The Ranch & 32 Weeks

We've been asked several times if Greg and I are going on a (becoming more and more popular) babymoon before baby Brody arrives.  We had decided early on in the pregnancy that we would use the summer to do what we wanted to do to the house, spend vacation time with family and skip the babymoon.  We are fortunate enough to get summer vacation to spend together.  To me the purpose of the babymoon is a chance for a couple to be together before the baby arrives and thankfully Greg and I get that for free!  Also, I like to go, do, see and eat on our vacations and let's be honest that I'm really in no position to do that without getting tired, my cankles coming out in all their glory and being paranoid about what I can and can't eat.  Like I've mentioned before we have a list of things we are trying to get done to the house and we are working our way down the list.  We are also having fun enjoying our time together and with family.  We spent this past weekend near Minneola on Greg's aunt & uncle's ranch for a Kraus Family Reunion.  Somehow sitting around doing nothing and eating way too much is exhausting.  Not sure how that works, but we did have a great time.  Thanks Janet & James for being such a great hostess and host!

R&R on the deck

Checking out the fully stocked lake

Jordan loved watering the grass

Not quite sure what to think of Uncle Jimmy

Nanny's awesome face when she caught a fish

Getting a lesson in bailing hay

Jordan getting to ride in the hay bailer...not sure if he wants to leave mom behind

Happy once the ride was over

What's a ranch without a dog? 

  With all the eating (food was flowing in excess-thanks Janet) I was scared out of my mind to go to my doctor's appointment on Monday morning.  Thankfully I didn't break the scale (I was seriously afraid that I had gained 10+ pounds in one weekend) and by the time I got to the doctor's appointment my swollen feet had returned to normal from the travel the day before.  With the weigh-in behind me, it was time for my Rh- shot.  Some people are familiar with this since they themselves have it or know someone who does.  Basically, I have A- blood and since Brody may be a positive blood type, I could start to produce anitbodies that fight against what they see as an intruder (the positive blood) and cause major problems.  The shot (somehow) makes it so that my body does not fight against this "intruder".  The shot is actually not for Brody since my body is not producing any antibodies yet, but for Brody's future siblings.  We don't want them being attacked, so we do one shot now during pregnancy and one right after Brody is born to prevent complications in the future.  Speaking of complications, Brody is still being a stinker and has not turned, so we might have to try to do something about that if he doesn't do it on his own soon.  Otherwise, everything was good.  Brody had a good solid heartbeat of 140 and is still moving a lot so I'm guessing he's not too cramped yet and still having fun in there. 

32 Weeks

   

Father's Day

Last Thursday, we had a doctor's appointment and we got an ultrasound!  I don't ever expect an ultrasound, so it's a really nice surprise when we do get one.  Obviously, we love to hear the beat our our little Bean's heart, but it's even better to get to SEE the Little's heart!  He was taking breaths and his heart was beating crazy fast.  According to Dr. P he is taking his sweet time to turn, but he's on his way.  He is cross ways across my belly with his head on my left and his little booty on my right.  He kept putting his hand in front of his face, so we didn't get the best picture, but he still looked pretty cute to us (not that we're biased or anything).

We had a good weekend hanging out with family and friends.  On Sunday night, we went over to Grana & Granddad's house to celebrate Father's Day.  Greg had done such a great job with Mother's Day, so I had to try to live up to the very high standard he had set.  Greg had mentioned several times that he wanted his own "daddy diaper bag" in the form of a backpack for all of his father & son outings.  I thought that would be a great FD gift.  So, I bought him that and a gift card for a massage.  Being 6' 3" is not conducive to sleeping on a pullout hospital bed, and I thought a massage would be a nice gesture for him after our stay when Brody is born.  He really liked the backpack...success!  And I know he appreciates the gift card.  I KNOW Greg is going to make an excellent Dad.  He's great with all the kiddos we know and I can't wait to see him with his own son. 

   

Celebrate & 30 Weeks

Greg & I are MORE than excited about the arrival of Baby Brody, but we are also trying to enjoy our last few WEEKS together.  That's right...we're down to 10 weeks and counting until the arrival of our precious little miracle!  With that said, we're living it up...as much as a pregnant woman can.  Over the past couple weeks, we've gone to a baseball game, celebrated with a friend on a big night out as she turned the big 3-0, and can officially start summer now that Greg is off school.  Although a lot of our celebrating includes being able to cross things off the "list" of things we want to get done before Brody's arrival.  This includes things like re-organizing our already organized clear tubs.  Hey, I know we're not normal, but this is fun to us. We've also made a little bit of progress in Brody's room (obviously much more to come on this topic).  The only piece of furniture that we're waiting on is the chair.  So, while we wait for that, I just go in there and sit on the floor with Jemma and look around and think about how soon it is that I will actually be a mom and instead of looking at an empty crib, there will be a baby in it!  I love his room already...very peaceful just like I wanted (although I know that may not be the case very often once he's here).  I can't wait to get the bedding (that my wonderful and talented mother is making for us).  I think his room is going to be everything I wanted it to be and more.   

Celebrating with Heather on her BIG night.  My sweet accountability girls!

30 week picture with both my babies.  Do you see the little stuffed Jemma on the shelf in Brody's room?  I just know that Brody & Jemma will be best buds!

Memorial Day Weekend & 28 Weeks

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend!  My family (well, most of my family) was able to come and spend the weekend.  A big shout out goes out to Aunt Audra, Uncle Matt & Baby G who were not able to join us.  In spite of their absence, the weekend was full of fun (but not too much, Audra, I promise)!  Maren and Kennedy are full of energy, but are at such a fun age.  We were able to go to the park & pool, throw water balloons, ride bikes and more.

Jemma enjoying the park.

Showing off the water balloons.

Pirate face.

On Memorial Day I turned 28 weeks...time is now FLYING by.  The girls are SO sweet and excited about the arrival of their cousin Brody.  They would frequently talk and sing to him throughout the weekend.  Kennedy must have asked 100 times if Brody could come out and play.  When we told her he wasn't quite ready to come out and play yet, she would want to know WHEN he would be able to play.  She couldn't quite figure out (at first) why everyone was JUST feeling Brody move.  She tried to lift up my dress to actually SEE him...we all had a good laugh! 

Mother's Day & More

Greg had been very sweet about Mother's Day during our struggle with infertility .  For the past two years he's bought me a very sweet MD card as encouragement that ONE DAY I will get to experience being a mom.  Sometimes it truly seemed THAT DAY would never come which is what made this MD so sweet.  I know my baby is not in the world yet, but oh man did we celebrate like he was.  Greg surprised me when a few weeks ago he started talking about my MD present.  I was impressed that he had given it any thought yet and even more surprised that he had even done a sister consult...this was serious business.  It ended up the present he was going to buy me was something I really don't think is "me"-a Pandora bracelet.  But what a thoughtful gift!?  Anyway, he decided to do something special (and totally more "me") and plant a lemon tree.  So, I know that probably sounds so weird to most people (give up jewelry for a plant?) but I LOVED the idea.  I've really been wanting one (believe it or not) for awhile, so when he suggested he would do that for my MD gift, I thought it was perfecto.  However, one day last week he came home with a Hobby Lobby bag and told me I was not allowed to look because it was part of my MD present.  WHAT?  There's more?  I was very intrigued...was he going to make me something?  On our way to church Sunday morning, he hands me a package and said that this was the "secret" part of my MD gift.  I unwrap it to find a message in a bottle.  I (BIG mistake) decide to read it then and there (on our way to church with NO Kleenex in the car).  It must have been THE sweetest letter he's ever written me (not that there's been too many to compare it to but I'll take what I can get).  It just made me EXTRA grateful that not only am I going to become a mother soon, but that I've got such a sweet and caring hubby to share it with.  (Man, I've got to come up with something good for Father's Day).

Greg & Gary also made all the Kraus women dinner on Sunday night.  I love that this picture captures what happens when you leave it to a man to decide the size of the burgers...they were HUGE! 

Here is Brody at 26 weeks celebrating MD with me.

The "more" part of this post includes my first shower the Friday before MD.  My English Department at school gave me a little get together in honor of Baby K.  They were so generous and gave us our car seat.  We also got some cute outfits, bath stuff, organizers and one of my personal favorite things so far (and Jemma's too)...Mortimer the Moose. 

   

Brody James

Yes, I am a hot mess and NO, I have not 100% committed to naming our son Brody James (although it is the name we currently call him).  It all started way back when we got our first little furry love, Jemma (aka Bailey).  We drove out to the country on Valentine's weekend to pick her out.  "Her" being Bailey-the name we had picked out for our precious little pup we would bring home with us.  We saw Bailey online and were pretty sure that she would be the dog for us. How could she not be!?  She was the cutest dog I ever laid eyes on!   BUT if you've ever tried or actually been successful at picking out a puppy, you'll understand that it is VERY hard.  They are all so stinkin' cute and precious.  There Greg and I stood with SO many little puppies running around with their big eyes and wrinkled skin-the torture of picking out one.  The puppy we had our eye on kept coming up and trying to get Greg's shoelaces and was wanting to play with him.  None of the other puppies seemed to be too concerned that we were there, so we took the plunge and signed the papers.  I always say that in reality she picked us and not the other way around.  Anyway, on our way home, Greg and I talked about Bailey our precious new dog and all of a sudden I just couldn't take it anymore!  Bailey was the name I had LOVED and picked out and thought would make a perfect dog name.  It's cute without being too "dog-like" like Rover.  I come from a family of naming pets "actual" names and not "pet" names like fluffy.  Hence, my furry nieces are named Halle, Mia and Lucy.  Anyway, so here I am practically yelling at Greg that Bailey ISN'T in fact a Bailey, but a Jemma.  Greg (my practical husband) informed me that Jemma isn't actually a name and that we could not possibly name our new dog Jemma for that very reason.  I told him that my cousin's husband has a cousin named Jimma (did you follow that?).  She is of no relation to me, so I figured it was a-okay to name a dog the same name and  besides I had always thought that it was a really cute name.  To my surprise a few minutes later Greg concurred that she was in fact a Jemma (the spelling we decided on although there was also Gemma as a possibility because it really is a real name).  So, I tell you this long, draw out story to say that if I felt THIS strongly about a dog (who I do love and adore) how much more will I care about a real human name?  The name of my first child in the whole wide world?  The name that he will have to live with his WHOLE life?  A LOT!  Greg is in love with the name Brody (and would say he is 110% committed to it) and I really do like it for so many reasons (in no particular order):

• It is a name that both Greg and I like
• It is cool (in my opinion) without being popular
• It works for both a baby and a grown adult
• It goes well with our last name
• It has a "y" which is an added plus-think it's cool since Greg(ory) and I both do too

For whatever reason (and in spite of all these reasons) I JUST can NOT fully commit to the name without seeing him.  What if I have a Bailey-Jemma repeat?  And again, I remind you that was in the case of naming a DOG and not a human being and without being under the influence of any drug and fully rested (much unlike I will be after labor). 

  So, until we decide for sure here is a picture of Brody from our twenty week appointment.  Whatever his name will be...he's pretty stinkin' cute, don't you think?

 

24 Weeks of Love

We had our 24 week appointment yesterday and everything was good!  We didn't get an ultrasound, but we were not expecting one so we were not disappointed (unlike when I thought I wasn't going to get my 20 week ultrasound).  I've still been feeling good and can't really complain since my pregnancy might be one of the easiest in history.  I know some people might feel the need to hit (kick or punch) me with the following words, but I never got a day of morning (or afternoon or evening) sickness.  I've not had any super weird food issues (aside from craving things I can't eat while pregnent) or issues with smells (aside from the typical-Jemma's bad breath).  My sister told me that I went through enough to become pregnant so it was only fair that the actual pregnancy was the easy part.  Brody is for the most part (very) active and continues to become more active all the time.  Sometimes I think he's doing some kind of karate moves in there because I feel his kicks/punches on the complete opposite sides of my stomach simultaneously.  I wish I could see what it looks like in there ALL the time...a constant ultrasound would be awesome!  However, I guess that just builds the anticipation for when they are in the world and we can ACTUALLY see (and hear and feel) them all the time.  Here is a picture at 24 weeks of Brody Love.