John Howie Steak Date Night

While driving to work one day in November, I heard the local radio station, Star 101.5, was having a contest about listeners sharing their worst date night experiences. I remembered one from way back before I met Brent and decided to give it a chance to win a prize and emailed the station. I ended up getting called and sharing my fabulous story. In case you want to know....... it involves meeting a guy at Starbucks on a first date, but the same day he had already booked an out-patient surgery to remove a growth on his neck. He shows up at the date wearing a ratty sweatshirt and a huge gauze pad taped to the side of his neck. I stayed as long as it took me to drink my hot cocoa and that was the end of that! I guess the radio hosts liked that image!

As I'm sure you're piecing together, I had to wait until early December, but I was chosen as one of the lucky winners of the $150 gift certificate to John Howie Steaks in downtown Bellevue. We decided to use it this past weekend before the baby comes because I'm sure we won't be going to any nice dinners for awhile!


















After our wonderful date night this past Saturday, the boys needed something a little special too. Here is a picture of them enjoying one of their Christmas treats - side by side like true brothers!!

36 weeks!

It is official - I'm NINE MONTHS pregnant! He better take all this weight with him when he makes his exit from my uterus! Going up and down the stairs is definitely taking a toll on my legs now. I'm not feeling the lower back pain that I'm "supposed" to feel... instead it's all upper back pain when I try to do dishes or fold clothes.

We had our Birthing Preparation Class this past Saturday.  I think it gave both Brent and I some good information on what to expect from labor and delivery. Brent installed the car seat base in the Tundra today and I washed all the cloth diapers. The last thing we have to do is pack a bag - which we will do by this weekend. I think we're ready for you, Baby!!

Seahawks and Snow!

On Sunday, December 23rd (exactly one month to due date), we had tickets to see the Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers. Even though it was cold and rainy, it was a great game! Good that our seats were high enough we were under cover, but not so good that our seats were that high....

Brent cheesing for the camera - Can you find the Space Needle in the background?

Yeah, a little high up at Century Link Field

On Christmas Eve, we ventured up towards Snoqualmie Pass until we found some snow. Less than 45 minutes away from our house, but at an elevation of 1800 feet, we were able to play in about 10 inches of snow! Diesel loved it!!

We walked a bit along the main road inside Snoqualmie National Forest - perhaps we will return when I'm not 9 months pregnant!

South Fork Snoqualmie River

Puppies smelling for coyotes!

35 weeks

We had an exciting week with TWO doctor's appointments for baby this week! Yesterday we went in for an ultrasound just to make sure we weren't expecting a 10 pound baby towards the end (if you remember, Baby Eason measured around a 92nd percentile at the 20 week scan). Everything came back 50-60th percentile so Baby is right on track to be a manageable size - guesstimates around 8 pounds. One measurement came back slightly higher than the others - the shoulders/chest - yup, just like his Daddy! Check out the picture below for a 4D image - not as good as you would expect, but since baby is so big, you can't fit that much on the screen. Today we had a routine check-up with our OBGYN which will be weekly from now on.

Looks a little more like Brent now :)

How to tell the gender....

Yes, we already know it's a boy, but I thought it would be fun to check these and see if they're accurate!

1. Be Still My Beating Heart - If over 140 beats per minute, a girl; If under 140 beats per minute, a boy.
Consistently between 120-130, so very correct, yes!

2. Sweet and Sour - Craving ice cream or sweets - this means it's a girl. If you have to have salty or sour stuff, then it's a boy.
This is a toss-up. I like my sweets, but I also like my salty items. Tie.

3. Chinese Birth Chart - Find your age and month of conception on the chart and it will predict boy or girl.
Correct - Boy!

4. Spot On - If you're breaking out like crazy, it's a girl.
Sounds right - my face has been pretty blemish free lately.

5. Queasy Does It - Sick as a dog during your first trimester - then a girl. Little or no morning sickness - boy.
Correct for me, but I know a few other lovely ladies that had AWFUL morning sickness and had all boys!

6. All Hands - Soft hands point to a girl, dry hands mean you are having a boy.
Correct - dry hands here.... but I'm thinking it has more to do with washing my hands constantly and it being cold and rainy in Seattle!

7. High/Low - If you're carrying high, it means a girl; low, it means a boy.
Correct - very low and I'm very thankful because it's still hard for me to breath sitting down sometimes!!

8. Watch Out! - If you're stumbling or more clumsy than usual, expect a boy; if nothing has changed, expect a girl.
Incorrect - Nope, I'm pretty sure-footed!

Just a big belly!

Well not bad - 6 correct, 1 incorrect and 1 tie. As my OB says, it's a very good thing to have a boring typical pregnancy!

34 weeks!!

 

Here we are at 34 weeks! Belly is getting bigger and bigger! I started to have a slight pain in my back after doing dishes and folding clothes this weekend, so I may be taking a break from those things until after baby is born. Brent has been super helpful and even though he sometimes complains that I go through too many dishes, he's the best dish washer I know!! 

We had a nice visit with my mother who flew in from Raleigh on Thursday. She helped work a bit on the nursery and hand-washed a bunch of baby clothes that were hand-knit from my Grandmother Lillian; things that I wore and my brothers wore will now be passed on to Baby Boy Eason! It was also pretty nice having some home-cooked meals that were made by someone else!

Brent and I came home Friday night to find a surprise! While we were at work, my mother had spent the day wrapping presents and making dinner/dessert for my Baby Shower!! This was Brent's first Baby Shower and I think it was a perfect size to start him off! ;) The dogs were also very interested in smelling all the new toys and clothes for the baby. 

Boy do I look all belly in this picture!