... The Countdown Begins!

Well, it's almost that time ... baby time! We are getting really excited and are "patiently" waiting for our little bundle of joy to arrive! The nursery is all finished and our entire house looks like a Babies "R" Us store! I cannot even tell you how many products Erik has assembled :) We had a doctor's appointment today and the doctor said that everything looks good. I am 1 centimeter dilated, 80% effaced and his head is in the -1 station (which basically means that he is dropping). I am officially 36 weeks and 5 days ... so we have about 3 1/2 weeks until our due date. Our OB said that she would induce at 39 weeks if we choose to ... but we think that we are going to try to wait it out until our little guy is ready to make his big debut! Big sister Jenna is getting really excited too! She keeps telling me "I don't think that you will make it until your due date" and she is very concerned as to whether or not my feet are swelling (which they haven't yet :) We went on our maternity tour of the hospital last week and were very excited to hear that the hospital has lifted the rule that they had in place regarding children under 16 being allowed to visit (because of the H1N1 virus kids weren't allowed to visit anybody at the hospital ... and we were really stressing about that) ... but all is good with that now :)

Not only have we been super busy trying to prepare for the arrival of Baby Baratie, but we have also been busy with Jenna and gymnastics. We traveled to Cleveland 2 weeks ago and then last weekend we were in Wilmington. She is doing really well and we love watching her :) We will try to load some videos up as soon as we figure out how to with our new camcorder :) She has this weekend off and then is in Indianapolis next weekend for another competition. I don't think that I'll be making that trip ... Erik is still debating on whether or not he is going to go ... he really wants to make a day trip, but we are going to wait and see how our appointment goes next week at the OB before he makes any decisions.

We'll keep everybody updated ... it won't be too much longer now :)

Gymnastics Competition Season Has Begun!

Okay, so I have been really bad lately about posting to the blog! Things have been so busy around here ... and I don't really see an end to the all of the craziness in sight! Gymnastics competition season officially started this Saturday! Jenna had her first competion as a level 5 gymnast. Things were definitely a lot different ... no more ribbons given to the girls for each event that they competed in ... and the judging was DEFINITELY a lot harder! The girls all did a GREAT job ... they took 3rd place overall for their team score. Jenna received a medal for 4th place on her beam routine for the 9 year old age level ... and a trophy for 10th place for her all-around score for the 9 year old age level. She was very proud of herself and I think that it was just the confidence boost that she needed. We have one weekend off and then we are off to Cleveland for the next meet.

Onto baby news ... we had an ultrasound last Wednesday to see if a c-section was going to be scheduled ... good news ... no scheduled c-section! We were definitely very happy about that. I am 33 weeks and have 7 weeks to go. At this point the baby weighs about 4 lbs 14 ozs ... which puts him in the 75th percentile for weight! The doctor asked Erik if he was a big baby and if he had a big head when he was a baby ... b/c the baby's head is on the bigger side! So ... we are thinking that we might have a pretty big guy! During the ultrasound, we could see him playing with the umbilical cord! ... it was really neat! We took Jenna with us to the ultrasound and she was really excited. When we asked her what she thought about it, the first thing that she said was that it was neat because "the baby had real human eyes!" :) We are finishing up getting everything ready ... everything is washed and folded and daddy just needs to finish putting all of the fun baby equipment together! The nursery is almost complete ... just need to finish up with some decorations on the walls. We'll keep you all posted on anything new!

It's Been Awhile!

It has been a very long time since I have blogged! We have been sooo busy around here! We have not had a free weekend since the beginning of November ... I asked Erik the other day if he thought that we would have at least one free weekend before Baby Baratie is born ... he said that he wasn't sure! We are getting ready for Christmas ... the trees and the decorations have been up for weeks ... but there still aren't any gifts wrapped ... actually there aren't many gifts bought yet! I have a busy weekend ahead of me! Although we have been really busy lately, we have had the chance to spend lots of time with our family and friends (which has included LOTS of trips back to the Valley) ... which has been wonderful!

This week has been a pretty big week for Erik at work. National Geographic is at the prison filming for a special that they will be airing ... and today and tomorrow they are filming Erik! Unfortunately, he won't make his "HD TV debut" until 2011 or 2012 ~ they said that they won't be finished with the program until then ... so we will keep you all updated on the air date!

Just wanted to write a little update while I had a free second ... I will post more later!

An Eventful Week!

Jenna in her new glasses :)

Erik's scary pumpkin!

Erik's pumpkin is the first one, Jenna's is

in the middle and mine is the "It's A Boy" pumpkin!

22 weeks and 1 day

As most of you already know, we had an eventful week at our house! Probably the biggest thing that happened is that I was in a minor car accident. Somebody hit me while I was stopped at a stop sign. Not very much damage to the car, and I was feeling fine until the next day. The next day my OB sent me to Labor and Delivery at Riverside because I was having cramping and hadn't felt any fetal movement. All turned out to be fine ... and we got to see our little guy flipping around on the ultrasound ... that's right ... we accidentally found out that "IT'S A BOY"! We are very excited ... and Jenna cannot wait for her little brother to arrive. He is moving around a lot ... or should I say, I can finally feel all of the moving around that he is doing! Erik and Jenna have also been able to feel some kicks!

Also, Jenna found out this week that she needed glasses. She was sooooo excited and said that "this was the day she had waited for her whole life"! Her glasses came in on Friday and so far she is loving them ... and she looks super cute wearing them. :)

On Saturday night we listened to Halloween music and carved pumpkins. We each picked out our own design ... and Jenna did a great job! This was the first year that she carved her's almost completely by herself! We are looking forward to Trick-Or-Treat on Thursday evening. Our neighborhood has tons of kids and Trick-Or-Treat is a big event here ... so we are very excited! Jenna is going to be a candy corn witch this year, so we will post pics later in the week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Monster Mash!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/6obYKBiY1YcPRFf4

You have to check this out ... it is hilarious!

The Nursery Is Painted!

We have had quite a busy week! Erik painted the nursery this week ... but it took him two tries! I didn't like the first color, so we traveled back to Lowe's and got new paint. The walls are finally painted and I must say that it looks really good! We put the furniture in the room last night ... but the changing tower has to be sent back because there is a nick on one of the corners and the cabinet does not shut right. So frustrating! Other than that, the nursery is on it's way to being "just right" for our little bundle of joy! I will post pictures of the nursery later.

Jenna and I are both home today from school ... it is a professional development day for staff, so the kids are out of school and I took a personal day. We are going to enjoy a lazy Friday ... which will hopefully include a nap! Erik and I are going to meet a lady tonight who will hopefully end up being our sitter for Baby Baratie. I'll keep you posted :)

19 Week Ultrasound Pics

I thought that I would post our 19 week ultrasound pics ... they aren't great, but you can still see a little bit :) The first one is a head shot ... he/she was looking right at us! If you look closely, you can see both eye sockets and where the nose is ... his/her hand is up by the head. You can't see the body because of the way that the baby was positioned. Hope that you enjoy the pics :)