Sneak Peek!!

I am so excited about how the nursery is coming along that I thought I would post a couple of photos for everyone to see. We still have a little bit of touch up to do and a little bit of the floor to finish cleaning up - which should be done tonight - and then we will start putting furniture together. YEA!!

Getting Down to the Wire

On August 28 we had our 34 week check-up, complete with an ultrasound to check Ella's growth rate and all the regular tummy measurements, blood pressure checks, and glucose monitoring. Despite my absolutely incredible swollen feet everything is fine. Ella measured a little bit small this visit (13% in case you know what that means) which is apparently fairly common in babies where mom's AFP was elevated early in pregnancy. So they will monitor her growth a little more closely week - by - week as we get through these last 5 weeks before she makes her grand entrance. The doctor didn't seem too terribly concerned yet, but told me to be a bit more of a couch potato and try to take things easier at work so that all the calories go straight to the baby and I don't use them all up carting this big body around. David took this to heart and immediately took me to Walmart where he stocked up on all kinds of food (good and bad) completely determined to fatten this baby up before next visit :-). We'll see if he is successful or not. I tried to get some of the ultrasound to post, but it is not cooperating. We have our first non-stress test this coming Tuesday and another ultrasound a week from Thursday - we'll keep you posted.

So you don't think I'm exaggerating - here's a picture of my feet and ankles today, on a good day after I have had them elevated for a couple of hours. This will be one to show Ella when she gets bigger :-).

Family Ties

We were so excited to have my brother Darin and his family come and visit for a few days in early August! Our nephew Micah and niece Bekah just loved helping uncle Dave feed the chickens, check on the bees, take care of the horses and the goat, make smores over the bonfire, learn to spit watermelon seeds and all the other fabulous parts of country life that are miles away from Fort Worth, Texas. Here is a little taste of all the fun we had together . . .

The Northam's first trip into a real coal mine - they even were able to take home a lump of coal (hopefully not for their stockings :-).

We toured many different historic buildings, old houses, and an old school that were restored on the property as well. The kids couldn't help but sit down and start reading from the old school books.

We visited the beautiful New River Gorge bridge and uncle David showed everyone around the areas where he grew up. Unfortunately he also got stuck in both the outhouse and the dunce chair at the school.


We all relaxed on the porch while the kids played an old fashioned game of checkers (although I think it was really uncle David vs. Darin in the end).

After a picnic on the blue ridge parkway Uncle David had a good time showing the kids different types of trees and playing tickle time on the picnic blanket.

And we managed to sneak in plenty of snuggle time with our newest niece Jessye. She is such a doll and we loved watching her laugh and play. This picture gives you a little clue as to how big Aunt Bri is getting these days - even though people still are exclaiming how small they think I am, I really feel enormous. I think through all that visiting David has still made it through every family event without changing a diaper - we'll be changing that record very soon. We had a great time with family and wish from the bottom of our hearts we could visit like this much more often. - Love ya'll!!

Wyoming Escape - our final vacation as a family of 2!!

OLD FAITHFUL!!

For our final vacation as a family of 2 we went to Jackson Hole, WY. I actually did my veterinary CE at a conference in town and we took a few extra days to turn the trip into a fun vacation. It's kind of scary to think this will be the last airplane trip we will take without a baby and all the necessary gear!

Here are some fantastic views of Yellowstone National Park that we were able to enjoy!

We spent one of our afternoons taking a beautiful hike in Grand Teton National Park up to inspiration point. It was only about 2 miles, but the steps went straight up and I received alot of "are you crazy" looks from people. I guess it's not "socially acceptable" to hike when you're 6 months pregnant, but I wasn't going to miss out on any of the great views. It was one of only a couple hikes David allowed me to go on, so up we went.

Of course one of our favorite parts of any nature trip is watching all of the animals and there was no shortage on this one. We spent lots of evenings watching the buffalo, we went on a horse ride over the canyon, and even fed a few chipmunks (of course that was David).

Finally here are a few of my favorite artsy or just plain gorgeous photos we captured while in the mountains. We really had a great time, but were ready to come home when the trip was over. Next time we will show Ella all the amazing sites and she will make our trip that much more fun and exciting.