Hooray for Grandparents!

My parents came again and did so much around the house. They painted and rearranged our bedroom and put in an air conditioning unit. Thanks Linda and Dan for the air conditioner. Our bedroom is so comfy - I slept until 2 pm on Sunday (I did get up and eat). Then they put a fan in our bathroom and painted. We are still working on finishing it up, but the paint looks so good. My mom even mowed our dirt patch in the back and I am thinking about having an ugly yard party. Damon's parents sent us a nice package of baby stuff. Everything is so cute! Damon's mom also sent me money to get a massage for my birthday. It took me forever, but I finally scheduled one. They took our insurance, so I got a prescription from the Midwife for 5 massages. Now every time I go to the doctor's I have a massage scheduled afterwards. This is my last week with no doctor's appointments. Starting next week, if I am lucky, I will have one a week. I have started doing prenatal water aerobics. It feels so good to get outside and be in the water. Basically you jump around in the water for 45 minutes and talk about the name of your baby and what week you are on, ect. The coolest part is that everyone has a twin bathing suit since there is only one maternity store in town. My twin hasn't been there the last few times. You become best friends with your twin. Things should be really busy from now until baby day. Class started yesterday, which drops me down to part time at work. That is good other than having to drive down everyday. I'll try to stay current on the blog, but no promises. 7 weeks and counting to baby Bryce!

3 weekends without school

Last weekend, I got to spend some time with the Mims, the Tschimperles, and the Sabaris and their band of crazy boys. It is so fun to see all of their personalities. I am so excited to have our own to come and play. After leaving there, I was so tired and all I did was sit in the sun. Jill and Todd are lucky to have such a great place to go and spend time. This first weekend of no school was not so exciting. The house got cleaned after 3 weeks of dirt. And Damon cleaned the garage. This was a huge accomplishment, since it has been almost 4 years of opening the door and throwing things in. If I wasn't so lazy, I would go out and take a picture. Today marks 32 weeks of being pregnant, which translates to 8 months and 9 more weeks to go. We did the hospital tour. We are really lucky here to have a hospital (3 minutes away) with lots of birthing suites and two jacuzzis. It is just funny what your mind does. When they talked about jacuzzis, I pictured a big room with a full size hot tub that you would be hanging out in. It is similar to the bathtub jacuzzi that Mom and Dad have. Nice, but not where you would want to spend tons of time. Then the room is like a nice hotel room, with this little tiny bed in the middle that you hopefully flop around on and then a baby comes out. If you really want some good people watching, you can hang out in the waiting room. I am making jokes about it, but we are really pretty lucky to be so close to a good hospital. Our last doctors appointment went really well. They remembered how many weeks I was pregnant (yay), even knew what tests I had done (yay) and the results. We were in and out in under a half hour. And the midwife lets her patients eat, at least until you throw up. I guess there is one birthing room with a squat bar and birthing chair that only her and another doctor at the clinic patients use and so there is a good chance we'll get it. She does 10-15 births a month. That seems like a lot to me. August is a big month for babies - so hopefully we won't have to have the baby in the hallway. At that point we can just turn around and go home.

Finally!

Old pics of Tarn and Kitty. I finally know where I will be next year. My internship is secured and paid, in Sunnyside. It starts October 1st. I AM SO EXCITED. I am sure it will be a challenging year, but that always seems to be a good thing for me. So I will be winding down my current job, sadly in some ways and happily in others. At least, I will be close, so I will still have those supportive coworkers to chat with regularly. This summer I will be taking 4 classes which I think adds up to something like 12 quarter credits and 3 semester credits. But that will only be with part-time working until August and then no working until October. The baby is totally on board to be born a couple of days after school ends (August 17th). We have agreed on the 20th. As a side note, after struggling to get medical bills paid by insurance, we are now receiving checks on a regular basis from one of our insurance companies. I don't know how that works, but I am trying to decide how to spend the windfall.

We road the canyon for a day this year. As a big treat, my parents and aunt joined me slowly make my way through the canyon. This is one of my favorite things because it is so beautiful. Mom and I made it about 9 miles in and back, which I considered pretty good. And dad made it all the way to the end, 35 miles. It was HOT and the baby started getting really really uncomfortable the last few miles, but we did it. Next year we (or Damon) will be pulling the baby and I will either be happily riding on tandem or on my own. I can't wait. Join us next year, it is my favorite Yakima event.

It is never too late to remember Girl's weekend on Orcas Island, where one picture of big sunglasses is never enough, and one picture of Suzy is never enough. This year was filled again, with crafting, laughing, and junking. We had three pregnant people this year and are wondering what the ratio will be next year. NOT IT! Of course I was sad my favorite life of the party was missing, but that will make next time all the more special. Kate - thank your mom again for her hospitality!! I love the next picture.

Last night we went to our first birthing class. It is early, but the class was being taught for the last time. We felt like we stepped into the movie set of Juno, with pregnant teenagers in polka dots and all. I am pretty sure there was also a gangster present (rat tail and all). We learned a little and felt really uncomfortable a lot. The most disturbing thing I learned is when you are at the hospital you aren't allowed to eat or drink anything but water and popsicles. Me - "that is stupid, I didn't climb mount rainier on popsicles, let's give birth at home"...Damon - "my friend at work gave birth at home and could only find someone to attend in the TriCities. they didn't make it in time. no way." So hospital and starvation it is.

I passed again!

Yesterday marks the beginning of the 3rd and final trimester. It was a date marked by writing a paper and mowing the lawn. I should be so lucky that I feel good enough to mow the lawn. Friday we looked at day cares. We got on waiting lists and saw one freaky place. Saturday was spent again taking the 3 hour glucose test. I found out today that I passed again. I didn't care as much other than avoiding additional doctor appointments that usually cause me to get anxious and some sort of illness. During the glucose test I went and got a swimsuit. IT is ugly, but then we went to the tricities and went swimming. I still haven't gotten up the courage to head to prenatal water aerobics, but I packed my swimsuit today and then didn't go. Sunday we cleaned all afternoon. The couches got shampooed and Tarn has been permanently (at least when we're around) sent to the floor. Really this weekend goes up there in the top 10 of fun-ness!

Such cuties!!!

Janice came to visit with Micah (3.5) and Sawyer (10 months). I think she secretly wanted to give me a taste of what it is like to have kids. It is pretty exhausting. The boys are so good though. Micah helps entertain Sawyer and plays nicely by himself and with others. Sue and Harper came over for a visit too. Harper brought along his red purse filled with Harmonicas. Then we went to the Red Gallery where the boys painted and played. We also went to 3 different playgrounds. We tried out all the good stuff my Mom purchased for the baby. Staying home with kids looks like a lot more work than actually going to work. Both Janice and Sue are supermoms.

Babies room complete!

And it matches my blog colors and Damon's new biking suit. Thanks to my MOM and DAD who painted the room, finished and brought all of the great baby items. They worked like maniacs to get a bunch of stuff done around our house. It was a nice treat for me to be told to go take a nap! There is a picture of the baby, too. We have a VHS of the ultrasound. I am sure you are interested!