Dilated = Progress!!! :)

I had my 37 week check-up this morning and everything is going well. Dr. Boelter checked my cervix and said that it's dilated nearly to a 2 and is about 50% thinned out. I was pretty excited to hear about that because when I was in last week I wasn't dilated at all. It sounds like progress to me! :) I've had a few contractions this week - very sporadic and nothing major. But it's feeling more real and I know he'll be here before I know it! Andy's prediction from the beginning has been July 5th but my due date is the 15th. In the back of my mind I've been thinking the 18th. We'll see...

Week 38

This is the week in which Baby begins to outgrow the watery home where he's been developing these past nine months. Baby should weigh almost seven pounds this week, but at a length of about 21 inches, Baby hasn't grown much taller. The average full-term newborn weighs between six and nine pounds and is 18 to 21 inches long.
Here are a few other developments this week:
* Although Baby's growth is slowing, fat will continue to accumulate to help insulate Baby even more for his entry to the outside world.
* Meconium (Baby's feces) will continue to build up in his intestines.
* By now, the circumference of baby's head and abdomen are about the same. (verybestbaby.com)

Week 37

Now Baby weighs almost 6.5 pounds and his total length is about 21 inches long. But he hasn't stopped growing yet; he'll continue to develop about a half-ounce of fat a day. Still, overall growth does slow from here on out. That's fortunate, since there is very little available space left in the womb as it is.
Here are a few final developments taking place in week 37:
* Baby's immune system continues to strengthen. His immune system will continue to get stronger after birth, and will not be completely functional until early adulthood.
* Baby can now grasp with his fingers as dexterity improves.

Just 28 days to my due date! I have really mixed emotions lately. I'm SO excited to meet this baby and to start figuring out life as a family of four and what it's like to have a daughter and a son! And, I feel SO unprepared to be a mother of two. There are days when I feel a little panicky and wonder what I'm getting myself into?!?! And at the same time I know that I have a supportive husband who is a great daddy, supportive parents (they might be the best grandparents EVER) who are just an hour away, and an awesome God who will never leave me and hears me when I cry out to Him! So I know I'm not on my own. I just feel the weight of the responsibility of raising two kids and I feel so inadequate.

Practically speaking, I think we're pretty much ready for his arrival. I bought a package of newborn diapers and I'd forgotten how small they are!!! So cute! I had a phone conversation with the hospital to talk about my birth plan. I asked some questions about circumcision so I'm feeling a little more comfortable about what that process is going to be like for my poor baby boy. The gal I talked to asked a lot of questions about my labor and delivery with Lily and was very surprised to hear that she was born just 4 hours and 27 minutes after the doctor broke my water and started me on pitocin. She strongly encouraged me NOT to try to labor very long at home and to come to the hospital relatively quickly. :) I'd love to think that this labor could go even faster - I just hope I have time to get the epidural!!! :)

Our infant carrier and base are in storage at Andy's parents' house so we need to get over there and find that. And I'll probably start putting my hospital bag together over the next couple weeks. It's hard to believe we've got about a month to go!!!

We got home yesterday from our weekend excursion to Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. I'll tell you more about that and post some pictures from the trip soon. It was definitely an adventure!

Week 36

Your baby is working hard to accumulate all the fat he can, in preparation for delivery. His body is growing rounder every day, since about 15 percent of his total weight is now made up of fat. Once he is born, this fat layer will help him maintain his body temperature and give him a reliable energy source.
* Baby now weighs around six pounds and is 20.7 inches long.
* Major organ development is already complete, such as the kidneys and liver.
* Some fine-tuning, such as the final development of the lungs, is still taking place inside the womb.
* Baby's head is round, but by the time he makes it through the birth canal it may be temporarily a bit misshapen as the soft bones of the skull are compressed by powerful contractions. His head shape will return to normal within a few days. (verybestbaby.com)

Celebrating Lily's 3rd Birthday!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Building a castle with daddy before her guests arrive. I found this Carter's dress on clearance at Kohl's for about $5! I love a bargain. :) She was so cute for her party.

Lily and Friends! (l to r) Lily, Benjamin, Jenna, Nathan, Brianna and Andrew


5 kids in a tent! When one would scream they would all scream. It was craziness!


A family photo outside on a GORGEOUS Saturday evening! Mommy is 8 months pregnant!!!

Make a wish, Lily!

Opening her presents. This is a Dora ball and bat from Nathan.

We tried to get them all on the couch for a group picture. Lily wasn't very happy about it and Andrew didn't stay put for long. :)

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Lily and 3 men who adore her! Uncle Mark, Daddy and Grandpa Ed

(l to r) Lily, Grandpa Sam, Grandma Vicki, Grandma Kathy and Great Grandma Irene

The Birthday Girl!

She ate a ton of marshmallows at both parties. We served chocolate fondue, but Lily was just interested in plain 'ole marshmallows. :)

Daddy and Lily

Lily and Mommy

The Becker Family

Bedtime Bear from Uncle Mark!!!

Feeding her baby from Grandma and Grandpa Becker

Sarah Lynn and her Camping Adventure from Grandma and Grandpa Crabtree

Enjoying chocolate "pupcakes" with Grandpa

3 of my favorite people on the planet!

Lily and her grandparents

4 Generations

Lily Becker, Andy Becker, Irene Becker and Ed Becker :)

One worn-out birthday girl

It was a delightful weekend of celebrating Lily's 3rd birthday. Her birthday isn't until the 14th but we're going to be in Illinois for my cousin Erin's wedding so we decided to have her parties the weekend before. She and I made Care Bears cupcakes on Friday night. She LOVES to help in the kitchen and doesn't let me forget to let her lick the beaters after mixing the cake batter. :) I made several trips to the grocery store. My pregnant brain didn't allow me to remember everything in one trip. Andy helped me clean the house and set up the table and extra chairs. Saturday morning Lily and I ran some errands (including picking up Care Bears balloons) and then had lunch with Andy at the store because he had to work. When we got home she took a nap (despite being SO excited for everyone to come!!!) while I cut fruit, made sure the camera battery and video cam were charged up, took care of a few last minute details and took a shower. Her friends started arriving right around 4 o'clock and it was so much fun. We borrowed an idea from our friends Dean and Lana and picked up Little Caesars pizzas for supper. It was the best thing ever! No meal to prepare and very little clean up!!! I highly recommend that. I decided that if there was ever a year when I had an excuse this was it! Also, I had picked up a very large container of Cheese Balls at Sam's Club and they were a HUGE hit with the kids! :) Rain had been forecasted all week but it turned out to be a beautiful day so we all spent some time outside which was wonderful. We came back inside for Lily's Care Bears cupcakes and ice cream and then she opened gifts and passed out goodie bags. I'd say it was a success!

Sunday afternoon we celebrated with our families. My parents, Andy's parents, his brother Mark and his grandma Irene were here. My grandma Elaine was in Colorado visiting my Aunt Shari so she had to miss the party. And of course Mandi and Bryan were at home in Stevens Point. We missed them and wish they could have been here!!! We pretty much served identical food for the sake of convenience and once again the marshmallows were a hit with Lily. It was a really special evening to be with family. I feel so fortunate that Lily has both sets of grandparents and two great-grandmas nearby and that they're such a special part of her life. We are blessed! She got to open MORE presents and loved it all. She's played with every single thing since the party and is really enjoying having some new toys around. She got a book from my parents called Big Thought for Little Thinkers: The Gospel and has asked me to read it to her *many* times. It's way over her head but she loves it! It's literally a gospel presentation that talks about the fact that she's a sinner and needs to trust Jesus for salvation and that Jesus took her punishment on the cross and that she can spend eternity in Heaven with Him. It's so over her head but she's been carrying it around and absolutely loves it. The character in the book is a little girl named Gracie and so she calls it her "Gracie book". It's so funny how you never know what she will latch onto. She got all this STUFF for her birthday and a little book about the Gospel is probably her favorite thing! :)

Well, this is one very long post. So I should bring it to a close. I'll just say that it's so hard to believe that my baby Lily is turning 3. Where have these three years gone? She is such a gift and I can't imagine my life without her. I pray hard to be a good mommy to her and that she will turn out despite all my flaws and failures. I do pray that she'll one day soon recognize her need for a Savior and that she will love Jesus and become a godly woman. And in the more immediate future I pray that she will be a good big sister and that she will bond with her baby brother and love him. I'm so grateful for the privilege of being her mother. Lily is a blessing!!!

Week 35

In week 35, the average baby weighs around five to six pounds and measures about 16 to 19 inches in length. Your baby will begin to gain weight more rapidly than ever before…adding about one half to three-quarters of a pound each week from this point forward. And healthy fat is being deposited all over your baby's body, especially around the shoulders.
Because of her size, your baby may move around less as her surroundings become more cramped. Her head may be resting on your pubic bone in preparation for labor and delivery.
Other developments are also taking place this week:
* The central nervous system will continue to mature.
* The lungs will most likely be fully developed by Week 35.
* Baby is beginning to develop daily activity cycles. You may notice that Baby is often more active at night when you're trying to rest!
* Even thought they won't be considered “full-term” until the end of the 40th week, Baby's respiratory and digestive systems are nearly mature.
* Baby's immune system is starting to develop.
* The umbilical cord is now about 20 inches long and one to two centimeters in diameter; at birth, it will be about two feet long and a half-inch thick.

A HUGE Surprise and a Baby Shower

Friday night we went to a bbq at our friends Chad and Megan's home. I was standing in their kitchen with my back to the front door when I heard April's voice say, "Is this where the party's at?" In that instant I thought, "No way." I turned around and April was standing about two feet away from me and my jaw dropped. I said, "What are you doing here?!" And she said they came for the shower. Do you believe that??? I had been holding baby Dylan so I passed him to his mom, hugged April and started crying. I couldn't believe it. And as I looked at all the other people there I realized that nobody else was surprised. They were all in on it! Andy had known for four days and he kept the secret so well. I had no idea. The only thing I thought was weird was that Chad and Megan were having all of us over the night before we would all be hanging out again at our baby shower. But it never even crossed my mind that Dave and April would come for the shower. I'm so glad they did!!! It was so fun to see them after all these months and to meet their precious little Hailey. I'm so glad I got to meet her while she's still so little. She's such a good baby! And Emma is so grown up and such a dolly.



Saturday night our friends Dean and Lana hosted a baby shower for us at their house and it was wonderful! They thought of everything! They went to so much work and it was just delightful. I couldn't believe how many people were there and how many clothes we came home with for our baby boy! He's going to be a well dressed, stylish little guy. :) I feel overwhelmed. We're so grateful for such an awesome circle of Christian friends.

It was an awesome weekend and it still seems a little surreal that Cousens were here. It was so sweet of them to come and it meant a lot to me.

So below are a few photo highlights of the weekend. Enjoy!

Emma and Lily at the BBQ

Hailey Faith! Beautiful baby!

Sleeping peacefully during all the chaos!

Reunited! Andrew, Emma, Brianna, Lily and Lauren

Showers of blessings

The Beckers and the super cute cake

The yellow lettering says Congratulations Andy, Dawn and Lily

The bear design matched the invitations, napkins, plates, balloons, etc.

My beloved, precious friend April!!!

Our kiddos

Aren't they cute?