Greetings to you, loved ones!

Jerry, Paul and I have had a fun and busy year. These are a few highlights in case you missed out!
January, February and the beginning of March were fairly uneventful and yet filled with much preparation for Paul’s arrival. Jerry’s parents came to visit for Paul’s birth and were able to stay about 2 weeks to also help take care of us, the new family. On March 16th at 11:58PM, Paul was born and life hasn’t slowed down since. In April, I celebrated my golden birthday and by May we all began to enjoy a marvelous Spring. June was filled with hustle and bustle of our friend and roommate Jessy getting married on the 20th. Then the next week my parents and little sister, Sarah, arrived to visit us and the rest of the family! In the midst of July, a year and a day after I called family with news about Paul’s approaching arrival, my sister, Liz, called us with the news of her own baby on the way (due March 13th, 2011)! August was a blur and September marked Paul’s half birthday! In October, Jerry surprised me by taking me to Texas Roadhouse on our 2nd anniversary, Oct. 11th. November - I was busy helping plan Liz’s baby shower. Sarah and my mom surprised Liz with their coming while Liz was on her layover at the Denver airport on the 18th, and the 20th was her shower. It was a nice little party, but still loads of fun! The next week we had something to do each day, including Tuesday, we celebrated Jerry’s birthday (it’s really on the 27th). And Wednesday and Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and then Jerry’s family. And now with December upon us, our first Christmas as a family of three, it’s quick to see how much we’ve been blessed this year. We want to thank each of you for being a part of our lives and we look forward to our times together in the future,

With love,

Jerry, Rachael and Paul

Luke 2:9-11

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

blog blog blog...

Blog... I need to blog. What does that mean to me?? It means... I need to talk about all the things going on in my head without sounding crazy. Okay, FIRST of all... how do my dishes manage to be washed, dried and put away, only to magically reappear disgusting and on the counter the next morning. SECOND... how does it happen that seemingly seconds after I vacuum, fuzzies and crumbs come out of no where. The ones that slip away from me that Paul finds and put in his mouth. Ugh. That's not even the half of it. My laundry won't even wash, dry, or put away itself. Why?!?! Oh well... it's all good.
Do you know what I like to do? Sing. Yup. It's true.
blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Yeah... this is all nothing. Not really what s really on my mind. I can't really find a way to tap into that and release the pressure.

Thanksgiving and Christmas time are here

Yes, it's that time of year. Snow is on the ground and the roads are always questionable. Greetings everyone! It's been a while since we've had a good update. Life has been super busy in the Eldred home. Jerry has been working extra long hard hours, I have been trying to get the house back into recognizable shape and Paul has been doing all sorts of fun things. His latest fasinations are clapping and saying Da-Da-Da. We've been trying to teach him sign language, and so he's also been exhibiting evidence of signing milk and help. Paul and mommy have also made a game of Momma-do, You-do. I put my hand over my mouth and say ah, and then momma does it to paul and he says ah! It's really great to see him interact in such ways. He is otherwise still growing very fast. And moving really fast! He'll go from 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds and before you know it he's in the other room, fasinated with the crumbs we somehow managed to miss. He's become well skilled in pulling himself up on things and has begun to risk standing alone! He stands by himself only when there is something sturdy right next to him. He's fallen quite a few times before while standing up so that now he's being careful. Smart kid. I'm still breastfeeding him but he's been getting more "people" food when we eat and he loves it and always asks for more.
We hope to pick out a tree soon. I only just strung up some lights in the living room to get us by until then. We had a good thanksgiving with everyone. Lots of yummy food and fun.
Thanks everyone. Hope to see you soon! More later!

To Jerry, my love

Today, two years ago, was the day that Jerry and I wed. And I want everyone to know that...


Jerry, you have always been loyal, faithful, FUN, and endearing. You will always be my best friend, my confidant, and a part of me. I look forward with joy to the many, many, many, many, many days ahead of us! ;) All the adventures that life will take us on. And all the many intricate, intimate, meaningful ways that the LORD will bring us closer and stronger together. I love you so very much and I am honored to be your wife.

~Rachael

2 teeth!!

Paul has a second tooth already poking through that I only just noticed today! No wonder he's been crabby... It also didn't help that I had a bit of coffee today.

Tooth!

These past couple months I've been waiting and watching and today... it finally came. Paul's first tooth! It's poking through! It suprised me so much I wasn't quite sure what to do! I couldn't believe it so much that I've checked it close to a million times already today. He's still doing great with the solids and he's always so eager to eat what I'm eating. Even though he can't. But he doesn't know that! ;) I will often just give him a taste so that way he feels included. And also so that he doesn't get discouraged from wanting to try different things. He has tried so many things I didn't think he would like, but he does!  His next checkup is the 30th of this month. Then we'll know officially how much he weighs and how much he's grown! So exciting! We have a scale at home now, but i keep forgetting to weigh him. The last time that I did, he was 16lbs exactly! Crazy. That's 9lbs he's put on since he was born 6 months ago. Sorry i'm cutting this short. I'm pretty distracted right now and it's late. LOVE!

Sweet crisp air

Hey everyone. It's been a while. Life has been up, down, sideways and some days... even. Jerry has continued to work hard and has also been able to squeeze in more play time with the guys. We did a lot of disc golfing this summer, and then Fall Out 3 came out for PS3. Jerry loves it.
I've been doing well. Still adjusting to mommy life. But I've been doing the best I can to get as much fun in as I can. Sunday school started yesterday and one of the classes offered was 101 Foundations. I love it so far! The teacher is also the brother in-law of a good friend of ours. His wife is my age and their youngest daughter of two is only a few months older than Paul!
Paul is also doing very well. He's seriously crawling, although he's still toppling over now and then, he's pretty much got the jist. He's often grunting and squirming to do things on his own. It's so exciting and sad at the same time. I'm already missing his first stages of life with us. Recently he used my leg to pull himself up to get to the things on top of our coffee table. It was crazy! I almost screamed with delight. I'm sure that if I had he would have gotten pretty scared and started crying. He's also eating solids. He's been doing very well with it, the eating part, he's just messy.
Looking forward to more cool weather. Been hard to stay inside these days. And then when I do... i go a little stircrazy.
Hope you all are doing well!

The days of cutting the air with a knife are over... or are they?

Where to begin?
It's already almost been a month since my last update. Some questions you might be asking are...
What are some of Paul's newest accomplishments?
A day or two ago, he sat up all by himself(while i was holding his legs down)! He has successfully eaten baby food such as turkey, chicken, bananas and applesauce. I don't feed him this food every day, we're just testing it out to see how he does. I've tried several times to feed him formula, but he hates it.
He is fine-tuning his skill of rolling over by rolling from his back to tummy and tummy to back. He will also push with his feet and get his butt up in there air, he just hasn't quite figured out how to keep his head up at the same time. He's also been able to scoot, so even though he's slowly becoming more mobile, it's definitely happening fast, before our very eyes!
Paul is also smiling, laughing, cooing and screaming! He's smiles most often at me(mama), and will laugh less than often when I tickle him. He will laugh when we(daddy, mama and Paul) play together. He still doesn't get peek-a-boo yet, but we still try it on him now and then. His cooing is delightful and his screaming is ear-piercing. Thankfully he coos more often than he screams.

How old/big is Paul now?
Paul is nearing 5 months old. At his last checkup at 4 months he weighed 14lbs and 7oz. And measured in at 25 inches long.
Have anymore questions? Email me and I'll answer them as soon as I can!
As far as the family goes... Jerry has been worked very hard at his job in the last month. It's been ridiculously hot and humid and there was one day he developed heat exhaustion. He literally looked gray. It was a little scary, but I knew what to do and he felt better pretty soon after he got home.
I, Rachael, have been taking care of Paul and the home(obviously). Only, I haven't been able to take real great care of myself so I haven't been feeling the greatest nor on the best sleeping schedule. We have two cats, one that sheds on anything she touches and the other that does numerous unmentionable disastrous deeds. Because of all the unmentionable deeds, I have recently kicked her out of the house until I can get a handle on the required cleaning she has so kindly bestowed upon me. I have been feeling good about going back to church on Sundays. It was a bit lonely going before Paul was born and then after he was born I was too tired and sore. Now he's been doing quite well and it's been so wonderful to be going again. Paul has also been growing out of his clothes very quickly. He was already in 3-6 month clothing when he was 2 months, and now he's been fitting into some 6 month clothing. So, as you can imagine, I need to go through all of his clothes that are currently in use and filter what stays and what goes. Not only that, I'd like to keep his clothes organized and stored properly, which is proving to be a daunting task.
And now, together, Jerry, Paul and I are going to Turkey in January to visit Jerry's parents. It will be a nice vacation. Two weeks long. We hope to at least get our feet in the Mediterranean and take lots of pictures so that you may all see! Thank you for being in our lives, we hope to hear from you soon!

Summer is already half over :(

Well, summer is at it's finest. Very hot HUMID days, with plenty of rain and threat of storms and tornados. Twice this week! It's been great though. Paul has been fascinated by it all and I've been glad to show him. We've been working on getting the house put back together after all the visitors we've had and then with Jessy getting married and moving out. It's been crazy, but awesome at the same time!
Paul has been growing so fast. Some days I'll look at him and just know and say, "You've grown!" It's so exciting to see all that he is able to do now! He's not crawling yet, but he'll get there soon enough. He is rolling over though! A couple of weeks ago he rolled over on our bed while he and I were hangin out there. I thought..."nah, it's a little too early for that. It's just because I was laying next to him. He only just happened to roll over like rolling down a hill." Well then my family came and I'd say he only got like 2 seconds on the floor before someone offered to hold him. Next thing I knew, I was walking in his room to find him lying on his tummy! I'm all like, "What?!" Well, you know, I worry when I find him on his tummy because they say it's best for them to be on their back at night. But my rationalization is that, if he can get there by himself, he will likely be just fine if I'm not there. I do roll him back over though when I find him like that anyway. So now in the last couple of days I've been watching him and he's got it! He's rolling completely over on the floor, no help from me and even getting both arms out from underneath him! It's so crazy! I took some video of it and so if you go to the link it's one of the newest two I just posted. The other is of him cooing and laughing at the tv. I've also posted plenty of new pictures of all of us and with my family.
Anyway, check out the video, its fab!

Better and busy days!

Paul and I are finally over whatever we had. We never did get a fever, so I'm not really sure what it was exactly. He's doing great, sleeping longer and staying awake longer. Laughing, "talking" cooing, occassionally giggling! He's been getting more time on his tummy and doing great! Not really digging his nose in the floor as much and squirmin' quite a bit to get where ever he thinks he's going.
We've been busy too. Helping Jessy and Tom out with wedding things. Her bachelorette Party was friday night, his bachelor party was tonight after the rehearsal and dinner. And tomorrow is the wedding! Woot!
It was a bittersweet night, as it was Jessy's last night being single and living with us. I'm so excited for her to be marrying Tom and starting a new time of her life. I'm just also sad that her time of living with us is over. But I'm also very excited to have the place to ourselves again! So... lots of excitement, and a little bit of sad.
it's very nice that they are only going to be living a few blocks from where we live, so visits are on the top of my list of things to do.
Paul also has a new playmate. Chris and Michelle had their baby boy! Ethan Rayne! I find it a handsome name. I think I even considered Ethan for a name once upon a time. 7lbs 8oz 21in long! He's so cute! Looks just like his daddy, but with Michelle's lips and nose! Don't know whose eyes he's got yet. Born Friday the 18th. Not sure what time. A little over 3 months from the day Paul was born! How exciting is that! we are all very excited to watch them both grow up.

A new day

Today has been great. Jessy and I were able to reconnect after some long busy weeks this morning at Caribou Coffee! After which I came home with Paul and he's been doing really great at holding his head up off the floor while on his tummy. As well as following the sound of my voice. Good little boys sleep and he sleeps a lot! He he. He's been very interactive with Jerry and I. Talking and smiling when we've been face to face, he's just so darn cute! It's been difficult to get him to keep talking once I've gotten the camera on and close to him. He just seems to get so curious about the camera, he forgets about everything else.
WELL... when i started this blog, it was a couple of days ago. So many things are happening around here, it's hard to keep up. Jessy is getting married soon, my parents and sisters are coming to WI soon after that. We've been going through our things to clean up the place and make it a bit easier to get around... Today we got rid of one of our couches... that's a funny lookin' word... and the end table that Tom accidentally broke. We also set up a sound system that Jerry found at a garage sale at a steal of a price.
Well anyway... Paul and I got sick, not sure what we have, but I think we're getting a little better. Paul did actually throw up today. Some super projectile vomit. Poor guy. Didn't seem to phase him though. He didn't cry or anything. I'm not even real certain what caused it. It was so nice that he had just finished eating too... not.

2 months +

Paul is two months now... man... he's so big. And so cute! He had his 2 month check up and they say he's doing great! He's now almost 24 inches long and weighs about 12 and a half pounds. In the last week or so he's been sleeping about 7 hours in a row... YAY! I'm still a bit tired when we get up, but no where near as tired as I used to be. Just a little nap in the afternoon sets me right. His next check up will be in another 2 months.

Books for generations to come

Yes, books... I've been online at barnesandnoble.com making a list of all the books that we would like to add to our library at home. Books to read to our children as they grow and pass on to them as they get older and begin their own families. We already have a great selection of childrens books, thanks to everyone at our baby shower, thanks to Sarah.
I doubt the list will every be complete, but for now, it is what it is.
So as a gift idea, in the coming years, please think of books and see if there might be one you'd like to buy to give. It would be so helpful to all of us, since Jerry and I hope to homeschool all of our children and buying supplies all at once would be far too spendy for us. (even for just one child)

http://my.barnesandnoble.com/Rachael-Eldreds-WishList/cm/3596034/
I'll be posting this link under the Video and pictures of Paul section for now.
Thanks everyone!

2 months old!

I hope you all are able to keep up with the many changes i've made to this blog. I just want to point out that it's much easier for me to upload video on youtube and post pictures on facebook SO I've posted the links. These you will find under Videos and Pictures of Paul to the right of these blog posts.

Thank the Lord for nice weather. It's been so great to have been able to open the patio door and get WONDERFUL fresh air in the house. I've been more motivated to clean and get more organized than I've been able to these past few months. I'm looking forward to have a yard sale next weekend and getting the old out, and hopefully new things in. As it is, we don't have room for much else to come in. We've been discussing what we'd like to do with certain furniture items. It's hard to let them go, but at the same time... so nice to have the space!
Well anyhow. Paul is doing very well. He has his next check up on the 25th. He's 2 months old today! (That just occurred to me) It doesn't seem that long ago, he was so tiny then, that he was just born. He's grown out of many of his newborn clothes, so I've had to go digging into storage already for his bigger clothes. Which are also very cute!

This last week has been gruesome. Paulie and I have been settling into a not-so-fun sleeping pattern. He's been more awake and alert during the day, but still sleeping too. But some how we've managed to be on opposite schedules. I haven't been able to fall asleep when he does or soon after, so that by the time I fall asleep he's starting to wake up again. He's so sweet and to watch him sleep is such a gift, but he's getting older, bigger, and his personality is showing through more and more. I want to have the energy to be awake when he is! I want to be reading him more story books, showing him the pictures and watch him absorb it all. And I'd like to be more than just awake for all of this. *sigh* I've had many people tell me that they can watch him for me, and sometimes I do. It's only for a short time though. I have a breastpump, and I've been pumping. The only problem... he just doesn't take a bottle. He has once, but that's been about it. He also won't take a pacifier. I never wanted him to be on the bottle, or formula, but occassionly is okay. I suppose if I keep trying, he'll figure it out. I just don't always have the patience for it and I feel bad that he struggles so much with it. Oh well. I know he'll get it some day.
So I sleep when I can and eat when I can. But that's another thing. I never feel like I have enough energy to make food... and on the weekends, it's the worst. I'm up all night making sure that Paul doesn't wake up Jerry that I literally don't get to sleep in my own bed until Jerry wakes up for work. And that's if Paul keeps sleeping. So then, Jerry works all day and is beat by the time he gets home, and I'm still feeling like I hardly slept and don't have anything ready for either of us to eat and neither of us has the energy to make food.
I don't know... I think that we've been figuring it out okay. I mean, it's not like we don't eat. It just feels like a lot more work than it normally was, used to be, and should be.
I'm not sure if I posted this already, but we've got Paul's crib together and it looks great! He hardly sleeps in it though. He's with me while I'm awake... most of the time, and next to me in my bed the other times. He will lay in his crib for a while and sleep, but once he gets up and I need to feed him, I've hardly the energy to put him back. More often than not he'll cry when I put him back, and I think it's because he knows he's not next to me anymore. It makes me sad to make him sad like that. I guess I should say, i think he's getting better about it though. Just... slowly.
His next check up will be in a couple of weeks. Then we will have an official amount of how much he's gained in weight and length.

6 weeks +

We've passed the 6 week mark! Hurrah! He's gotten so big, and now I wish that I had a scale so that I could start making weekly stats. I've seen how they've measured him at his last checkup, so I aim to do the same each week as well! Things have been going very well. He eats often and sleeps often, though in between those two he's become crabbier. I think that I have finally gotten down what each cry means, so that has made it easier to determine what is going to help, and what isn't going to make the crying or fussing stop. About a week ago now, I finally had the energy to super clean our room, and I enjoy it very much now! Paul often sleeps with us, so it's taken me a while to notice that he's outgrown his bassinet. He's also almost too big for some of his newborn clothes as well! I hope to be able to get his crib set up soon. With just super cleaning our room, I also rearranged it. At least half of it. I still need to go through his clothes and pack up what doesn't fit and figure out a way to fit his crib in our room. I suppose that will take some time again... and I'm not sure when. We're going to be having a yard sale at the end of May and we need to go through all of our stuff that's in storage. ...
He saw his first movie in a theater last night! We went and saw Kick Ass with daddy and the guys and then a trip to Perkins afterwards! It was a good time.

Long days...

guess it's time to write a little bit. These days have been long. But so fun! and tiring. it's hard not to watch him sleep or all the faces he makes when he's waking up, eating, sleeping... pooping. Oh yeah! I never know what's going to come next... and he's already started the gas smiles! They are so adorable! And so hard to catch in a picture or on video because I really never know when the next one will be.
Some day I know I will get a good nights sleep... but for now it's just been lots of naps.
(more soon)

2 weeks!

Today we had his 2 week check-up. We're doing great! He weighed in at 8.998 lbs - So he's put on 2 lbs! And he's grown almost a whole inch! Dr. said he's doing great, growing well, and strong.
He's also been able to meet grandma and grandpa Irish and his other auntie Sarah. They all loved meeting him and it seemed like they can't get enough.

Doing so well :)

Paulie had his first checkup a couple days ago, and I thought I'd share that he's doing very well! The day or two after he was born, his bilirubin level was checked and was a little high. His doctor said that he should come in for sure on Saturday to have it checked again to see that it hopefully has gone down.
(http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/common/jaundice.html)
His doctor also said that it's common for newborns to lose weight, up to 10% of their birthweight, and to start putting weight back on after about a week. So his saturday checkup showed that his bilirubin is down and he actually gained 2 ounces! Both the nurse and the doctor on call were suprised.
We all want to say thank you again to EVERYONE that was praying for us while i was in labor and that have continued to pray for us during the transition of bringing Paulie home and learning a new routine together that works for all of us.
We have been truly and entirely blessed throughout this whole experience.

We did it!

Paul was born at 11:58PM March 16th, 2010 Weighing in at 6lbs 15oz and 20in long!
This is how it all began...
Saturday night Ashley was over to spend the night and we stayed up til 4-5AM talking. I had been feeling a little funny, with what felt like cramps but nothing strong enough to say it felt anything like a real contraction. And so... when I woke up contractions started. It was about 10:30 when I actually woke up... thinking it was 9:30 and planning on going to church but forgot to set the clocks ahead the night before... All day they were approximately 6 minutes apart, sometimes 3 or sometimes 10, but no shorter than 3 and no longer than 10. So, when they started getting to be 3-5 minutes apart for about an hour, we made the decision to go in to the hospital. When I arrived that night at about 8:30PM I was at about 3cm dilated, and almost completely effaced. And when I left the next day at about 5 PM I was the same! So frustrating! I think that I was a little scared that at any point I could progress very quickly at home and not be ready for it. But, that did not happen! So with opting to go home to wait it out a little longer we were told to call or come back when contractions were more consistantly 5 minutes apart or when my water broke. SO - I did my best to sleep, and finally fell asleep around midnight. Every hour to half hour I would wake up with a stronger contraction, and by 4 AM it seemed they were getting really close together. So much so that I couldn't get back to sleep and I waited until about 5, when they seemed to be right on top of each other, to go back to the hospital. So now it's 5 AM Tuesday the 16th. We all joked and thought how cool it would be if he come on the 17th so that he could be a St. Patty's Day baby, but... by this time... I didn't really care. Contractions started to slow down, then pick up... I was 3cm, then 4.... then maybe 5 then between 6 and 7... And just for me to get to 7 it took me until ... well now i don't remember, but I stayed at 7 until 10:30 PM and we agreed with our Dr. that if we hadn't progressed any further before 10 then we would start Pitocin. This was agreed upon because we also opted to have my water broke to help move things along ... Hours earlier. Anyway... Once the Pit started... there was no more time wasted. I went from 7 to 10 in about 30 minutes, since the Pit wasn't started until ... well I can't do math now either, but I do remember that it takes about 30 minutes to start working, and they started me off with a low dose and then by the time I had gotten to just about 10 cm I was having a real hard time not pushing... I just couldn't not. Ha... That was also scary, but I only had a few contractions with that feeling and then was able to push. 15 minutes later and 2 minutes before St. Patty's Day, Paul was born! Hurray! It was the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life and I would totally do it all over again.
God moved so deeply in little and big ways that made this whole experience what it was. He gave me wisdom to say no to pain relief the first night I was there, which kept me from getting an IV in my hand until I was really ready for it. Also, the decision to have my water broken when we did, and the pain relief I did receive and when. As well as when to call the Dr again so that I didn't hurt myself with pushing too soon and also so that I could push when I was finally ready to. And with some more meaningful things to others... My sister Kris was able to come and see me that night and stayed through to the end, helping me with breathing and rubbing my back. Ashley was also able to see me through by praying for me, calling/texting friends for me and doing whatever she could to make me as comfortable as possible. Lea, Jerry's mom, was able to see her first grandchild born, and also help by doing whatever she could do to make me as comfortable as possible. Jerry was there, the whole time, never passed out and didn't get so overwhelmed that he had to leave. He also didn't freeze, so he was able to see his first child born, cut his son's umbilical cord, gave him his first bath and love on me through it all! Doing whatever he could to make me as comfortable as possible. :) Dr. Lee was so great, patient, and cared enough to go through all my options with me as far as pain relief and what I could do to help move things along if I wanted and when. As well as come back to the hospital, even though he wasn't on call, to be the one to deliever Paul. Hurray! The nurses on staff were amazing as well. I had a few favorites and was glad I got to see them more than once or twice in the few days I was at the hospital.
We are so happy to finally be home... to sleep in our own bed and eat all the DELICIOUS food that my sister Kris made for us. What an amazing blessing she is.
Our cats are adjusting interestingly to Paul being around. Nala doesn't like him and Naomi couldn't care less.
Anyway, I know that I'm leaving stuff out that I want to include, but I'm also still exhausted and trying to keep up with what's going on now... :)
Thank you to everyone who was praying for us and who have been able to visit and share your lives with us in this time! We greatly appreciate it and the adventure has only just begun! 

Contractions!

Woke up, and started having contractions! Woot! They've been on average about 6 minutes apart! Hurray! Still at home... waiting for them to get closer together! Don't worry - only 2 minutes from the hospital! Feel free to give Jerry a call... I'll be talking a little here and there... :) Maybe today will be the day! Awesomeness!

2 days to go...MAYBE

Blargh - That is my word of impatience. Yes, we have a couple of official days left, but I was hoping he would be out and about already! Things are going well. I can tell that things are changing, because... things are changing! My last visit to see the doc went well, though I'm not dilated any further... My next appt. is on the 18th and I'm REALLY hoping that we won't make it until then. Last night I was bored and feeling a little down so I wrote little notes to myself all over my belly. It was fun. :)Another fun thought is that maybe he'll be born on St. Patrick's Day! He'd be a green baby every year! ~haha~ 
Jerry had to work today, but he's going to get all of next week off. Hurray! That's another reason why we'd really like Paul to come out now... That way we'd know that Jerry will be around for the birth and so that he can get in as much time with him before he goes back to work.
I'm still getting some things settled. I feel like today is my last day alone for a while, so cleaning and reorganizing has been on my mind all week and I'll be hoppin' to it very shortly.
I would also like to think that spring has arrived already. All this nice warm weather, snow melting and bird chirping has been so wonderful. Some of the grass is already green and our cats beg to go outside all the time. I just wish there was a bit more sunshine. And... I just checked the forecast and they are saying tomorrow with be a high of 51 degrees and sunny! Woot! That makes me happy. :)
Well - since I don't have much else to report... I hope that my next update will be Paulie's birth! Can't wait to see!

Braxton-Hicks...interesting.

Okay... 10 days left as of today. I've been taking note that I HAVE been having braxton-hicks... I just never really noticed because they aren't painful at all. Hope labor goes that well! haha... A couple of days ago I developed a sinus infection... yuck, but it's gotten so much better since I finally bought a Neti Pot!
I've got another check up at 11AM. I'm hoping he'll tell me I'm dilated(Yup - dilated 1cm!), possibly meaning I could go into labor sooner, rather than later... I'm really ready to have him out. Every day I get more and more excited for the whole experience! We've got everything ready... so... we're just waiting... and waiting.

Jerry's parents will be here Sunday visiting with Jerry and I... uhm.... I don't know what else there is. Here's a picture of Nala in Paul's bassinet. And a video of Nala...

We're getting closer....

Man, does it seem like this last week has dragged on! We're at 15 days left today.... It seems like we're so close, and yet SOOOOO far! He could come early, he could come late! Yikes... 2 weeks late would mean I still have a whole month more to go. BLAH! (Please Paul and body of mine... let's not wait that long!) We're still doing great... he's still moving around quite a bit, including all the stretching and pushing on my ribs and stomach... giving me unbelievable heartburn. When it feels like a ball of fire sitting in my throat... I'd say I'm ready for that to end.
So some updates....

• We went to see the doc on Friday. Everything checks out, we're in great shape! Then we met with the doc that would be our family doc after Paulie is born and she's super great! Very nice, easy to talk to and seemed like she really cared about us, making sure we knew everything she could tell us, and that we had everything ready before Paulie comes. So we agreed that we'd keep her!  ;) hehe... I think that she also does OB and delivers babies, so I also think that with the rest of our children we'll have her be our primary care giver.
• Jerry's parents are going to be able to stay with us in our home before and after Paulie is due, hurray!
• Jerry's sister and aunts are putting together a shower for us on April 3rd. The time is from 2-5PM and it will be in New Lisbon. Woot! I can't wait to see everyone again! (for more info, please contact me via email)
• I got Paulie's bassinett all cozied up and the cat decided she liked it so much that she curled up in it to sleep(will post pictures soon).
• I brought up the rest of the stuff we'll be needing once Paulie comes. Lots of socks and burp rags! A lovely boppy pillow from a dear sister of mine and some blankets for Paulie to keep warm in. :)
• Our roommate Jessy has recently become engaged and so I will be having fun helping out with things when and where I can and Jerry is going to be one of the groomsmen!
• My parents are still going to be able to come in April, and stay maybe a week! Not with us, but at least we'll be able to spend some time with them! And they'll be able to meet Paulie while he's still a wee little bud.

Well I think that's it for now!

BIG BELLY! Almost done.. :)

I'm so ready!!! I love being pregnant... but... I just want to hold him and see what he looks like! He's been so proactive in making sure I know that he's there that it hurts... haha.

Three and a half weeks left

Not much longer to go... I hope he doesn't decide to stay in any longer than his due date. Blah. I love having him, feeling him move, and being able to sort of play by poking each other, BUT... he's getting big fast, stretching often and onto my bladder. My ribs and stomach have had about enough. I've never experienced the heartburn that I have before him. Like a fireball in my throat that won't chill.
So just that I have an idea of how many of you this is reaching, would you please rate my posts or leave a comment? I think that any comments can be made private so that I only see them if that's what you prefer. It's been a such a priveledge to be able to share with you all, the things that have been going on in our lives, how God is moving in our lives, and of course Paul's progress from teeny tiny, to not so tiny, to now. I hope that all of this is encouraging to each of you and that you know how much we all miss you and want you included and involved in our lives even though we're miles away. Or just schedules apart. 
Tonight Jerry played at the Acoustic in Eau Claire with Roger and his brother Randall. It was fun to see all the other canidates that signed up and the mixed bag they brought in. They were a little unprepared as far as total equipment, but I thought they sounded great. We stayed for all the preformances and were able to meet with and talk to a couple of the others. Since the Acoustic only has open mic nite about 4 times a year, if they wanted to play again there on a scheduled time, they'd have to have about 2 hours worth of material! It's in the works! So pray for them with that. The next open mic nite in is May... so, until then at least, we'll be seeing about some other places. 
In conclusion... Paul and I are doing well. We have our next appointment next week on Friday, and then one more a week the next couple weeks after and then... hopefully the next time we go in... he'll be coming out! Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a note if you like. :)

Healthy babies are the best!

Red Cedar Medical Center has these Family Birth Suites that Jerry and I were able to see in person and they really are very spacious and we're very excited to go there. Some info for family and friends if you come see us there... The green side is labor and delivery and the red side is recovery. The kitchenette area I talked about has food there, but for me and Jerry only. You are allowed to use the microwave, toaster, and coffee machine. There is a waiting room with a computer that I believe has the internet too. We have opted that if you call the hospital, they are allowed to give out the room number we are in when we're there. Although, close family and friends will be getting a call from either Jerry's parents, my parents, or our roommate Jessy anyway, letting you know that I'm in labor and so calls will be directed to them until after Paul is born.
Later we go in for another check up. We had one scheduled for Thursday, but that had to get rescheduled for today. I'll be able to talk to my doc about the glucose test, and I know I still won't be taking the second test for it. Although, something good I already know of is that, even though the first test was abnormal... the level mine was at was on the very low end of the abnormal bracket(I found the letter sent to me from my doctor about it which told me that). So I don't think I have much to worry about if I watch my sugar intake and exercise a bit more.

Jerry and I are very excited about bringing Paul into this world, but we are also learning that we're a bit scared, and that it's going to be very difficult for Jerry to see me in the amount of pain I'll be in during labor. Please pray for us over this. I know it will seem like it all happened so fast when it's all over, but ... in the meantime, it will seem like forever. I would also like to add that I foresee it being rather overwhelming for Jerry and I once home with Paul and would like to encourage you all to pray about if and how you can help us in the transition of having a new life in our home to take care of. Whether it just be by prayer support or some other kind, anything and everything will be very much appreciated and not in vain.

On a side note, this is still in the works, but a stranger came to our house today and asked if he could buy our taurus for parts! For the last several months it has just been sitting in our parking lot because the starter went out, and then the battery died. Since it has some other things that need fixing, and the transmission was just more recently rebuilt, we decided we would just try and sell it for parts... but we haven't even posted that anywhere online, newspaper or just on the car itself... so this person is really a God-send and it would be really great if he decides to take it. He'll be by at around 9:30 to take a better look at it. So the money we'll be getting from this car will be going towards a truck!  I'm not sure about all the details, I just know that it's a good buy and it's a stick shift, which I am most looking forward to since I find them so fun to drive!

Another exciting thing for us, Jerry's parents will be coming to WI in about 3 weeks! If you could be praying for them and their travels, that would be awesome! As well as a place for them to stay here near Menomonie so that they won't have to drive far once Paulie decides it's showtime.

Thanks everyone for ALL your support!

(A quick update, the stranger that wanted the car, took it!)

Blood Tests and Suites

So we had a blood test done last week sometime, and today they called and said that it was abnormal... Which to me doesn't really mean anything. It's that test they offer women like me to rule out gestational diabetes. The only thing is... I remember I hadn't eaten much that day, and when I took the sugar drink, I had just had a banana before that. SO... Anyway, they want me to come in for the second test, which for that one... I'll have to fast from midnight the day I decide to go in, and then I'll have to wait around for 3 hours, getting blood drawn every hour. I'm thinking... NO THANKS... which is precisely what I plan on doing. Not taking the test. Why? I did some research and the only real treatment for gestational diabetes is "being put on a special diet" and adding a bit more exercise. Since that is the case, I'll just avoid being pricked 3 times in a day just for them to be able to officially tell me I need to eat less sugar, more protein and vegetables and walk at least a half hour every day. Ya know... seeing blood doesn't make me faint, but when I can't eat, and then my blood sugar goes down and then they take blood from me... I'm gonna faint. Well... at least I know I will be borderline with that. I also hate needles in my skin. It's the worst feeling in the world. So, if all of you could be praying for us to stick to a better diet and that it's not severe gestational diabetes to begin with, as well as getting out for a walk every day with the cold weather, we all would appreciate that very much.
On a lighter note... The birthing suites that the hospital here in Menomonie has... pretty much look amazing! The room/suite is huge for me, paul and jerry and they have a nice lounge area for everyone else and a sort of kitchenette area as well. Tomorrow we get to go in and get the official tour and information for us and all the pre-registration info for them. Exciting!

Camera!

Well, we finally picked out a camera that Jerry and I both like! So far so good! It also takes video! So we will for sure be getting video uploaded to this blog HOPEFULLY once a week after Paul arrives. Thanks for reading!

Getting ready, summer clothes, mommy time...

This last week and a half has gone by real fast. I've started to get together the information we'll all need when Paul decides to make his debut, and Jerry put in his request off forms so that he can almost certainly be around when that happens as well. So now we're in the 33rd week, only seven more weeks to go, IF he doesn't decide to show early, but all signs point to no. We've been doing really great, no warning signs that anything is going wrong. He's still very active and it's starting to get painful! Just when he really jabs that is. Our last visit to the doc was this last Friday. All reports back were great!
Jerry and I have already been trying to make plans for this summer. Our local swimming pool (additional pictures) offers family season passes for a great price, so we'll eventually be buying those. The park it's located in also has a disc golf course and we plan to enjoy that perk as well.
A friend of mine was gracious enough to give me all her baby boy clothes along with some other essentials such as a breast pump, bottles, nursing pads, carseat, changing table, highchair and baby bjorn. Most of the clothes were grown out of so fast by him that some are still like new, and some weren't even used! God is so good. We now have at least 4 stuffed garbage bags full of clothes. Sizes ranging from 0-3,3-6,6-9 and 9-12 months! The other really awesome thing is that her boys were born in April and March, so the season and the size he should be wearing should coincide with what I've got!
It's getting harder to lean over these days, or get up and out of bed! It's also been a pain standing for long, which is one good reason I quit my job at Arby's. We are also going to be saving on gas since it was a 30 mile drive there and a 30 mile drive back and my hours kept getting cut. So I was more or less paying to go to work. Sleeping at night has been a hard thing to do as well. He tends to wake up or I just can't get comfortable enough to fall asleep even though I am really tired.
Well I think that is about it for now... Other than since I've home so much, I've been able to catch up on my reading and watch my girlie movies that Jerry won't watch with me. :)

Belly Buttons are so great :)

SO - yesterday I learned how to make my innie belly button an outie! Haha, I've been so fascinated I can't help but play with it... although it totally weirds out Jerry! So much so that he can't even look at it when I do it! It's so great! It makes me laugh... a lot. :) That's about it for now!

32 weeks

He's getting bigger! We've got 8 weeks left and I think it's finally hitting home that he'll be here before we know it! Very exciting! Still no camera, so still no new pictures. Also, I put in my two week notice at work, and tomorrow is actually my last day! Yay for me! Now I'll be able to spend more time cleaning and rearranging to make more room for Paul. 
God bless!

belly bump