Preggos everywhere!

Being pregnant makes everything a little more challenging. I've had to learn over the past week that I can't easily do many of the things that I used to do without thinking...

Putting my pants on
Putting my shoes and socks on
Shaving
Painting my toenails
Sleeping
And most recently...hugging other pregnant friends!

We went up to Minnesota this weekend for the Baby Shower of a great friend. She is due May 22, but could deliver any week now. We quickly found out that we can't hug each other as easily as we once could!! :)


Angie and I have been fortunate enough to be 8 weeks apart in our pregnancy, which has made things so much fun. When our hubbies (who are actually VERY similar) really don't want to hear our pregnant drama or strange conversations, we know the other one is only a phone call away. Angie and I try to keep a pretty close tab on each other's appointments and usually call the day of, to check in. It is funny, looking back, how much life has brought the two of us through since college.

Some of my funniest and fondest memories of Luther days are running with Angie, followed by the two of us trying to do the Buns of Steel tapes. We will need those again after our babies are born! We also have quite a few pictures together ranging from Halloween parties to formal dinners that are now getting added to with our "Mommy Coldren and Mommy Wogs" pictures.

In church this morning, Pastor Mike talked about the importance of friends...true friends. I am so thankful to have Angie (among others!) as one of those friends for life..and now especially to be pregnant together. I have no doubt our babies will be friends for life, too!

99 days to go!

We have broken the three digit mark for the countdown! Today leaves us with 99 days until Baby Wogs' due date! YEAH! Tomorrow marks the beginning of week 26 for us, and yet, it seems again like we just found out we were expecting our little Mustard Seed.

The past few weeks have been filled with unexpected blessings and we are so thankful to have been given the gifts we have. Here is our top ten list of things I am celebrating today, in no particular order:

10. We have a new nephew on the way who is due within the week!!
9. My Aunt who had a stroke last week is doing amazingly well
8. We have an amazing "contractor" working to finish our basement
7. Plans are being made for my five year class reunion and a group of my close friends from college and the three of us will be staying in cabins in Decorah for Homecoming
6. It is finally Spring, and with Spring comes sandals!
5. I get to see one of my favorite people in the world this weekend who is also pregnant. We shared so many things at Luther and now we have been blessed to share our pregnancies.
4. Easter at our church was amazing. Right when I was feeling pretty homesick for missing my family at Easter and wishing that we would have gone to the "traditional" service for church, the organ got wheeled in and played "Jesus Christ is Risen Today." Matt had to console my pathetic, emotional and crying preggo self in church!
3. We are going to Florida soon!!
2. After my fall on Monday, I went to my doctor's office to find "my" doctor on call who gave us a perfect bill of health..minus my incredibly sore right side
1. I am married to the most amazing man in the world who will make the world's best Daddy to Baby Wogs

So much to choose from!

With our first baby shower just weeks away, we decided we better start thinking about a Baby Registry. It has been a few years since we registered for a wedding, but my goodness...I forgot how challenging (and fun!) registering can be! We started at Target and were immediately confused as to what type of diapers to register for, what bottles are best to use, what Pack and Play we should ask for. How do people figure out this stuff? And then, we started feeling guilty about registering for stuff that was a little on the pricier side, because we don't want to look greedy. How do people figure this stuff out!?!?

We also had to go back over our registry to take off things that were gender specific. While we know what we are having, we later realized if we registered for gender specific items, the whole world would know what we are having, too! Keeping this secret is proving to be much harder than we thought. We should have just kept that envelope closed, so that we would be surprised, too :) On the other hand, it is really nice to be able to call Baby Wogs by his/her name, instead of just "Baby" when we read to him/her. Only 16 1/2 more weeks to go until everyone else knows, too.

The Much Requested "Belly Pictures"

OK, OK, I give in. I really didn't want to post pictures of my ever-growing belly on the Internet. However, I think I have lost this battle! What is it about pregnant women's bellies that we all find so fascinating? I am guilty of it and can still remember when my friend Tiffany was pregnant last summer, inquiring how big her belly was getting. My friend Angie, who is pregnant now, gave in to my strange request a few months ago, and so I too, must add my pictures to the collection.

Matt once again has proven why he is the sweetest husband in the world. As I complained about how "fat not pregnant" I felt, he prompted us to compare bellies. As you can see in that picture, he has clearly positioned his body so that his looks larger than mine, so that I don't feel so self-conscious. I feel so lucky everyday to be able to share everyday-exciting-pregnant moments with him. Tonight we even laid on the couch reading our newest book together to Baby Wogs. If you know of any pregnant women out there, I highly recommend "Oh Baby, The Places You Will Go." It is from the one and only Dr. Seuss and is to be read to babies in-utero. Clyde, Matt, Baby Wogs and I had quite a bonding moment all cuddling up together.

21 Week Ultrasound!

After much anticipation, we got to have our 20 week ultrasound at 21 weeks! It was certainly worth the wait to see our little "mustard seed" growing. Matt and I both got to see that Baby Wogs has a good heart and brain...afterall, how could he/she not have with us as parents! :) We found out that Baby Wogs weighs just over one pound as is about 10 inches long, from the top of the head to the bottom of the butt. This little one still has about 10 inches to grow and about 6 more pound to fill out. Where is that all going to go?? I'm going to start having to charge more rent for this little one.

My absolute favorite picture from our visit is the one on the right, above. Almost as if Baby Wogs knew that there was an ultrasound going on, he/she flexed and gave us a totally cute picture of the bicep and hand. With as much as Baby is jabbing me and moving around, I think we have a little boxer in the making.

Baby Wogs continues to kick, jab and move all the time. It is such a wonderful feeling that can't really be described in words. Matt has started to be able to feel some of the moves as well, as I place his hand on my belly as Baby is the most active. I think that just makes it so much more real to us both. We are heading out to the bookstore after church tonight to pick up some baby books. We are going to start a daily habit of reading to Baby, so if you have any good suggestions, we'd love to hear them. Think Spring!! Love, Us

No new ultrasound pictures!

All day Friday, we could hardly contain our excitment to have our 20 week ultrasound. We both took off work for the appointment and had made big plans to celebrate afterwards. As time kept passing, I finally confirmed that we were having our ultrasound at that appointment. The nurse informed me that the ultrasound techs had been out all week at a conference and that there was no one left in the office to do it! We were so bummed! We are looking at the bright side, that Baby Wogs will be one more week developed by the time we get to see him/her next week.

Our doctor, Dr. Houghton, continues to be a blessing for both of us. While most doctors spend about 5 minutes with a patient, he literally spent about 45 minutes with us. Baby's heartbeat sounds "perfect", my development is "perfect" and all is well in Baby's world. He took the time to answer questions from both of us, and then some. While we are part of a group practice, everyone keep your fingers crossed that he is the doctor on call when Baby decides to be born!

We also finally booked our flights and hotel for our Babymoon! While we are not right on the beach, we are pretty close. Thank goodness for all of our traveling in pre-baby days, we were able to use frequent flyer miles for our airline tickets and use our marriott rewards to pay for our hotel. YEAH! In case you are curious, here's where we are going to stay:

Half Way There!

We are half way there! It is hard to believe that March 4 marks 20 weeks for Baby Wogs!! Our little one has been growing and playing, so it has been a fun time to be pregnant. I have a fear that Baby Wogs is going to take on after his/her mother in being a night owl, as the kicking seems to be the most present at night. Let’s hope that doesn’t continue as I get further along! Our first born, Clyde (the cat), has been so funny, especially lately, in that he has chosen to constantly lay across my stomach. Almost as if he knows that there is something in there to protect, he always finds his perch directly on my stomach. (Don’t worry, the doctor says there is no harm in this!!) That is when Baby is the most active, so they have a cute bond going already.

Last week we hired our doula, Clorrisa. We interviewed one the week before, but our personalities didn’t quite mesh. When Clorissa came over, the connection was almost instant. She is specially trained in massage during labor, water births and using aromatherapy, all to try to reduce the need for pain medications. If you know how stubborn I am, you also know that I rarely ever take pain medication..even when I had kidney stones. My goal is to have as natural of a birth as possible. But again, no worries, if I NEED it, I will accept it. Anyway, back to Clorissa… at the end of our “interview” with her, she mentioned she would be out of town in June, to a little place called Lake Geneva. Matt and I both perked up, as Lake Geneva is 10 miles or so from my hometown, Harvard. When I mentioned that, she informed us that she grew up in Woodstock, which is again 10 minutes from Harvard! She even shares the same love for Matt’s favorite bakery, Swiss Maid. It was totally a God ordained meeting with Clorissa. We are so excited to work with her!

We have been so blessed by the church we have been attending the last several months, which has provided so many wonderful moments in our lives. On Ash Wednesday, the sermon included a video which demonstrated so clearly the love of a parent for a child as well as God’s unfailing love for us. The attached video link and story link are about a father / son team, called Team Hoyt. Dick Hoyt, the father has competed in marathons and triathalons with his son, Rick for many years. The piece about their team which makes them unique is the fact that Rick was born with severe health care needs, due to complications at birth. I don’t want to give it away, but do ask you to read their story first, which is the first link, and then to watch the video done about them. This is the kind of love we should all strive to live. Email me and let me know what you think….
Their story: http://www.teamhoyt.com/history.shtml
Their video: http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513