Maternity Pictures

My wonderful friend Stephanie took maternity pictures of Rowdy and I at just about 38 weeks pregnant. She is such a spectacular friend and an AMAZING photographer. Check out her blog: stephaniefayblog.com. I have included some of the maternity pictures here and more can be seen on her blog plus more of her wonderful work that she does with her husband Stephen. I love how they turned out and they definitely show off my pregnant belly at (hopefully) it's largest. So glad we got to capture these last few moments of Rowdy and I as a couple before our family grows and our daughter arrives. I know these will be very special to us, especially since we didn't take very many pictures of us together throughout the pregnancy. Thank you to Stephanie for these pictures we will treasure forever!

Bella's Room *Updated*

Today we put some of the finishing touches on Bella's room. I was so excited to do this! My dad painstakingly painted and got the wonderful plaque ready (it might be his new hobby) and made sure it looked perfect. I ordered a wall decal that I liked on Etsy and my mom and I applied it to the plaque and I think it turned out pretty darn cute! We also hung the very cute "I" plaque that Auntie Ashley made for Bella. When I say "we" I pretty much mean I sit in the rocking chair and direct so to clarify, my mom measured and hung everything. Thank goodness for my mom who has basically come over and cleaned our whole house and re-organized every room. And Rowdy has taken care of pretty much all the house chores since I am supposed to try to be off my feet. It all looks so cute hanging in the nursery now and now all that the nursery needs is a baby. We are in the 1 week countdown and hopefully she will be here sooner (or at least not late but I am trying to be patient). On the labor front I have had lots of strong contractions but so far nothing I can really "time" so no labor yet but I know that no matter what, she will be here VERY soon so we are just trying to soak up some last minutes as just a couple before we become a family of 3!

38 Weeks

We are 38 weeks now and just waiting for Isabella to arrive! It could be any time now and we are hoping sooner rather than later. We are seeing my doctor Tuesday to hopefully get some things going (I will spare you all of the details) and possibly discuss induction. My dialation and everything is progressing so we are excited for our little girl to just get here and as excited as we are, it's hard as we sit here watching tv (we are really living up one of our last child free Saturday nights) that she will actually be here, like REALLY here, it's so hard to wrap our minds around! We will hopefully have some more exciting details to share after the doctor on Tuesday but for now, our first daughter Oreo got bathed and groomed for Bella's arrival so we had to take a picture together and you can see how low and big my belly is getting in the second picture!

Me and my bed rest buddy Oreo

Soooooo fully cooked, no more growing please!

35 Weeks: So Many New Things....

I am officially 35 weeks now....soooooo close! And SO ready to be not pregnant any more :-) I have loved so many moments of this pregnancy and the very unique experience that it is but I can't wait for our little Bella to just be here and for me to not get winded putting socks on! It was a very eventful December and it really did fly by. I cannot believe that it is 2010 now and that Bella will be here in about a month. There are still so many little things to do and get ready around the house and errands to run! I have had some not so fun headaches and after 2 different doctor ordered trips to labor and delivery this week the nurse told me last night that I am now officially on bed rest. It will be interesting figuring out how to sit still and not do things when there are so many things to be done! I will get more clarification on what my bed rest means from my doctor this week but the nurse told me I can get up to go to the bathroom and to make a sandwich but that is about it. Something tells me I will be doing a lot of crocheting baby blankets and organizing in small doses from a seated position and ordering my visitors around :-). I'm sure Rowdy is so excited (ha!). Maybe Bella will make her entrance a little early and relieve her mother from this bed rest! I'm so excited for what this year holds and am looking forward to enjoying every moment with friends and family (and getting back out of the house will be great too!). I will update with a new belly picture soon I am sure, once I don't look like I spent a few hours in the hospital!

Here is adorable Rowdy putting together the glider, he has become quite handy with all the assembly required!

He may have gotten a little distracted by the movie we were watching :-)

Here is a peek into Bella's room, it is really coming along! It is basically done (we have a few more things to hang but that is about it!

Here are my GORGEOUS curtains hanging in the room that the fabulous Shelagh made, I absolutely love them!

There is a plaque that is going above the crib, that will be a project in the next few days/weeks while I am home and I love the little rocking horse that my mom got for Bella. Of course Rowdy (the big grown up that he is) put one of Bella's stuffed animals on the horse like it is riding it.

Here is a view into Bella's very full closet! She has so many adorable outfits and I am now addicted to the smell of Dreft, baby clothes are the best (I'm sure I will be eating those words once the laundry really starts to pile up)

Here are the super cute letters that my friend Christy made, we have been so blessed to have such sweet friends (and creative ones) make so many special things for Bella that really make her room unique. I love going in there, it is so relaxing!

On the left is a list of things to pray for your child that Christy wrote for me, it is so special and makes me cry when I read it! On the right is an adorable cross that Rowdy bought for his baby girl's room, it is so special!

More to come soon!

Showered with **LOVE**

We just had a yummy dinner and Matt and I decided to belly bump (his is quite a bit smaller...sad)

We're pretty excited to meet Bella!

32 weeks preggo

All my wonderful family!

Some of my favorite ladies in the world! Love them!

Super cute diaper cake!

Adorable letters for the nursery!

So wonderful to have such amazing friends to journey through all of life's milestones with! Bella is going to have some spectacular Aunties!

Bella's gorgeous curtains! I'm seriously in love with them!

**Disclaimer: I cannot figure out how to rearrange my pictures right now so this is a sloppy blog post but I am over fighting the computer right now, please forgive my laziness! :-) **

Yesterday some amazing friends threw me a baby shower and it could not have been more spectacular! Just to start off, the creativity of these women blows my mind every time right down to the individual apple pies everything was amazing! (There is extra apple pie in my fridge from the shower and I am having a hard time pacing myself on eating it, there was a 4am moment when I strongly contemplated going for a little snack) It was so nice to see so many wonderful women who have blessed my life in different ways and get to celebrate little Bella with them! It is a day that I will never forget and I have included some pictures of it below. Also, our nursery curtains made their debut at the shower thanks to the amazing Shelagh (who also hosted the shower at her beautiful home). She just whipped these curtains together in the last couple of weeks and they are amazing, they are not just your run of the mill curtains that you could find anywhere and how she made them so quickly I will never know! They will make Bella's nursery extra special....I will have to post some new nursery pics once I get the room a bit more organized! Also, I am now 32 weeks, I can't believe things are going so quickly and I am sooooo ready for her to be here (maybe she will hear that and grace us with her presence a few days before her due date....I can hope can't I :-) Oh yeah, and I'm 25 today, weird, that number used to sound SO big to me and suddenly it's here! Now I'm off to enjoy the beautiful rainy AZ weather with Rowdy on my last birthday with just me and him!

Thankful

Our pastor Matt had a great message today and really reminded me to be thankful for the tiniest things. We had some fun with our great friends Jared and Marcie and Derrick and Jenny (both of whom are also expecting) when we watched Marcie's copy of "In the Womb" and we watched the process of how a baby grows inside the womb from it's tiniest state to the moment of birth....which the guys were a little unprepared for to see up close and personal. We saw when it was just a tiny embryo and started to get eyes and had its little arm and leg buds and of course, Rowdy's favorite, the tail :-) Thankfully babies lose their tail somewhere around 7 weeks (I think/hope) but they are just the tiniest little miracles. We got to see our sweet miracle not once but twice this week in 3D and it is just the most amazing thing. It makes me all the more anxious to have Bella here and see her up close and study all her tiny little features that I know will be beautiful.

I'm in love with her tiny face

She has her leg crossed over her near, sometimes your foot is just your best friend

Smiling away

The umbilical cord kept getting in the way of her face but it's still pretty darn cute

Poking herself in the eye with her foot

26 Weeks

Happy November! I can't believe I am actually saying that! I am 26 weeks pregnant now and about to exit the 2nd trimester and venture into the 3rd trimester, holy cow! We have been working on the nursery and furniture is in now, I love going in there, its so relaxing! Its nowhere near done but it actually looks like a nursery now with the furniture. Bella is getting very used to stretching her legs and punching her little arms. She is kicking around the clock now and its really fun to watch my belly dance around....strange....but fun. We have had a very busy few weeks and it doesn't look like November or December will really be any slower though I think I will be moving a little slower. Below are some pictures of nursery and other things we have been up to like our friend's Stephanie and Stephen's beautiful wedding, I will post some of Rowdy and I when I get them from my parents, we of course forgot our camera. Also, there will be a new belly pic soon, but for now, the other fun pics will have to do. Sleep is no longer my friend, I remember being frustrated in the first trimester because all I wanted to do was sleep. Now, my back has turned on me and sleep has become incredibly frustrating, how I miss being able to sleep like 10 hours in the first trimester! Also, Bella is going to have a lot of little friends by June of next year so it will be a fun, baby filled first 6 months of 2010 and I can't wait!

The new Motte's and sweet longtime friends :-)

More wonderful friends (and a lot of new little friends to be!)

Pumpkin carving with the girls

Looking into Bella's new room

Love the crib (thats the stroller blanket hanging over the edge)

Our first child trying out the crib, she was not too thrilled

She already has a lot of fun little things

Auntie Ashley and Auntie Erica already picked out some adorable outfits for her!

She is truly my daughter, her closet is already filling up!

My view, ummmm.....where did my feet go?