35 weeks and counting....

Less than 5 weeks to go before the due date!  We had a few busy weekends in October, so it was nice to have some down time this past weekend.  I had my sister-in-law's baby shower on the 15th, who is due the day before me, and then a good friend of mine; Kylie, who is due the first part of January, also had a baby shower on the 22nd in Omaha so it has been babies, babies, and more babies for me! :)  I was glad to see Justin and Sydney's new house and check out the nursery, of which Sydney painted herself!!  They have a beautiful home and the nursery couldn't be more perfect.  I am so excited that our little boy gets to have a cousin of the same sex and age to grow up with.  I'm sure there will be plenty of mischief for them to cause, but I think it comes with the territory of having boys!

almost fits together perfect! :)

every little boy needs a good pair of cowboy boots! :)

Both showers went very well and I was very excited to spend this special time with both of them.  Kylie also got engaged that day, so it was a very memorable day for her.  She had a Husker Themed shower, which couldn't have fit her better!  I just wish she lived closer so I could see her more often!!  Kylie is also having a boy so BabyR already has so many friends! :)  I was thankful to have Shea to ride to Omaha with because it might've been a pretty long ride alone!

She looks so good! :)

Kylie and Shea

Love these girls!

Josh and I have definitely started the "nesting" phase.  We have almost everything in the nursery ready to go.  We still need to get a changing mat, glider, and a few other small things before the nursery is complete.  We want to hang a photo of Josh and I from the maternity pics we got taken as well so he will always have us watching over him!  Last weekend we went to Target and got the rest of what we need off our registry with the giftcards we had received.  We are so thankful for the many gifts and cards we have received from friends and family.  It has truly meant so much to the two of us.  There are so many expenses that comes with your first child!  Thankfully, we should be set for our next and will only have to get a few new things! :)  The big things we got were our stroller and car seat.  We knew that those were both a must before he gets here because we couldn't leave the hospital without the car seat! :)  Right when we got home Josh assembled both car seat and stroller and read the instruction manuals cover to cover to ensure he knew everything there was to know about both.  He tested out the car seat in my car to make sure everything was working properly.  I am so lucky to have a husband that is willing to do all that he does and makes sure that we are ALWAYS taken care of. 

So proud!

We had to test it out to see if Boston approved!

getting everything just right...

We have all the clothes ready to go in the dresser.  I have realized how anal I am about where everything is placed in the drawers.  I want everything to be just perfect.  I will eventually have to redo everything because I still have to wash all his clothes.  That is on my list of things to do next weekend. 

This week we are going to go visit another daycare (in home).  Last week we went on our first visit (to a center) and really didn't know what to expect because it was a first for the both of us and we didn't really have anything to compare it to.  It will be a relief once we know what daycare we will be using.  I am already not looking forward to the first time that I have to take him there:(.  Six weeks just doesn't seem like long enough to spend with him!  Thankfully, Josh will be taking some time off after I go back as well, so we won't need daycare until the end of February or so...

Now for the updated belly pics!

34 weeks

35 weeks

Oh Charley!

During the past month or so I have had a little visitor during the night...that's right, the Charley Horse!  Most of these occurances haven't been too painful and I have been able to stop them, for the most part, before they really start.  The only place that I have been getting these is in my right calf. 

Before pregnancy I would get the occasional calf cramp in my right leg and definitely got them in high school during track season.  I thought at first it was because I had stopped my running routine, which meant that I hadn't been stretching like I used to.  But after talking with the dr., some friends, and my mom I found that this is pretty normal for some pregnant women.  My mom said that she got them pretty bad during her pregnancy with my brother, but not with me, so it might just be if you're having a boy thing!

Last night was by far the worst one that I have had thus far.  It happened at about 630 this morning, and this one I could not stop from happening.  It was so bad that I woke Josh up by my moaning from being in pain!  He immediately jumped out of bed and grabbed by foot to flex my calf.  I swore he had to of used some kind of superhuman strength to get my foot pushed back because it was so painful!  He got the cramp stopped, thank goodness!  I felt bad for waking him, but I was also a little relieved because I couldn't get it stopped myself:).  So needless to say, my calf is pretty sore this morning!!

Anywho, we only have 45 more days to go!  I can't believe it!  He will be here before we know it.  Next month we have our Breastfeeding Essentials, Baby Basics, and our FastTrack Birthing Classes so lots to learn before he arrives!  We finally got all the decals put up in the nursery (and by we I meant Josh).  It turned out great and we know that the baby will love it just as much as we do!

before the birds and squirrels...

with the final touches!

The baby will have some friends watching over him all the time:)

Busy Weekend with only 8 weeks to go!

We have hit the 32 week mark!  With only 8 weeks left it seems so close to our little guy's arrival. 

Josh and I both spent the weekend in Villisca, which it had been awhile since I had been there and I believe July since Josh has been able to go!  It was packed full of events, but all went well and it was a successful weekend.

Saturday morning, we had maternity pictures taken by Autumn Kline, who is the owner of Studio Kline, out of Clarinda.  She is married to one of my brother's best friends, so she was the first who came to mind to capture this moment in our lives and we could not have asked for a better day to take them.  We had them taken out at Hacklebarney Park in Villisca.  This is a pretty special spot for Josh and I because it is where he proposed to me and also where we got our wedding pictures taken.  Autumn did such an amazing job and I can't wait to see the final product.  I highly recommend her to anyone!!  Saturday night we all went out for dinner (Mom, Dad, Nick, Bethann, Josh, and me), so it was a great day!

Sunday I had my last shower which was in Villisca.  My Mom, Aunt Denise, and Grandma did such a good job and it was a great shower.  They decorated with balloons and had sandwiches, nuts, and fruit to snack on along with punch and cupcakes!  We played a couple games; one that everyone had to guess the measurement of mommy to be, which I thought was pretty funny:), and the other was you had to guess the kind of candybar that was smushed in a play diaper.  After some snacks and games I opened gifts and got some great useful things!  Most of my family, some friends, and some of Josh's were able to come which was a blessing to have such a good turnout!

30 & 31 Week Belly Pics!

I forgot to put up belly pics from last week so here is this week and last week!

30 weeks

31 weeks

Still feeling pretty good!  Other than it being uncomfortable and difficult to bend over to get just about anything, I feel great!

We're on the home stretch

I have now hit the 30 week mark which mean we have less than 10 weeks to go! I cannot believe how quickly time has gone.  The nursery is really coming together!  Seeing everything get put together has really made all of this sink in that we will soon have a baby boy!  Josh and I got mostly everything put away from the Baby Bash, but we will probably have to do some moving around for some things.  We ordered the decals for the walls last weekend (nature-themed).  We ordered a tree that comes with a bird house, 6 birds, and squirrels.  I love that theme, because we won't have do much to it for baby #2 if it is a boy or a girl.  (I know hard to believe that I am thinking about baby #2 already!!). 

It is a work in progress, but it is coming together!

We have a few names in mind for our little man, but we will be keeping it a secret until we see which one fits best!  I think it would be pretty hard to name someone before actually getting to see them.  We will keep the names pretty traditional and more than likely in the family.

One thing that I have noticed is that I have what is known as "pregnant brain".  I am usually an excellent speller, but have found it more difficult to put my thoughts together and also spell even the simplest words!  The brain isn't working as quickly and efficiently as it used to:). 

I finally got us signed up for our Birthing Class!  We are doing the FastTrack version which is on a Saturday from 9 - 230.  We thought that would work best due to Josh's work schedule.  We are taking that November 12th, so hopefully everything will be fresh in our minds!  We also signed up for Baby Basics (which is focused on diaper changing, bathing, feeding, etc) and a Breastfeeding Essentials class.  These are both two hour classes on a Tuesday night.  I am a firm believer in Breastfeeding and that if you want it to work it will! Many people have said that it was very helpful, so I'll let you know a couple weeks after he is here:). 

This weekend is one of our only free weekends for October, so we are going to take advantage and do a whole lot of NOTHING!  I may go get sheets for the crib but I haven't put a lot on the agenda:). 

Rhamy Baby Bash

Less than 11 weeks to go before the little man arrives!  I cannot believe how quickly time has gone.  I think with us being as busy as we have been it has made time fly by much quicker!  I think this has been the only time in history that I have wanted fall and winter to get here as soon as possible.  I cannot wait for his arrival!!  He is growing by the day and so is Mommy!! 

Last weekend we had the "Rhamy Baby Bash" which is our version of a Baby Shower.  I've never really been the type of person we likes to get "showered" so we thought something more laid back where people can eat, drink, and socialize was more our style.  We had such a good turn out, and we were very thankful for those who came to support us and our little one.  We have such great, caring people surrounding us; we are blessed!  We also want to thank those that helped out with everything (Mom, Shea, Norma & Adrian, Nick & Bethann, and Justin & Sydney!!). 

Friday I took the day off of work and my mom came up early to do some baking and to get everything oraganized before we started cooking on Saturday.  I was on my feet most of the day on Friday, so I was exhausted once I was finally able to relax (9pm!!!).  Justin and Sydney had come up a day early so we sat and chatted with them before going to bed.  Sydney and I compared what things were going on with our pregnancies just to make sure that everything is "normal" and it's always fun to share a time like this with someone close.

Saturday my Mom and I started cooking all the food and got everything decorated and ready for that afternoon and evening.  Festivities started around 430 and I think we had everything cleanup by 10pm (my kind of party nowadays:)).  There were so many people that came out and at events like that you never feel like you got the chance to talk to everyone as much as what you would like, but it was such a success!

Court and Shea

Rhamy/Smith family - there will be 3 cousins all within 4 months of each other!

Due 1 day apart (both boys:)).  Surely they won't get into trouble!!

Crum family

Josh and some college friends - Sheriff, Ludwig, Schnell

Anne and Stacy

Josh, Stacy, KJ





Always need a family photo!! :)

 I have been quite the slacker on taking weekly pictures, so I am 2 weeks behind!!  I will try to remember to do it this Saturday.  As far as any updates for this week - after a long weekend of the Baby Bash and a friend of ours daughter had her First Birthday Party on Sunday my feet were pretty much toast!  I think they finally started to swell a bit!  Yesterday after work I decided to take Boston for a walk, since I took last week off from running, and I got my shoes on and tied but noticed they were much tighter than normal and pretty uncomfortable to wear.  That is when I really noticed my feet swelling.  If you look at them they look normal, however, they are slightly bigger than normal:).  I think today they have gone down, so hopefully I will get to start some sort of exercise routine again this week.

Like I had mentioned before, my back has always bothered me a bit, but it has really started to ache this weekend and yesterday.  It is in one spot that is just below my bra line on the left side of my spine.  A friend of mine at work gave me an icy/hot patch to see if that would help, but it didn't really do the trick.  So after Josh got home and I was almost in tears, because no way that I sat helped my back, Josh called the chiropractor right away and scheduled an appointment for me this morning.  After talking with the doctor he informed me that the spot on my back is pretty common amongst pregnant women due to their growing bellies. He also said that during pregnancy a hormone is released (amongst many other hormones!) that causes your joints to loosen up a bit.  So after an examination he informed me that I had a vertebre out of place.  After some cracking it had felt better, but my muscles around that area are still a little sore.  I am supposed to be icing it every 2 hours, but I have not yet done that today.  He also told me that it is likely to come out again and will probably last throughout the rest of my pregnancy, but I am going to go back Thursday for another check up and probably get it put back in place again.

So all in all my pregnancy has been pretty easy.  Baby Rhamy has also been moving around like crazy!  You can feel his bottom and feet now.  He is especially more active at night.  I fell asleep the other night with Josh's hand on my belly with baby doing punching exercises, it was definitely something I could get used to:). 

Tailgate + 5K

Josh finally had an entire weekend off this past weekend so we packed as much as we could into these past 2 days!  On Friday night my brother, Bethann, and Clint arrived at our place a little before 9pm and I had made lasagna for everyone, so we all ate, chatted, and went to bed.  Hart eventually got to our place around 1 am, in just enough time for him to get a few hours of sleep to wake up and tailgate!

We finally got left for Ames about 6:15 sporting our Hawkeye gear (well, except Hart) to start tailgating.  It was my first tailgate without actually tailgating, but I definitely enjoyed the eating part:).  We were able to catch up with a few friends that we haven't seen in awhile, so it was a great morning!  We headed back to our place to watch the game and grill some good food (and do a little napping!).  The outcome wasn't exactly what we had hoped with an ISU victory, but there's always next year!

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching more college football and playing a little Mario Kart. The Huskers (Josh's team) game started a little later, so we started watching it and then off to dinner at Jethro's where we were able to watch the Huskers victory!  We finished up our Saturday night playing a little Guitar Hero and off to bed!

Megan and I (Megan is due Jan 25th and I'm due Dec 3rd!!)

Eric, Megan, me, Josh

The guys - Ryan, Eric, Josh, Nick, Clint

Our Crew!

Nick and Bethann at dinner



Jethro's

Sunday morning we got up pretty early because I had signed up to do a 5K at WaterWorks Park in Des Moines.  The race benefitted the Children's Cancer Connection and there was also a pancake breakfast after (which was great motivation!).  Josh, Boston, and I got there around 830 and the race started at 9.  My cousin, Jenna; her son, Jaxon; and my Uncle Ted all came to watch me run as well!  The race went much better than expected!  I had a pretty good time for being 7 months pregnant and also got in a good workout for the day!  Josh and I also met a family there who's little girl was going through cancer.  Her father was a Des Moines fire fighter so Josh and him connected instantly.  After talking with them about what their little girl is going through really put into perspective how lucky we are to be having a healthy baby, but you should never take for granted the things you do have.  Thankfully their daughter is almost done with treatment and will hopefully soon be cancer free!!  After the race and breakfast we stopped by the Capitol to look at the 9/11 memorial.  There was a flag for each person that had lost a life that day.  It was very cool to see, but yet heartbreaking at the same time.

It's on!

The start of the race...

The end of the race...

Josh and I after the race

9/11 Memorial...