Saturday, December 26, 2009

Happy 2010 - 33 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a pineapple!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We sure did. We are so blessed to have both our families close by. On Christmas Eve, we met our friends Matt and Angela and their two kiddos at church and then went over to Ryan's parents house for dinner. Kathy made spare ribs and they were awesome! Then on Christmas morning, Ryan and I got up, opened presents and made breakfast. Ross came over for breakfast which was fun. Then we were off to the Schwarz household for more Christmas excitement. My mom made a turkey dinner, which was really yummy.

One of my favorite presents this year was the one we got my dad. Awhile ago he decided that instead of being called Grandpa or Papa or Granddad or something normal like that, he wanted to called SUPERPOP! (We frequently catch him practicing his lines for baby, "Have no fear, Superpop is here!" HAHAHA what a nerd!) So for Christmas we thought it would only be fitting to get him some special Superpop apparel...

Grandma and Superpop

HAHA he makes me laugh. Ryan and I got a lot of really wonderful gifts as well. Thanks to everyone who helped fill the bottom of our tree. We really appreciate your generosity.

Christmas Eve

Now it's back to work for another short week and then...2010 - the year of baby! I can hardly believe it's already 2010. It seems like yesterday that we were celebrating Y2K, and that was a decade ago now. It's funny to think about how much has happened since then.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The baby is definitely growing...and so is my belly! Here is my most recent profile shot.

Profile Shot, December 26, 2009

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Merry Christmas - 32 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a jicama!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I pray that you have a very blessed Christmas.

Ryan painted the baby's room last weekend. It looks great. The color is actually less yellow in real life, but these pictures will give you a basic idea of what it looks like. Now we just need some furniture. :-)


Tuesday, December 15, 2009

'Tis the Season - 31 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of 4 oranges!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com

Last night at our child preparation class we toured the OB floor at the hospital. It's hard to believe that in just a few short weeks our life will be changing forever in that very place. EXCITING! The facility seems pretty nice from what I can tell (not that I have much to compare to). Every room has a private bathroom complete with jacuzzi tub, which I hear is really nice during this whole labor thing.

Everything else with baby seems to be going well which is such a blessing. The doctor says she's about 3 pounds now. I just can't believe she is still going to grow another 4 - 5 pounds before she's born. Where is all that baby going to go?

Besides baby stuff, Ryan and I have been busy getting ready for Christmas. 'Tis the season. We completed our Christmas shopping last week, so now we can just sit back, relax, enjoy the advent season and prepare for baby Jesus's birthday!

I've loved getting everyone's Christmas cards! It's always so fun to see pictures and catch up on what everyone has been up to. (We're not going to send out Christmas cards this year, sorry!) Every year my Aunt Mac does the cutest Christmas cards with her doggies—Abbey and Shakespeare. I thought it might be kind of fun to share some of the photos from her Christmas card photo shoot, so here you go. They took the photos at Mount Vernon (George Washington's house) in Virgina. The photographer, Robin at Paw Prints Photography, is awesome and does a great job with their photos every year. (I got to meet her at the 2008 Christmas card photo shoot last year when I was in Washington D.C. to run my marathon).

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

3/4 of the Way - 30 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a cabbage!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com

30 weeks down, 10 to go. It's hard to believe that we've hit the 30 week mark already. Baby has been moving around like crazy lately which is so cool. A couple days ago I was trying to get her to move so Ryan could feel. He started talking to her and that's all it took, she started moving! It was the neatest thing. Our child preparation course instructor said that babies often respond to their Daddy's voices at this point, but I didn't believe it. HA! It was so cool to actually see it happen.

Ryan and I are starting to get excited about converting the guest room into the baby's room. Right now the room most closely resembles a disaster zone because we've started the process of sorting through all the stuff that in there, but at least we're making progress! The plan is to get the walls painted and the carpet cleaned in the next few weeks so we can move in the baby stuff... and then the baby!

Profile shot, December 5, 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Very Thankful - 29 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a butternut squash!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a great time hanging out with the Volk family. Ryan and I are so very blessed to have such a wonderful family and great friends. Thanks to you all!

Annie and Kathy hosted my Longmont baby shower this weekend which was really nice. It was so fun to see everyone and have a chance to visit. I got some of the cutest baby girl stuff! I can wait to start using it.

Ryan and I had our first child preparation course last night. It was actually very interesting. My favorite part was that the guys had to practice identifying the tense parts of our bodies and massaging the tension out of them, so pretty much I got a free massage! I think I'm going to encourage Ryan to practice that technique frequently over the next few weeks!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Third Trimester - 28 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a Chinese cabbage!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com

Lots of exciting news to report. I had a doctors appointment last Wednesday and everything went really well. I had my glucose screening (where you drink the really sugary orange drink so they can see how your body reacts) and everything appears to be a-okay. I also had another ultrasound and got to see our little girl! I'm happy to report that she actually looks human now! She had her hands up by her face and was making a chewing motion with her mouth. It was really cute. The doctor said she might be trying to find her hands to suck on. Haha, she's already acting like a little baby - I'm loving it!

She also seems to have gotten really active the past few days. My ribs have been getting jabbed quite frequently - it's actually pretty cool. (I'm sure I won't be saying that a month from now!)

Saturday was Ryan's birthday! We celebrated by going to Lucile's for breakfast. Yummy! It was our last birthday celebration before we're parents. Crazy to think about huh?

Annie and Cole flew in on Monday so we've gotten to spend the last few nights with them. Cole is so much bigger than when we saw him in July and he is definitely on the move now! It's so neat to see him growing up.

Profile shot, November 23, 2009

Mr. Cole

Monday, November 16, 2009

Weekned to Remember - 27 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a cauliflower!

Photo courtesy BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Ryan and I went to the Weekend to Remember conference this weekend in Estes Park. We really enjoyed it. I recommend it to all you married people out there. We stayed at the Stanley Hotel which was kind of cool (minus the fact that they play The Shining on repeat in all the rooms. That movie kind of creeps me out... it's scary!) Here's some photos of us in front of the hotel.

We got new bouncy seat from Kirk and Annie - thanks so much for the gift you guys. Once Ryan put it together I decided to test it out with a teddy bear. (I forced him to be in the picture, ha).

Here's a new profile shot. Does my belly seem a little pointy to you?

Profile shot, November 16, 2009


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Excited to be a Mom - 26 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of an English cucumber!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com

Can I just tell you how excited I am to be a mom? VERY EXCITED. It's starting to seem a little bit more real now that we're getting close to the third trimester. I was looking at some pictures of some of our friends little babies and it really made me get excited. I can wait to start taking pictures of our little girl! After all, we only have about 14 more weeks to go. When you look at it like that it seems really soon!

Another thing that made everything seem a little more real was Ryan and I went and registered over the weekend. There is something about picking out the stuff that you're actually going to be using for the baby that takes things to a whole new level. Honestly, it was a little bit overwhelming. We are so clueless about baby stuff right now! But we survived. I don't think Ryan thought he'd make it when we opened up the registry book and the first item on the list was a breast pump! But he was a trooper and went through the entire store with me. We were just glad that we had some friends to call for advice on brands, quantities, etc. That was a life saver.

As a little reward, after we finished registering we went and spent the night in Denver. It was really fun. I figure we better do some stuff like that now, because come February it's not going to be quite as easy to take off.


Profile Shots, November 9, 2009

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

100 Days - 25 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a rutabaga!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com

A rutabaga, seriously? Does a rutabaga actually count as a common household fruit/vegetable? This blog is going to get MUCH better once we have actual baby pictures to post. Stay tuned, because come February, thing are going to start getting really exciting at this URL.

This week marks a very important day in our countdown to "target date" as Ryan likes to call it. On Friday, we'll have exactly 100 days until baby's due date! How 'bout them apples? I always remember my mom's class having a 100's day celebration when there was only 100 days of school left in the year, so I think it's only appropriate that Ryan and I have a similar celebration. I mean after all, having a baby is kind of a big deal. :-)

As a side note, I just need to say that Ryan has been a really big trooper the last few weeks. My emotions have officially gone completely wacky. From what I hear that's pretty normal, but let me tell you, I sure am bless to have such a wonderful husband who is willing to put up with me. Thanks Honey! I love you.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

27 Years Old - 24 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of an ear of corn!

Photo courtsey of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Profile Shot, October 26, 2009 (ok so seriously, talk about a bad smile!)

Sunday was my 27th birthday. It's hard to believe that this is the last birthday I'll ever have without being a Mommy. Kind of crazy to think about huh? Next year we'll have a 8 month old! I think the coolest thing I got for my birthday was a cowbell from my wonderful husband. I know it's kind of a random gift, but still VERY cool. I also got the Cherish - Expecting Mother Willow Tree figurine from my mom and dad which I love.


Sunday, October 25, 2009

23 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a mango!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Okay, so I think I finally figured out this whole food comparison thing... some weeks they are comparing the length of the baby to the food, other weeks they are comparing the weight of the baby to the food and then other times they are comparing the overall size of the baby to the food. That makes SO much more sense. I was really starting to get confused because there were a lot of weeks that seemed like we were back tracking a little bit (i.e. a mango bigger than a spaghetti squash? That just doesn't add up quite right).

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Birthdays and Races - 22 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a spaghetti squash!


Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Sunday was a pretty exciting day for us: Mom's birthday AND the Denver Half Marathon. Ryan and my dad both ran the race and did great! I was so proud of them. My friend Angela (who I ran the half marathon with me back in June) also ran, but she decided to take it to the next level this time and run the full marathon. Running your first marathon is really hard, but she was a rock star and finished in under five hours which is awesome! To top it all off, it was a beautiful day which made it really fun to walk around and cheer on all the runners.

I'm not the best photographer, but here are the photos I got of my dad and Ryan running.


After the race we went home and took a nap and then went out for dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday. It was a good time.

Baby seems to be doing well which is great. We have our next appointment on October 20 so we'll get to "officially" check in as see how everything is going then. I really like going to the appointments, it's always reassuring to talk to the doctor and hear how everything is progressing.


Profile shots, October 14, 2009

Sunday, October 11, 2009

She's on the Move - 21 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a carrot!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Baby girl is on the move! To be honest it took awhile for me to figure out whether or not it was actually her moving around or if my tummy was just grumbling, but I'm pretty sure that it's the former. I know every woman has a different way of explaining what it feels like, but in my opinion it feels like someone is flicking the inside of my stomach, or like I'm having a muscle twitch. I'm really excited for when her movements get big enough that Ryan can start feeling them, that will be really cool.

Other than that things are going pretty well. I've had a couple freak out moments the past few days because I've heard some pretty scary baby stories. Why people would choose to share these stories with someone who's five months pregnant, I have no idea, but none the less it made me worry a little bit. I just have to keep reminding myself that God's in control and worrying isn't going to change things at all.

I can't believe we're over halfway to D-Day! I can't wait to meet this little girl. So much fun!

Please continue to keep us and little baby Volk in your prayers.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The Halfway Point - 20 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a banana!

Photo courtsey of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Profile shots, September 30, 2009

Sunday, September 27, 2009

It's a Girl! - 19 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of an heirloom tomato!

Photo courtsey of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing


Is it just me, or does it seem like these foods are decreasing in size? Is a tomato really bigger than a bell pepper? I guess I don't eat heirloom tomatoes that often so I'm not really sure.

So the big news this week... Baby Volk is a Girl!

She really wasn't very cooperative during the ultrasound - she never really opened her legs so we could see her girl parts - but the ultrasound lady said that's what she saw, and I figure she's probably done this a few gazillion times, so I'm talking her word for it! We also got to see all her other little parts, head, brain, abdomen, kidneys, arms, legs, feet, umbilical cord, etc. As far as we could tell everything looks good. Unfortunately, before we were able to see the doctor he got called out for a delivery so we had to reschedule that appointment for later this week. It was kind of a bummer we couldn't meet with him, but at the same time, it's nice to know that he'll drop everything to be at a delivery, so come February, we should be set.

We went back and saw the doctor on Tuesday and he said everything looks good with our little girl. Yea God! I'm still amazed that such a little human is alive inside of me. How can you see those little hands and feet and not believe in God? I just don't get it.

We also got our first little girl gift this week - little pink booties! They are so darn cute. Here's a photo of the proud poppa-to-be showing them off.


Sunday, September 20, 2009

18 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a bell pepper!

Photo courtesy of Babycenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Profile shot, September 15, 2009

Ryan and I in precious matching orange shirts :-)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Park-to-Park 10 Miler - 17 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a turnip!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

This baby is definitely going to be a runner! Not so much because of my extreme dedication to running while I'm pregnant (I've officially made the transition to walking because I can not seem to keep my heart rate low enough when running), but because even in utero, he/she is already attending races. On Labor Day, Ryan ran a 10-mile race in Denver with Matt and Angela. This was the furthest that Ryan has ever run and he did great! I was very proud of him. It was a beautiful course through several parks in the Denver area. Baby and I got to be the cheerleaders. To be honest, I was a little jealous that I didn't get to participate, but I guess this is just an introduction to the sacrifices that you make as a Mother. :-)

Speaking of sacrifices, we've started to think a little bit more seriously about what I'm going to do work wise once the baby comes, and let me tell you, this is NOT an easy thing to figure out. There are so many things that have to be factored into our decision and I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed by it all. I know that God's in charge and it will work out just fine in the long run, BUT with my "planner personality" I would really like to have a a plan with a few more specifics. Please keep us in your prayers.

This past weekend, we went up to Frisco with Ryan's office. It was a lot of fun, Volk & Bell employs a lot of really nice people. The highlight of the weekend (for me at least) was the Lumerjack Show at the BeetleFest - the festival to ward off the evil pine beetle. I'm not sure how to describe the show, so you'll have to just trust me, it was very cool!

Here are some photos that I snagged from Angela's blog:


Ryan, Matt and Angela at the start of the race

Ryan running, he's on the far right of the photo

Ryan and Matt at the end of the race

Annie keeps telling me that I need to keep taking profile shots, so I decided I better start listening. It's not exactly my best angle, but here you go:

Profile shot September 8, 2009