Team Taylor: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

38 Weeks...Bring on Baby!

I have reached the 38 week mark in this pregnancy and I think I am finally ready (or as ready as I can be) for the arrival of our little one. I can't wait to meet him/her and see who it is that has been kicking me all these months. :-) The pregnancy is still going well. At my 37 week check-up, the doctor said I am already 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced. She is doubtful that I will make it to the official due date (1/12/12), but , of course, anything can happen. I can definitely feel the baby is much lower...it has become much more difficult and uncomfortable to walk. I am ready to feel like myself again, but know I will miss feeling the little (and sometimes big) baby kicks. Here are a few pictures of my big baby bump. :-)

Bedroom Remodel Project

For the past few months, Eric has been working to remodel 3 of our 4 bedrooms...1 of which is now the nursery. It became a much bigger project than planned (as always), but he is finally (almost) done. Just a few minor things left to do, such as install new ceiling fans, door knobs, window treatments, etc. We hired someone to paint to save time and had new carpet installed, but Eric did all of the trim work and base boards himself (design and installation)...I think everything turned out great! The pictures just don't do the rooms justice! Here are a few before and after pictures (note, we haven't completely put the rooms back together yet plus he took a break from building the crib and dresser/changing table to do the remodel work, so the nursery is a little bare - will post more pictures once all rooms are completely done).

Nursery

Before - orange carpet, light green walls

Nursery After

Guest Room

Guest Room Before (aka John Deere room) - green carpet, yellow walls

Guest Room After

"Man Room"

Man Room Before - pretty pink carpet with blue walls

Man Room After

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Merry Christmas!

From Brooke, Eric and Baby Taylor.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving

Eric and I took our last trip of 2011...and the last trip of just the two of us. We flew to North Carolina the day before Thanksgiving to spend a few days with Eric's family and then flew from there to Iowa to spend some time with my family. It was so great to see everyone and for everyone to see us and the baby bump I'm carrying. :-) Abbie, our niece who is almost 5, wasn't too sure of the baby bump at first. In fact, she wanted nothing to do with it...she didn't want to look at it or touch it. But, by the time our visit was over, she was hugging, patting, and kissing it. She seems to think we're having a boy and that he will be born on her birthday (December 20). We'll just have to wait and see. :-)

While we were in NC, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, Rachel, and future sister-in-law, Amanda, threw a nice baby shower for us. A lot of family and friends came that we hadn't seen for awhile and we got a lot of great things to help us get ready for baby Taylor's arrival.

Anna & Abbie keeping a close eye on the candy/cake table.

me and Jenni from grad school - she's due a few weeks before me

Diaper cake Rachel made - very cute

Abbie measuring my 34 week belly

Gifts received

Brian got his childhood Legos out for Abbie to play with; I think he and Eric had more fun playing with them.

We had lots of family time in Iowa as well, which was great. We had our extended Johnson family Christmas gathering. It was not quite our traditional gathering...instead we got together at the local indoor waterpark. It was a lot of fun watching all the little ones (and some of the adults) have fun in the water. It had been a very long time since we had seen some of our family, so it was great to catch up. While we were home, my sister-in-law, Juli, and my mom threw a baby shower for us. We had a good turnout despite the 4" of snow that fell in the area and iced up the roads...typical December day in Iowa.