Ready to pop?

Maybe not yet, but we're getting pretty close!

Baby Ras & I attended a friend's baby shower last Sunday (she's having twins about a month after me!) and they had these adorable popcorn bags for all the guests. We just had to snap a couple photos...

33 weeks!

Excuse my extra chin(s)!

As of today, we've got just about 6 1/2 weeks until our due date! We're wrapping up some more house projects and I'm trying to wrap up my last 4 weeks of school...then Baby, we're ready to roll! (Fingers crossed that Baby is also working on OUR timeline!)

Take care,

K+P+Baby

How we told our family about you...

Here's another catch-up story for you, Baby...

After an initial ultrasound showed a nice, strong heartbeat, we decided to start planning out how we'd tell our immediate family about you!

At just around 11 weeks, we decided it was time to tell everyone our good news! I sent out an invite to everyone asking them to come over for your dad's 34th birthday party at our house. Thankfully, just about everyone was able to make it!

I asked both Grandma & Grandpa Sticha and Grandma & Grandpa Rasmusson to come over early...to help set-up, of course! ;)

When your grandparents arrived, we began with our normal chit-chatting and worked to get the food out and prepared. I asked Grandma Sticha to help put out "Paul's birthday cupcakes" that spelled "Happy Birthday". I told Grandma that the cupcakes weren't in order in the box and asked if she could arrange them in order on a serving plate for me. The chit-chatting continued as Grandma Sticha started to work on arranging the cupcakes. Both Grandmas were at the kitchen table and suddenly Grandma Sticha stopped what she was doing. I asked, "What's wrong, Mom?" and she said, "Well, there seems to be some extra cupcakes...." Instantly, I said, "Oh no, I hope they didn't give us the wrong order!". (wink, wink!) I grabbed the cake box from the fridge and said, "Let's check the cake and make sure that's right." As I walked over to the Grandmas....I lifted the cover and both Grandma's peered in.....

SURPRISE!

Grandma Sticha asked, "Are you serious?" and when I said "YEP!", both Grandma's started tearing up and hugging me. At this point, both Grandpas are wondering "What the heck is going on here!" I turned to show them the cake too and Grandpa Sticha asked, "Really?" From there, we were all a blubbery mess of tears, smiles and laughs. It was so fun!

So what about those darn cupcakes?

Yeah, they were supposed to spell out "Happy Birthday Daddy!" but we never got that far before whipping out the cake! :)

Shortly after all this, your aunts, uncles and cousins started to arrive. I made your grandparents pretend to know nothing and we all welcomed everyone else into the house, while trying to contain our excitement!

As everyone walked in, I'd say, "Did you see Paul's birthday cupcakes?" They'd walk over and stare like "Daddy? What?" and then we'd lift the lid of the cake box and let the news really sink in!

It was such a fun day! We ate well, talked about you and had a really great time!

I couldn't have asked for a better way to let such important people know about you, Baby! Wait until you meet them all in person...they're fantastic!

-Mom & Dad

How we found out about you...

So, I realized that I never posted some of the special first stories about you, Baby...so, let me catch you up!

Your dad & I found out we were pregnant with you while on vacation in California. We decided to take a week long trip with our good friends, Amber & Matt, last September and were really looking forward to some time away. We stayed in L.A., but rented a car and visited San Diego and a bunch of other small beach towns. We also took in a ton of sporting events. It was a really great trip!

We knew that if "all had worked as we hoped" we could be finding out about you that same week. We hoped and prayed and crossed our fingers (and eyes and toes, etc.) that we'd see a big plus sign that week...but knew that things like "making a baby" can take some time. I brought a billion pregnancy tests with on that trip and took one EVERY morning. The first four days of our trip, there was no plus sign, but on the 5th day...there was a faint line. I had no idea what that meant, but it gave us a spark of hope. I pretended to drink beer all day as we tailgated at the USC vs. Gopher game...just in case. The 6th morning showed another faint (but slightly darker) line on the pregnancy test.....more hope! Day 7 = slightly darker line....and then, on day 8, (our last day of vacation) Amber joined me for a trip to Walgreen's where I purchased an "expensive" digital test. When we got back to the hotel, I took 2 of the digital tests (just to be sure) and called Paul into the bathroom....there, on the counter were the 2 tests with the word "Pregnant" in big, bold letters on both. We instantly hugged and couldn't stop smiling! It was amazing, Baby...just the news we were hoping for!

Of course, we told Amber & Matt right away and they were both sworn to secrecy (they are trustworthy friends!)

As I sat on the plane ride home, I couldn't stop thinking about our wonderful news and how fortunate we were that you decided to show up so quickly in the process! What a wonderful trip that ended up being!

-Mom & Dad

PS: Don't ever say we don't take you anywhere...you were in California before you were even born! :)

Special Delivery!

No, the baby isn't here just yet (thankfully!), but we did get a special package in the mail!

My Aunt Mary, who lives in Connecticut, offered to sew all of Baby's bedding and we were so excited when it arrived last Thursday!

Isn't it cute?

We're going with a bit of a "vintage" theme for Baby's room so we can incorporate some of Paul & my nursery items from when we were babies (more on that later).

Here's a closer look at the bedding fabric, along with a couple prints we ordered from Zulily (I'm addicted). I thought the sayings were really cute and simple and I couldn't resist. We just need to frame and hang these babies up on the wall.

Things are coming together nicely!

K+P+Baby

30 Weeks!

Only (about) 10 weeks to go!

Wahoo,
P+K+Baby