11 on 11, with one to grow on

Pics from my seester-in-law's baby shower:

While we were all downstairs, Averi and Maci were upstairs "washing" Maci's hair for the "party...in the park...for Grammy."  So funny.

 

Photo update of the last 2 days:

Here's our girl :)  Last night she had gained 35 grams (just over an ounce, which is 30 grams) at her weigh-in!  An ounce a day is the goal, so we were very excited. Tonight's weigh in (done a little earlier than normal) showed no weight gain.  My heart dropped.  This means Ellis coming home will be delayed.  Possibly not for another week, or more now.  I went ahead and got my heart set on Wednesday or Thursday of this week, but barring some astronomical weight gains over the next couple of days, Ellis will remain in the NICU for some extra time. I am feeling my patience being tested in a new way tonight.  Maybe it's my own fault for thinking she'd be home on Wednesday or Thursday.  When will I learn that things go up and down and all around nearly EVERYday here?  

Aside from all that, isn't she stunning?

Here is the hostess with the mostest, my good friend, Lexi.  Also pictured is the cutey-pie, Tate.  Yesterday morning, Lexi hosted a post-baby baby shower for me (the original party plan had to be postponed for obvious reasons).  It was great to spend time with many of my most favoritest women in life.  A few weren't able to attend, and they were dearly missed. It was a great way to spend my morning, especially since I haven't done much socializing lately.

Such big girls:

There were 6 pregnant women at this shower. Holy moly.

Amy:

Deb & Donna:

Brooke and Keri (stay tuned, she's going to be a mama any day now...)

Kati, Dana &  Chrissie, who is also prego:

Julie & Sonya:

Chrissie & Holly:

That's me with 3 pregos, Amanda, Keri and Amy:

Did you think it would ever happen?

Helloooooooooo, everybody!!! Alrighty roo, I have about 30 minutes before going to Gabe's writing class.  What's that, you ask?  Be patient, it's all in this blog.  There's no reason you should know yet, because as you may have noticed, it's been ages since I last blogged anything very informative.

So I am currently in the very comfortable second trimester of my pregnancy.  Amen for that.  Literally overnight (a few weeks ago, now) I woke up back to (almost) my normal self.  Rather than becoming an incoherent blob around 3:00, I now make it all the way to 9 pm.  I no longer require 18 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period, and standing up from the sofa does not cause me to need an immediate nap.  This is much easier to live with.  PLUS, my constant state of being is queasy?  No sir, not anymore.  After three months of it, I actually got pretty used to always feeling like if I thought about it too much I could throw up at any given moment.  So when I woke up that glorious day feeling fine again, I have to say, I was not just a little worried that something was wrong.  I've now come to accept and embrace this not nauseous feeling.

We have our next dr's appointment on Tuesday.  Say a little (or big) prayer that everything is on track and developing normally.  If we have an ultrasound, we should be able to find out the gender---but I'm not sure we'll have another u.s. until November.  Yes.  We are finding out if Bobbie is a boy or girl.  And I'm very excited to find out. I don't know how people can wait.

Since my last respectable blog, Tim and Kristi have been back to visit twice and since moved to Vancouver.  We were very happy to spend time with them in Aurora, as well as on a trip to Indiana...more on that later.

Here are Maci and Kya at Sonya and Kendal's the night we had dinner over there during T and K's first visit.  
Chrissie and Krisit:

This was FOREVER ago! For whatever reason, since I've been prego, I have taken an interest in cooking!  Who would have though?!  This was one of my first big endeavors, a wild rice and wild mushroom soup with garlic butter.  It was delicious and I was quite proud of how similar my soup looked to the picture.  At the stage of cooking skill I am currently at, I generally prefer to cook recipes that show me what the outcome should look like.  Very helpful.
Magazine photo on left, my soup on right:

Gabe is teaching his final creative writing class tonight, a requirement for grad school.  I think it's been eight weeks.  I took this on the first Wednesday.  Notice how bright it was at 7 pm.  No longer.  It's pitch black out now, and I need to leave soon.  He does a fantastic job, and even someone like me (who isn't all that interested in creative writing) has enjoyed and benefitted from his creativity and ideas.  
Daly basking:
Some student projects:

This was Tate's first birthday party.  Notice the four heads facing away from the camera in the second photo (Dylan, Maci, Kya, Conner)---all related to each other, either sibling or cousin.  Anyway, don't they all have amazing hair?  I get a little jealous every time I see them :)

This was on the last day of our family trip to Plymouth, IN.  Gabe's grandparents, Vic and MaryLou celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, and we all got to be there to share it with them.  It was a fantastic weekend.  I got to meet a lot of Gabe's relatives for the first time.   We had a really nice time.   Here is the family band, Gabe, Kristi and Janae---rocking that church youth building like it's never been rocked before.  On this last day, Gabe's cousin Kristi Kavicky put together a surprise baby shower for us, which was so thoughtful.  We felt very loved.



Here is Kristi's little boy, Jacob being rolled in a tire by his dad, Eric.  There were all sorts of giggles coming from the rolling tire.
I will post some belly progress pictures soon...

mr. max

Well, Marla and Melissa, here is your old house.  You can't quite tell from this picture, but the entire (facing) right side of the front yard is completely covered in hosta plants.  Sorry about the quality, I was trying to be very covert as we drove by at dusk in the hopes of not being noticed.  Lots of great memories in this yard and house.

Introducing....MAX!  On our last night in Iowa we drove to Iowa City to stay with my good good old friend Jessica and her husband Eric and five month old Max.  I cried a little when I saw him for the first time.  It's just so cool to meet the child of a friend you've had since third grade.  He is absolutely delightful and so easy to smile.  He has big brown eyes and a sweet little personality.  You love him immediately.

Here is Jessica in the background explaining to Gabe and I her immense fear of "cougars"---or in Colorado, we would say mountain lions.  It's funny...because she lives in Iowa...but she read that one was seen across the western Iowa border a few years ago.  I don't want to mock her, because I'm much more likely to be attacked by a mountain lion being that I live in Colorado. That would be a really unfortunate "I told you so."

Once again, the brilliance of our camera shines through.  Who need clarity in a picture, give me a blurred image anyday.

Krissi, if you're reading this, will you please email me the Iowa pictures from your camera?  I'm sure you got some great ones.  Especially from Frank's party.  

More tomorrow!