This week!!!

First of all, Happy Birthday to Dad, Michelle and Amelia!!

So this is for sure going to be our big week! During my appointment on Friday, it was decided that if this little guy doesn't come on his own, then I will be induced on Sunday (March 2). Yay!!! So either way, there WILL be new photos to share within the next week or so. In the meantime, I am frantically trying to get everything done and ready before Sunday. It'll be amazing if I can manage to get it all taken care of...

Baby Update

38 weeks and counting (not fast enough, by the way!). For the last 2 weeks, I have only dilated to a 1. Hmmm. However, at my appointment last week, I had at least gotten to 60% effacement, which made me feel a little better. The doctor seems to think he'll come at least a week early, which would be sometime next week. Perfect, actually, for our friends and family who are coming into town the first week of March. Friday was technically my last day of work, which is good, because between my swollen feet/ankles and the amount of pressure this little guy is putting on me, it's getting hard to walk! In fact, I tried taking Biggs for a walk today (it is finally 40+ degrees and all sun), but I only made it around the block.

I am lucky enough to have an OB/GYN that does an ultrasound every visit, and puts it on DVD for us to keep. As soon as I can figure out how to save ONE ultrasound, I will put the latest one up for your viewing pleasure. Our little boy is very shy (or stubborn) and refuses to let us look at his face. However, at our last appointment, he let us get a little peek - he only blocked half of his face with his arm. If I can't get it, then hopefully we'll have some real life photos sometime next week!!

Oh!! We finally have name choices down to two...he will either be Brychan David or Braedon Alan. The final decision won't be made until he makes his big entrance. We will let all of you know when that is!

Kodi's Retirement

We had to laugh...the people at the building Dave works at wanted to throw a joint birthday party for Dave and retirment party for Kodi last week. Dave wasn't expecting it to be a surprise party, but it was! He took Kodi out to search an incoming truck, and when they opened the door, there were a couple dozen people standing out there yelling "surprise!!!". This is part of the loot that Kodi received from all his adoring fans (Dave, on the other hand, received a balloon and bite size apple pie. Who's the favorite there?!? :) ) And, as you can see, all the dogs in the house are quite excited by Kodi's gift basket. Kodi and Jax are training today, and Jax has his certification tomorrow. If all goes well with Jax's certification, Kodi's official last day of work will be tomorrow morning and then he gets "demoted" to pet status, and will stay at home with me, Biggs and the baby. For those of you who don't know...Kodi and Jax are bomb detection dogs. Kodi has been working with Dave for the last 5 -6 years, and is being forced into retirement. He is still a strong working dog, and will be VERY sad when he's not allowed to work anymore. I, however, will be more than happy to have him at home with us everyday. I love him just as much as his fans at work!

My New Job

In the last month I was lucky enough to find a job that will allow me to work from home starting immediately. My new job? I am a Local Care Coordinator for Cultural Care Au Pair, which is based out of Cambridge, MA. What does it entail? I will work with families in my immediate area (Davis and Weber counties) who are interested in obtaining an Au Pair OR those families who already house an Au Pair through this company. I am also working with the Au Pairs who are working in this area by providing them support, child care training and education and introducing them to the American AND Utah culture through monthly activities. So basically, I do a lot of paperwork at home keeping track of all the families, au pairs and their necessary paperwork, and then once a month I get to do a fun activity with the girls who are working here. I feel like I'm mixing my love and experience of working with Young Women AND my career and experience in Early Childhood Education while getting the opportunity to stay at home with my baby. I am SO excited about it! Not only is it a great, stay at home job, but it will also provide Dave and I ample opportunities to travel nationally AND internationally, which we are very excited about as well.

Soon, I will have my own website through Cultural Care. If you're intersted in learning more about the company I am working for, you can check out http://www.culturalcare.com. And, if you know of anybody who would be intersted in housing an au pair for a year...send them to the website as well! (For those who are not familiar with au pairs, they are basically nannies that are coming from foreign countries!)

I do still plan on substitute teaching on occasion as well, probably not starting again until the new school year starts. I would miss being in the classroom too much to give that up totally!

37 Weeks

Sorry it's sideways...it's taking too long to rotate and reload! Anyway, hopefully only 3 weeks to go. Can you tell I haven't slept at all in the last 2 weeks?

The Dogs

These photos are for all our friends who are under the age of 5 and are always more concerned about what our dogs are doing rather than us! The photo on top is of Kodi and Biggs (L to R), and the second photo is of Biggs (L) and Jax (R) playing over a new "baby". Biggs is VERY happy to finally have a dog in the house that is willing and happy to play with instead of just "old man" Kodi. However, they all get along splendidly and seem to miss each other when one or two of them are missing for any amount of time.

The Start of the Snow...

This is just the start of our snowy season. We've had record snowfall this year, with several more feet on the ground since this picture was taken.