Into the Homestretch.....

WOW, the ticker says 42 days! HOLY MOLY, our little man will be here soon! This post isn't as much for my faithful readers out there (LOL), but more as a reminder for this pregnant brain of the things we need to do!!

1. Buy car...I think we will do this at the very latest by Dec 31st! Then I can get the car seat in there and out of the house! :)
2. Pack hospital bag..ok, weird to even be THINKING about...
3. Furniture- need to check on when it will be in. Soon I hope, I am ready to nest and organize!
4. Wash clothes...little man doesn't want any irritants on his skin!
5. Finalize daycare
6. Drive alternate routes to hospital
7. Find pet care for Esther and Max while we are in the hospital!
8. Pediatrician...

I think those are the big ones. Can anyone else think of things I need to be doing or should have already done? AI YI YI!!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

And all through the house....well, that's about as far as we get into that story! My house has sounds of animal claws clickickty clackety across the wood floors and Christmas music playing! Getting ready to head out to the grocery store for some last minute food for tonight and tomorrow. This evening it will just be Matt and I and my parents, tomorrow we think Matt's dad and step mom should be coming too so that will be super nice! All the shopping is done....all the presents are wrapped......all we need is Santa's to fill the stockings tonight!

I must admit we have done a lot of day dreaming these last few days...
(looking at the stockings hung)
Matt: next year we will need a new one to hang for Zach!
Me: I cant wait...we are getting all new ones with our names on them!
(shopping with mom and seeing Santa)
Mom: Next year we will be standing in line for Zach to meet Santa!
Me: But not on Dec 23rd! :)
(discussing Christmas plans)
Me: next year we will be in a new home with our newest addition! I can't wait to have our first FAMILY Christmas at home!
(looking at the presents under the tree)
Matt: that's a lot of stuff
Me: Just wait until NEXT year!!!!

There is so much to look forward to with the thoughts of having a child around for Christmas next year. Children see Christmas through a different set of eyes and I cannot wait to share in that magic and wonderment!

So from our house to yours...We send you much love to all and wish you a very merry Christmas as we anxiously prepare for the blessing of our own child and the celebrate the birth of baby Jesus tomorrow. What a wonderful time of year! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I need a detachable arm, counting sheep and the power of TUMS!

OK...I have avoided the pregnancy complaining as long as I could....but I AM officially TIRED! This sleeping thing just ain't working these days. For starters....I have developed INSOMNIA!!!!!!!! It's weird. Before, I would be ready for bed sometime between 10-11pm. Now, I am lucky if I sleepy by 1am. Well I take that back. I am lucky if I can fall ASLEEP by 1am! UGH. And counting sheep will not cut it. Doctor said I can take Tylenol PM but I have not tried it yet. I think I am getting to the point where I may have to bite the bullet and give it a go.

The other issue is this whole "side sleeping" thing. Sleeping on your left side is the preferred position for pregnant women as you have the most blood flow, etc. Well, I sleep on my tummy which OBVIOUSLY is not possible now. And the back is a NO-NO too. So..side it is. My issue is, WHAT DO you do with your arm that's on the bottom? Under the pillow, over the pillow, along your side? I try under the pillow but now my wrist has carpal tunnel I think from this! WAH! It hurts! I am just so not comfy that I am waking up every couple hours either do to ...INSOMNIA, SIDE SLEEPING issues...or....

REFLUX!!!!!!!!! That's the topper. So on top of can't sleep and can't get comfortable, I have acid creeping up my throat at night. Sometimes SO bad it actually wakes me up with the burning. TUMS are my new best friend.

So anyway, that's it in a nutshell. Its extremely frustrating because I do feel so good during the daytime...and it all goes down the tubes at night. Oh tummy sleeping...how I miss you!!

I have my 32 week appointment tomorrow. I will check in and let you know how it goes! Maybe she will have some new remedy for me that doesn't involve a pill!

Class, party, shopping...oh my!

So we had a really good weekend! Got a lot of things accomplished and fun along the way too!

Friday night we just chilled at home and finally watched "Knocked Up". While I wouldn't say it was anywhere near as funny as "40 Year Old Virgin", it was a good flick all and all. We laughed at some of the pregnant moments and pointed out a bunch of stuff that was just dumb. And I found some parts like the guys going on the "shroom fest" in Vegas to just be plain stupid and unnecessary part of the story. But anyway, all and all it was a funny flick. Oh, and I cried when she had the baby. It was so odd! It's not an emotional flick at all, but man, when she had that final push and out came her baby girl, the water works just started! I looked over at Matt and I think he had a tear in the eye too ;-) I guess its a sign of things to come!

On to Saturday........we had our childbirth class! It was an all day class at the Motherhood Center and it was really good. Learned about the basic process of labor and delivery, as well as some relaxation techniques and explanation of all the major different meds and interventions. I think armed with all the knowledge, Matt and I will be informed enough to make decisions on what we do and don't want if we have any kind of choice. I really liked the birthing ball (which basically is a yoga ball) and we went ahead and bought one of those. We learned some techniques to soothe Zach on the ball too. The best part of the class is that I actually feel a little less apprehensive about labor now. I know it's not going to be easy, but that I can do it! I think I've decided I want to take the breast-feeding class they offer too. I chatted with a woman who had taken it and she thought it was a good class. So we will see if I can fit that in too before Zach arrives!

Saturday night we went to the annual Sherertz Christmas party. It was great to see some old friends and visit with everyone. Seeing Miranda and Peyton was wonderful too. Peyton is such a cutie! I'm glad we were able to attend this year!

Today is the 3rd Sunday of the month so we were greeters at church. Such a simple task but we both actually enjoy it. The older folks love seeing us "kids"! ;-) We had a really great sermon today too on Angels. Dr Steve talked about how we need to remember that angels are among us always, both at the good times (like at our Savior's birth, Luke 2:8-14) and times of despair (Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before his death, an angel appeared and "strengthened him"). Of course I cannot even begin to share the message the way Dr Steve did, but the sermon was so good I thought about getting it on tape! It made me think a lot about our angel, Rachel! It hit more too because on the car ride to church, Matt was telling me about his dream last night...we were in the waiting room for a doctor's appointment for Zach, and Rachel showed up! I think she was checking in on us! Angels are among us, that I know is true!

And to end the day....shopping! I think I have almost every on, Now to get things mailed off!

All in all it was a really good weekend. I have a super busy but fun week ahead of me though! Tomorrow night is my dinner with Duke girls (minus Erika...move back to Houston, heffer!) Tuesday night is Eggnog and Sushi with some good friends. Wednesday is my work dinner with the all the schedulers at the Rainbow Lodge (yum!). And Thursday is Christmas Book club! WHEW! I am tired and full already! HA! I am off work Wednesday and Thursday which will be nice though. I have a Dr appt Wednesday (32 weeks!) and Thursday Matt is off too and we may get massages and do some car shopping.

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season so far. I myself am trying to remain as unstressed as possible and to focus on the reason for the season....which is Jesus and the gift of Life that is given to us through His birth! With the end of the year coming too, I am concentrating on reflecting on the blessings I have encountered this year...most of which is centered around the upcoming birth of our son, Zachary. I am amazed but the sheer joy I feel when thinking about him and just how blessed we are to be receiving this MIRACLE in a few short weeks. And all though I am not a huge complainer and doing my best to enjoy every moment....in the words of Erma Bombeck, "Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle." That's my goal for now and I am thankful every day to be assisting in this miracle!!!

Airway, Breathe, Call.....

Tonight we attended an Infant CPR class per Matthew's request and I am quite glad we did! It took about 2 hours since it's less complex than adult CPR, but very worthwhile. Would I have known what to do otherwise? Perhaps I could have guessed and done some good but now I know in the event of an emergency that I will actually know what to do! Anyway, I would highly recommend it to any parent!

Today we also filled out all the paperwork to list the house. Gotta finish up a few things with that but we should have it on the market on Monday. Then we will just see where things go! My hope it that it at least sells while I am still on maternity leave. That would be cool.

Other than that, things are going well! We are taking our childbirth class on Saturday. Crash course of what to expect in labor! HA! I have a doctor's appointment next Wednesday too and hopefully will start to get a better idea of when to expect little Zach's arrival! I can't wait to meet him!!! :-)

Clean house...time to list!

Well, the list of TO-DOs is finally complete and the house is as ready as it will ever be! We had a maid service come today and do a super duty moving type clean! Its probably stuff we could have done ourselves....if we ever had an entire day or two to devote to it as well as the energy, maybe we could have done it, but man, it feels good to have it done!! Its nice coming home to a sparkly house! :) (I could have a whole other entry on maids...its funny to see how other people reorganize your stuff!)

So now what you ask? Our realtor is coming by tomorrow I hope to take pictures. I must admit, I think our hold house looks pretty good! Since we have been here in the last 3.5 years...we have *painted the whole inside of the house* installed new carpet * changed all faucets * installed new stove * installed all new faux wood blinds *installed a new front door *installed all new light fixtures (fans, vanity lighting, exterior lights, entryway, etc) and I'm sure some other things along the way. Now I just hope someone else will recognize our efforts!

Who knows how long it will take to sell. My guess is maybe 3-5 months? That would put us moving sometime during my maternity leave which really wouldn't be too bad. Plus I will be home all the time for showings so I can just pick up Zachie and Esther and be more flexible with showing times. If you know anyone looking for a town home in the area...send them my way! Let the bidding begin!!! :)

2 MONTHS TO GO!!

Yep, that's right. We are definitely in the home stretch now...only 2 more months until we hold our little man. I am feeling completely unready and yet, so ready to meet little Zachary! Things are going pretty good. I start going to the doctor more frequently now, next appointment is Dec 19th. I will be 32.5 weeks. Then back again a couple of weeks later. Sometime around 34-36 weeks doc wants to do an ultrasound to get a better idea of just how big Mr Z is. If she thinks he is too big, I guess we will discuss induction. Although I really do not want to go that route, I will do whatever is best for Zach and me. And I guess it would be nice to plan?? I don't know, not going to worry about it until we know anything.

So what all is going on in the World of Wittliffs? Well....
*we took a short trip to Corpus on Friday for cousin Kim and Phil's wedding. It was beautiful and nice to see the whole Wittliff clan. They are all excited for Zach's big arrival. Grandma Sally has pulled something in her back and had to miss the wedding but we were able to stop over and visit for a bit before heading back to Houston. It was good to see her and she and Matt had a good time reminiscing about Grandpa Joe, too. Funny aside, Sally mentioned something about strawberry ice cream and it being Joe's favorite...Matt got a sweet grin. It is his favorite too. Maybe it will be Zach's too?
*Saturday was my company Christmas party at The Tasting Room. It was fun but there was a serious lack of food and at sometimes seating. Which for a pregnant lady........those are the 2 things I needed, FOOD and SEATING! Anyway, it was nice to get dressed up and see everyone but I hope next year we are back to the hotel setting!
*This week I am taking off Tuesday and Thursday. We have a plumber coming on Tuesday to finish installing the faucets and hopefully a maid service coming one of those 2 days. Then after that, we will be LISTING THE TOWNHOUSE! Hoping it sells fast!
*Saturday we are taking the all day Childbirth class. We were hoping to do classes spread out but that just wasn't possible with our schedules. So we are doing the all day thingie! And then that night is the Sherertz Christmas party!

So that's a quick update on the next couple of weeks. Ill post more as things come up! Hope the holidays are treating you all well!

Thanksgiving...

And a couple of pics from Turkey Day. We had an awesome time in Dallas. I had not seen my relatives in almost a year so it was quite a treat. Not to mention that Chris and KA drove up too and I cannot remember the last time the Hill family was all together! It was great to be with the whole family and grammy too. It had been a long time. Next year maybe we can have Zach's 1st Thanksgiving at our house and I will remember to take more pics! Snapped a couple of pics while we were there too...if only we had more!!! We were too busy catching up that we forgot to take one of us all! I need a professional photographer around always!

THANK YOU!!!!

So the shower was a huge delight! I had such a wonderful time and received so many fabulous things, my only wish was that I had more time to visit with all my friends who were there and that I would have taken more pictures!!! There were so many gifts, I was truly overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends and family. Matt's mom Donna came in for the weekend and stayed with us. She gave us so many neat things, many of which were actually Matt's as a baby. Family heirlooms they will become! My Aunt Peggy also come in from Longview...she is a labor & delivery nurse and will be our doula if the timing works out. And a surprise appearance by Grammy and Aunt Jan in from Dallas was more than I could have asked for. My Grammy is 93 years old and last I heard she wasn't going to be able to come into town. But thanks to Aunt Jan and Uncle Jeff, they drove her in so she could be there. What a gift!

I loved all my gifts but there were some favorites of course that were special to me. Lots of personalized goodies such as burp clothes, linens, frames, onesies (especially my giraffe onesie from Auntie Sue), a fabulous already made scrapbook from Auntie Kelly for Zach's first year, a big hippo stuffed animal from Auntie Gin, a cool plane from cousin Sarah, Children's Book Treasury from Aunt Jan, the giraffe rocking and stick horse from my mom, and Bert & Ernie dolls from Claude...just to name a few! And of course all the other essentials and goodies I received!!

My hostesses also asked that each guest bring a children's book. I am a huge reader and lover of all things related to reading and literature and this was such an awesome gift. Zach now has about 50+ books for his library! Many people added inscriptions inside them either about why they chose the book or just a note to Zach and sometimes me, I will treasure them always! That evening after the hustle and bustle had ended and I finally had some alone time...I snuck back into the nursery and went through each and every book. Reading the inscriptions, reminiscing about reading these stories as a child, and dreaming and imagining about reading them all to Zach through the years!

It was a fantastic day and thank you to all my "sisters" for making it happen! You are my best friends and I am grateful to each and every one of you! And if you have any pics, please forward to me!! Thank you so much!