34 Weeks

I can not believe I am 34 weeks (only 6 weeks left, or less). I am feeling pretty good. I do feel dragged down at times and my feet are starting to swell, but other than that I have no complaints. We had a doctor's appt on Monday and everything seems to be right on track - baby's heartbeat is good, my blood pressure is good, and I am for sure putting on some weight (the doctor told me not to gain as much weight next week -oops). Canon is moving around like crazy, I don't think he ever sleeps. Jess is pretty much able to feel him whenever he wants, Canon likes to put on a show for people.

I have started a new chapter in my life - I am now a stay at home mom. Jess and I have always felt strongly about me staying at home with our children, but I never thought it would be so hard to leave my job. My job was so stressful, but looking back I really learned so much and really grew up working there. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to work with the adolescents and I really have a heart for mental health. I do enjoy staying at home and nesting, but do miss my co-workers and the kids at work. I do feel very blessed to be able to stay at home and raise Canon and not miss out on him growing up.

Some other things that have been going on...

• Canon's Room is pretty much finished. There are still a few things to do, but all the big things are finished, we are just ready for him to be here now. Pictures to come.
• Jess started a new semester here at seminary. He is taking a Saturday class and a Tuesday late afternoon class.
• I have had a total of 4 baby showers (work, seminary, friends from back home, and a church shower). All the baby showers were wonderful!! People are so generous and so thoughtful! It is amazing how much people like to shower a baby. We are so grateful for everyone helping us out and we are so blessed to have such great friends and family who like to spoil us and Canon. Pictures coming soon.
• I was able to go home to IL for 10 days to see my family!! It was such a sweet time, but I really missed Jess a whole lot! I ate lots of good food from the vegetable garden (I think I ate a little too much corn on the cob, hence my weight gain), hung out with my grandparents, old friends, my niece, sister, brother in law, and my parents. We had a family dinner with my sister, niece, and brother in law pretty much every night. I was able to watch my niece for a day and spend some time with her. Boy does she have lots of energy and has grown so big since I last saw her in April. She is a sweet little girl! My dad and I got to spend time together picking vegetables and watching Project Runway together, haha! My mom was able to pick me up in Paducah on the way in to IL and took me back to Nashville on my way back home. It was nice to talk with her in the car and just spend time together. We were able to spend the night with the Rainer's and have dinner with them the night before my flight. It was such a great trip and I am so thankful for the opportunity to go and spend time with my family before Canon's arrival.
• Now I am home just nesting. I feel like I am more busy staying at home than when I was working. Sometimes it is hard for me to rest because I just want to get everything done in the next couple of weeks in case he comes early.

Hope you enjoyed reading my update. I will post pictures when I get a chance.

Love,

Rachel

Belly Pics

Here are a few updated belly pictures. Hopefully they are in the right order

24 weeks

26.5 weeks

27 weeks

28 weeks

30 weeks

Only 9.5 weeks to go!!

Love,
Rachel.

Work Baby Shower

This past week two of my good friends at work, Donnie and Hollon, threw a baby shower for me at work. It was so well put together and I really appreciate their thoughtfulness and hard work. It meant so much to me to have people there from work that really do care for me and support me. It is a little bittersweet knowing in one week I won't be there any longer and my time is up. I have learned so much and am really thankful for the opportunity I had. I will miss many of the people I worked with and the kids as well. The kids have taught me more than I probably ever taught them and I will forever be grateful for the time I had at Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Hospital.

Here are a few pics from the shower. Everyone was so generous and I can't thank everyone enough.Love,
Rachel

Canon's Nursery in Progress

There is still much that needs to be done with Canon's nursery, but it is slowly getting put together. Jess was so sweet and selfless and set up his crib the day after getting his wisdom teeth taken out. He was in pain and still swollen, but did not complain about it one bit. That same day he moved the bed out of the room to a friend's house and picked up the baby's furniture. Whew it was a long day for him. We were glad to get it over with though!
I have really been in nesting mode and just want it all to be done with, but I still have plenty of time to get the finishing touches done. Jess went to Orlando last weekend to spend time with his parents and brothers, so I decided to get crafty and paint. I really wanted a painting to go above the crib, but just couldn't find one I liked for the right price. I was looking on line one day and saw a painting that I liked, but wasn't willing to pay the price for it, so I decided that I would paint it myself and change it up a little to my liking. I went to Michael's and bought a canvas and came home and sketched it out with a pencil and there I went painting not knowing what in the heck I was doing. I actually really enjoyed painting it and it took my mind off Jess being away. I think I could have done a better on the border of the painting if I would have had a better paintbrush, but it will have to do because I am not doing another one. So here is his nursery so far.

Jess putting the crib together!

I love the crib! It really is made well and very sturdy, not to mention very pretty! ha!

This is looking into the room from the door.
I love the glider. I sit in it every day!
Book Shelf mostly of Jess's books, but we will be able to fit a few of Canon's books on the top shelf.
The plane on the dresser is a model of the airplane Jess's Grandfather flew in as a bomber during World War II.

I will post updated pricures as I get more done in the room. I am planning on getting some more things on the walls soon!

Love,
Rachel

Visit with my mom

My sweet mom came to NC mid June to visit me while Jess was away in Chicago on a guy's weekend. I was so grateful that she decided to come. It was much needed mother/daughter time. I picked her up on Thursday night about 15 minutes after I dropped Jess off at security. Jess actually got on her plane that she came in on. We then went to Olive Garden and had a great meal together and then came back to the house and watched 27 Dresses.

Friday we got up and had breakfast outside on our back patio and then mom treated me to a pedicure and manicure. Oh, it was wonderful. It was so fun getting pampered while spending time with my mom and because we got it done on a weekday morning they spent extra time on us. After getting pampered we went to Babies R Us and finished the baby registry. It wasn't as overwhelming as when Jess and I went the first time. We registered for the fun stuff (toys, pacifiers, bibs, blankets, burp clothes, ect.). I realized I was registering for so many gender neutral things and decided I wanted "boy" stuff, so we had fun picking out "all boy" items. After registering we were tuckered out, so we picked up some groceries and a movie. We cooked a delicious stir fry with vegetables I don't get to eat very often because Jess doesn't like them. We also watched the movie we rented while the whole time I was having an awful tooth ache, but my mom was so sweet and understanding and I was so glad she was there to calm me down and be there for me.

On Saturday we ate breakfast once again outside and just kind of hung out for a while and then got ready and went to the mall. I don't get to go shopping with my mom very often, so it was nice to help her pick out some clothes (I will have to say I was a little envious of all the cute clothes out there for non pregnant people). She is definantly shops just like me. haha! After shopping most of the day we had a delicious dinner at Red Lobster and came home and hung out til bedtime. My mom hadn't really felt Canon that much, so when we were about to say goodnight I laid down in my mom's bed and had her see if Canon would kick. Boy did he!! He put on a show for her for a few minutes. I was so glad she was able to experience that since we do not live close.

On Sunday it was time to say good-bye and like always I was really sad to see her go. It's hard saying good-bye when you wish so badly you could live closer. I will see her again in August for more than a week and I will get to see my dad as well as Sarah, Bryan, and Emma!!!

Needless to say I had a wonderful time having along time with my mom! Thanks mom for treating over the weekend and taking the time to come see me! I love you!

Pictures of my mommy and me!

The precious outfit my mom bought for Canon. I can't wait to see him in it!

Canon's Nursery

Jess and I have been working hard on getting his room all cleared out and ready. We have ordered his crib, dresser, and curtains and they should be here in the next few weeks. This weekend we are going to get a glider and ottoman. If anyone has any good ideas on how to decorate his room I would gladly except them. I posted a picture of his bedding about a month ago and we are going to incorporate family into the decorations. Both of our grandfathers were in the air force, so we are going to put pictures up of our grandfathers and Jess has a model airplane of the plane is granddad flew in. I can't wait to get everything set up, but there is still much more to do. If anyone wants to borrow a twin/daybed for about a year a so, we will consider letting you have it for a while since we have no idea what we are going to do with it.

Hopefully I will have some pictures to post soon! I will also be posting belly pictures soon as well.

Love,

Rachel

Now Presenting.......

CANON JOHN RAINER

Jess and I have decided on a name. We love calling our son by name!

Canon is still kicking away like crazy and is a very active little boy. He gets really excited when I am at the dentist (I have been there way too much lately) and when we are in church. He goes crazy when the music starts playing. My mom visited last weekend and Canon put on a show for her. I laid down and mom put her hand on my belly and he moved around for a few minutes straight. I was glad my mom got to experience that. Canon is also responding to Jess when he talks to my belly. One evening I was cooking dinner and Jess put his face up to my belly and started talking and Canon gave him a little quick kick on the face. Jess and I both just started smiling and laughing. We can't wait to meet him!!

We have started rearranging our house to get ready for the little guy. Our upstairs looks like we just moved in. We also ordered the crib and dresser this weekend, so we are really excited about getting it put together and getting the room finished. There is still lots to do, but like Jess told me the other "it has to look worse, before it looks better".

I will write more later. I need to post about my weekend with my mom. It was so good to see her! I can't wait to see my whole family in August! Stay tuned...

Love,

Rachel