Well, here we are....

I know, I know, this is the way I start every posting. It's been forever, once again! But too bad, once you are at this point in pregnancy, you have to prioritize, and I have to choose laying down and resting to typing in my blog. I said to someone to let me know if they create a laptop where you can type while laying down, because that would work a lot better. As I type, my feet are about the size of hot-air balloons and I really need to put them up, but I want to get a post on here.

Ok, so where to start? It's almost D-day, and little Baby Landers could come at any time! And, for the most part, any time would be just fine....however, on a side note, our bestest friend Steve Voss is getting married this weekend in Chicago, and Eli is in the wedding! That means, he is leaving tomorrow morning and returning on Sunday afternoon! We knew when they planned that wedding that I wouldn't be able to go, but we thought that since I will just be 37 weeks, the odds of the baby coming were pretty low for a first baby.

Well, go figure that when we went to the dr. last week he told me that I was already progressing! If you want to know details, I was 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced! Trust me, I am very realistic, I understand that I could still be weeks away from delivering, but it definitely surprised us since we didn't expect to hear that anything had happened! Needless to say, it kinda freaked us both out with Eli leaving for Chicago this weekend (that was last Thursday). But my mom is coming to stay with me this weekend, and Eli reported to me that he has printed out all the possible flights back to Harrisburg each day, each categorized by different things....so he is ready!

I was really nervous for awhile, but then I was like, "What can I do?" I know I need to relax and stay calm, and decided that God would handle it a lot better than I would, so I am just trusting Him to take care of us! And I know He will!

We have our bag all packed and ready to go, although I don't really think I have any idea what I really need. After all, I've never done this before! But I gave it my best guess, and now I can say I have my bag packed! In talking with a friend who is due just three days before me, we agreed that is weird that you can feel ready and yet totally not ready at the same time. I mean, my body feels ready, and I think my mind feels ready, but yet I feel totally unprepared. I absolutely do NOT want to pretend to know what to expect in all of this. I think I have probably educated myself to the MAX, but at the same time, my own experience is going to be completely unique, and no one can tell me what that will be. I am so very thankful to have my amazing husband right by my side, as well as wonderful sisters, a supportive mama, and great friends! It really makes a huge difference.

I go in to the doctor again tomorrow. We tried to get in earlier before Eli leaves, but they had absolutely NO openings! Apparently, there are a million and one expected births in the month of August at Hershey! So I will attend my first doctor's appointment alone, and hope that he doesn't tell me there have been any enormous changes, since by that point, Eli will be midair!

So, in conclusion, I drop Eli off at the airport in the morning and my mom comes in the evening, and meanwhile, this little guy will just have to stay hidden until Sunday, or at least until Eli gets in on a last-minute flight back. I am so very sad not to be able to be at Stevie Ray's wedding, especially since we have waited SO LONG to meet this marvelous lady we hear so much about. He completely understands, but we were so looking forward to being part of his special day and spending time with him and Erin and the Voss family. But I guess I will live vicariously through Eli, and will send my best thoughts off with the new couple. They have promised, and I am publicly proclaiming their commitment, that they will come to PA to see us after little Landers comes (hopefully this fall). That's pretty much all I can do from here...

Oh, and one last thing. We finally decided on a name! We are keeping it a surprise to others until the baby is born, but we were totally stuck between two different names. We asked God to help us know what he wants us to name the baby, and he gave us a clear sign the other night! So now we are ready to go! Let's do this thing.

Here's this week's picture, see if you can tell if the baby has dropped or not:

It IS a miracle...

So a friend from high school sent me a Facebook message today, and in responding to her, I realized that I expressed some of my deepest feelings about being pregnant - so I am going to share my response to her and hopefully be able to express my feelings a little better:

"Thanks for the encouragement!! I actually am enjoying my pregnancy...people keep telling me I have a glow about me, which I don't really understand, but I LOVE feeling this little guy move and roll and stick his foot out so that I can feel it poking through! I was telling my hubby yesterday that it is hard not being able to breathe, and it is very hard to get comfortable when I am trying to just sit and read or something (I am in an online grad class right now), but other than that, I have had an ideal pregnancy!

At the same time, I am scared about a lot of things - giving birth, taking care of a newborn, our changing life, but I just can't wait to hold our little boy in our arms and fall so deeply in love!! I also can't wait to see Eli become a daddy; I think it will transform our relationship forever!"

I realized that I hope that I am not complaining too much and giving the impression that being pregnant is not the miracle that it is...because it truly is a miracle and something so unique that God provided just to women! It has changed my life, and I just wanted to share that!

Here I am this week:

I didn't realize I'd be so exhausted...

So here I am, a whole month since my last post....and a whole month bigger!! I didn't realize I was going to feel this tired and blah...that's what I told a friend about this blogging stuff - I'd love to keep posting regularly, but it usually ends up needing to be a choice between doing the wash or putting my feet up or blogging, and I have to prioritize!

This belly feels so big and in the way, that sometimes it's hard just to do the day-to-day stuff. The amazing thing is that this is the time when my belly will grow the fastest, since this is when the baby is growing the fastest.

Since my last post, Sara and I traveled to California and back, my parents and Aunt Duckie came and helped to get the nursery all set up, and I grew a lot! California went well and it was wonderful to see family members who I haven't seen in over ten years, but it was also good to be home. I didn't realize how much I would miss Eli (and Rooney, admittedly) and it was tough because I had to take care of myself and I was very emotional! But all and all, Sara and I did well, and I didn't even really want to kill her :) Haha, just kidding, we had a good time.

Last weekend, my parents and Aunt Duckie came up to help us do whatever we needed to do. Eli needed to replace the insulation in the attic, which was a HUGE job, and fortunately my dad was able to help him to do that, which was SUCH a weight off of our shoulders. Also, the nursery was halfway set up, but there were bags and gifts and diapers and things all over the place. So my mom and Aunt Duckie helped to wash everything and get it all organized and put away. We bought all of the little things we needed to complete the nursery, and we even decorated! I will post a few pictures as soon as I get a chance. It feels nice to just sit in there now, knowing that it is really ready to add Little Boy Landers. All in all, we had a really good time this weekend and it was such a huge help to us!

I have been SO fortunate in my pregnancy so far, and one blessing is that I have slept really well. But now, it's getting harder just to simply lay down without effort. I have a gigantic body pillow that I sleep with to elevate my legs and my belly, so essentially there are now FOUR people in our bed, which leaves very little room. Every turn or roll over or anything takes massive effort, which means that I wake up! It doesn't help that I have to pee about four times a night....but at least when I sleep I actually sleep. And please....don't respond with a comment that says that I should enjoy the sleep I am getting now...I am well aware that things are going to get really tough, and that I will be exhausted when the baby comes.

I've actually been getting pretty nervous about the labor and delivery and the baby coming. I can't believe how out of control my emotions feel, and I can cry at the drop of a hat! I was sobbing at the finale of The Bachelorette the other night! Then on the way to work I heard that song on the radio by Mark Schultz about Walking Her Home, and I started crying then too! Crazy...

But lots of things are falling into place now and that feels really good. I had an appointment with a pediatrician today so that we now have a pediatrician, the nursery is ready, we have pretty much all of the essential items we need, so we are really getting ready. Now it is just Eli and me that have to get ready....but how do we do that? I don't know....I guess that just happens....

I'm back again....

So here I am again...I know, I know, it's been forever. My friend Rebekah from high school is amazing about updating her blog a couple times a week, but it just takes a lot of energy, and I don't always have that after a long day at work!

There are so many updates to provide, but I will start with an update on my back pain. Some of you know that I have had back pain for probably at least two months now, resulting from my changing belly and posture. For awhile heat and rest worked to relieve it, but it has been getting progressively worse over the last few weeks, so I started physical therapy this week. She informed me that because of my long waist and posture, I have weak middle back muscles, and normally my abdominal muscles are strong enough to keep me up, but now that my abdominal muscles are weak because of the pregnancy, my middle back muscles are collapsing, thus causing the pain. So they have me doing exercises and stretches at home to strengthen my middle back and abdominal muscles, which should in turn help the pain. But no one told me that physical therapy meant they would make you exercise! 7:30 AM this morning was my appointment, and it kicked my butt! Oh well, hopefully these things will help to improve the pain over the next few months as my belly grows even bigger!

We went up to Eli's parents' house this weekend for Cailer's shower...it is so funny because it was such a Landers' shower :) They wanted just a little get-together, with no fru-fru games or unnecessary socializing...so we ate, did the gifts, and called it a day! I warned them that the Schwab shower at my mom's house in a few weeks will most likely be all the fru-fru stuff they hate, with a LOT of socializing! Haha...they said they are prepared and can handle it!

Here's Cailer and me with our bellies...she is 5 weeks ahead of me and due July 31st.

Because she is so little, my belly literally fits right over hers!!

It was wonderful to be up at their house though, it is so beautiful up there in Sullivan County, and I love it that Rooney can just run free and explore, and he comes back to us when we call him so we don't have to worry. He was an angel this weekend, even with tons of people around! Go figure....I don't get that dog! Since I was so proud of him for behaving well this weekend, I decided to take him to the softball game last night even though I said I wouldn't take him anymore....well, I'm not going to take him anymore!! Stupid dog, still barking and lunging at that men. I just don't understand because he was PERFECT with all the men this weekend...he's unpredictable and that's the problem. If anyone wants to contribute to the "Get a behaviorist for Rooney to nip this in the bud before baby comes" fund, please make checks payable to me! Haha....

Maile and Chris got a new puppy that they brought up this weekend, and he just adored Rooney...they were like brothers! The puppy wanted to do everything Rooney did, if Rooney sniffed something, so did the puppy. If rooney walked somewhere, so did the puppy. It was cute. The puppy kept trying desperately to get Rooney to play by jumping up on him and standing on his back, but Rooney just did his own thing. He did play a few times, and it was sooo funny!

Here is them playing:



So in other news, I noticed that a thing or two have been already been purchased off of our registry...I was not cheating, but I went in to check on something, and noticed that they were taken off the registry. This is getting exciting!

I don't know if you have heard of Freecycle; it is a Yahoo group where people post things they are getting rid of, and you can respond if you are interested and then you go and pick it up. Everything is free, and you never know what will pop up on there...I have gotten some good stuff! The Harrisburg group is huge, so you have to respond really quickly in order to get stuff. Well, last week I happened to be checking at exactly the right time when I saw that someone posted an offer for a bassinet and an Eddie Bauer vibrating bouncer....and I was the first to respond so I got it! I went and picked it up, and what a find! The basinett will be perfect for what we need; it has an area of discoloration where her baby pushed his head against the side, but it is white so i think I can just bleach it. And the bouncer was in perfect condition! It vibrates and folds completely up so you can even travel with it! I was sooo excited! I love Freecycle! If you want info on it, let me know!!

I need to start getting the room ready by clearing out the closet with all the linens in it that is in the nursery right now, but I just don't know where I am going to put them...it is a little overwhelming when we don't really have that kind of storage upstairs, but I will figure it out. I have to make room for things that I get from the shower before the room just gets full of stuff and I can't even move around!!

What else is going on? Well, we are starting small group this weekend with a group of young married couples and our friends Brandon and Carla, who have set it up. We are really excited, since we haven't been in a small group in over a year, and we are missing that part of our lives. It is good because Brandon and Carla have a little boy who was born last September, so they are kind of at the same place as us. I'm a little nervous since I don't really know any of the other couples, but it will be good to get to know them better. AND....everyone, except Brandon and Carla, lives on the East Shore! Finally, a group of people we can relate to! Haha...just kidding...but it will be good to have some friends on the East Shore, since the only ones left over there are us and Sara and Terry. We love you, Sara and Terry, but sometimes we just need some other peeps to hang out with!

Finally, Sara took me out to buy me a maternity bathing suit this week. Let's just say that she is "renting" my non-maternity clothes for the summer. She came over and raided my closets for everything I can't fit into, and she is taking full advantage of all of those clothes. In exchange, I made her buy me a maternity bathing suit that I need. I think that's a pretty good deal, right? Haha...as long as she doesn't shrink or ruin everything! It was kinda weird to be buying a maternity bathing suit, since we will be going to the beach the beginning of August and I will be massively huge by then! I can't imagine any of those suits will look good on me, but I found one that I think will at least function for me. I didn't purchase the thong like I had planned, but I think the tankini will work out okay :)

Okay, I think that's enough....here's a belly pic for you from this week. 26 1/2 weeks now! Saturday I officially start my third trimester!!!


Sorry it took me so long to do an update!! Sara and I head to California at the end of June, so I'll write a little more about that later!

I AM still alive!!

Haha....so here I am! Truth is, there are a lot of nights where I want to sit down and write a post on here, but my back hurts so much by that time that I just need to lay down, and I can't position the laptop so I can write at the same time!



My back has been really sore lately, and the only thing that relieves it is laying down on my bed for awhile. I called the doc about two weeks ago, and the nurse told me a physical therapy consult was a good idea and she would have the doc call me to set it up. Well, five days later, some other random doc calls (Kristen, it was a Dr. Hallowell??) and asks, "Any bleeding? Contractions? Still feeling the baby move?" Then she says, "Well, there is no reason to be concerned then...." I was like "Lady, I'm not concerned, I'm uncomfortable!!" Anyway, she was not helpful and told me to just wait until my appt on 5/30. That stinks.....



So much has happened since I've last written on here. I guess the biggest news is that we have the nursery painted, we have our crib, and things are actually moving along. It still feels so weird to think that this is just real life now....a baby is on the way. Last night I was relaxing watching tv, and I got up to go to bed, and I forgot that I was pregnant with this big belly!! It was actually a little bit depressing, to be honest, because I just don't feel very attractive lately. Eli is wonderful, always telling me how beautiful I am as a pregnant woman. But sometimes, all this new weight just feels big!



Eli and I started on our budget this month with our MICS (Money I Can Spend) money. Thanks to Sara and Terry, who have used this method for years, we are now practicing what it is to be living on one income. It hasn't been too bad so far, and actually it really helps me to think through things before I just go and buy them. I keep telling Eli that I should get some extra as a pregnant woman to fill cravings, considering almost all my money this month has gone to things like McD's hot fudge sundaes, iced coffees, snacks on the road, etc., but he just won't let me :) Oh well, I will have to curb my cravings at home.



So you all know how I collect milk ads and purchase a lot from Ebay? Lately, I've been so frustrated by those people who wait until the last second, and then they outbid you. So you think you won it, and then two minutes later you get an email that you were outbid at the last second! Anyway, I saw the cutest Got Milk baby boy newborn set on there. It had a bottle, bib, onesie, blanket, pacifier, and a bunch of other stuff that was blue with the Got Milk logo. It was going for 5 bucks with 5 bucks shipping, and I was going to use my MICS money to get it. I watched it until it was 11 minutes from ending, and there had been no other bids on it the whole time. Well, I was SO disappointed when someone else outbid me with 30 seconds to go. I was so excited about it! Oh well, I guess I should just let it go :)



It's been so long on here that I don't really even know what else to add. I guess I will add the latest belly pic. I'm looking forward to summer coming up, and especially to Sara and my trip to Cali to go to our cousin's wedding. It will be so good to see family that we literally have not seen in 14 years! Pretty bad, huh? We were hoping to do some sightseeing in San Francisco, but that doesn't seem to be working out to well with our family's schedules. It will be good times though, as long as Sara takes care of me when I need it! If you see her, remind her that she needs to take care of me while we are out there. Those flights and the time change are gonna be tough!



Believe it or not, I am really looking forward to getting some swimming in this summer. I feel like it will be very refreshing during this very hot, swollen, summer for me, and maybe I will feel a little lighter in the water!! Hopefully I can find a pool to swim in!



We are looking forward to a weekend with no plans this weekend. Last weekend my parents stayed with us, which was great, but it was also crazy with all the yardsaling and the whole family over in our little house on Saturday!! My mom and I got some awesome deals at the yardsales though. Up at at 'em at 7:30. Early bird gets the worm! Our deal of the day was this big Little Tikes toddler swingset, with 6 different swings (baby swing, normal swing, those up and down swings, etc.) and a slide....for 30 bucks!!! We took it apart for now and put it away until it is time to use it, but I was really excited about it.



Ok, that's enough rambling for now....here's what I look like now:

I know, it's not the most flattering picture, but I am trying to get one each week, and this was the only chance I had to take a pic.

I'll write more soon!! If you have any ideas to help with backache, feel free to share!

Baby's Room

Well, it only took us about 500 hours at Home Depot to pick the colors for the baby's room. We knew what we wanted, but we just couldn't figure out exactly which hues! It was actually kinda frustrating, cuz we kept asking each other, "well, which one?" And neither of us could decide. We don't know how to do paint stuff!

Oh well, we took our best shot. Eli primed it yesterday and painted the bottom half today. It is a really sweet shade of baby green :) He is going to finish the upper half tomorrow and then put the chair rail up. He's a wonderful guy! It is going to be really cute. We finally picked our bedding and crib, so things are moving in the right direction.

Last night we hung out with our college buddies, since Ari was in from Pittsburgh, and it was her birthday too! Good times....I was laughing so much that seriously, last night after we got home, I was miserable. My back was aching so bad and my stomach muscles were so sore from laughing. But I guess it was worth it! Friends are fabulous!

So my back has really been aching a lot....it started out over a month ago that it would be sore around 8 pm and I would need to lay down and rest with some heat. Well, by now, it is sore by about 11 am and not too much really helps it except laying down, and even then, when I get up it is sore again. I called the doc on Friday about getting some physical therapy or something else that might help, since I know it is only going to get worse. Sometimes it really hurts, but this is the price we mothers pay! Hopefully I will hear from the doctor tomorrow with some good news. Anybody with advice, feel free to give it!!

Well, on that note, I'm gonna lay down and get some rest. Later!

Running Errands - who knew it could be so fun?

This morning I spent the day with Amy, Emma, and Collin at Hershey's Chocolate World. We saw the Really Big 3D Movie. Good thing Amy had a BOGO ticket, because it was completely not worth it. They make you stand in this big room for like 15 minutes, waiting to get in, and then they tell you that you can go in. That means entering another, smaller, room, where you watch a boring short movie about the history of Hershey or something. This whole time, you and whatever children you have with you are standing. Then you finally go in to the theater and see the movie with 3D effects, which is pretty cool, but it lasts about ten minutes. Poor Emma was scared by the "silly, scary guy" on the movie, and just kept asking me to hold her more tightly. Then we got some lunch at McDonald's and Aunt Sara met us at the playground for some fun.

Moving on, later on this afternoon, Eli and I ran out to do some errands. We were looking at some baby bedding, buying some maternity undies (for me, not Eli :) and returning some things. Then we decided to stop over at Babies R' Us to look at a few of the things I registered for online and to look at their baby bedding one more time. We went over and looked at the carseat and stroller we chose, and we wheeled it around a bit to check it out. It got really good ratings and we liked it, so we chose it online, but hadn't really gotten to try it. I was showing Eli how to put the carseat in and close the stroller and stuff, and as he is carrying the carseat around, I had this "OMIGOSH" moment, realizing that in just a few months, there will be Eli's little baby boy in that carseat! It was weird, but really exciting.

For some reason, this time looking around at Babies R' Us was soo much more real than the last time when we started our registry. It was really cute to see Eli, who normally would have been pulling my arms off to get out of the store, actually participating in looking around and trying things out.

Well, I think that's it for now. This is my last week of my internship, and I only have two more nights of my social service class and then the semester is over!! YAY!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of my beautiful baby boy!