34 weeks! Advice?

This week marks the 34th week of growing our little super human inside my body. The excitement and apprehension grow more and more everyday. Ben and I have had some serious "nesting" attacks in the last few weeks. We keep downsizing all of our storage so that we will have more manageable space once the baby is here. The nursery seems ready, we're just waiting on a few items like a stroller and car seat.

32 weeks. Taken in Key West.

We've also began reading infant books. That's right, just now. haha! Ben and I kind of walk to the beat of our own drum if you haven't noticed. We just picked out names last week for goodness sakes! Either way, something's going to happen, and we'll be just fine.

Some notes of advice that I've really liked reading thus far are:
* Just be prepared to make a lot of decisions on the fly... there's no way to prepare for the decisions that you'll need to make in the years to come.
* There is no way to spoil a baby in the first 4 months. (Therefore, we get to use our "get out of jail free card" quite often to snuggle them until our hearts are content)
* First 3 months are considered 4th trimester. The baby has been used to it's own "room" without siblings or animals to bother it, lots of cool noises like my heartbeat, could eat and sleep anytime that it wanted, and was in complete comfort in it's water-land. When the child is born, this all goes away, and our job becomes mimicking my uterus as much as possible. This also builds trust between child and parents, or so they say.
* Swaddle, swaddle, swaddle!
* White noise is apparently a savior for most couples. My great hubby just ordered a white noise machine this week off of amazon. We, of course, are going to try this out n ourselves (we may spring for a second machine for both our bedroom and nursery).
* Don't bite their thighs. Just kidding.

And this is where I'd like to open up the floor for all mothers, fathers, and those of you that also have great advice. What worked for you???? Any tricks?

30 weeks!?

So a lot has happened since I last posted. For one, Ben and I are now a married couple. We had a lovely ceremony to celebrate on February 26, 2011. I could not have asked for a better day to have with friends and family. Ben and I chose a small chapel outside of Indianapolis that was also equipped with a lovely reception area downstairs. Many times throughout the wedding week, we felt like we had forgotten something because it just seemed too easy. Our wedding morning looked something like this: Our friends from Wisconsin kept Ben company at our Indianapolis apartment playing Trivial Pursuit, while I hung out with my family at their hotel down the street. My wonderful friends, Valerie, Crystal, and Megan, kept me company. Megan, as I have appropriately called the Magician, fixed my hair for the wedding. Valerie, still in search of a nickname, took all of the wonderful photographs of our wedding. 

                               

We had a guest list that included 60 of our closest family and friends. The ceremony was very special to us for a lot of reasons. Ben and I wrote our vows, chose to take the Buddhist Precepts on our wedding day together, and maybe my favorite part, was the blessing of our family. The minister took the time to have our families bless the 3 of us, and I could barely hold a straight face. It was that moment that hit me that Ben and I are very LUCKY. Our lives in the last few years have been challenging to say the least, but it was in that moment, holding hands with my husband while carrying our child, that I was overcome with gratefulness.

After the ceremony, we asked guests to meet us downstairs. There we created a relaxed scene full of fresh flowers and candles. We enjoyed spending time with everyone, the wonderful art of a 60 person guest list. After eating, Ben and I were able to take our time and talk to everyone there. Soon after that, Ben stood up with his guitar and played a song for his new bride, "The Wedding Song.” He is so talented, that man.

Somewhere between his touching song and the end of the night, many guests volunteered to come up and play with my husband. To say that they are talented is an understatement. You can feel the passion from every note played, and it is a blessing to just hear them. I truly enjoyed when Ben’s mom stood up and played the violin with them. <3

When the night came to a close, Ben and I embarked on our new adventure as husband and wife. One of our gifts from Ben’s family was a night’s stay at the Embassy Suites. We had the top floor, a large suite, a gift basket of snacks, chocolate, and sparkling grape juice; we had a great evening. This was part of our suite the morning after. It had an excellent view of Indianapolis.

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Our first big purchase since the wedding was a new car! As Ben would say, “I guess this means we are really married.” Ben is a subscriber for Consumer Reports, and they rave about the Honda Fit. The size, safety, handling, and space available is exactly what we need with a baby on the way. WE LOVE THE CAR, and I suggest it to anyone that is buying a mid-size car anytime soon.

The interior

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 In other news, my stomach is getting huge, and I think it is because of this little person…

Although, I must admit, when I see this little face, I get soo so excited about meeting them! The heartburn, stomach aches, leg cramps, and lack of sleep are so much more bearable when I see this little Kilbarger in the making. I look forward to biting their little cheeks and hearing their very first whole-hearted giggle.

We are officially at 30 weeks this week! It’s amazing how much time has passed since we first started telling everyone our news. Only a few more weeks left, and then Ben and I will begin our new adventure as co-parents, co-teachers.

Boy am I beginning to feel pregnant. It’s hard to put on socks, get out of the bath tub, and for that matter, get off of the couch. I’m having the need to nap almost every day now, probably from my lack of sleep at night. Every day my stomach is getting tighter and tighter, and I am hoping that something gives soon.  I can no longer stretch for things above my head (as i don’t have the extra abdomen skin to conquer such a maneuver.

Our first baby shower is next weekend in Cincinnati. Then, Ben and I are flying to Naples, FL to enjoy a relaxing honeymoon over our spring break. Updates to come.

Moving!

After the proposal, Ben and I came back to his Madison apartment, changed our fb status (naturally), and then took a nap. For the next several days we packed, and packed, and packed some more. Our friends Nick and Chase came over to help Ben pack all the boxes into the moving truck.

The following day, Ben drove the moving truck, while Chase and I drove "white lightning"(Ben's appropriately named vehicle). Of course it was not as simple as that: the moving truck that Ben had to tirelessly attain from Budget now had a broken windshield wiper. As you can imagine, this hinders your driving ability quite a bit when you have snow and road salt barreling at you. We pulled over to a rest stop in Wisconsin, and Ben quickly made friends with about 10 truck drivers (he's a charming one), in hopes of finding a wrench so that he could (very manly mind you) fix the broken wiper.

After 20 minutes or so, SHAZAM it was fixed! Handy man indeed.

4 hours later we ends up at a Frisch's Big Boy right outside of Indiana. It's by far the worst "food" that I've ever eaten in my life. Warm things were cold, cold things were warm... ulg. However, our University of Wisconsin division 1 athlete, Chase, found everything very delectable. I gladly "shared" my "food" with him. As in he ate 90% of it. He's a growing boy.

Once arriving in Indy, we relaxed. We slept. It had been 5 days since I'd seen my bed, and this time I got to share it with a boy, tee hee.

The next morning, the manly men unloaded that stuffed moving truck, as I completed my last minute Christmas shopping (this was December 24th). Please note  *last minute means all of my shopping in this specific case.

We then loaded up into White Lightning and dashed to Ben's folks' place in Cincinnati. We spent 1 day there, said goodbye to our Division One athlete, and headed west to lovely Tell City to see my family. By the time we got there, Ben and I were feeling the ran down feeling of, "where is my bed? where is my home?" It was a great time to see all of my family, but I'm also disappointed that I felt soooo tired, and out of sorts.

We spent a couple days in TC, and then we headed back to our home. This is what it looked like for a week or so. :-)

Unpacking, hard.

I'm hiding. Where's Lacey?

Ben journaling.

Ben had no counter space in the kitchen, so this is where he prepared our delicious black bean soup.

Unpacking, like a champion.

But no worries folks! It looks awfully snazzy these days. Pictures to come.

A little to celebrate

A lot has happened in 3 weeks... Ben graduated from grad school, Ben and I are now engaged, holidays with our families, Ben moved from Wisconsin into our apartment in Indianapolis, and we are almost 20 weeks pregnant.

It all started with being picked up by Ben's family and traveling up to Wisconsin from Indianapolis. It was Friday, the last day of class before winter break. I rushed home and gathered some last minute things for my suitcase, and was happily greeted by Ben's mother, father, and sister. We all packed up into their car for our road trip, first stop: Bloomington, Illinois.

Ben's family had reserved a hotel room for us to stop at, that was half way from Indy to Madison. Upon arriving we ran to a nearby Mexican restaurant for some lovely, warm dinner. It is also where I fantasized about hooking up Ben's sister, Sarah, with our waiter. I decided that it may be inappropriate, so I caved.

The next day, we traveled another 3 hours north to Madison, Wisconsin. It was bittersweet for me, knowing that this might be the last time that I ever step foot into the city that has warmed my heart. Not to mention, it was the city that I had envisioned myself in, as a UW grad student. Therefore, this trip was also tough in the sense, that I was also closing the door on my UW grad school intentions as well.

We arrived at Ben's apartment. I was greeted with his lovely blue eyes and two long arms wrapped around me. I hadn't seen Ben for a week, but a week is a lot of time to be separated from someone that you love. After greetings were exchanged, we met up at a cafe on State Street. Ben's cousin, Chase, and our friend, Claire also joined us. That night we began to help Ben pack up his Madison life.

The next day was a big day. It was graduation day for Ben. Words cannot express the enjoyment that I felt that day for Ben, and Ben's family. We helped him get suited up in the graduation garb, however, this was different because he wore a hood that signified him as a "Master," or so he says.

Ben found his place, and his family and I found our spots among the many other proud families inside the Kohl Center. The ceremony took about an hour or so to commence. After the graduation, we all walked to Nick's Restaurant for a celebration lunch (before Ben's parents and sister began their journey back to Cincinnati).

After lunch, we said our goodbyes to Ben's family and Claire. Ben, Chase, and I continued to walk toward Bascom Hill. It is tradition for UW graduates to climb up the statue of Abraham Lincoln, that is placed at the very top of Bascom Hill, and whisper hopes, dreams, or intentions into his ear. Chase split off to go and study for a final exam that he had the following day.

Ben and I walked/hiked up to the top of Bascom Hill in the freezing Wisconsin winter air. I brought my camera to document this monumental occasion. Ben had a tough time of getting a good grip onto the icy statue so instead he whispered loud enough that Abe could hear, but no one else could.

Ben walked back to me, took the camera out of my hand, took off my gloves (at this point... I was very confused as to why he was taking off my gloves when it was a negative degree windchill), reached into his pocked, and then kneeled down before me. This is where is gets a little fuzzy for me... my mind was saying a lot of things, "Oh crap, is he proposing, his knee is going to be cold, wait is that a ring, oh crap..." Of course my mind was racing while I was missing what he was saying, and they were probably the most perfect words about our love, and yeah, there I was, wondering if his knee was cold.

I snapped back into real life, realized the proposal, started laughing and smiling, and replied with a, "YES!" Ben stood up and placed a delicate and lovely white gold band upon my ring finger. I, then, grabbed his hand and kneeled before him and asked for his hand in marriage, of which he also replied, "YES!" to. As we hugged and kissed, we were celebrated by the clapping of passerby strangers.

to be continued...