Dun, dun, dun!!

Week 40 was upon us and we were excited as ever! We knew our time to meet BB was sure to be soon! After our 40 week doctor appointment we discussed with Dr. Madura that if BB doesn't arrive on his/her own that we will be induced on Sunday July 8th! It was then a waiting game....eeek!

Maternity Pics...Well Kinda

As this pregnancy is starting to (at least we hope) come to an end, we realized we needed to get a few pictures taken before BB's arrival! We bought a new snazzy camera around Christmas time, so we decided to attempt to take a few pictures on our own. We had to be fairly creative for the ones where all 4 of us were in b/c we do not have a tri-pod. Overall we were pretty happy with how a few turned out! Below are a few of our favorites that we put up in frames in our house....only to be replaced here soon I'm sure with pictures of the actual baby :)!

Week 39! Eeek!

Week 39 was a week filled with trying to find things to keep ourselves occupied. We didn't have any practices, games or other events on our agenda so believe it or not we did not know how to fill the time at first. We ended up rearranging the kitchen cabinets, cleaning, laundry, saw a couple of movies, rented a couple of movies, hit the pool at my grandparents for a couple of days and walking....lots of walking! When we went to our weekly appointment I was still dilated to 1cm, 70% effaced and the baby was at a -2 station. So nothing new had happened. Dr. Madura stripped my membranes (yes a little TMI sorry) but other than being a little uncomfortable and crampy it did not seem to do anything to get labor started b/c I'm still pregnant :). We are coming up close on the due date and I know we will get to meet our son/daughter very very soon. There is a light at the end of this journey. I'm really looking forward to our 40 week doctor appointment on Thursday, July 5th (obviously due date the office is closed for Americas birthday...apparently that's important too). I'm hoping we have progressed a lot more at this appointment and/or a plan is put into place for an induction! We shall see.....!!

One talented artist!

Belle is one talented little girl! She was sitting at the kitchen table the other day keeping to herself drawing, coloring, tracing with stencils and mostly being creative! Upon finishing one of her pictures for the baby, she presented me with a lovely portrait that was of me when we took my latest weekly picture. I suppose I can see some similarities?? I sure hope I don't really have that bright of lipstick and sweet mom hair already?? :)

It's a waiting game....

Why is there a picture of a game of Scrabble on our blog? Well, basically Matt and I are beyond ready for our little ones arrival. We have made it through the main important things we wanted to get through before the baby's arrival and are now on stand by just waiting around. The month of June was filled with two cheerleading camps, baseball games, baby shower, weddings, graduation parties and a wonderful memorial service for Aunt Alice. We are pleased to announce we made it to each item on the list! Now that we are through those things we have found ourselves with little to do! We used to fill this time with random road trips, late night deck drinking and going out with family and friends. We are pretty much on call ready to go at any moment, we can't really do any of those things anymore. So what did we decide to do? Play a nice game of Scrabble of course! Now, Matt of course is continuing with our usual deck drinking :).

Weekly Pics 33-38!

It's been awhile since I last posted. I've been busy with my K-5 Cheerleading camp and my high school girls camp down at IU. Below are the last several weeks pictures. I think it's a little hard to tell with the various outfits....maybe next time I will opt for the same outfit for each picture like I've heard people doing. Regardless we are now in the homestretch and we could not be anymore excited! We can't wait to meet Baby Brown!

I can't wait to run again!

I posted this picture of my new running shoes on Facebook the other day. I absolutely cannot wait to get back out on the pavement and go running again. I tried to keep up with running as much as possible during this pregnancy but in those cold winter months it seems to always get pushed to the wayside and now I barely can go up the stairs without being out of breath. I'm beyond excited for BBs arrival but also have many other things to be excited for too! Can't wait to go running is one of the tops on the list!

How I'm spending my time....

One thing I've decided I need to do as much as possible in these next three weeks is take some time to just relax in the sun. Whether I go to a pool, have my cheerleaders practice outside or simply sit on my deck...I want to be outside. Today I decided was a perfect day to try and enjoy some sunshine. I got all geared up and when I went to the backyard, this is the only spot I could find with some sun peaking through. It's just gonna have to work for me today....hoping more sunshine comes along soon! I sure do love some vitamin D!

Indy 500 2012!

As always the Indy 500 weekend was beyond successful! It started off with usual catching up with one another and then right into the annual beer pong tournament.....



Team "Matt Lower" was full of great ideas, unfortunately they were unable to beat the dynamic duo of those Neal/Keele guys.












The actual race was the hottest race on record, yes being 8 months pregnant but still attending the race was probably not the best choice but it all worked out just fine. We all kept cool, drank lots of water (well at least I did) and took multiple breaks in the shade.



















Neal Team Six was out in full force and their only mission?? To ensure Mike made it to the race. Last year, Mike had a little too much fun during the pre-race party the night before he ended up not making it to the race. Our only goal for this year was "No Mike left behind." Mission accomplished!

Weeks 33 & 34!

The time is slowly and quickly ticking away....weeks 33 and 34 have come and gone. I was busy these weeks finishing up school, cheer practice and party rockin in the teacher talent show performance. I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable when laying down to sleep and needing to change positions. I'm also having a hard time breathing while doing what used to be simple tasks....I realize it will only increase in difficulty the next 6 weeks, but soon we will have BB here and it will all have been well worth it!

Mayflower Mill teacher talent show performance 2012. That's me in the neon green rockin the baby bump! BB was loving it and didn't stop moving once I sat down!



Bookshelves??

It's not a big secret that being a teacher, I love to read books. I love to read (when I have time) and I love reading to my kindergarten students. Something both Matt and I cannot wait for is to be able to read books upon books to this little one that will be arriving in just a few weeks! When we were planning out the nursery, we wanted to save a lot money and space whenever and wherever possible. A few things we opted for were to use the dresser top as the changing table and not needing to purchase a separate changing table, therefore not needing to find space to fit the table either! We also were excited about taking an old dresser and painting/refinishing it to be exactly what we wanted. Something else that was on our minds was how we were going to store the mounds of books we have already collected for BB. The idea of putting a bookcase in the room did nto help in the saving on money and space, so that idea was OUT. After consulting Pinterest and a few blogs that I follow, we saw a unique idea in using IKEA spice racks to hold books up against the wall! Well, once I saw this I had to have them. I was beyond excited. The only problem was there isn't an IKEA anywhere near us for one and for two almost every IKEA was not showing these lovely spice racks in stock and shipping was not an option either. Soooo, my hard working husband decided with a little bit of patience and thought he could recreate these for us! Below are the pictures of the steps he took in making them. We currently have three ready to be painted and mounted to the wall once our chair arrives and we might need to add one or two more!

  

All that baby stuff!

It's getting closer and closer! I am currently 32 weeks but posted last week and this weeks pictures.

I had our first baby shower at Mayflower last Friday and was beyond excited to get things home! Once I got home and looked through all of our new things I realized I had no idea where all this baby stuff would go. It's not just the big items that need to find a corner, it's the teethers, pacifiers, rattles, blankets, toys and butt paste (yes I love the name). So needless to say all of the stuff found a transitional home on our kitchen table for about 4-5 days. After talking to other mamas I started to wrap my head around where to put things. I was able to finally clean off the kitchen table and find a semi-permanent spot or at least potential places where the adorable things can go. Now I am ready to gear up for baby shower #2 this coming weekend! Bring it on! Organization will come in due time.....right? =)

...a few of the things that found a "home" in BB's room.

BB's Nursery...

After many attempts at finding the perfect dresser that was either the perfect color or was able to be repainted to make it the perfect color, Matt stumbled upon this beauty on Craig's List. I was a little apprehensive at first because it seemed so large, clunky and I had a hard time seeing the vision of what it could be. Both Matt and my mom were incredibly positive in this dresser having the perfect potential in BB's room. Sooo, we contacted the seller and it became ours w/in 24 hours! After thinking about paint, new hardware and the best approach...Matt got to work! He started off by sanding the entire dresser down, I removed the hardware (yes, I felt like I wanted to help in some way) and then he began painting by priming and then a few layers of grey (which we paint matched at Lowe's with a piece from our crib) and finished up with a clear poly coat. He did an A-mazing job and the hard work shows below! The nursery is beginning to come together!

Week #30!!

We have made it into the 30's! From what I hear, this time tends to go the quickest and it's basically "Go Time!" We have continued to work on pieces of the nursery, preparing for baby showers and took our first two baby classes!

SB 2012!!

Matt and I went to Marco Island, FL to visit my grandparents for spring break this year. It was a little different than our previous vacations, me being pregnant and all, but we still managed to have a great time. Enjoyed the beach, both going out and staying in for dinner and overall relaxing and doing NOTHING because we are both so busy during the school year. It's always hard to leave the beach, but that means we just need to get started on planning on next vacation! Where will it be....no matter where or when, I'm sure of one thing...Baby Brown will sure to be with us! =)