Studying with Josh

Hey folks, me here and just checking in while Josh is studying. It's been a pretty busy week and I can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday. Praise the Lord my days at work have been going by much quicker, all thanks to the warmer weather up here in Erie. Which is another praise because I was getting pretty anxious for spring-like temperatures.

I'm enjoying a nice evening on our couch with my feet elevated above my heart (ankles are a bit swollen), attempting to finish some thank you cards while Josh is studying for boards. He is officially done with his second year of med-school!!! He took his last final today and in exactly one month he will be taking Step 1 of his boards. Even though he has completed all of his classes he is still going to be very busy preparing for the boards. I am so incredibly proud of how hard he has been working. He has dedicated so much time and energy into med-school, I pray the Lord continues to show his faithfulness to Josh. He is going to be a great doctor!

Josh just told me to post a picture with this blog. He said it's better to have a picture with a blog post. So here is kind of a random picture taken a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure if I've already posted it so I apologize if you've already seen this.

Baby's first Chipotle

Whenever we're in Dayton we try to get pizza from our favorite pizza place, Donato's Pizza, or Chipotle (or sometimes both, just being honest). When I lived in Dayton and ate at Chipotle regularly, I would get a chicken fajita bowl. But since I rarely have Chipotle I splurged for their barbaquoa fajita burrito. Oh boy was it yummy and now I feel like driving to Cleveland for some Chipotle. Anybody with me?

Okay, back to the thank you cards.

28 Weeks

Well, this picture is coming to you at the end of my 28th week. I had Josh take this picture of me last Sunday and I had really good intentions of posting it early in the week. But I didn’t have the best week of being pregnant so I wasn’t up for blogging much. I am still loving being pregnant but this week was a little rough. Sleeping has been almost impossible with this crazy nerve pain I have been experiencing around my ribs and of course the pain is worse when I am lying down. My mother likes to remind me of the 48 hour labor I put her through, I wonder if this will be my thing I remind my son of when he is older. I have a bit to go left of my pregnancy, I’m sure I’ll continue to be experiencing a few more aches and pains, I just hope this is the worst of it. Oh, and I still have labor to look forward to! I do love being pregnant but this has been one crazy ride!

Yesterday was my gestational diabetes test. I haven’t heard back from the doctor yet so I am praying that means I passed. The “glucola”, (that’s what they call the sugary drink –do they think by adding ‘cola’ at the end of it makes it sound better?) well it wasn’t terrible to drink but I did feel a little sick after drinking it. Drinking the glucola ended up being the easy part of my doctor’s appointment. I will spare you all of the details and just tell you we were there for a couple of hours, I had to have blood drawn twice, was told I am Rh negative, and because of that I had to have a shot in my toosh. Early in my pregnancy I read a little bit about being Rh negative but I didn’t think that concerned me. Well it does and Josh had to keep assuring me that our baby was going to be okay. For those who aren’t familiar with what it means to be Rh negative this is from babycenter.com and they give a clear explanation of what it means to be Rh negative during your pregnancy:

Early in your pregnancy your blood will be tested to determine your blood type and your Rh status — that is, whether you have the Rh (Rhesus) factor, a protein that most people have on the surface of their red blood cells. If you do have the Rh factor, as most people do, your status is Rh-positive. (About 85 percent of Caucasians are Rh-positive, as are 90 to 95 percent of African Americans and 98 to 99 percent of Asian Americans.) If you don't have it, you're Rh-negative, and you'll need to take certain precautions during your pregnancy. If you're Rh-negative, there's a good chance that your blood is incompatible with your baby's blood, which is likely to be Rh-positive. You probably won't know this for sure until the baby is born, but in most cases you have to assume it, just to be safe. Being "Rh-incompatible" isn't likely to harm you or your baby during this pregnancy, if it's your first. But if your baby's blood leaks into yours (as it can at certain times during pregnancy and at birth), your immune system will start to produce antibodies against this Rh-positive blood. If that happens, you'll become "Rh-sensitized" — and the next time you're pregnant with an Rh-positive baby, those antibodies may attack your baby's blood. Fortunately, you can avoid becoming Rh-sensitized by getting an injection of a drug called Rh immune globulin whenever there's a chance that your blood has been exposed to your baby's blood.

All is well, I was just being a bit dramatic yesterday. Most likely all of my crazy hormones and if I had known I was going to get a shot, especially one in the location it was in and I could have prepared myself, I would have been okay. So thanks for letting me rant. I feel better now. I'll have Josh take another picture soon (not too much change from last week) and I'll post all of the things I love about being pregnant.

Have a great weekend everyone, the weather is supposed to be amazing here in Erie!!!!

Our baby's soon-to-be best friend

Yesterday, our friends Adam and Camille had their first baby boy and I got to meet him today! My heart just melted when I first laid eyes on him. He is absolutely adorable.

Henry James Jennings
April 21, 2009 at 12:44PM
8lbs. 14oz. & 21" long

Finger on the lip, already in deep thought.

Camille found these leg warmers called "baby legs" on Etsy.com.

Henry, you are looking good stud.

And the beautiful mother doing wonderfully. Camille and Adam are already amazing parents.

Camille, I am so proud of you! Many congratulations and blessings to you guys and the new addition to your family. Looking forward to Henry and our little guy's first play date!

Dayton Baby Shower

Sorry folks, I forgot to post pictures from my baby shower in Dayton. So two weeks late...here are some pictures from my baby shower.

I think I mentioned it before but I will say it again. My sister, mother, and grandmother all worked so hard on this baby shower for me and it was wonderful! Every party put together by my mother and grandmother is pretty much fabulous. I was incredibly honored by what they did for me in the celebration of my first baby.

Because we invited a lot of family and friends (I think over 60), the girls came up with the idea of having the games set up as different stations in different rooms of my mother's house. This allowed the guests to walk around and play the games at their leisure. After we ate lunch and cake, my mother and sister announced the answers to each game and passed out prizes to the winners. The stations idea worked out really well. It allowed the guest lots of visiting time with each other and I was able to walk around and talk with friends and family I had not seen in a while.

The first game....a baby shower must. We had two ladies who were both dead on! And I'm still trying to get over how long my Aunt Paula made hers.

The second game was my favorite. We had ten paper bags on a table and sealed inside each one was a baby item the guests had to guess what the item was.

My creative mother made answer cards for each guest to write down their answers to each game.


Another shower favorite. This game was probably the most fun to watch. My mother melted 10 different candy bars in 10 different diapers and our guests had to guess the candy bar by smelling it.

I'll spare you the photos of the melted candy bars. Just a reminded of what I have to look forward to in a couple of months.


I think I spent most of my time around this table. It had almost all of my recent cravings: fruit, fresh veggies and dip, and chocolate.

Every party in Dayton needs a cake from The Cakery. Mine and my sister's wedding cakes were from this bakery and their cakes are delicious. I highly recommend their cakes.

Salad of greens with vanilla chardonnay poached pears and almonds with ginger-lemon vinaigrette. They tasted even more amazing than they sound. And they were too cute!
All of the food was excellent. Especially the crab cakes with roasted corn. Yummo!

The bib says "What happens at grandma's stays at grandma's." And the onsie says "Vroom vroom off to grandpa's."
Josh and I received a lot of really nice gifts at the shower. We both are touched by everyone's love and generosity. We are truly blessed.

And my friend Michael got me a Wii Fit. Not sure if he's trying to tell me something, but I was pleasantly surprised to open this gift.

-sorry this picture is blurry-
The grandmothers (minus three great-grandmothers and one great-great grandmother).
From left to right: Gammie, my mother, and Josh's mother.

Thank you again Brittany, mommy, & Gammie for making this shower incredibly special for me. I truly enjoyed myself and felt blessed and loved the entire time. You girls sure know how to throw a party. Love you girls!

Easter Weekend

I have always loved the Easter holiday. It is a wonderful reminder of what Christ did for us on the cross. I continue to be blown away by what He did for me even though I am so unworthy of His incredible sacrifice. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)


Josh and I weren't able to go home (to Dayton or Grand Rapids) for the weekend. So we celebrated Easter with our close friends up here in Erie. We went over to the Lee's house for a potluck lunch. She and her husband provided a ham and potatoes and everyone else brought sides and desserts. The food was beyond great and the fellowship with close friends was refreshing. We are truly blessed to have such great friends up here in Erie who are all going through (or have already gone through) this season of being in med-school. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have these friends here. I know my relationships with them have a lot to do with my thriving here in Erie rather than just surviving.


Also this week…..I finally finished the Harry Potter series! All seven books complete! Whew, this has been a long journey and I am kind of sad it's over. I probably became too emotionally connected to the characters in the story but you really can't help it. I think I want to re-read them again but I'll probably wait a while. I have a few other books on my reading list I hope to get through before the baby comes. You know, really fun and exciting books about breast feeding and giving your baby the gift of sleep. I know those aren't that exciting but I'm all about learning as much info I can on these subjects now before the baby is here.

Always good to be home

I am home (Erie) from my trip back home (Dayton). Did that make sense? Even though Erie is my new home now, my house in Dayton will always be home to me. Anyways, I have returned home from a wonderful weekend with my family. My mother, sister, and grandmother threw me a wonderful baby shower on Saturday. I had such a great time and I really enjoyed myself. Josh and I have been incredibly blessed by our friends and family and their thoughtfulness. Pictures of the shower to come.

I had anticipated on returning home on Sunday evening, but due to that nasty flu bug going around, I was unable to travel on Sunday. Brittany and I both got really sick on Sunday, she got hit with it harder than I did. So instead of driving 5 hours from Dayton to Erie, she and I spent the day resting and letting our mother take care of us. I was pretty nervous for the baby being in so much discomfort and pain. But even through the pain, he was kicking away…all day. Knowing he was moving around so much was very reassuring me. And either Nola was really tuckered out from the party or knew I wasn't feeling too good, she spent her entire Sunday resting with me on my lap. I of course loved it and didn't mind one bit. She seemed to be pretty content when she discovered she can rest her head on my belly, it was pretty cute.

I am home, back to work, and our kitchen is packed with all of the gifts we received this weekend. Also, it's been snowing in Erie ever since I got home. I've heard we're supposed to get a couple more inches of snow tonight. Erie might just beat the record for snowiest winter after all.

Chick-fil-A Deal!!!

Special Announcement….

I don't know why I am so excited about this today but I am. I've come to love the little things in my life that make me excited and give me something to look forward to. Like when we first moved to Erie summer 2007 and I saw a Chick-fil-A being built and the sign said "coming fall 2007". I immediately sent my mother a text message and told her… "Josh and I are going to be okay here in Erie, we're getting a Chick-fil-A!"

Sorry, I got a little side-tracked (that's happening a lot lately), back to the special announcement…

If you enjoy a meal today (April 2^nd) at Chick-fil-A, SAVE YOUR RECEIPT because you can go back to Chick-fil-A with your receipt and receive the same thing you ordered for FREE! You can't go back today and get your meal for free, but starting tomorrow the deal is good until the end of May. This applies to anything on their menu. Party trays, desserts, their fabulous waffle French fries, anything! When I saw a commercial for this I was a little skeptical. So I called our local Chick-fil-A and sure enough this deal is going on all day long!

Thankfully my sister is in town today and she and Josh are going to be bringing me Chick-fil-A for lunch. I'm so excited!

Not sure if this is going on at all Chick-fil-A stores. I would call your local store to see if they're having this special. If they aren't, tell them we are here in Erie and they should get on the ball.

Brittany is coming!

Today my little sister Brittany is coming up to Erie to visit me! Like Josh, my sister is in her second year of med-school at Ohio State. Ohio State gives their med-students a week long spring break, lucky ducks. But we're not bitter about that. Who needs spring break anyways? It doesn't quite feel like spring here in Erie even though it is officially spring. Hey, it still snowed on Monday. I guess that's why people don't spring break in Erie. Except for my sister!

I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with Brittany. We don't have too much planned while she is here in Erie but on Friday she and I are going to drive to Dayton for my first baby shower. I love road trips with Brittany! When we were younger and I got my driver's license, our "road trips" were hour and a half drives from Dayton to Columbus to go shopping and visit our grandparents. We always had great music and great conversations with each other. And now that we're both married, we have so much more to talk about.

 

Also…

Happy first day of APRIL!!!