Awards and Presents and Dates, Oh My!

Boy, has this week given us lots to report! The bun is doing well. That is, of course, a guess on my part. The doctor did say at our last appointment that as long as he's moving around, he's happy. If that's the case, most of the time he's the happiest baby ever!

We had been trying to get in touch with Grandma Greer for a couple of days and all we were getting was a busy signal. When we were finally able to get through, it all became clear. Grandma is now famous (to more people than just us) and with this new found celebrity, she had many fans calling for “interviews”. In all seriousness, she was awarded the Spirit of Community Award by the North Manchester Chamber of Commerce and was also sent a nice plaque from Bill Ruppel, State Representative from Indiana, acknowledging this award. For those of you that don't know, she is in charge of running the local food bank. This is a huge task and basically a full time job. Heath and I were lucky enough to go and help out over our Thanksgiving visit, it was so rewarding! She does this among many other civic duties over the years. The award she was given stated, “In grateful recognition of your innovation and inspiring commitment which have shaped the character of North Manchester, Indiana”. If everyone could strive to be more like her, this world would definitely be a better place. Thank you for being such an inspiration to everyone! We love you! Congratulations again, you deserve it!!!

We are starting to slowly get things around the house ready for the bun's arrival, but it still hasn't really sunk in that in about 3 short months, he'll be here! That is until he received his first present in the mail! These items came all the way from Alabama and my dear friends Kelly and Paige, Alexis and Michael were in on this as well. Aunties Kelly and Paige really made my day!! The poor bun had no clothes at all until this point. Now he won't have to come home from the hospital nakey!!! I think Heath was a little freaked out over how excited I got over this wonderful surprise. Our most favorite things are the shirt with the little weenie dog and the I Love My Auntie bib! For those of you that don't know, our first baby is Malcolm, our miniature dachshund. We have a definite soft spot for anything weenie dog related!! Thank you so much, Kelly, Alexis, Paige and Michael!!!

Saturday we went to our next to last childbirth prep class. It was very informative and scary. We spent the entire 4 hours talking about the different drugs they can give you while in labor and the side effects. Basically, Heath and I have come to the conclusion that we're going to see how it goes and if we need the extra help, the epidural is not out of the question. I have found that when you're pregnant everyone you meet thinks it's helpful to tell you to, “Just get the drugs!”. This pressure has successfully sent me in the opposite direction making me want to try even harder to make it through without them. We'll just have to wait and see how that goes. On a side note, on our first day of class we were given a pop test on all things pregnancy related. This ranged from vitamins and how much a pregnant women needs to have, what amount of weight should be gained and where this weight should go and what you can and can't eat. I am happy to announce that Heath and I received the highest score in the class! Here's a picture of our 100% test and the awesome ladybug chocolates that were our prize!!

Sunday morning I got a call from my sister, Cheryl (she is the best sister in the whole world, by the way). She informed me that their Internet was working and we were going to be able to have our first ever web date with my new nephew, Isaiah! After some testing and hard work by Heath, we finally figured out how the whole Skype thing works and there they were, live on our computer screen. Isaiah has gotten so much bigger since we saw him. Then again he was only a week old by the time we left from our visit. He was blowing lots of bubbles and seemed a little confused as to why the people in the T.V. were actually talking to him. We talked for about an hour then it was time for them to go, Isaiah was getting a little cranky. He's a growing boy and it was time to eat!!! After we hung up I had a little breakdown, it's hard being so far away from them and my emotions are already a tad bit out of control. Heath was great, as usual, he calmed me down and made me feel better. He really is the best husband ever!!

Little did we know, our day was just going to get better! Heath's mom, Terri, is now back in the area and we made plans to spend the day together. She came over around noon. She hadn't had a chance to look at all of our wedding photos so we all sat down and looked at all 700+. It was so great to look at them again. I can't believe it's been almost 6 months, time really does fly! Then we decided to take a trip to Babies R Us, so we could show her some of the things we registered for. It was so much fun walking around the little clothing area and seeing how excited she was! Of course, we didn't leave empty handed. Grandma decided to get us the glider and ottoman we wanted, it happened to be in stock and on sale! She also picked up a few other things for the little guy. Aren't they absolutely adorable?!?

Heath and I picked up a few things, too. We also got the mattress for the crib. But these are a lot cuter than a mattress don't you think?!?

Malcolm got the bun this outfit. We really do hope they are going to be best friends!!

Once we got home, Terri made us a wonderful dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, zucchini pancakes (so good, we're trying to con her out of the recipe!!) and strawberries and cookies for dessert. YUMMY!!! We don't get home cooked meals very often, so we really appreciate them when we do. Thanks again, Grandma and Grandpa Hilton, for everything!!! It really does mean the world to us!! We will remember to tell the bun that he will definitely NOT be spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa!!! Until next time, everyone have a great week! Here are some more “Growth in Slo-Mo” pics.

Week 26 Day 2

Week 27 Day 1