31 weeks...look at that belly

This time 10 weeks ago - 31 weeks seemed forever away. Now we are here. I'm definitely getting bigger. Had a kiddo pass me in the hall this week and say, "WOW! Look at that belly!" Sweet. Thank you. I feel huge and can't believe I still have a lot more growing to do. Parenthood is slowing sinking in around the Good house. We have interesting conversations about how we are going to parent and what we will (and more importantly won't) allow her to do. It's been fun watching the whole fatherhood thing start to sink in with Mat. He is going to be such an awesome daddy and I can't wait to see him with Campbell.

There has been a bunch of random stuff going on - so I am going to practice my summarizing skills and share a little about each one.  Here is my top 10 list in no particular order...

1.  It's finally Spring AND it's April - my favorite month. Mat and I have been enjoying walks in the evening, sitting out on the deck, grilling out and finally starting to see some green grass. I adore spring. This month I turn 30, we celebrate 4 years of wedded bliss, my mother-in-law comes to town for a girls weekend, I am entering a 5K walk for Parkinsons, and my parents come up for a visit. What a great month to look forward to!

2. It's Easter weekend! I love Easter. Especially when we have a beautiful forecast. Mat and I have some serious easter egg dying to accomplish this weekend. There is something so refreshing and renewing about it. One of my favorite phrases from Tony Campolo kept coming to mind yesterday, "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming".  Not to get preach-y but I love the promise of the resurrection. The promise of new life. The promise of hope. The promise that God isn't done with all this yet.  The promise of making beauty from ashes. The resurrection has never touched me as deeply as it has this year.

3. Mat has his first actual FULL weekend off since January. My husband has been working his tail off during his first year in fellowship. By no means am I complaining - it's part of the gig. He's been involved in a couple different research projects in addition to the crazy schedule of a first year Cardiologist fellow. I am VERY PROUD to let you know that one of the projects is getting published in a national journal! This is a very big deal (or at least I think so!), especially for a first year fellow.  He's going to be embarrassed that I included this in my blog - but whatever - I am very proud of him and it's such a blessing to see his hard work paying off! Good job babe!!

4. Campbell's nursery is coming along. It now has all of it's furniture in place and the curtains hung. Some of our best friends GAVE us their baby furniture. (seriously - how nice are some people?!)  It is absolutely beautiful. I am waiting to post pictures until the room is all gussied up - but let me tell you - it is petty stinkin' CUTE! It's already become my favorite rooms in the house. I go in there and just kind of mess around or refold onesies. It's just so much fun to be in there and think about the fact that in just a few months she will be in there with me=) I'm trying to figure out the best place to put everything. What needs to be near the changing table? Where is the best place for clothes? How many sizes of clothes do I keep in the drawers at once? If you have advice - please let me know - I'm new at this whole "nursery" business.

5. Little Miss has lots of clothes. LOTS. So far, I have done 4 loads just of her laundry. Now - yes - that seems like a lot because it's in all sizes, but oh my goodness, girl clothes are so very cute...I think I see an addiction forming. She most definitely has more than Mat and I combined.

6. Speaking of Campbell Hope... We go back to our perinatologist on Monday. Things were so good at the last appointment, they gave me a 4 week break. After this week I will start going in for weekly bio-physical profiles on her. From what I googled scientifically researched this is a fancy-schmancy ultrasound that will measure her breathing, heart - rate, movement, amniotic fluid and muscle tone. She gets a score 0-10. If she gets a 10 - all is well and we wait another week. Anything below 6 is not good and they induce. We're believing that she is staying put for the full 40 weeks. I am also starting my weekly appointments with my OB to check things "down there". With two appointments each week - I feel like Campbell and I are going to be well looked after.

7. My school threw me a beautiful shower last week. It was absolutely wonderful! Yummy cake, beautiful presents, sweet friends - it was great. Campbell got lots of fun new things too: blankets, onesies, dresses, shoes, a KU tutu (Soooo cute!), bibs, books... I could go on and on. I have been very blessed to have my friends at work through all of this. Of course I got choked up and tried to thank them at the shower. When I cry it isn't pretty- there is lots of snot and choking sounds.  I'm pretty sure I didn't adequately convey my gratitude. If any of you school friends are reading this - Thank you for all your help the past two months. For the hugs, cards, prayers, well wishes; for making me laugh so hard my tummy hurts (Wolf). My team has made all the difference in my return to school. I now think I will be able to make it as long as Baby Hope stays put. 36 days of school left people!

YUMMY cake!

My ELL team (minus Angie;(  )

Dirvey modeling C's new tutu

8. 3rd trimester - music to my ears. So far, not too bad. More tired, a little more uncomfortable. Its getting hard to find a comfortable position. Some hip pain. Some rib pain. Some tailbone pain. Friends have warned me 3rd trimester gets rough, but so far - so good. So I am thankful for each day that I feel overall okay.

9. My kiddos are finishing up state testing. 4 weeks of it in fact. It's nice to see their hard work paying off and them doing such a great job. Don't get me started on AYP, NCLB and whether Obama is actually going to do anything worthwhile about this big mess our education system is in. AND REALLY don't get me started on the education funding fiasco that Kansas is currently suffering through. So Obama will bailout the automakers, but not the nation's future - education?!  If they cut any more $$,  teachers will all have to work on a volunteer basis (they already aren't adequately paid!). Don't hold such ridiculous expectations then take away our funding!!  Okay, I am off my soap box. ANYWAYS- good job kids!

10. My crafty side has gone a little nuts. I use to hate crafts. Didn't even own a glue gun until a few weeks ago. This week I made a bow holder to hold all of C's precious hair bows. (Thanks Lori for the idea!!) and painted a lamp (I accidently forgot about it out on the deck and our first spring thunderstorm came ...and yeah...) I am now attempting a bird mobile. The first version didn't turn out so hot. Kind of like summer camp craft hour gone wrong. REALLY wrong. But there is serious-cute potential - so when my domestic diva, aka JAN BELL comes in a few weekends, she is going to help me "fix" it. I will wait to post a picture of the "pretty" version.

the bow holder...waiting to be filled with ridiculously cute bows

What a week it's been. We wrapped it up with a trip to the river market. Today we are off to an Easter bar-b-que. I adore Spring!

Happy Easter! Happy Spring! Happy April!

PS: If you are a reader of my blog - let me know. I'm just curious who is reading all of my randomness out there... If you are a fellow blogger, please leave your blog address so that I can check yours out.