Candy, Cankles and Camo!

What a great weekend! Saturday we celebrated the Gators beating Georgia and had a visit from my parents. They came up for the weekend to check on their condo and meet with a potential renter. Saturday night we handed out candy to all the trick or treaters - not as many as last year but still quite a few. After running out of candy last year I overstocked this time around and now I'll be eating Swedish Fish, Milk Duds, Kit Kats and Whoppers for the next few weeks, hope the baby boy likes candy!! After the trick or treaters we went to our friends' annual Halloween party. The McGills always host a great gathering every year and this year was no different! Josh borrowed some camo from my dad (and a rubberband shotgun) and went as a hunter and I borrowed a scarecrow costume and went as a pregnant scarecrow. The funny thing was that some guy at the party asked me if I was really pregnant or if it was part of the costume....I wasn't sure what to think about that one.

The duck hunter and his retriever...not sure how well that would go but they sure do look good pretending!

We're quite the pair. No creative couples costumes yet again, maybe next year.

I'm sure you were wondering about the "cankles" in the headline of this post. Well that is in reference to my ankles which have now morphed into my calves. It was the strangest thing. Last week I was moving along well with my pregnancy and enjoying the thought of only six more weeks to go (and 24 work days!) and then bam! Swollen ankles. I first noticed when I tried to slip on some flip flops and couldn't. I decided to go for my usual walk anyway, bad idea, and by the time I got back home my ankle bones were missing. It doesn't hurt at all but it just looks nasty. Josh's suggestion - "wear pants!" That works well when it's cool or cold outside but not when Florida is still experiencing a fall heat wave. I included a photo because I felt like all my friends just needed to share in this experience. And thankfully they have gone down dramatically since this photo, but they still fall under the cankle category.

(Yes, the left is much bigger than the right.
How annoying that they couldn't even be the same size!)

34 weeks and growing! Excuse the mess behind me, I'm working hard to get all of our baby stuff organized and out of the main living area of the house!

I had to include this picture of Darby and his daddy. They were just too adorable.

33 Weeks and a little Gator Football

We've had a great past few weeks. On the 11th my friends in Gainesville hosted a baby shower for me. It was a lot of fun and they did such a great job decorating and hosting. I'm so proud of my friends, they even had chaffing dishes for the food (that's when you know you've really grown up, when you host parties with chaffing dishes!!). Lots of my friends here in town and even a few from outside of Gainesville were able to attend. Josh's mom made the trip from Crestview as did Vicky Hayden and my friend Stephanie made the drive up from Tampa. Our baby boy got tons of wonderful gifts. It's such a blessing to have so many thoughtful friends. I really don't know how we would have done it without everyone. I was a little worried that we wouldn't have the means to get all the things we needed but amazingly we ended up with so much more. We are very very grateful.

(Much surprise and delight when I got my breast pump!!)

Gainesville Baby Shower

This past weekend my mom came up for the Gator game. It was Homecoming and my company gave me four of our President's Box seats. Josh, my mom and I went along with my friend Wendy who did our maternity photos. We had such a great time. Mom got to attend her first tailgate where she learned how to play washers and the difference between orange and Gator orange (we had to change her colors before we let her leave the house!). The box seats are always a blast. Being 8 months pregnant and not having to sit in the stands was wonderful. It didn't hurt either that we feasted on lots and lots of yummy food. Wish I could go in style to every game! As for how the Gators played, well let's just say it wasn't pretty but they got the win and kept me from going into early labor!

(Mom, Josh and I in the Presiden't Box of the Bull Gator Zone)

UF vs. Arkansas

Most recently I had my 33 week check-up. I'm on a schedule of visits every other week until I hit 36 weeks and then I go every week until he arrives. Hard believe we only have 7 more weeks to go! The biggest changes lately have been that the baby is starting to drop (a good thing!). It's taken some pressure off my lungs so I'm breathing a little easier. I really haven't had any heartburn (does that mean a bald baby??) but my belly is definitely getting bigger and harder to move around. I have had many, many nights of waking up at 4 or 5 a.m. and not being able to go back to sleep. I guess it's the baby's way of preparing me for what's to come.

(33 weeks and growing!)

The doctor said yesterday that the baby is head down (I could have told her that!) and he's in position...the minute I started to get excited she reminded me that he could change at any time, but still, I'm glad the little guy is starting to prep himself for the trip! His back is right across the middle of my belly and his feet are curled up and poking at my ribs. He gave me a really hard kick yesterday so I had gently move his little feet out of the way. My visit was pretty uneventful. Blood pressure and everything else are great so no worries there. I have occasional (and becoming more frequent) swelling in my ankles but again, nothing of major concern.

Here are a few quick photos of the nursery. It's still in progress and I hope to finish up quite a bit of it this weekend. We still need window treatments and wall decor but the furniture and paint are there which the a biggest part.

(Crib and new furniture)

(He has more clothes then Josh!)

(Working hard to assemble the crib from Nana and Papa Highlander)

Hope everyone is doing well!

Love,
Jenny and Josh

Maternity Photos

This past weekend we had our maternity photo session with a friend of ours who is trying to build her portfolio. We had a lot of fun and Wendy got some really great pics! I'll share the rest when we have them but until then there are a few up on her blog:

http://anwendy.blogspot.com/

Baby Shower Blessings

This is sort of a dual post. It's my 30-week update for everyone as well as a recap of my wonderful weekend of baby showers. First, I'll give you the update. Everything has been going extremely well, hopefully I'm not jinxing myself now! I'm officially at the 30-week point which means approximately 10 more weeks to go, or a little over two months. I really can't believe we're almost to the end. It has FLOWN by. The hardest part was definitely weeks 6-14 but after that point it was pretty much smooth sailing. I've certainly had my fair share of heartburn and sciatic nerve pain but that's really been it. Baby Boy Highlander is very active and Josh and I have actually been able to interact with him a little bit. He will stick his foot out and when we push back he'll give us a couple good kicks. He doesn't like when we cramp his style :-) My doctor says that my belly is growing perfectly according to the charts and my blood pressure has remained at a very healthy, very low rate. Starting October 7th we will be going to the doctor every two weeks and then when I hit 36 weeks we will go once every week until he arrives. All that said, I am certainly well aware that I have just entered into the hardest part of pregnancy. I already noticed that I am much more unsteady, short of breath and tired. My belly isn't so big that I'm uncomfortable but that might change in the very near future. I appreciate all the thoughts and well wishes from everyone. It's been such an amazing experience to be pregnant and I am so grateful to have been given this gift. I will never again underestimate what my body can do (heck, maybe I'll even attempt a marathon in the future just because now I know I can!).

So on to the showers....My first baby shower was held by two of my bosses (well, one is my current boss and one is my former boss) and they are certainly more than just bosses, they are great friends! Nancy and Wendy put together a lunch at a local Italian restaurant in downtown Alachua (Deneno's). They had balloons and a gorgeous, yummy cake (made by the same woman who made our wedding cake) and they invited some of the women (and one guy) that I work with to celebrate. There were about 15 of us and it was so wonderful. I'm sure most people I know have figured out that I love my job and the company I work for, obviously since we moved back from St. Thomas so I could rejoin the company! But this was certainly a reminder of why I love this place so much, everyone is so supportive and they are more like friends than coworkers which makes coming to work every day that much nicer. We received lots of wonderful gifts for our baby boy and I included some photos below.

RTI Baby Shower

My second shower was hosted by my mom and this one was in West Palm Beach. It was much closer for my family and a few of my friends so it allowed some people that can't make it to Gainesville to celebrate with us. My mom did a wonderful job of decorating and hosting the party. The food was great and we had plenty of laughs (most at my expense) as well. Again, we received so many wonderful gifts. We have lots of diapers and adorable boy outfits for all of his early stages, he got the cutest little camo boots and even a camo camping outfit to match and tons of the little things from our registry that we'll certainly be needing.

West Palm Beach Baby Shower

Also, while we were home our friends Harmony and Kyle Abney hosted a wonderful dinner at their place for us. Our other friends Karla and Mike made the trip over from Ft. Myers to be there. Harmony cooked up an amazing paella and tres leche cake that was to die for! We had so much fun watching the Gator game (of course until Tebow was injured) and just relaxing with two amazing couples.

Alright, this post is long enough so I'll save some for the next one. We have lots and lots coming up! We have our maternity photo shoot this weekend as well as my Gainesville baby shower next weekend.

Love you all and hope everyone is doing well.

Jenny, Josh and Darby (and baby boy Highlander)