Who Knew?

Apparently Pete has a hidden talent in photography. Lucky me!

Sophie's Friends

Daddy's Girl

Funny Faces

Sophie often looks at us like we are idiots. Here are some of her best faces:

For The Record...

Sophie looks like Pete. I have said this a million times, but here is proof for anyone who wasn't sure.

Month One: Favorite Pictures

Month One: Favorites

Favorite Things:
1. When she smiles in her sleep.
2. Watching her suck on a pacifier.
3. When she is wide awake and looking around.
4. Watching how absurdly strong she is...holding her head up, grabbing things, pushing with her legs, etc.
5. When Pete plays with her.
6. Her cry. I mean, I hate it, but it's so pathetic that I kind of love it too.
7. Her weird and funny faces. I have to try to catch them all on camera.
8. Feeding her. She could be in the midst of a huge tantrum, but the moment she has food, her entire face changes and she completely focuses on the food.
9. Cuddling with her. It kind of sucks that she doesn't like to sleep in her Pack N' Play, but it's kind of cute knowing that she'd rather be cuddling while she sleeps.
10. Having her meet so many family members.
11. That she loves music. For example, she cries when we change her, but we have this musical sun (thanks, Caitlin!) that calms her down if we put it next to her.
12. That she is so grunty.
13. Her chubby face, chin, hands, belly, legs, etc.
14. That she sleeps with her hands by her face. Apparently Pete did this too. :)

Un-Favorite Things:
1. Getting mastitis. Twice.
2. Never really sleeping, because even when I "sleep" I constantly get up to check her.
3. Having her projectile poop on me. And Pete. And Nancy.
4. Constantly worrying about the milk supply. And everything.

Sophie's First Halloween!

As you can all see by this picture, Sophie's favorite pumpkin this year is mine (Pete). She was only trying to make the same face.

Sophie's Room

Since I never got around to posting pictures of the nursery before we had Sophie, I thought I might as well show you her room even though it is now used. :)

Sophie's First Bath

Baby Sophie

It's A Girl!

Name: Sophia Grace Hoffman
Birthday: October 15, 2008
Time: 11:24 A.M.
Weight: 8 Pounds 1.3 Ounces
Length: 19 Inches

Giant Feet

I know I have gone on and on about how everything about me is huge...my nose, my belly, my feet, my cankles, etc. But seriously...I know most pregnant women's feet get bigger, but I don't think it's normal for them to get THIS big.

My normal shoe size is 8.5. When my normal shoes started to be tight, size 9 or 9.5 started fitting. I thought that was normal. You know, going up a size or a half a size. But right now the only size that fits is an 11. That is a full 2.5 sizes bigger than my normal feet.

All I have to say is that I am VERY curious to see what size they will be once I have the baby. Will they stay this big? Will they go down but still be bigger than before? Let's all hope that they go back to normal, or I will have to buy a whole new shoe wardrobe. And I will have disgustingly huge feet for life.

Pete is Cute

Pete is cute. He is so excited for the baby. Any time I say "ow" or anything like that, he jumps up and looks at me with this silly expression and asks me if it's time.

New Project

I read a novel about knitting the other day, and it inspired me to want to knit something for the baby. I am NOT a knitter...the only thing I have ever done is knit about 4 inches of a scarf a few years ago. But regardless, I was suddenly motivated to knit. So, while Sarah was here, Nancy helped us get started on some knitting projects. I am making a peapod, which is sort of like a little wrap-up wearable blanket thing for the baby (it is bright green with cute and colorful buttons) and Sarah started a pair of cream speckled mittens.

I am really enjoying it, but I do have to take breaks after every row because my hands hurt. Hopefully I can get it done (or close to done) before the baby arrives.

Pregnancy Class

So, we made it through our pregnancy class a few weeks ago without giving birth. That was my only hope...to finish the class before we had the baby. The class was good overall. I don't feel like I learned THAT much because I had already read so much, but it was nice to go over breathing techniques. Hopefully I will find them helpful.

In less than two weeks we will have a baby. I know this because my doctor was very clear that if I went PAST my due date, she would induce me. So, that means that no matter what, we WILL have the baby in less than two weeks. I can't believe it!

At my last appointment I let my doctor do a membrane sweep which is something that supposedly helps to induce labor. She said it usually causes the woman to go into labor about a week early. I am not getting my hopes up though...since then I have NOT been having any more contractions than usual. As always, I feel relaxed about the whole thing. If something starts happening, that's great, but if not, I can be patient.

Belly At Almost 36 Weeks

List Of Things I Am Excited To Do...When I Am Not Pregnant Anymore

1. Take a HOT bath.
2. Eat a caesar salad, a hot dog, and a grilled ham and cheese.
3. Sleep on my back and my stomach.
4. Walk up the stairs without needing to take a break afterwards to catch my breath.
5. Look down and see my legs.
6. Recognize my face in pictures.
7. Stop running into walls, tripping over things, and dropping things.
8. Wear my wedding rings.
9. Feel blood flowing into my hands.
10. Sleep for more than two hours without having to get up to go to the bathroom.

Baby Bjorn

Pete is OBVIOUSLY ready for this baby...

New Polls!

I added some new and exciting polls, so make sure to vote on them. Yes, I am bored. Luckily, I have some WORK to do this afternoon! Hooray!

Notice that on the poll about when the baby will be born there is NOT an option of having the baby after October 25th. Hopefully I didn't jinx myself into having the baby super late, but you never know. My Mom had six babies and we were ALL late. :)

Two Down, Eight To Go

At my appointment today, my doctor found that I am now "a good two centimeters dilated". Everything else was normal. I am now at the point where I constantly have that nervous/excited feeling. And, for some reason, a part of me feels kind of proud that my body is doing what it's supposed to be doing and that these contractions I've been feeling have been real and that they have been accomplishing something.

Pete is way more antsy than me. I feel nervous/excited, but I am not too worried about when things are going to happen. I mean, it could be next week, but it could be a month from now. When I told him about my appointment, he asked if that meant I'd have the baby soon. When I said probably not, he was 100% disappointed. Lately, it's like with anything I say, he wants to know if that means I'll have the baby soon, and he is so cute and let down when he finds out that he still has to wait.

Shower

Well, we made it through the shower and back to Appleton without having the baby. I was partially convinced that I would go into labor while we were in the cities, so I am happy to be safely back in Appleton. I still feel great, but I have been having quite a few contractions. The baby is still moving around a lot, and now that I know where its head is, I feel like I can completely feel the little feet kicking my ribs.

Anyway, the shower was amazing. It is one of those things (like a wedding) where you are surrounded by people who care about you and made the effort to come to celebrate something going on in your life and you end up feeling really overwhelmed and emotional about the whole thing. Needless to say, there were quite a few tears shed at the shower. Some were warranted (like when Alison first saw me and started crying), and others were just effects of feeling so overly emotional about everything (like when Alanna and I both teared up as she was talking about when the food was coming out).

We basically just mingled, ate a lot of good food, played a few funny games, opened presents, and ate some delicious cake. It was perfect. AND, now we literally have everything we need (according to my list) for the baby. So, thank you to my wonderful friends and family who made the effort to be there and make it special...and thank you everyone for all of the great and thoughtful gifts...and thank you to my amazing friends who planned the whole thing.

I left feeling sad that it was all over but thankful for all of these people in my life...and even more excited about the baby (if that was even possible). :)

Breastfeeding Class

Pete and I both went to a breastfeeding class tonight (and, for the record, Pete was NOT the only husband there), and it was actually pretty fun. Well, not fun, but it was interesting. The highlight of the whole thing was watching a video of a minute-old newborn who naturally and instinctually starting nursing within the first hour of its life. It was pretty cool to watch, and, of course, I started tearing up thinking about how it's going to feel to have our own baby. Pregnancy hormones are so much fun. :)

Exciting Appointment

I went into my appointment on Wednesday thinking that it was just a regular check-up. Nope. It was much more exciting than that! They did check all of the regular things like blood pressure and weight, and they measured me (exactly 35 for my 35 weeks). But, they ALSO did a bunch of other things, the most exciting of which told us that:

1. The baby has turned so that it is in the head-down position.
2. I am dilated to 1 centimeter.

These two little pieces of information really (finally!) made me feel like this is about to happen! It really made things much more real, and I couldn't be more excited.

New Boy Name

I think we are set on our girl names, but Pete likes Sophie better and I like Claire better, so we'll see what happens. :) As for boy names, we have really been struggling. We both agree that Aidan is our favorite of the names we had on our original list, but we have never really felt 100% settled about it.

Anyway, the other night we were having dinner with Nancy and Paul, and Nancy brought up the name Blake. I LOVE THIS NAME! In fact, that has always been my favorite boy name, and Claire has always been my favorite girl name. Sadly, early on in the pregnancy, Pete made it very clear that he did NOT like the name Blake, so I sort of let it go. But, the other night when we talked about it, he didn't hate it as much! Hooray! (Trust me...for Pete, not hating something is as good as loving it). So anyway, that is my number one boy name again. Blake Elias Hoffman. I think it's perfect.

Shower!

My friends are throwing me a shower next Saturday, and I can't wait! It is going to be so much fun! I absolutely can't wait to see everyone...especially since I get kind of lonely here in Appleton. My only fear is that I will go into labor while I am there, but luckily Pete is coming with me, so at least if something happens, he will still be there. :)

Nursery

Our nursery is really close to being done, and it looks SO good. I absolutely love it. I will post pictures of it at some point in the near future to show you how far it has come. Everything is in place, everything has been washed and put in its designated spot, etc. It is my favorite room in the house.

On a sad note, we got our rug in the mail yesterday, and it is horrible! It looks nothing like the picture online! The one I wanted was all sorts of bright colors, and this one is basically pink, tan and blue. What? It makes no sense. But, I figured out what happened, and the store screwed it up! The rug I got in the mail is called Botanical Isle Sand, and that's what the store CALLED it, but they had a picture of Botanical Isle 3880 (a totally different rug) as the picture for Botanical Isle Sand. How frustrating. But, at least I figured it out and I can do something about it.

I Love Lists

Of all of the self-proclaimed list makers in the world, I have to say that I probably win the prize for the most thorough, psychotic, obsessive list maker of all. Pete will definitely agree with that. He has said multiple times that he worries that some day he is going to come home to find me in a room completely covered with lists because I have gone completely nuts.

Anyway, I have a plethora of lists regarding the baby. I have a list of things to pack for the hospital, a list of what to do to babyproof the house, a list of everything we need to do before the baby is here, and a very embarrassing list of what we need for the baby. In my opinion, that list is the best one, but I would NEVER show it to anyone for fear that they would really think I am crazy. That list has tables and a system for shading boxes when things are completed and all sorts of extra fun things. I love it, and I love updating it.

Getting Closer...

I am in my 34th week of pregnancy. Overall, I still feel really good. I haven't reached the point where I am annoyed with still being pregnant, but I am definitely slowing down. I get tired really easily, my arms are killing me, and I haven't been sleeping well at all. I literally get up every 2 hours to go to the bathroom, stretch, get a drink, or try to get some blood flow back into my hand. But, I still feel like being in week 34 is perfect. I am still enjoying being pregnant and I feel like we have just enough time to do some of the last minute things I want to do before we have the baby, like the pregnancy class, the breastfeeding class, completing the nursery, etc.

Yeah! Summer is Almost Over!

I absolutely love summer. It has always been my favorite season. I love being outside, sitting in the sun, getting tan, going on boats, swimming, etc. The end of summer has always been a very sad time for me. But, not this year. For the first time in my life, I can say that I am ready for fall. It pains me to even say it, but it's true. Obviously, this is a pregnancy issue, since it all relates to being hot and puffy and out of breath and uncomfortable. I'm sure next summer I will be back to my good old self...loving summer and enjoying it with the baby!

Bad Parents...Already

So, Pete and I missed our first pregnancy class. When Linda and her family were here, we were sitting around the table eating dinner, and Linda asked when our first class was. My heart seriously skipped a beat because at that very minute I realized that our first class had been that very night. I was horrified! I almost started crying, but I held it together. Anyway, I called the hospital and told them what happened, and we decided that we are just going to take the all-day class instead of the four-week series...on October 4th. So, yes, we are cutting it VERY close. Hopefully the baby can just stay put for a little bit longer so that Pete and I can learn how to be parents BEFORE we actually have a baby.

My Biggest Fear

I have a very strange fear of getting my blood pressure taken. It makes no sense because I have always had good blood pressure, but for some reason I get really, really nervous every time it is taken. I have always been like that. The nurses all laugh at me because I get so weird and stressed right before they take it. And, because of my other fear of getting preeclampsia, my fear of getting my blood pressure taken is even worse lately. So, I have another appointment today (32 weeks!), and my heart is already racing thinking about having them take it. I have serious problems. :)

Baby Artwork

I am getting very antsy about finishing the nursery. We have MOST of what we need, but I am feeling like I just want to get everything so that we are all ready. This is the artwork I ordered for the nursery today. I know it's probably not the biggest priority, but I couldn't resist.

Our bedding also came today! How exciting! It looks really cute, and somehow it looks like it was made to go with the bins I bought before. Perfect.

Silly Nieces and Nephews

My sister, Linda, and her family are coming here for a few days on Monday. The last time I saw some of my nieces and nephews, my nephew, Henry, kept staring at my belly and asking, "Now, where is the baby again?" He kept wanting me to show him, but when I pointed at the bump, he just didn't get it. He didn't understand that it was IN my belly and he wouldn't be able to see it for a while. Later on, when we were eating, I told him that I needed to eat a lot of good food so that I could feed the baby. So, he started handing me all sorts of food and telling me to feed the baby. When I would eat the food, he would get all mad, and say, "No! Feed the baby!" So, playing along, I would put the food by my belly and THEN eat it, but that wasn't good enough. He literally wanted me to somehow put the food in the baby's mouth. He got very frustrated with me, and kept trying to figure out why he couldn't see the actual baby. Finally, he asked me, "Well, did you eat the baby?" I think it was the absolute only thing that made sense to him.

Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing what Linda's kids have to say about my belly when they are here...especially when it starts moving around like a creature.

Reading

Kristin recommended "The Birth Book" as something I should read before giving birth. When I first started reading it, I almost felt like I didn't want to read anymore because I would rather be blissfully ignorant about all things having to do with birth. In other words, I felt like I was one of those people who doesn't know anything about birth or medicine, so I felt like I would rather just go into it with no knowledge and just trust my body and my doctor. But, this book has really grown on me. It has made me think about so many things and it has made me question a lot of things that I thought I knew my opinions about.

It also encouraged me to talk to people around me about their own personal birth experiences. Luckily, I have three older sisters who have all given birth, a Mom who has given birth to six children, and a sister-in-law who JUST gave birth, so it was easy for me to get all of the juicy details from them, as well as their true feelings about everything that happened to them. It was amazing to hear about all of their different experiences (and each story and experience was SO different)!

Anyway, as I keep reading (and become more obsessed with this book) and hearing about birth experiences, I am getting SO excited! None of it, even hearing the horror stories, makes me scared...in fact, it just makes me want to go in right now and have the baby! I have a feeling that I am going to start getting antsy VERY soon. :)

But, I have 11 weeks to go, so for now, I will just enjoy being pregnant, read my book, and TRY to keep my feet up.

Progress

Well, last night we were over at Pete's parents' house for dinner, and he saw the baby kick. It was moving around (as usual), so I made Pete just stare at my belly for a couple minutes because I wanted him to see or feel it so badly. And, he saw it! He saw a couple of big kicks AND just some weird moving around in there. And, he was able to feel a couple of movements too.

So, that's progress. It still feels like as soon as Pete puts his hand on my belly the baby stops moving around, but at least Pete can always say that he felt it and saw it and heard it at one point or another. But, I get the feeling that Pete is NOT as excited about these movements and kicks anymore...I feel like he is getting a little antsy and impatient because he wants to be holding the actual baby. :)

Uncooperative Baby

So, as I wrote previously, the baby kicks all the time. And not just little tiny kicks, but big kicks that move my whole belly. But, Pete has had a hard time feeling them. It's almost like every time he reaches over to feel it, the baby stops kicking! And then, of course, right when he takes his hand away, the baby kicks again. Today the doctor said that maybe Pete just has a naturally calming effect on the baby. The funny thing is that the same thing happened when Kristin tried to feel it...maybe it is something in their blood. :)

Anyway, today when the doctor was listening to the baby's heart, it gave a big kick, and we ALL heard it. So, at least Pete got to HEAR a kick even if he hasn't had much luck feeling them.

28-Week Appointment

Today we went in for our 28-week appointment. Again, nothing special happened. I did have my glucose tolerance test, and I will get the results tomorrow. Apparently some people complain about the orange drink you have to drink for the test, but I actually thought it was good. It tasted like orange pop. :)

Other than that, they just checked my blood pressure (which was good), measured my belly (which she said was perfect), and listened to the baby's heart rate (which was 140). It's funny because I read that the theory is that it is a boy if the heart rate is under 140 and a girl if the heart rate is over 140, so obviously our baby's heart rate isn't telling us much at this point.

The doctor was slightly concerned about my swelling/water weight gain, so I have been instructed to keep my feet up as much as possible. I am going to really force myself to keep them up, but it is hard!

From now on, we have appointments every two weeks. We are on the home stretch!