Lamaze, or Lack Thereof

You guys can keep Q in your prayers this week. She had a lot of family pressure over the weekend, and their disapproval of her decision to place the baby for adoption is really stressing her out. Her social worker assured me that she hasn't changed her mind about placing with us. But she is feeling overwhelmed by the lack of family support, on top of the physical discomfort of the last month of pregnancy. I wish I could help her. :( Anyway, as a result of all of that, she did not feel up to going to the Lamaze class last night. I wasn't incredibly thrilled about the class, for the sake of learning Lamaze, but for the opportunity for the three of us to do an activity together in preparation for the birth. And I hoped it would help pass the time for all of us. So we'll see what the next few weeks have in store. We may end up just getting together instead...

On another note, our baby shower was on Saturday and it was wonderful! We had such a good time, and were given soooo many gifts. :) I hope to get the pictures over the weekend, and I'll post them on our Facebook page. :) Until then, I'll leave you with a shot of our daughters room. 

Ridiculous right? lol. What a blessing to have all of this stuff given to us! :) I have been sorting and organizing and trying to get everything in its place, so it looks a lot better today than it did on Monday when the picture was taken. It's so fun to picture myself in the room with our baby, and try to put things where it would make the most sense. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. :) 

Ultrasound

The Lamaze class was cancelled last night because the instructor had some family issues come up. We'll start next Tuesday. But Q had an ultrasound appointment today, so I still got to see her AND our sweetie girl! :) Ellie is head down, but her body is positioned somewhat diagonally. She's really giving Q a hard time these days. I guess she stretches out sometimes, and practically takes the wind out of Q and makes her nauseous. She had a bit of an episode with that while we were driving and it actually brought her to tears it hurt so much. :( I feel bad for her. She's so eager to be done. I'm hoping that Lamaze over the next few weeks will be out of the ordinary enough to change up her routine and help the time pass. 

Anyway, Ellie is growing right on track and the only thing slightly abnormal was the size of her thighs. All that means is that she's going to be tall, which we already knew. :) My daughter and I are going to be sharing shoes and clothes by the time she's 8, I just know it. lol. She weighs about 4 pounds right now and the doctor said that if she continues to grow at the same rate, she'll be between 6 and 7 pounds at birth. That information was just enough to calm Q down a little. She's been terrified that the baby is going to be ginormous since she is carrying so big. ;) The ultrasound tech wasn't able to get a great shot because of the way she was positioned, but here is the best attempt at a profile. :)

Blessed

Today Ryan and I picked Q up from the train station and she spent a few hours hanging out with my family. I don't know if I mentioned on the blog that she spent Thanksgiving with Ryan's side a few months back. With the holidays and our little vacation this month, it took a little bit longer to introduce her to my side. Anyway, today that happened and I'm so happy about it. Just watching her laugh with us, and feel comfortable is such a blessing. Birthparent and adoptive family relationships are unique because we've made a big commitment to each other and THEN we try to cultivate a friendship. It's interesting. :) But by God's grace, a friendship is developing and I'm so thankful for that. Here is a belly shot of Q at 32 weeks-

She's getting so big! :) Q, Ryan, and I have our first  Lamaze class on Tuesday, which should be fun / semi-awkward. lol. In any case, I'm excited about it. :)  I can't believe that Elliana is going to be here next month!

Babymoon

Ryan and I are low key vacationers. We like going on short, local trips, because that method allows us to go pretty regularly and be spontaneous about what we want to do while we're there. While we still intend to do quick getaways when the baby comes, we know that they are not going to be the same care free style that we've been able to enjoy up till now. :) So this past weekend we soaked up our last vacation as a family of two for all that it was worth. The San Diego Bay area is our go-to spot, but we decided to change it up a bit this time and head east. We ended up in Phoenix, and also spent a day in Sedona. Since we actually honeymooned in Sedona, it was just the right mix of nostalgia and newness to be the perfect location for our Babymoon. :) We had such a blast. On top of our usual snack binge at the gas station, frequent movie watching, sleeping in, late night laughing, and pigging out, we also went horseback riding and toured the gorgeous red rocks on a big Pink Jeep. It was pretty glorious. :)

It's kind of interesting to approach the end of the "just Ryan and Denay" days.  We have a wonderful marriage, we are best friends, and we love being us. But there are so many new adventures coming our way, and I know we are going to wonder how we ever got by without Elliana. <3

Placement Story

I came across this blog through an online adoption board and really loved what I read, so I thought I would share a post with you. This particular one is about the family's placement experience, which is the transferring baby from birthmom to adoptive parents. I know it's long, but I think it gives a great picture of the emotions, possible complications, and love between all parties involved. You can read it here. 

P.S. My response is represented by the graphic below. ;) lol

Complete Nursery Tour!

I finished the nursery! Woohoo! Check out the video tour below. :)

Quick Update

Well the crazy holiday season has died down and I got to catch up with Q a bit yesterday over the phone.  Not too much to report, which is good I suppose. She seems to be doing well, aside from constantly being tired and getting jabbed in the rib cage. :) The baby is measuring right on track, but Q is bigger than most pregnant women at this stage. She is already eager for the pregnancy to be over. Poor thing.

Time is flying for Ryan and I, on the other hand. lol. Our schedule in January is packed, and even February is starting to get full! March will be here before we know it! Squeee! :)