31-34 Weeks! Father's Day, Preggo Photo Sesh & Other Shenanigans

31 Weeks

Tell me again why being pregnant in the summer is supposed to be a bad thing?...

I know this summer has been really unusually nice, especially compared to last year!  

Still, even when it's really hot, I don't feel like I'm EXTRA hot just because I'm pregnant.  It pretty much feels just as hot as it would anyway. 

Ok, so even though I'm not extra hot... it's still pretty toasty outside!  So, I am extremely grateful I can swim at Clay's parent's pool to cool off, relax, catch some rays (While wearing SPF!) and help my circulation.  

Swimming to help circulation and minimize swelling is a great tip from my midwife that makes a whole lot of sense.  

This is jumping ahead to more recently, but after the weekend my Cali girlies came in town for our baby shower a few weeks ago, I gained 6 pounds of water weight!  I called my midwife a little worried because I literally gained that weight just over the weekend.  Granted, I was so excited about all the fun of the weekend that I didn't go to bed before 2 am each night and I was not resting really at all during the day.

(Note to self: Don't slack on taking care of said self.  You're PREGNANT.  Your body and Katie Grace will both be upset.)

Anyway, she assured me it was just water weight and that it was nothing to be alarmed about.  The first thing she suggested was swimming!  

To which I replied..."Umm let me me think... DONE!"

Sure enough, over the next 3 days, all 6 pounds disappeared.  Phew!!   

 So, my fellow preggo lady friends... Get in the water!  

Doctor's orders!

HAPPY FIRST FATHER-TO-BE DAY, CLAY!!

33 Weeks

 My sweet hubby and his girls. :-)

 Clay is going to be the most amazing father.  He is such a good man and everyone who knows him understands that his family and friends are his #1 priority.  

Katie Grace is going to have such a strong, wise, gentle and loving father.  

She is one blessed little girl.  

I can't wait to witness how much love he will give our little girl.

  I love you Clay!

34 Weeks

Baby Belly Chronicles by Auntie Abbey!

 The very generous gifts from our first baby shower! 

 Not too shabby of a photo sesh when you get to be so comfy!
Plus, Abbey is so great and she makes it so fun!

 Our little girl is getting so big!

Snuggling with Katie Grace's big brother! 

My little tiny

30 Week Baby Shower!

30 Week Milestone!!

What was on my mind at 30 weeks?
"Only 10 weeks left?!... uhh... WOW!!"

How do we celebrate the big 30?

Baby Shower, Baby!!!

 Hostess gifts!  

My first attempt at making kitchen towels. :-)

 The most incredible peonies I've ever seen!  

I've never seen them that big before!

 Beautiful spread!

Also love the flowers!  

Thank you Cindy and Abbey for going to the flower market and arranging these gorgeous, vintage looking flowers. :-)

 Libby's handsome little boy, Jonah!

 Delicious and amazingly decorated sugar cookies by Susan!

I NEED to learn how to do this.

 Cindy & Kari Jane

 Susan, Melissa & Nina

 Sweet little bows for decoration

Love this pic so much!  Katie is going to LOVE Michele!

 More of the beautiful flower arrangements

 The Ralston girls & me!

So grateful to be part of their family!

 Mom and I reenacting the way I used to stick my belly out as a toddler and try to push people over with it.  I bet I'd do a lot more damage these days!

 Opening KG's gifts!

 My cousin Brittany made this dress, along with another one and an adorable onesie!  

Can't believe her!  They are so cute!

 Big bag of goodies for KG from her CeCe!

 Every gift was so special.  Loved how Cindy wrapped each one with a special note.

The one that went with the blanket she made for Katie made me cry... not that it's that hard to do these days. ;-)

 Most priceless mother and daughter photo.  Just love how Mother is looking at Cindy here. :-)

 Gifts!  
This is the exquisite blanket CeCe made for her Katie Grace!

Great generations pic. :-)

Beautiful and gracious hostesses!  Thank you all SO, SO much!

My beautiful sisters-in-love!

What an amazing afternoon.  I am so grateful to all the wonderful hostesses that worked tirelessly to create such a beautiful shower that I will always remember!  

I was just in awe of all the love in that house.  

Katie Grace is going to be one very loved little girl.

Thank you to everyone for all the beautiful gifts!  

I couldn't believe how many personalized, homemade pieces there were.

On top of that, there was the most amazing food!  Homemade cake balls by one of my best girlfriends Emily, homemade sugar cookies decorated with onesies and little baby faces by Susan, homemade muffins by my mom and Cindy, a special chocolate sauce for the fruit that Frances had to track down that she and her hubby found at a little place in Oregon... 

the list goes on! 

So special!

I was so excited for the shower that I only slept about 3 hours the night before!  

Part of that was because I was up late sewing hostess gifts, but then I woke up at about 6 AM feeling giddy and totally ready to start the day!  

Thankfully, the shower was during the time I still had my burst of energy, so I had a blast and felt great.  

I was so happy to go home and take a nap after the shower.  

Thankfully, my sweet hubby brought all the gifts up to our apartment in the hot, hot weather while I got comfy.  After a little rest, we went to the movies.  

What a great day!