echternach and luxembourg city

maybe our last trip as a traveling duo... (39.5 weeks)

it's just about time...

...to take off this santa claus suit. things are getting a bit too heavy. we had our 39 week appt. today and, again, i gained almost four pounds! i'm like a bobble person. if you push me from the right angle, i will fall over, and most likely won't be able to get back up. :) the babe is now weighing in at 7.7 lbs which is about 7 lbs. and 11 oz. this is more than my birth weight...so i have a feeling things are going to be happening around here REALLY soon. not to mention i have been more uncomfortable than ever and the doc said, "oh, this baby is ready!" on the ultrasound, things looked pretty cramped. the baby was moving a lot (i know weird, right!?), but we still managed to see its feet, toes (which the doctor called its "feet digits"), hands, legs, heart, and big head. he said the head size was normal, but it looked big to me. i'm just going to keep drinking my raspberry leaf tea and we'll let you know if anything crazy happens....

next doctor's appt. is on our due date, next wednesday.

it's a muskrat - noooooooo!!!! 480th reactivation party, 38 weeks, and pig fest...

brant's squadron, the 22, just closed and it is now the 480th (which used to be an old fighter squadron in germany back in the day). they held an auction and big party a couple of weekends ago to get rid of all the 22 paraphernalia and "reactivate" the 480th.









two nights ago i had a dream that i am still recovering from. this isn't a surprise because i dream a LOT, however this one was particularly horrifying. i was allowed to take a quick look at our baby as long as i put it back in....and i took it out and it was a swamp muskrat! it was so disgusting. it had coarse brown hair, little scrawny claws, it was super ratty, long, and had a worm grub stuck in it's nasty hair. i tried to love it but it was squirming all over and biting me. disgusting. i am still disturbed by this! the baby is moving in my belly and i'm slowly starting to warm up to it again. i ignored it the day after the dream i was so disgusted.

i attended a bachelorette party in our neighboring town of wittlich on friday and afterwards we all went to pig fest. brant and i went back on saturday and sunday as well!







isn't she adorable:


this guy tried to kiss the bachelorette's sister:


the unlucky swine:


making the pork sandwiches:


at the "make your own bag of gummies" stand...oh heaven.




on sunday we did a photo shoot with lauren and tommy (they are due tomorrow!) and here is a picture of me eloquently posing by the highway at about 38.5 weeks. i look like the REALLY creepy person spying, but it's all i had.

37 week appointment

so at a time when all the pregnancy books i've read say that your weight should be "plateauing".... since my last doctor's visit, i found out that i have gained four pounds! that doesn't sound like a big deal, but my weight gain was plateauing and then randomly i gain four pounds?! weird. brant, trying to console my astonishment, said,..."oh it's probably your hooded sweatshirt...i'm sure you were wearing less clothes last time." um, even so, i don't think my sweatshirt weighs that much. this made me a little nervous going into the ultrasound. did the baby sprout a twin? is the head just astronomical in size? have i truly just had one oatmeal cookie too many? (this was my last guess... couldn't possibly be the case.) anyway, we found out the baby has gained almost two pounds since the last visit! it is weighing in at approximately 6.6 pounds! we got some photos and you can see a lot of that weight has filled up those lips and cheeks. it's a chubby one.

full term and cheetah's lair!

according to the books we've been reading, 37 weeks is full term. this varies from book to book of course, but from what we've read this bun has cooked. despite its size, it hasn't slowed down a bit. just last night, i had to lift up my shirt to see if the kick actually busted through my belly. the movements are so strong and powerful i often jump and/or lose my breath. seriously, is this normal?!!!

on another note, we finished up cha chi's nursery! despite still needing a large rug to fill the room so the baby doesn't bust its nugget....it's pretty much done. thanks mama for the sheets - love 'em. :) we think this baby chinchilla will arrive sooner rather than later...but either way we're leaving the light on... ;) (oh and don't mind all the electrical hazards and child safety no-nos... we'll just have to fix those later.)



the room before:


...and after:





a story for cheetahlips from grandpa maynard:

36 weeks

before i knew anything about pregnancy, i thought this was the end....nine months, right? 36 weeks is about nine months - but, oh no, it's ten months...and the journey continues. :)

the big, packed belly shot:



and now, with the farmers in it:

it was a long six months in vegas...

...and amidst the excitement over moving to germany and babypalooza i forgot to post photos from brant's graduation from weapons school! he worked his tail off and it was definitely a long haul (for us both), but it's all great now.