We thought it would be fun to get a good picture of my pregnant belly in my bridesmaid dress. 

The Flowers Wedding Weekend

We travelled to Wisconsin for the weekend because I was in a wedding. The weekend went fast, but we had a lot of fun visiting with friends and family. On Friday, Andy had an interview at Lake Forest Hospital where he hopes to participate in their chaplaincy program this summer. The hospital is located about seven miles from my mom's work place, so they would be able to car pool together, if it all works out. I spent the morning with my mom at work (it beat sitting at my parents house all by myself). That evening, we had the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We managed to get a little lost while trying to find both locations. Eventually, we got there and everything worked out well. Saturday - the big day!!! The wedding was beautiful and Jenny was the picture-perfect bride. I am really glad that we were able to be there for her big day. It was also a lot of fun to catch up with friends that we haven't been able to see for quite a while. Since we were busy with the wedding for most of the weekend, we knew that time with family would be limited. But, on Sunday, all the brothers and sisters (minus Kristen who is up at school in Oshkosh) got together for steaks and potatoes. I love every chance I get to spend time with my family. We also had a great visit with our friends, the Golackson's, who came down to Kenosha to see us. Their daughter, Lily, just turned 10 months and gets cuter and cuter every time we see her. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from Sunday, but here are a few of the wedding pictures.

Happy Anniversary to Us!!!

We celebrated our third wedding anniversary last Wednesday. The week was pretty busy because we were preparing for a long weekend back in Wisconsin. On our actual anniversary, we had a three hour night class. I audit this class with Andy, so at least we were together. The day was pretty busy, but we still found some time to celebrate. We're enjoying our new camera and are having fun taking lots of pictures!


Happy Third Anniversary to us!!!

My Growing Belly: Part 2

We finally developed our second roll of film that contained belly pictures. I sure have grown quite a bit since the last batch! Normally, I'm pretty shy about showing my stomach, but a pregnant belly is kind of fun to show. Bud has become much more active in these past few weeks. He/she has definitely been keeping us entertained with all of the movements. More and more, we are starting to bond with this little one of ours. Yesterday, we celebrated our 3rd Wedding Anniversary. Our gift to each other was a digital camera. From now on, we won't need to scan pictures in. Having this camera will make it much easier to update you on the progress we're making. 28 Weeks (sorry this one is so small, I saved it goofy)