Updates

First off, the missing picture:

~30 weeks~

(right before getting into that PT Cruiser and driving 7 hours to Indiana!)

Secondly, Marty's office baby shower: We had such a great time. The office ordered up a good old-fashioned Southern BBQ lunch, with pulled pork BBQ, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, sweet tea (all those kind of fixin's). Then we had vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Personally, I drank diet/caffeine-free Coke like it was water (probably should have just had WATER), but it tasted so amazingly good to me. Then it was time for the gifties, and we were once again overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of those whom God has filled our lives with...

Marty handed me presents and we took turns opening them and reading the sweet cards.

This was a cute little ducky-themed gift. Inside the package I'm holding is "The Fuzzy Duckling" (the Little Golden Book). I had this book when I was little and I think I read my Little Golden Books for years and years. This particular one came with a matching onesie! The little ducky that Marty is holding is actually a bottle holder -- you stick a bottle down the ducky's mouth and your child can hold a friend while he drinks his bottle. So cute!

Few things delight us like big ole boxes of Pampers. This was a box of size 2's, which is where we're shallowing in the stock-up pile. Yay for diaper stocking!

Among the other gifts were treasures such as a onesie that says "When God made me, He was just showing off" and another one that proclaims "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." I love these little "statement" onesies. I gave Marty a onesie for Will (pre-Father's Day) that says "If you think I'm cute, you should see my Daddy." We also received some football-themed items, much to Marty's delight. He is so excited to sit down with his son on NFL opening night and introduce Will to the wonders of football. :)

Here's me with Marty's dear friend Brian, the other lawyer in the office (who has a little boy and gives us great advice!):

It was so much fun for me to see Marty's friends and coworkers spoil him and love on him like they did. I know what a jewel of a man I have, but it's so lovely to experience others appreciating him, too. Thank you so much, Tennessee Department of Labor! You guys rock!

Finally, a few hours later, we went to our 32-week appointment at the doctor's. We saw Dr. Pickler again, who is the most business-like of the 3 OBs we see, but she can be pretty darn funny, too. Stats from this visit: 1) my blood pressure is staying almost exactly the same, and I'm so thankful for this -- 108/64; 2) I gained 3 pounds -- not loving this, but I know this is super-normal for mid-third trimester; 3) my fundus measurement was 34 cms, exactly what Marty and I had predicted in the car on the way to the office. I seem to be staying right at 2 cms ahead of my gestational progress. The only thing that bothered me this visit was Will's heartbeat, which Dr. Pickler first found at 117 bpm. This really scared me at first, since his heartbeat has never been that low, but Dr. Pickler stimulated Will with the doppler and she says he must have been sleeping, because he woke up, moved around, and his heartbeat went straight into the low 140's. She said that a reactive baby like that is a good, healthy baby, and I will just have to take her word for it, I know. I can't quite get that feeling of worry out of my mind, though...

~32 weeks~
(in the doctor's office)

One other thing I forgot to mention -- we "graduated" from childbirth class on Monday night, with a certificate and everything! So many baby doings this week that I failed to mention one of the most important ones. My brother-in-law John asked me what this actually "certifies" us to be or do, and I said, I really think it just certifies us as "not completely ignorant on the methods of childbirth." I really enjoyed our classes, even though the final night was both scary -- we watched a video where they spare you NOTHING in the ways of sounds and images -- and delightful -- we toured the Women's Center and saw birthing rooms, and most importantly, the nursery. There was a little peanut in there, just under 7 pounds, and he was squirming in that wonderful infant way in his bassinet -- it was all I could do to resist the urge to go scoop him up and coo at him. My maternal urges are crazy-strong right now! Just a few weeks to go, just a few weeks to go...