One week from today..

Can you believe it? Our little man will be here next Tuesday guaranteed. Of course he can always surprise us and show up sooner. We had another non-stress test done this morning and he is still doing quite well. We go in again on Friday to do a final check on amniotic fluid and another non-stress just to keep a close check on him. Then we are down to our last weekend as just "Jason and Mitzi." We are so excited!!
And.. I am in major nesting mode and wrapping up all the loose ends. I think I pretty much have it covered now. I have stocked our freezer and cabinets like we are in a "depression." Who am I?

We love all of you. Thank you for sticking with us on this journey and offering your encouragement, support, advice and bathing us in your prayers.
Please stay in touch, Jason will be posting pictures of Xander next week!!

Friday's appointment

Well, we have great news!! Our appointment went great on Friday. My amniotic fluid levels were up. This was a great relief because we were worried about them getting too low. We also had a non-stress test done on the little X-man and he passed with flying colors. He still remains in a "head up" position so we are pressing on for the C-section scheduled on Sept. 4th. Of course as of today we are only a mere 9 days away from his arrival unless I go into labor before then.
We are so excited and looking forward to seeing his sweet little face.
Jason will be posting his first ever pics within a day or two of his arrival so please keep checking back in with us for the much anticipated moment.
If I get the belly cast done before then I will post the final product pics of that too.

We are truly Celebrating Him because every good and perfect gift comes from the "Father of Lights!"

Phase One... the Belly Cast in raw form

Well, here is the infamous belly cast of Xander "in-utero" crafted by Dad's creative hands on August 18th, 2007. This was a crazy and fun endeavor however, Jason would tell you that I made him a nervous wreck. I must admit I probably did but he did a fantastic job!!

Coming soon.. will be Phase Two and possibly the final phase of the cast.

We will keep you posted on Xander's arrival along with his first pics ever!

And here is the nursery...

Here is the artwork to the left that I just completed to match the bedding.

Then just below, the chest was made by my grandfather over 60 years ago or more. He passed away when I was a little girl.
The end table belonged to Jason's uncle who has also passed away.



Then we have the rocking chair that Jason's mother was rocked in herself when she was a baby.

The quilt draped over the rocking chair was Jason's baby quilt made by his grandmother with a cross-stitched scene of "Jack and Jill."

And of course we couldn't wait to hang Xander's name plaque that was given to us as a gift from very special friends.

It seems that most everything in the room has some special memories and the style was incorporated around the chest and rocking chair. Now we are just excited about the new memories that will be created in this special little room.

The latest update

Well, we had another appointment today and our little man is still "head up." He is no longer in a jack-knife position at least and has managed to stretch out his little legs a bit. The good news is that he is still nice and healthy and has a strong heartbeat. But my amniotic fluid levels have dropped a bit. We stand at 6.4 and if we hit 5.0 then they will go ahead and do the C-section early. The doctor today seemed to think that we will not make it until September 4th. We go back again next Friday, August 24th to check the levels again, measure his growth and to do a stress test on him to be on the safe side. We are all about being on the safe side.
We are "uber" excited though because the best news is that he could be here even earlier and we are so anxious to meet him.
Please stay tuned and we will keep you in the loop.
Happy Weekend!!

More photos by request

Well here you are ... more photos by request. The group photo was taken on July 14, 2007 at the baby shower that Mom and Cindy had for me at my home. Of course all of the pregnant ladies are in front. One other dear friend who is also pregnant left early and we missed her photo op. These two friends have since had their little ones come to grace them with their beautiful presence. I am still waiting on Xander to show his adorable face.
Then we have the two proud "grandmas" aka.. Maam Maam on the left (my mom) and on the right, Grandy or Nandy (JP's mom) the name has not been fully decided on by the niece or has it Nandy?
I will have some more photos coming soon of the nursery and of the belly cast in all of its' phases. Jason has completed his plastering skills and now it is my turn to add my twist.

Oh.. did I tell you that it is after 3 am and I have been up since 1:45am. I have been painting, journaling and now this.. arrgghh!!
Is this nesting? The paintings are of course for the nursery.

Here he comes in his own little unique way

Well as most of you know we had another ultrasound appointment this past Friday to check on our little man. We were hoping to find him head down and ready to go. However, he has chosen to be bottom first for now. (little stinker)
Leave it up to "JP's son" to come into this world in a most unique fashion. Could you have expected anything less? Ha!
According to the doctors it is unlikely that he will turn due to his cramped position. So we have gone ahead and scheduled a C-section for September 4th. So he will be here in just 3 short weeks unless I go into labor sooner. So please keep us in your prayers over the labor day weekend as we will be preparing to have our worlds turned upside down.
We love all of you and cannot wait to share some pics of the X-man soon!!

Dad hard at work

Well of course I have to document all of the fun contraptions that "Daddy" has had to put together lately. Who knew a stroller could come in a box with so many complications. Thank goodness for my sweet, patient husband who does read the instructions. What is it about women who don't read the instructions and men who won't ask for directions? Comical, isn't it? Wow.. life is certainly changing and the look of the toys in our house are taking on a whole new appearance. Forget the drawing tables and guitar amps.... Hello, strollers and pack n' plays.

Belly Cast

Well, my "belly cast kit" should be here today. Instead of making imprints of hands and feet we are going to cast our little man's "outprint" in-utero. This is going to be an interesting adventure. Jason gets to try his hand at plaster of paris textile design. We will let you know how it goes. It is going to be a fun mess. We will definitely post the outcome of our creative endeavors. For those of you who are faint at heart, well, we apologize in advance. If you have been in our home you know you are forced to stare at my nude paintings on the wall so this is yet just another image to adorn our home, tastefully of course.

Oh.. and we have another ultrasound on Friday, Aug. 10th to check on our little rock star's current position. So keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Live out LOUD!!!

Xander's first hike in Rocky Mountain National Park

We just wanted to add some photos to share our adventures with you. This was a hike we took on our "babymoon" in Colorado around mid-May this year.

Coming in for a landing feet first!

Well we got some interesting news today at our doctor's visit. They did an ultrasound to check Xander's growth and see how he is doing. He is doing great! He is already weighing in at 5lbs. 6oz. So he should be a little over 7lbs at birth. However he is currently in a breech position. We go back next week on August 10th to check amniotic fluid levels and his position. We will be at 35 weeks on Sunday. So he has until 37 weeks to make a move. If he doesn't get into position we will investigate the option of the doctor's trying to manually turn him from outside the body. So please keep us in your prayers for God's will. If it comes down to a C-Section then he will most likely be here at the end of August.
He is super healthy however and that is more important to us than anything.
Oh, and during the ultrasound he was very uncooperative so we couldn't get a glimpse of his sweet little face again but we did see that he already has a head-full of hair.
We cannot wait to meet him. He is already chock-full of character. I suppose if he wants to grace this world feet first then that is what he chooses to do. At least he will be coming in ready to land on his feet and be firmly planted.