A Wonderful Weekend

This past weekend was absolutely wonderful! My family came on up for my last baby shower given by Brooke, Camille, and Sarah. The shower was a garden party in Camille's backyard. They hung beautiful lanterns, covered four tables with beautiful floral tablecloths, citronella candles, and the food was of course nothing but amazing! Camille contacted my mother for one of the games to ask her questions about when I was a baby. It was such a fun game and let's just say all of my girlfriends got to learn a lot about baby Bethany and probably a bit more than I would have disclosed with them. But it was all in fun and I know my mother was happy to share her fun (and not so fun) memories of me. The party was so relaxing and it was great to have one last time of hanging out with the girls before baby g is here. **Thank you girls for making the shower so much fun! You all have been an incredibly blessing to me and I am so thankful you are in my life. **Pictures of the shower to come from my favorite photographer, Brooke!

Also this past weekend, we took the fam to the Erie Arts Festival. The festival was held downtown on the bayfront at Liberty Park. I was a little nervous about finding a place to park but thankfully we found spot (thanks to Papa). I know it sounds dumb to worry about parking, but when you're 9 months pregnant not having to walk too far for parking is kind of a big deal. There were a lot of different vendors at the festival and we enjoyed walking around checking everything out. After we walked around for a bit we grabbed lunch and I must say lunch was the highlight of the festival for me. I had a super yummy grilled chicken pita with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, dried cranberries, with sweet vidalia onion sauce and a huge fresh squeezed lemonade. It was the perfect summer treat and I'm pretty sure I will be coming back to the art festival next year just to have that pita again.

This past weekend was Josh's last free weekend before he started his rotations. His first rotation is internal medicine and he said his first day (yesterday) went well. He said it will be challenging but he is so happy not be studying or be in a classroom. During this rotation they are required to volunteer for one day to take a long day of being on call and he went ahead and volunteered for his long call today. He had to be at the hospital this morning at 6am and will be there until 8pm. I'm sure he is glad he is getting this over with but boy is he going to be wiped out tonight.

What's been going on?

Since I posted last week about being one month away from my due date, quite a bit has been going on for Josh and me. Sorry, no baby yet.

First, we went to Dayton on Sunday for Josh to take his boards on Monday. Praise the Lord! Boards are over! Our entire family has been covering Josh in prayer for this major exam and we continue to pray and trust the Lord for the results (we won't hear for about 4-6 weeks). I keep telling Josh how proud I am of him for all of his hard work and I will continue to do so. Joshua - I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!! Not only have you been working your booty off for the past two years but you have also made time for me to show me how much you love me, especially during this time of preparing for the arrival of our son. Thank you babe!

 

Second, Monday was also Josh's 25th birthday! The big 25! Now we are the same age (at least until October). It did stink that he had to take the boards on his birthday. When he woke up and I wished him happy birthday, he had forgotten it was his birthday. Poor guy, he was so consumed by the boards he didn't even remember his own birthday. We were able to celebrate his birthday and the completion of boards that evening at the Cheesecake Factory. And yes we did bring home some cheesecake. Super yummy. Josh actually prefers cheesecake over cake and we all got to benefit from that, thanks Josh.

 

And third, we had our sonogram on Wednesday to get one last look at the baby and to see how big he is. Before the sonogram, Josh and I both made our guesses at how much we thought the baby weighs. Josh guessed in the high 6lbs and I guessed low 6lbs (purely based on what one of my doctors had told me two weeks ago). Well, let's just say we were both wrong and we guessed way to low. 7lbs. 13oz. is his estimated weight! He is a big boy!

But his head is down and that was great to hear! Next week's appointment (38 weeks) they will be checking to see if I am dialated and if I am they might offer to induce me. After talking with my father and an OB friend in Dayton, they did not recommend being induced before 39 weeks unless I have any medical reason to do so. I really do want to go into labor myself but I guess we'll see what happens.

One More Month

Today is my one month mark until my due date (July 18^th)! Only four more weeks to go until our little bambino arrives. It's hard to imagine that in four weeks (or less) I will be holding our son. It is still so surreal to me. I see my big belly, I feel and see the baby moving (which weirds Josh out by the way), and my doctors have yet to tell me I'm not pregnant. Of course I know I'm not going to be pregnant forever, but to go from one day to not having a baby to having a baby is pretty wild.

This whole month we have been pretty busy with getting everything ready for our son's arrival. I think we are just about ready. I keep saying the baby has to wait until Josh is finished with his boards. Well, Josh takes his boards this coming Monday (on his 25^th birthday) and after boards the baby can come whenever he would like (just as long as it's not after his due date). Josh actually has the last two weeks of June off and would love it if the baby came then, but we'll see. Those are my last two weeks of work and I wouldn't hate to be done working early, but I'm pretty sure I have no control over when I go into labor.

Josh will actually be taking his boards in Dayton, so we'll be traveling home this weekend. At first I was really hesitant about traveling during my last month of pregnancy but my husband, father, and mother-in-law all assured me I will be okay. I actually asked my father what he thought about me traveling this close to my due date. Thinking my over-protective father was going to back me up, he told me he drove my mother out west during her last month of pregnancy and she was fine. Josh's mom told me she traveled even closer to her due date. I was clearly out numbered. No worries, I will just be super prepared. I told Josh I will be packing the car like we are planning on having the baby in Dayton. Here is what I'm thinking…if I am prepared and ready for the baby to come, he won't come. So last night I got everything ready and packed for the baby.

Call me crazy but I feel like I already posted about me traveling during my last month of pregnancy. Maybe I'm just having serious pregnancy brain today but I feel like I've already mentioned this. So if I have, I'm sorry. I'm pregnant.

Britt's First Trip to Presque Isle

When Brittany and Jason were here the first weekend of June to help with the nursery, I wanted to take Britt to Lake Erie because she said she has never been to Presque Isle. They got into town before the rest of the fam, so we took the opportunity to pick up dinner at Panera and bring it to the lake. The weather was absolutely wonderful.

Brittany kept saying, "You get to live here! This is beautiful!"

Thank you Brittany for that little reminder. I certainly need it as I tend to forget how beautiful Erie is.

Still newlyweds...their one year anniversary is coming up in one month. I can't believe how quickly the year went by.

Josh & Jason

Here are a couple pictures of me and my belly. These pictures were taken at the beginning of the month and I don't think my belly has grown too much since these were taken.

I told Josh last night, I'm having a hard time remembering what it's like to not be pregnant. To quickly roll out of bed and stand up easily from sitting on our sofa (without grunting), to bend over and pick something up off the floor without my face getting super flushed. At 3am this morning when I got up to use the restroom, I thought how I can't wait to not have to get up to pee, but then reality hit and I realized I will be getting up regardless to feed my new baby. And how will I feel after the baby is born? Will I forget what it's like to be pregnant? I'm not sure and I guess we'll see. Maybe some women do forget what it's like to be pregnant. I have heard that once they place your baby in your arms you forget about all of the pain and discomfort it took to get to that point. My pregnancy hasn't been terrible but it certainly hasn't been easy. I've already decided I would do this over again, just not any time soon.

No Water/No Work

Last Thursday we received a notice at work that our water was going to be shut off from 8-5 on Monday due to construction going on in the area. First thought in my head is, how am I supposed to use the restroom (since I'm going every hour and a half to two hours)? No worries I think, I just drive over to Panera or to a grocery store to use the restroom. But wait, the entire area around where I work is having the water shut off. Just a small problem for a young women starting her ninth month of pregnancy that every time she stands up she has to use the restroom. I told my office manager I was a bit concerned and she graceciously allowed me to take today off. Thank you Jesus.

I have really enjoyed me day off. I started my day with a little prenatal yoga, I went to Camille's house to watch an early afternoon movie (we watched "Bride Wars"...Henry loves Anne Hathaway), a few errands to find something comfortable to wear at the hospital after the baby is born. and then a wonderful late afternoon nap.

Side note.........................................................................
I was looking for a picture of my favorite sunglasses and this is the only one I could find.
The sunglasses aren’t high end by any means, I actually only paid $8.98 for them at Steve & Barry’s. They're by Amanda Bynes (a young actress with a clothing line at Steve & Barry’s) Right after I purchased them I went back to get another pair because I loved them so much and I know my track record for holding on to sunglasses isn’t the greatest (that’s why I purchase inexpensive glasses). Of course they didn’t have any left at the store, then the store went out of business and then I lost them!

Jason found the sunglasses in my car, they were actually right behind me trapped in between the seat. I am so happy they are back in my life; crazy how they were so close yet so far away. THANK YOU JASON!

Work weekend with our incredibly family…

First of all, let me start this post by saying my family is incredible and the blessings they pour out on us never seem to end. My family came up here to Erie this past weekend for a work weekend to help us get our house baby ready. There was a lot we wanted to do and knew we needed their help. Plus I'm not really good for anything anymore (other than giving orders) since I'm not really supposed to be doing any heavy lifting; Josh doesn't even let me carry the laundry basket up and down the stairs…oh darn. Extra muscle was definitely needed because we relocated the futon and treadmill to our basement, disposed of Josh's desk, and brought in the new dresser and crib for the baby's nursery (formerly Josh's study).

On top of all the heavy lifting we also painted the nursery. I am so thankful my grandmother (Gammie) came up with my family because she saved us so much money on paint and supplies. Leave it to Gammie to find coupons in the store and have a Sherwin Williams card from her contractor that we were able to use for an addition 20% off. I really wanted to get "green" paint with low-odor/no VOCs but I hated how expensive it was. Thanks to Gammie we saved $15 on the paint! I've never been so excited about buying paint and supplies as I was this past Saturday. But with all my excitement about our paint supplies, I wasn't able to participate in the painting. I was ordered to take a break and prop my swelling ankles up on the couch. I didn't argue for too long and Nola and I ended up taking a little nap together. Of course I felt incredibly guilty because my poor family was working so hard and but they insisted. And when they insist, they mean it.

EVERYONE worked very hard this entire weekend, but I would like to give a shout out to my sister and her husband. Brittany and Jason were non- stop working their little tooshies off the entire weekend, they make such a great team. You should just see how they organized our basement. I was really hesitant to set up our futon in the basement as an extra room but they made it look really nice. I used to only go in our basement to do laundry but Josh and I have even talked about maybe watching a movie down there. And…..Jason found my favorite sunglasses in my car that I thought I lost a couple months ago!!!! I thought I was going to cry. I was already having a great day but this was the icing on the cake.

Thank you again family for working so hard last weekend. Josh and I are so thankful and beyond blessed by how much you have helped us. Now that everything is almost ready, I have a huge sense of peace about the baby coming. WE LOVE YOU GUYS!

Always special...June 9th

Two years ago I married the man of my dreams. It is hard to believe that two years has already gone by.  They truly have been the most incredibly two years of my life thus far. Being married to Josh has been an incredible joy. He brings so much life to our marriage. He is truly amazing for continuing to love me unconditionally day after day, even through my most unlovable days. He is the love of my life and I am so blessed he picked me.
In celebration of our two year anniversary we went to dinner at Peppino's Italian Chop House. This was our second time at Peppino's and again we were very impressed. During dinner we were reflecting over the past two years of our marriage. One of the memories we reflected upon was on our honeymoon we talked about when we would have the "talk" about when to start a family. I believe we decided we would discuss this on our two year anniversary. Even though we are starting a family a little sooner than we had initially planned, we truly feel the Lord's timing is perfect for us to start our family and we continue to trust Him to take care of us and meet all of our needs.

The Stud Club

You know what’s weird to think about? Life before Josh was in my life. He and I have been together for a little over 4 years (married for almost 2 years), and it really does seem like it has been longer (I mean that in a good way). Well, Josh and I were cleaning out our basement the other night and he has a few storage bins full of things from before we were together that he has yet to go through. As we were going through some of these things I kept thinking how strange it is that there was a time in both of our lives before we were together. Of course there had to be a time in our lives before we were together. That time was incredibly essential to developing the who we are today.

Well, take a look at what we discovered among all of Josh's fun memories...I'm not quite sure what to think...

 

 

Josh said he got this card on a spring break trip with his friend Adam. I know his friend Adam well and it absolutely doesn't surprise me that he and Josh spent money on this card. This card just got my mind going even more when I think about life before Josh. We got rid of a lot of junk the other night but you better believe Josh did not want to part with his Stud Club card.

Josh, I knew you were a stud from the first time I laid eyes on you. And I didn't need your Stud Club card to prove it.

Pregnancy Update

I am in the beginning of my 34^th week of pregnancy and I can't believe I am already this far along. So far things have been going (relatively) okay. I have hit the very uncomfortable stage of pregnancy and at times I'm finding this is messing with my emotions. I just about lost it the other day when my mother asked me how I was feeling and poor Josh is often a victim of not my tears but my bad attitude. I hate that how I feel affects my attitude, especially to Josh. He has been nothing but patient, considerate, and very helpful the entire pregnancy. Thank you Josh for being so supportive and I'm sorry I've been such a grouchy pants lately.

We've been going to the doctor every two weeks. Our next appointment is next Tuesday (June 9 – our two year anniversary), after this appointment we will schedule a sonogram to make sure everything looks okay and to get an idea of how much the baby weighs. I'm really anxious for this appointment because Josh thinks we're going to have a big baby. I'm trying not to worry about the baby's weight; I just want the baby to be healthy. I've been concerned with how much weight I've gained. I've asked the doctors and he said I'm textbook perfect and measuring exactly where I need to be.

We haven't settled on a name yet. We have two names that we both really like but I think we're waiting for another name to miraculously pop into our heads. Naming your baby is a tough job. Lots of factors to consider: we both need to love the name, it needs to go well with Glupker, and the meaning of the name is important to us. At least it became important to us when we thought we liked the named Flynn and discovered its meaning is "heir to the redheaded man". I'm pretty sure we will not be naming the baby before he is born but we'd like to go into the delivery room with at least three names we love.

Current Cravings: I love love love anything that is cold right now. Cold fruit, crunching on ice (I know this is bad for your teeth), and especially ice cream. I'm also craving things I can't have like sweet ice tea (Josh has me on a strict no caffeine diet) and turkey deli meat. I want a turkey sub from Wegman's or a sierra turkey sandwich from Panera so bad. I have been making a lot of strombolis for Josh and I. I'm sure there are other things that I am craving. If I see it, I usually want it.

This weekend my family is coming up from Ohio to work on the nursery. We ordered the crib and dresser from a store in Ohio and they would not deliver to PA. My parents are bringing that up and we have lots to do to get the nursery and our townhouse baby ready. I'm really looking forward to this weekend.

Other than posting a belly pic (sorry Brittany) I think that's about all that is going on with my pregnancy. I'm in the home stretch now and we are getting really excited to meet our son!