How do you mend a broken heart?

With lots of glue and pins of course!

So I mentioned that I had been working on a Valentine craft...a wreath/decoration of sorts. Well I saw the idea on a craft blog and I just couldn't rest until I had gone to Hobby Lobby to get the materials to try and make one of my own. I spent multiple hours cutting out little felt circles and finally had it done...of course immediately I wanted to hang it up so I could take a picture. Well, I wasn't being super careful about hanging it up- it wasn't the final hanging place after all- and as soon as I stepped back to snap the photo the wreath fell to the floor, shattering into 4 pieces. Who knew styrofoam would break like that? I was beyond devastated. (I took a picture of the heart in 4 separate pieces, but it was just too devastating to post!)

Once I had given myself time to get over the tragedy, I decided to try and salvage it. I used a lot of household cement and pins (of course the only ones I had left by this time had yellow balls on the head...at least it is just the back, right?) and managed to get the 4 pieces back together. It is definitely not perfect and will forever bug me, but it is done!

For those of you interested in making one of your own, I followed (kind of...I mean, how well do I ever really follow directions without making my own adjustments?) the tutorial HERE.

By the way, still no baby. If he doesn't decide to show himself tomorrow, we are heading to the hospital at 6:30am on Wednesday to get induced. While being induced is preferable to a c-section, I would ideally love him to come on his own...so say a prayer for us tomorrow!

Still hanging in there...

Our boy hasn't made an appearance yet, however a little head cold did come to visit :( Nick was starting to show symptoms last week and I was paranoid about making him get his fluids and such so he wouldn't get sick...and he didn't! After just a couple of days he felt fine and none of his symptoms ever really got that bad. Just before doing the victory dance, I woke up with a terrible sore throat...and now a really runny/stuffy nose, plenty of sneezing, and a cough. I have been trying to rest and drink a lot of water, but that plan is made difficult by being restless/hard to get comfortable and having an 8 pound baby sitting on my bladder. I think it is getting a little better though and I hope it is on its way out!

In non-baby related news, I made a cute Valentine wreath/decoration. I saw the idea on a crafty blog that I check in to every once and awhile and couldn't get it off my mind until I headed to Hobby Lobby to get my supplies. It was super easy...just time consuming to cut out so many little felt circles. However when I tried to hang it to take a picture, it fell and broke and is actually quite a sad story...I will post pictures of the whole ordeal later.

Now Nick and I are off to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (thanks Lewis family!) and I am praying that it will be the meal to send me into labor! A girl can dream...

Light at the end of the tunnel!

Well we had an ultrasound yesterday...and our little boy is still measuring like a giant! Again he measured about two weeks ahead and I stick with my original theory that our due date never should have been changed. Oh well. Everything looked good and they estimated him to weigh about 8 1/2 pounds already...no wonder I feel huge!

Because I am still technically not past my due date of February 1st, inducing is considered "elective" at this point; the first available appointment for an elective induction is January 26th at 6:30am...so if he hasn't come by then, we will be at the hospital that Wednesday morning for a little help to get him going! I am glad to have some sort of plan- even if it is altered, I love having a plan. In the meantime I am still going on lots of walks and am now working to meet this month's deadline at work (from home of course). I had initially thought I might have to pass it off to someone else this month, but it looks like "Tiny" is giving me a little extra time. Now I am hopeful to be able to complete it before he gets here :)

I had a really nice baby shower this past Saturday that I will have to blog about one day when I get my pictures uploaded and such. Tara and Amy & her girls were able to make it and way more people showed up than I anticipated (I knew of two other baby showers going on that day plus a number of other events!)

We are still hoping that baby V decides to come on his own any day now, but if not stay tuned for an update on the 26th!

How low can you go?

Still waiting on prince charming...

My doctor's appointment this week was not terribly exciting as they told me I was about the same as last week- almost completely effaced but just barely starting to dilate. At least I was only there an hour which seemed really short! She made the comment that his head was so low...no kidding! I have been trying really hard not to waddle- using those good old dance muscles to pull my legs under my body- however this week it has been markedly harder. I can tell that he is way low and when I drive it feels like I am squatting. At least he is getting ready! (I ate a whole pineapple and have been taking the stairs two at a time, but he just isn't ready yet I guess.) I am actually still sleeping quite well- since the baby dropped so has my back pain and I am finding it a lot easier to ease lower back pain than that weird middle back pain I was having. Of course since he is so low I am getting up even more times to go to the bathroom!

I finally figured out (kind of) and made a cushion thing for his car seat handle...someday I will take a picture- even though it isn't that much to look at I am excited to have some extra cushion when carrying that heavy thing! And I have been working on a bunch of "thank you" cards to have on hand for baby gifts. Slowly I keep working on Nick's blanket too and making a meal or two to stick in the freezer...I am trying to keep busy so I don't go crazy just waiting. However Tara's Christmas gift of a Netflix subscription plus this colder weather is making it terribly easy and tempting to just rest. I at least get out and walk a few miles every morning still...and more often than not end up doing some sort of errand with my mom later in the day too.

Nick is trying hard right now not to get sick, however I am fearing a cold in his future- nuts. He got a new coat that he bought with his Christmas money that looks really nice on him and I am glad that he has had it this week- he also got glasses a few weeks ago that make him look very handsome and are great to give his eyes a break from contacts once and awhile...I need to take a picture of that too!

Okay, enough of me trying to spit out random things about our lives in an attempt to avoid cleaning the house...I have done the easy jobs and just have the ones left that require lots of bending and such. Wish me luck!

We are SO past cute!

I apologize to all of you that want to see the big belly...it really isn't that we have been consciously not taking pictures of me all this time, we just rarely take any pictures at all! I am not one of those people who want to document how big they get, however I am not really opposed to getting my picture taken just because I am pregnant either. But now we are so past cute that I am starting to get to the point where I will avoid a photo; the baby dropped this last week and it isn't pretty. It isn't like the cute pregnant...it is like the "that poor girl is going to pop" pregnant. In fact, so far I haven't found any of my maternity shirts this week that will actually cover my whole belly since it is so low...so I apologize to those of you who happen to see me and undoubtedly will see the ever attractive maternity panel on my pants- yuck. Not only is the dropping not so cute, but my back is definitely feeling it more now and it is harder to get comfortable or sleep...at least it hasn't been like this for very long! I hope he comes soon!

In other news, we can't keep Koshka out of the crib. I don't know what to do- I have tried tin foil and vinegar and all sorts of things that cats are supposed to hate, but she doesn't care. Aye. But on a good note, Nicholas got interviews with BYU, Texas A&M, and UT @ Houston this month...wish him luck! :) Plus year-end closing is done as of yesterday and so there is actually a hope that I may get to see him more than a few minutes a day...not a great chance, but still at least a hope :)

A very Merry Christmas

Nick and I headed to Denver for Christmas this year! It was the first time we have gotten to spend multiple days with the entire Vernon family and we had a great time :) Nicholas snuck in one day of skiing and I enjoyed a lot of relaxing time. Of course, I carried my camera around the entire time and failed to snap one picture- nuts! Santa found us and was very good to us this year...and it was present enough that our flights/airport experiences went smoothly and all-in-all weren't too bad for me at 8+ months pregnant. (We didn't have to go through any body scanners and got a free cookie on the flight home!)

When we returned we got to spend a couple of days with part of my family here in Houston and celebrate again with them; we also celebrated my dad's 64th birthday :) New Years was fine- I was happy to have a good ham dinner again, however I am not sure about staying up until midnight...I was so tired! We are always lucky to get to see plenty of fireworks from our own home as Texans sure know how to party :)

Now the holidays are over and life is getting back to normal...I have spent the day doing laundry, cleaning, planning meals, etc. All of the decorations are put away and I have even cleaned out the fridge/freezer and under the sink. The Christmas bedding is washed and put away and we are back to our regular bedding (plus a waterproof mattress cover in anticipation of our little one...it goes over the entire mattress and zips and boy was it a feat to get it on by myself!)

We are patiently just waiting now for our little boy to arrive- I go to the doctor weekly and last week I had already started to efface and such. He is very wiggly however I am still able to sleep fairly well between all of my trips to the bathroom so I can't complain too much. Nick is as busy as ever trying to finish up year-end and audit stuff at work. At least all of our grad school applications are done and we are just waiting to hear back from all of them and do interviews...Nick has an interview with Texas A&M in a week or so.

Hope y'all had a great holiday season!