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

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. :-)

'Tis the Season - 31 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of 4 oranges!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com

Read about how the baby is developing

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).

3/4 of the Way - 30 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a cabbage!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com

Read about how the baby is growing

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