Down to Single Digits!

We finally hit the single digit mark today in the countdown to the arrival of our daughter!! 9 more days to go until her estimated due date, and the excitement and anticipation is building so high! Mom Ostenson is flying in tonight to be here for baby time and to have fun helping out with the last minute preparations and finishing touches of Button's nursery etc beforehand~Amazing how close it is getting!! Dad O and Mom & Dad Fisher will then be coming out once Button arrives to help out and get to meet their new granddaughter~We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents that are so willing to help and be such great support with this special and amazing time in our lives!

Progressing Along...:)

I just returned from my 38 week appointment today, and things seem to be coming right along schedule! Baby Button is head down, has dropped down lower, and things such as dilation are already starting to take place....Obviously this doesn't mean I'm heading to the hospital today to go straight into labor, but it just shows that it won't be long! It's so wonderful to get a good report from the doctor that things look great, so thank you all again so much for your continued prayers all along this amazing journey!

Getting Close!!:)

We are officially under the 3 week marker as time ticks down to the arrival of our wonderful daughter!! It is absolutely amazing how fast time has flown by, and that in all honesty, it could be any day now!~I am now having weekly doctor appointments, and at mine last week, the doctor told me that now at 37 weeks she is considered "full-term" and fully ready to go anytime from here on out! We actually had an eventful night this past Wednesday where we were counting and timing contractions all evening (Andy even packed up the hospital bag!), but ended up just being a false alarm. Anyway, what a super EXCITING period of life to be in...We cannot wait!!!!

Another Peek at Button!

Yesterday I had my 34 week appointment, and got the report that everything with Button looks great! Heartbeat is strong, size is right on target, and she is already in the head-down position (smart little girl to know what to do!) We had our last ultrasound and got to see her profile again (she's grown up so much already since the last!), as well as a close-up shot of her face this time. You'll have to look really closely at the picture below of her headshot, as it's difficult to make out at first, but you can see her right eye-socket, nose, mouth, and hands/arms folded together underneath her head. If you look hard enough, you can even tell she's smiling! (at least we think she is!) It is so special to have these pictures to look at, and even more special to know we are going to get to see her in real life so soon!!

Anniversary Trip/"Baby-moon"!

We just returned this past weekend from an absolutely wonderful vacation to Hawaii! It was such a special time and incredible way to get to celebrate our 1 year anniversary~It's amazing how fast this past year has flown; definitely has been the greatest of my life!! I guess you could also term this trip with the now common phrase of a "baby-moon" as well, enjoying great and relaxing time together before all the busyness comes with baby's arrival!...We definitely got a good chuckle while walking through the airport with only our two small bags as we thought of what our next time walking through the airport is going to look like...lugging not only our bags, but a playpen, car seat, stroller, diaper bag, etc etc as well!!ha We are down to just 6 weeks away from Button's arrival now, so no more flying for me~Thankfully she decided to not want to come out as we were flying over the ocean, which was a definite relief to Andy (and of course myself as well!)!;) I'll include a few pictures from our wonderful trip, and you can see how she has definitely been growing and getting so big!:)

Infant Care 101

We finished up the final of our pre-baby classes last, completing our "Caring for Infants" class last night over at Stanford Hospital. It was actually quite fun, as we learned bathing, swaddling, changing, etc techniqes using baby dolls~Much more interesting than our other classes of just learning how to push during labor!:) Andy proved to be the champ with some great diapering skills on the dolls last night, so maybe he'll get a chance at some point to try that in reality, too, in a few weeks!;) We're getting closer...8 more weeks to go until her due date; we are SOOO ready and excited to meet our daughter!!!!

Great End of the Summer...

What a great past few weeks we have had! Between enjoying a fun visit from our niece in VA, celebrating birthdays, and having parents come out here and spend wonderful time with us, we have been having a great summer! This past weekend, while enjoying a great visit with Andy's parents, the ladies from Mom Fisher's former Bible study group here (back when they were still living out here in CA) threw the most wonderful, sweet, and generous shower for Baby Button. It was such a wonderful time with such a wonderful set of ladies, we couldn't have had more fun! Button is by far going to be the best dressed baby as well...The cutest pink and white items ever~So incredibly fun and girly!!!:) Here are a few pictures of us from recent weeks (you can see the belly getting bigger and bigger!

Button's room is coming along...!

Today we finally got the shutters installed in the nursery in order to close off the open loft overlook of downstairs and create a full fourth wall in that room...After much banging and hammering, the workmen finished and now Button has a real room that she will soon call her own! So exciting!;) We can't wait to get it all shaped up with the decorations on the wall and baby gear in its place~It is so special to realize she is going to be here so, so soon!!

Whoo Whoo Heee....;)

So we officially know how to breathe now...and a whole LOT of other stuff;)! We completed our 12 hours of Childbirth Preparation/Lamaze classes this past weekend, so I guess now we are ready! (well, in that sense at least!) Andy has definitely already proven to be the best coach ever just from these practice sessions, and I know even much more so in real life just 10 weeks away! It definitely was very helpful for both of us to learn what to expect once the big day comes~That the scene in movies of the lady delivering her own baby in the car on the way to the hospital is not very realistic at all or likely to need to be a worry of mine!:) So it was both reassuring and comforting to now be better prepared and ready, yet also to mention a little on the intimidating side to realize the pain part as well! ...BUT, will be soooo completely worth every little bit of it to bring our precious Button into our family!! We so can't wait!!!

3rd Trimester, Hooray!

Well, today officially marks the 3 month-to-go countdown until November 2! I guess that means we are soaring right along into the 3rd and final trimester! Each and every day that goes by leads to further excitement and special anticipation of our wonderful new addition to our family that is soon to join us!
Many people have been asking about her name and what we have decided on....We have had a lot of fun brainstorming names and hunting through baby name books together throughout the past months, and finally have one now that is at the top of our list that we both really love. BUT, as we love surprises and have already let out the surprise that she is a girl, we decided that it is more fun to keep her name a secret until the day she arrives! So, her nickname, Button, will be sticking around a little while longer!:)

I guess it's time for another belly shot..;)

This was taken at my friend, Maria's wedding~I am a little over 5 months pregnant here, and definitely looked big as I walked down the aisle as a bridesmaid! I'm getting to the point where my old clothes finally are not fitting very well anymore, and random strangers are starting to ask when I'm due...Fun to finally look pregnant and not just heavy!;) Button is growing daily, and it's amazing to realize all the changes taking place in her, preparing her to enter into the world in just a little over 3 months!!

Showered with Love...

This past weekend during our trip back to Atlanta, my small group Bible study and former roommate threw the most wonderful, sweet, and adorable shower for our precious baby girl...Everyone was so incredibly generous and I have never seen more adorable baby clothes before in my life! Button is definitely one lucky girl!!:) It was so wonderful to see everyone again and catch up in person instead of just email and phone; what a wonderful set of dear friends and relatives! I just had to include a picture of one of the greatest things I have ever seen...the centerpiece of the table was a 3-layered cake, made up of newborn itsy-bitsy diapers!! How incredibly creative and precious, how fun!! Thank all of you again for your wonderful generosity and love...It means so much to us to have you share in our excitement of this super amazing time for us!

Button Has a Bed!

The 1st piece of furniture has just been added in the new nursery! We had so much fun putting together Button's new crib this past weekend...It is so exciting and makes her arrival seem so much more real and close! Both Andy and I have found ourselves walking into that room often just to look at the crib and room and imagine all the amazing joys that are to come once our precious new daughter joins the world!

Great Soccer Player on our Hands??

So today I hit 20 weeks, the big halfway mark of pregnancy!! (It sure is amazing how fast time flies!) Button decided she wanted to celebrate being 20 weeks old, and so decided to start performing a taebo session~I felt my first kicks!! Late last night, she started moving a whole bunch and kicking around, where it was my 1st time to get to know that that was indisputably her I was feeling~It was amazing!! Even Andy could put his hand on my stomach and feel the kicks as well! So exciting, what an incredible thing to start feeling our daughter move for the first time!

IT'S A...............

GIRL!!!

We're having a DAUGHTER and are sooo amazingly excited and thrilled!!! We were both so full of excitement walking into the doctor's office today for the appointment to "find out" we could hardly stand it! Here is a picture from today~this is a profile shot of her looking to the right, though i apologize for how fuzzy it turned out when I posted it on here. (We both already agree that she is gorgeous though!!;) ) The ultrasound was absolutely amazing to get to see every little part of our precious little girl's body already formed and in motion; truly incredible to see the miracle God has created and is continuing to form, one that will soon be ours to hold in our arms come November 2!! Thank you so much for all your prayers!!! Just wanted to share the exciting HUGE news of the day with you!!!!!!! I'll throw in a picture, too, of proud Dad showing off his sweet daughter's picture...;)!

Baby's starting to pop out!:)

Ok, so FINALLY here is a belly picture, like nearly almost every one of you has been asking for:)! You can finally start to see BABY!!!! Andy took this yesterday, now at 18 weeks (4 1/2 months)...I feel like my stomach is growing daily, and know it won't be long until everyone at the grocery store is brave enough to finally ask if I'm pregnant without worrying they're just calling a woman fat...!ha:)

I am officially over the 1st trimester sickenss now and have been feeling great the past 2 or so weeks~SUCH a blessing!! That enabled us to have a wonderful vacation back to the East coast (to GA, FL, and NJ) this past week, in which we had such a blast, and it was just so wonderful to feel good and healthy!

We are counting down the days~5 MORE DAYS until we know if "Button" is a boy or girl!!!!!!! We are just bursting with excitement!!

Thank you all so much for all your prayers throughout these 9 months!!

Button...or Buttonette??:)

So we have the date now set for the BIG day!! Well, not the BIGGEST day of course, which is obviously November 2, but the next big day which is when we get to meet our baby (currently nicknamed "Button") by ultrasound again~and this time find out if we're having a boy or girl!! It's June 11th, and we are sooo excited! We go back and forth every day as to whether we think it's a boy or girl, and so soon we'll know for sure! We would absolutely love either one, just a healthy son or daughter is all we're praying for!!!

I'm finally starting to feel a little better from my 1st trimester sickness, which is a definite blessing! After just hitting 15 weeks today (wow time flies quickly!), I am finally able to get out a little more during the day for short periods of time...though still have to rest up and sit/lay down quite often due to fatigue and exhaustion...Fainting in church has currently been the most recent difficulty;) But starting to be back in the "land of the living" again by being out of bed is such a wonderful thing!:)

People have all been asking about my stomach, but there hasn't been much to tell yet--until the past few days in which I think I am starting to pop out a little bit! It is so strange! I'm definitely not to where someone would come up and ask if I'm pregnant, but they might just think I ate an extra slice of pizza the night before and am getting a little extra weight in the middle..!:)ha I'll post a picture soon, when you can really start to tell. It's exciting though, even the fun little things like this...All these new changes leading up to our great November miracle!!

157 beats per minute!

We hit 13 weeks today! I was told that here at the start of the 2nd trimester would be the secret to relief from morning sickness (or in my case, all-day sickness!), but unfortunately my body hasn't quite listened yet and I still find myself curled up in bed most of the day, as it's been for the past 7 weeks or so:)....But my amazing husband has been taking the most wonderful care of me throughout all of this, he is so incredible! Any sickness or thing I need to go through, though, is soooo worth it for our precious baby! We can't wait for November 2!!

Today was our 2nd OB appointment, and it was still as exciting for us as the first visit...Instead of an ultrasound, today he used a device called the doppler (looks almost like a funny microphone) to hear the heartbeat~He found it immediately, 157 strong beats per minute. We also could hear the noise of the baby kicking and moving around. It truly is mindblowing and and an awe inspiring feeling to think that God would give us this greatest blessing of getting to be parents...Unbelievable!!

1st time to see "Button"

If you're wondering who Button is (I'm sure by now you have figured it out!), we had to come up with a secret code word instead of saying "Baby" for the past 8 weeks, and that is the name that has now stuck!

Anyway, the huge news is that we had our 1st doctor's appointment today!~It was so amazing to watch Button moving around in the ultrasound, and realize that is OUR baby!! It was truly an unbelievable experience to see what God has formed with His hands and will continue to keep growing for the next 7 months!

Other exciting news is that we are 8 weeks along, and now the secret is out and we can start telling everyone!!! Wow, this has been probably one of the hardest secrets to keep EVER!!!