The cankles have returned

Haha...I was hoping the days after our flights to and from Florida was really the only time I would have to deal with the lovely combined calf-ankle experience, but they have definnitely returned. I first noticed yesterday morning that my feet were looking a little puffy, but when I tried to put on my sandals (yes, I said sandals...you know, fairly open style shoes....which you would think would allow from some expansion) they were quite tight…almost to the point of not being able to squish my foot in! And not very comfortable. I think this happened because typically when I'm at my desk working I have my feet propped up on a chair, but I've been in the classroom 3 days this week and thus no foot propping...so I think that caused the swelling. So I am hopeful that they will return to normal once I get a few good days of feet proppage again. I'm considering going for a pedicure this weekend too...which probably won't help, but definitley can't hurt right :o)

So as of tomorrow I will be 34 weeks...only 6 short weeks to go! The nursery is about complete, I have started buying a few necessities for the hospital bag, and am planning on investing in some diapers this weekend. We visited a day care last week that just opened right around the corner from our house...and feel pretty confident that that is where we will be sending Autumn when it's time for me to return to work...hopefully it survives the small business start up phase though so we don't have to start over at square one! So, I'm definitley feeling a little better about everything as we head in to the home stretch. I'm sure you can never be totally prepared...and even when you are stuff always comes up...but the more I can check off the list early the better I feel!! Next on the list...the very important task of creating a birthing playlist for my i-pod...haha! Jacob and I had talked about doing this a while back...just because I love music and it really does have a calming effect on me...so I figured it would be nice to have some of our favorite songs playing while we're in the hospital. Well, last night we were watching the show Accidentally on Purpose and Billy "the pregnant one" was looking for her i-pod to pack in her hospital bag when she found out Zack "the father" had accidentally smashed it. She got all upset and exclaimed that she was really looking forward to the song "Push it" by Salt N Pepa playing during the pushing phase...haha...Jacob and I both agreed we need to download that and add it to our list :o)

Other than that, back to the doctor on Monday...and then two weeks after that, at 36 weeks, the weekly appointments start and they do an ultrasound to check her weight, see if she is head down, etc. I believe that is when they begin doing cervix checks too so they know when I begin dilating, etc. Exciting weeks ahead!!! Oh my!

Let the countdown begin!!

8 weeks...can you believe it...only 8 short weeks till Autumn is scheduled to make her arrival into our world. I feel so ready and so not ready all at the same time...haha!! I can't wait to meet her and become a family...and to see Jacob with her...and find out if she got my hair color or his tiny ears *grin* I can't wait to hold her and kiss her and just fall head over heels in love with her!! I can't even imagine the emotions that will come along with welcoming her into our lives...we've been waiting so long for this, I know it's going to be amazing!! At the same time there's also the anxiety of the labor and delivery, the unfamiliarity of taking care of something so important and so dependent on me...it's scary...I just want to be a good Mom...it's the most important job I've ever had...and as the time gets closer I just pray that I can be the Mom she deserves to have!

So 32 weeks...the past few weeks have flown by...we had my first shower on March 27th and it was awesome! My cousins went all out...they made a cake that looked like a stroller, had cute little socks and clothes hanging from a clothes line, they even made a flower bouquet out of a bib, onsie, and socks...they are so creative! It was great...the best shower I ever could have expected!! And the best part was just having all my family around celebrating Autumn's life with me. It's crazy to think how far we've come! Last year this time we were still struggling through the minefields of infertily...uncertain really if we would ever make it to the place we are now. Unsure if we were ever going to be able to hold our biological child in our arms...or pass along my creative gene and Jacob's athletisism. Praying that God had a plan for us that was beyond what we could hope or imagine...and looking back I think it's these scars that make this moment and the next few weeks all the more exciting!!

I'm going to leave you with some of the awesome pictures Donna Harris captured during our maternity session last week. Jacob was such a great sport...neither one of us are fans of having our pictures taken, but he played along really well...and maybe even enjoyed himself a little! Donna was great too...she had lots of creative ideas...and I think she did an awesome job capturing some memories of this amazing time in our lives. And she's going to be taking Autumn's newborn pictures too...so I can't wait to see how those turn out!!