36 Weeks and 5 Days

Baby's Room

We are working on getting the baby's room together this weekend. There is so much to be done and I am not at all "nesting" so it is only coming together because Nathan is motivated to get things done. We are not ready to take pictures of it, but here is a beautiful picture of the quilt my mom made for the baby. She made bumpers, a bed skirt, curtains and wall hangings to match. Nathan's mom also recovered our rocker to match. It is very cute and just what I imagined! I don't know if my mom would have agreed to do the work if she would have known how picky I was going to be! Oh well, it is surprising what a grandma will do for a grandchild...

The pic you requested...

Just kidding!! Our friend, Chris, drug this up out of his archives! We were white water rafting in WV several summers ago and apparently I can get a little crazy! Thought it might pacify a few people who are asking about pics. We will get some up!

It is coming soon...

Well, we are on our way. I am 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced. I am having contractions, but they are not regular (and they are in my legs, which is apparently normal). We are just hoping that the baby will wait until my lessons plans are done for my maternity leave!!! We won't even mention grad school...
My parents bought a house about 10 minutes from us in Apex, NC. It is conveniently located, so dropping the baby off will not be so far out of the way from school. They also sold their house in WNY and are flying up there tonight. Then they pack on Saturday and head back here on Sunday. They have everything scheduled with U-Haul. We are very excited. They closed on the NC house on Tuesday and have been busy painting this week. (Well, Mom has been busy painting...Dad has been working...did we mention he is working as a Career Development Teacher in Wake County? It is an adventure!!)
We will post some pics soon because I know that there is nothing more that people would rather see than a pregnant lady!!!!

Baby Shower

Robyn and Eric hosted a baby shower with Matt and Lauren this past Saturday for us. The shower was a couples shower, which many people (men that is) shy away from. It actually was fun. Eric roasted a pig and we all just hung around and ate together. Then all the girls went in the house and opened gifts and played typical shower games. The guys continued hanging out outside. After the gifts we all ate cake. It was fun! We even enjoyed a bon fire with s'mores.
Nathan and I were overwhelmed with all of the things we received. We took some time on Sunday organizing and sorting. We just couldn't believe how much there was and how people had been so generous! Thanks to everyone who was a part of it!

Our Daughters

Kris and Greg, our friends from church, went on a mission trip to Kenya. (You can check out details at www.jonathanbow.com.)
Anyway, Nathan and I were recruited to watch their daughters, Kelsey and Courtney. They have a full schedule, so we really haven't seen very much of them. They are involved in volleyball, drama, quartet and some other things we aren't even sure of. Basically, we feed them (not even all their meals because they don't get up early enough for breakfast and they go out with their volleyball team after games), do some laundry and Nathan has enjoyed watching "The Biggest Loser" with them. Today after school the girls and I ate ice cream together. They were commenting on how they have spent more time with Nathan than me. They also noticed how much I sleep...the reason that they see more Nate than Becky. They are really great kids and we have enjoyed being with them. It is nice to know that one day our real children will be teenagers, too and they will be pretty independent.

New Truck

Nathan got a new truck! He has been searching since January and it was about to drive both of us crazy. He has been driving a 1991 Chevy and it has nearly 200,000 miles on it. That is not even the issue, nor the lack of A/C. The real issue is that it isn't perfect for hauling the trailer that he bought for his business in February. So, we knew eventually it would ruin the Chevy (fondly referred to as Ed's truck...the person he bought it from...we didn't really like to admit, even to each other, that we owned it).
In any case, the searching has finally paid off. Nathan drove to Virginia on Friday with our friend Greg. They inspected it and both felt that it was a good truck and a good deal. So Nathan bought it!
Here are the specs:
2003 Dodge Ram 2500
Crew Cab (great for hauling a baby)
8 foot bed (longer then what we were looking for, but beggers can't be choosers)
Dark grey color (not blue, Nathan's preference, but again beggers can't be choosers)

So, Nathan has really been enjoying it. He has worked on it a bit adding a hitch and detailing it. There are a few other things he would like to do like adding nerf bars (it is quite high, especially for a pregnant lady and of course it is the only vehicle that we take any place now). He is in his glory working on it!
Overall, we are thankful that we found something and that we were able to pay for it!