Sunday, June 8th

Amy with baby shower hosts Bob, Dale, & Sarah. Thanks you guys for an awesome baby shower! Complete with bloody mary's, mimosa's, yummy food, and many of our wonderful friends. It was so fun to celebrate with everyone one more time before he comes! Thanks everyone for coming!
lot's of little ones! from left to right:

Sarah Salo, Lilah Salo, Clover Mills, Stefanie Kuecker, Jason Mills, Ryan Hallett, Emily Hallett, Cate Hallett. Even more babies not pictured here: Courtney LaRoche's little guy Emerson. Last year was a popular year for having babies! Our little guy will have lots of playmates already.

where's baby Lilah?
bob :)

Patrick in the "beverage room". We were so busy we didn't get a picture together :( I think Bob took this one for me! I think Sarah took more pix, I'll add them too.

Amy & Courtney - we're due within 4 days of each other! Here we are at our 36th week. We took a picture together early on too - see earlier post. I hope our hospital visits coincide!

Holy Feet!

36 weeks
They said this was going to happen...the swollen feet & hands...and oh it did. Patrick looked at them and after he could pause from laughing so hard he said, "It looks like your feet got ran over by a car!" "It looks like there are softballs connected to your ankles!" I remember when Mom was pregnant with Maria, and Uncle Jeff said she should "go poke holes in her legs and go water the lawn." Ahhh, the humor in it all.
(Just a small side note: I wonder if the fact that I ate an entire watermelon in 2 days has anything to do with this? I still can't get enough fruit; I'm halfway through my 2nd watermelon.)

A beautiful Saturday

Great Auntie Sue, Cousin MariJane, & Cousin Colleen
Patrick holding up the beautiful things Colleen knit for baby. She is so talented!!!!
Colleen modeling the hooded towel!
Colleen & Jim: great couple, & amazing cooks too.
Saturday, May 31st was an absolutely beautiful day, and we got to spend it with Auntie Sue, Cousin MariJane, and Cousin Colleen celebrating our little guy. They showered us with such wonderful gifts and of course their amazing culinary skills. They always make such wonderful meals, we are spoiled every time we see them. They are my only family in town, and I love that they are only minutes away (and that they're so much fun too!) Auntie Sue and Uncle Greg come up from Milwaukee often too, and this weekend is an annual trip for them as they visit the Edina Art Fair. And coincidentally, my parents' neighbors, Chuck & JoAnn Weber were up to display Chuck's work. Check out his website: http://www.customoilportraits.com/ So we got to see them too! Such incredibly talented family & friends!

Guess who?!

On Saturday, May 3, JoAnn Brown hosted a beautiful shower honoring our little guy! Present were many of our friends & family from Patrick's side. One of the really fun things we did was look at everyone's baby photos and try and guess who they are. I'll post some here and see if you can guess, then check out the cool webpage JoAnn put together to show pictures from the event. Thanks JoAnn for such a special day!

http://web.mac.com/joannbrown1/Amy_Cheevers_shower/Photos.html

34 weeks

34 weeks and I feel huge and quite a bit slower! Bending over is definitely an event. The swollen hands and feet have begun, and when I think I can't get any bigger, I do. We're still measuring 3 weeks early (so 37 weeks), but the plan is still to go with the flow. I go and listen to his heartbeat at the doctor once a week now. As he is in the 90th % for size, so is the amount of amniotic fluid, so the fetal heart monitor gives the doctor a better record of his heartbeat than the doppler thing (that looks like Maria's Sony play microphone from when she was little.)

Work

I made my last trip to Madison for work this past week. No more travel for me/us anymore! The flight attendant said to me, "You better not have that baby on this plane!" I had a doctor's note anyway if needed, but all was fine. He was pretty quiet on this flight as opposed to the one 2 weeks ago when we flew through thunderstorms where he was super active. And at landing the pilot had to abort and pull up again, circle, and re-land due to wind gusts, that got him riled up too (and the lady next to me). When people ask me my due date, and I tell them July 4th, they do a double take at my belly and look back up at me and say questionably, "Really?!" It's kind of funny.
So, no more travel, but I'm working up until the big day. My friend Dave at work is my emergency ride just in case "it's time" at work, and he got a flashing light off ebay for his car! It's like a siren thing without the siren, just the light. Move over! We're ready!

Right now...

Patrick is playing guitar and I absolutely love it....however he keeps asking me if everything is ok. He just said, "Did I play that chord wrong? Do you not like this song?" Apparently, I have a sighing problem. I think it sounds like I'm being super passive aggressive, but it really is just my smushed diaphram. They told us this in baby class too - that your stomach, diaphram, and bladder get really smushed and their capacity is nowhere near what is was pre-pregnancy. So just a note of warning, I'm sighing a lot lately, please don't take it personally!

We've been getting his room ready and putting his things away! It's been a lot of fun, and we are getting excited. I love this picture of Patrick and the little matching shirt my Mom and Maria found in Colorado (not knowing Patrick had one like it too!)

Patrick has been wonderful. As my activity continues to decrease, he has been so helpful and so understanding. I am so lucky. He's going to be a great dad, a fun one too. Just ask him about his recent rocket adventures with his friend Andy.

31.75 weeks - my 31st birthday!

May 7th

I was in Madison on Wednesday, May 7th, my birthday, for a meeting for work. The bonus: I got to drive home to Mom & Dad's and have dinner with them and Sara Rose! Mom made really yummy roasted vegetables with Grandpa & Uncle Marty's homeade Italian Sausage, and a wonderful virgin margarita pie for dessert (it had lots of fruit! yum!) It was so nice to be home and will probably be the last time before baby comes since no more travel is allowed in the last month. I have just one more trip to Madison for work on the 21st (if my doctor ok's it). It's hard to believe that we're getting so close to meeting our little guy. But it is believable as I am at the stage where I think I just can't get any bigger (but probably will). Patrick is hoping to take a few more short motorbike trips and take his mountain bike out on a few trails over the next couple weekends. Maggie is excited that it's spring and has been finding and chasing all of her tennis balls that were lost in the snow over the winter. She loves sunning herself on the deck. I'm looking forward to playing in the dirt (gardening) with our little one.

30.5 week ultrasound

We got to do an ultrasound today because baby is getting really big!

He weighs 4 lbs 13 oz & is above the 90th percentile.

My doctor said she has been getting a slew of big babies lately, and he is definitely one of them! This is a 3D ultrasound picture, and the black spot on his head is the ultrasound reader thing-y, and some of the other parts of the picture are out of focus, but it still gives a general picture of our little guy. Watching him up on the screen was so much fun! He was sucking his thumb, was pointing with his finger, and playing with his arms up near his face. It's so hard to believe he will be here soon! Lot's to do!