Counting down the days…

37 weeks, 5 days

I had Michele snap this photo a couple of weeks ago at our youth game night activity because the sunset was just perfect!  We really had a great time that night fellowshipping with the youth, playing board games, and grilling burgers.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I can’t believe Kyle and I are so close to meeting our sweet little Autumn Marie.  I only have four more days until my official due date, but she seems quite cozy and in for the long haul.  Kyle’s dad posted the funniest comment on my Facebook page so I thought I would share, “Okay Autumn, let’s get this show on the road. You’re old enough to sleep in your own bed now!”, ha!

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks cleaning the house, prepping freezer meals, and visiting with family and friends.  As much as I’m enjoying these last few quiet days I can’t wait to meet her!  Kyle is over the moon excited to hold and love on her and I can’t wait to see her little face.

I thought it would be fun to document some random pregnancy memories~

• Kyle’s new nickname for me is “Preggenstein”.  He jokes that I walk with my arms out saying, ‘feed me’.
• My belly button hasn’t quite popped out yet, but the other night when Kyle and I were watching a show in bed the weight of Autumn popped it out significantly.  Kyle noticed and was all excited it popped out.  It looked kind of odd to me and had me giggling hysterically.  I told him to stop staring and covered my belly button because every time he tried to peek at it I would laugh and the laughter was causing shooting pains in my pelvis.  It was a fun memory.
• I’ve tried multiple ways to induce labor.  Some of the more unique ones were drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea, bouncing on an exercise ball, eating a whole fresh pineapple (including the core), and going out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings with Kevin and Danielle for some spicy hot wings.  I actually ate one of Kevin’s blazin’ hot wings because I knew that was the hottest food I’ve ever tried in the past.  One wing later and my lips were burning, the back of my throat was numb, and my mango lemonade suddenly disappeared.  So far nothing has worked and she’ll come when she’s ready!
• I get up every hour, on the hour to use the restroom.  I could easily cut back on the amount of water I drink at night, but I’m so thirsty that I end up drinking 24+ ounces in the middle of the night.
• Dresses and skirts have become my new best friend, I practically live in them.
• This last week I came down with a mild cold.  I’m blaming it on all the dusting I did in our house last week (it wasthatbad).
• Kevin (Kyle’s brother) felt Autumn kick the other night.  His expression was priceless - his hands flew up and his jaw dropped wide open.
• My cravings have changed the last few weeks.  I’ve been loving cereal with cold milk and anything fruit related, especially fresh strawberries.  I also crave a Red Robin burger every couple of weeks.
• My friends had their baby girls.  Cammie gave birth to Mollie Lynn on April 23rd and Amy gave birth to Emalynn Kate on May 2nd.  They are both so precious and we’re looking forward to the many memories ahead.
• We found out our friends Travis & Caitria and Gino & Jen are also expecting baby girls this September.  It’s going to be so fun watching them play and grow up together.

Seattle Mobile Food Rodeo

In early May we found out from our friend Travis that there was a Seattle Mobile Food Rodeo going on in Fremont.  We thought it would be fun to go check it out after church so the three of us decided to head down in search of some good eats.

I had to snap a picture of this guy walking around in a bacon suit because Kyle and I LOVE bacon (who doesn’t?!) and I also thought it would be a fun costume to make for Halloween some year.

My love~

36 weeks, 6 days pregnant

Enjoying the weather while waiting in line for some Mexican fare at Contigo.

I did a quick search on popular food trucks in Seattle and this one came up as being pretty popular so we decided to try it out.

Travis

Swarms of people waiting in line for their food.

Kyle ordered some Carnitas Rojas ~ they were a little small, but delicious.

After waiting in line at Contigo we headed to Skillet.  We first tried Skillet at Kyle’s coworkers wedding last summer.  They served these amazing sliders with bacon jam.  Yes, bacon jam.  This stuff is out of this world.  It’s a spreadable sweet bacon mixture that pairs perfectly on a toasted brioche bun with blue cheese.

You can see the bacon jam sitting on top of the blue cheese and brie.

I took a pit stop at Molly Moon’s ice cream truck after Skillet.  I’ve heard great things about Molly Moon’s from coworkers and wanted to see what the fuss was about.  Unfortunately they were so popular that the only flavor left was vanilla bean.  It was tasty, but I would like to visit their actual shop and try some of the more unique flavors.

Before heading home we hit up a Mini Donut trailer.  Kyle ordered his donuts with ginger and cardamom and I ordered mine with cinnamon and caramel.  They were delicious.

Although it was crazy busy we are excited to come back next year.

All About April

April was quite the busy month.  Kyle was heads down at work literally spending every waking minute reviewing tax returns while I was busy celebrating a friend’s 30th birthday, attending a baby shower for another baby girl due this late Spring, visiting with friends, and coordinating a bridal shower (phew!).

April 17th finally rolled around and busy season ended.  It’s been so great having time with my husband every night after work.  I’m truly cherishing these precious last couple of weeks we have together before Autumn arrives and we become a family of three!  We are both ecstatic to meet our baby girl and look forward to the many family memories ahead.

Here are a couple of photos I snapped this month~

Jen at her surprise 30th birthday.

The night before my friend Cammie went into labor her husband Matt hosted a poker night at their house.  It’s always fun when the guys have a poker night because I usually get to tag along and visit with Cammie and her little boy Matthew.

I brought Maddie over to their house that night and it was so cute watching Matthew give her loves.  He would lean over and rest his head on her and his eyes would squint (I’m guessing he was preparing to get licked in the face, ha!).  At one point he was trying to brush Maddie and she just laid there.  I love how relaxed she is around children and I can’t wait for her to meet Autumn.

Matthew giving his mama some love.

It’s hard to believe how quickly things change and that within a day and a half of taking this photo Matt and Cammie (and Matthew) welcomed their new little baby girl, Mollie Lynn!  Kyle and I were able to visit them in the hospital and it was a lot of fun getting to snuggle with Mollie.

I’m so glad May is finally here!

Church Baby Shower

In late March some friends from church threw me a baby shower to celebrate Autumn.  All of the decorations and little touches were so sweet!  Cammie made the decorations and the theme was pin wheels and pom poms.  I also loved the color choice - purple and yellow!

Cammie also thought it would be fun to call Kyle and to quiz him on some baby questions.  At the shower she asked me the same questions and I had to respond with what I thought he would say.  Here are some of the questions she asked him:

1- How many diapers does a baby go through in one day?

My Answer: 8-10, Kyle’s Answer: 12

2- How many diapers will he change each day?

My Answer: None, Kyle’s Answer: 2.5 (I will hold him to that one!)

3- How far does a woman have to dilate before giving birth?

My Answer: 10, Kyle’s Answer: 10! (good job honey!)

4- When does a baby start eating solid food?

My Answer: 8 months, Kyle’s Answer: 12 months old (Cammie gave him the example of rice cereal, but he told me later that he thought she said Life cereal which is why he said 12 months old).

5- What part of Alyssa’s body does she complain about the most?  This is the funny one…

My Answer: Back, Kyle’s Answer: Kidneys (HAHAHA!  I actually passed a kidney stone (a good-sized one too) a couple of weeks prior which was SUPER painful, so his answer definitely made me laugh).

She asked him 5 more questions, but my pregnant brain can’t remember the rest

After the games I opened my gifts.  A friend from church who knows I love to cook/ bake made these adorable aprons – one for me and a matching one for Autumn!  They are so cute and I’m excited for the day when Autumn can help me in the kitchen.

The shower was wonderful.  I so appreciate all of the women at LCBC - they’ve encouraged me throughout the years and are always an example of how to live a life that honors the Lord.

Congenital Heart Disease Awareness

We have a family at church whose son has heart problems.  I was totally oblivious to the facts about Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) until reading this card Angela gave me with a heart bracelet attached.

Facts about Congenital Heart Disease

*Congenital Heart Disease is a birth defect of the heart muscle.

*Request an echocardiogram while pregnant. This is not required in most states but by asking for one, your doctor is able to determine how your baby’s heart is functioning.

*One out of 100 babies has a heart defect. CHD is as common as autism but receives less research funding.

*Demand a pulse oximetry test before leaving the hospital. This can evaluate a variety of medical conditions related to the heart. This is not a requirement in most states but by requesting one you may be saving the life of your baby.

*CHD is the MOST common and most lethal birth defect, not just in the USA but world-wide.

*Each year 40,000 more US babies will be born with CHD, 8,000 of them won’t live to see their first birthday.

*2 million Americans are living with CHD.

To keep up with Angela and her family, visit her blog here.

Final Countdown

I just started my third trimester last week and I feel like we’re in the final countdown.  Autumn is quite an active little girl and she loves it when daddy talks to her, reads a book, or taps his fingers on mommy’s tummy.  I’m pretty sure she doesn’t like the raspberries he blows on my tummy because she usually responds with a kick or jab, but daddy still thinks it’s pretty cool!

Kyle is going to be such a wonderful, loving, godly dad and I just can’t wait to see her with him.  I love you babe.

Some 29 week photos~

Sneak Peek

This last Saturday Kyle and I took our parents to a 4D ultrasound appointment at Baby Pictures Ultrasound in Bellevue to see Autumn Marie.  At first Kyle didn’t want to get the 4D ultrasound because he didn’t want to “ruin the surprise”, but he finally caved in when I recommended we do it as an early Mother’s Day gift for our moms.

I cannot even describe how amazing it is to see your baby in 4D.  At the beginning of the ultrasound (it lasted for about 25 minutes) we could see Autumn trying to suck on her arm.  It was so cute watching her little mouth move.

We also quickly learned that she loves to snuggle up with the umbilical cord.  In all of the photos below you will see a dark streak across her left cheek which we found out was the umbilical cord.  It was funny because each time Melissa (the ultrasound tech) jiggled my belly to move the umbilical cord away from Autumn’s face she would get real grumpy and her mouth would pout a little until she returned to the same position.  At one point she kicked me a couple of times to let us know she did not like us messing with her toys!

We also watched her open and close her mouth, try to suck on her toes, play with the umbilical cord in her hand (you can see it in the photo below), and she even waved at us with her cute little fingers through her butt cheeks (I know!).

We just loved getting to know our sweet little daughter through this experience.

“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” Proverbs 127:3