the Graham Cracker House

The earth seems to be filled with wonderful people who are almost as eager to meet baby Graham as I am!  If not the whole earth, at least this little corner (UT to WA) of the U.S.

Baby G and I have had 2 baby showers- both were marvelous!   We felt loved and had so much fun!

First was "Build a Library for Baby" with my family.  Grandma Bu's house was decked out like the little kids section of a library... books books books everywhere!  Dolls reading books, stuffed animals reading books, even all the food was book themed.  "hungry caterpillar fruit"  "little boy blueberrry muffins", etc.  too cute!  There was an awesome punch bowl of "bubble bath"  with rubber duckies swimming in it.
We played medical/pregnancy literacy game (I won... j/k I was disqualified and not allowed to play) and "name that classic children's book".  Guess what most of the gifts were- books!  Board books, baby books, big books, classic books, traditional books, series books, funny books, pop-up books- you name it!   At the end my sister had name-plate-like stickers to put in each book. "From _______  with love"  (or something to that effect). Each person filled it out and put it in the book they had given baby.    I am so excited to always remember these amazing aunts, sisters, grandmas, and cousins whenever I read to our little guy.  My mom skyped in for most of the event, then said she felt inspired and wanted to be a part of it so she ordered a bookshelf for baby's room.  Perfect!

pregnant me with Grandma Bu

sisters!... and chicken soup with rice :)

Next was "Duckie's' baby shower.  I have had the nickname Duckie since my sophomore year at BYU when I "randomly"/luckily ended up with the most fabulous set of roommates and extended friends.  ahhh, the good ol' days.... The point is- we are still all friends, most of us live in Utah, and I am one of the last to start having kids.  Besides the fact that we love any excuse to get together, we also love making party foods and eating. Who could ask for anything more?  I enjoy being with these amazing ladies and feeling their love and friendship.  Also since most of them are moms already I truly appreciate their advice I am so excited to finally be part of the mommy club!

Did I mention it was "duckie" themed?  We had ducks floating in bubble bath, duckie cupcakes, duckie cookies, duck "food" (fruit and chips?  okay, this might be a stretch... I don't think that's the connection Heidi was going for  but I'm making it anyway).  And cute tiny cakes with blue icing and duck on top for each guest to take home. Good thing all baby boys and girls like ducks and can be dressed in multiple duckie outfits!  (I do have quite a few duckie outfits already that I am certain baby G is excited to wear.)

I am especially happy to be starting to feel prepared and organized and maybe actually a teensy bit ready for this baby to come!

No, this doesn't refer to us moving.  Rather, just a quick, spur-o-the-moment getaway vacation.

 Since Bjorn is not working I found 2 weekdays off with not much planned and before I knew it we booked at night at the Anniversary Inn in Logan.  "Pirates Paradise" our room was called. Not the most romantic, but definitely the best deal!  And realky, what's not to love about the Anniversary Inn?


We treated ourselves to Olive Garden for dinner.  A full gift card meant we could get appetizers AND entrees- a double plus!!  We left with happy hearts and very full bellies.
While in Logan we also met up with some old friends, toured the temple grounds, drove by the Brigham City temple, watched 3 movies in our room, and  took pictures of my pregnant shadow.

I am not always very good with last minute, non-planned things, especially vacations.  I think the nearness and realness of baby G's arrival makes me happy to take whatever vacation I can get!

first we paint....

then we sew....

ta-da!!

add a crib....

clothes...

...and a bookshelf

closer to being done!

Bjorn's parents were able to spend an elongated weekend with Just Us in May.  They flew down to spend time with us, see our new house, play, eat, and help with baby preparations.  We accomplished all of the above, and I enjoyed the personal attention.... most visitors/family don't come to Utah just to see us!

Bjorn and I worked half of the days they were here (alternating days), and every day was full of something adventurous, with one or both of us and his parents.  We shopped at Park City outlets, Bjorn and his Dad test drove cars.... Deb helped me make curtains for the baby's room (THANK YOU!  I couldn't have done it alone!).  They drove up Big Cottonwood one afternoon and found some snow, we played games, did some "family history" (telling stories) and ate out a lot.  We were a wee bit spoiled.

B and I were very very happy to show them our home and our (temporary??) home town.   It sort of made us feel grown up.  

Pardon me for the lack of photos... Costco  photo center and my mac are not agreeing on how to download the pictures I want!

21 weeks:  while on our trip to Boston and beyond I felt the little guy move on his own every now and then, without having to stop and search for the movement.  Also, Bjorn could feel him move for the first time.  Another milestone (for me) is that I actually looked pregnant!  In most everything I wore (check out the pictures to see what you think).  I even had random lady at the sweatshirt souvenior shop in Fallmouth comment on me being pregnant.  This was big progress. No one besides family had ever mentioned it.  This is important to me because I WANT to look pregnant and it's taken a long time to get to this point.

27 weeks: starting at this point I actually FEEL pregnant.  I began to experience a little bit of heartburn, and some braxton-hicks contractions.  I started to feel a little bit off balance.  Exercising is noticeably different.... carrying around a few extra pounds and all.   I finally convinced myself to try prenatal yoga since running didn't work so well.  I have been  hungry more often. Not all the time- but I can tell when he's going through a growth spurt!  I can sleep fairly well, though he has woken me up with kicking once or twice.

Here's a couple pix from our "backyard maternity photo shoot":

okay- you can't even see baby in this picture... but it's Bjorns favorite so  I said I'd put it up. I think it's the way my eyes look.

Now I am officially in my third trimester!  Let the countdown begin!  Only 12 more weeks (hopefully) until we get to meet our little boy!