Five Weeks

This weekend marks five weeks that I've been off work on 'Pregnancy Disability'. In some ways it feels like the time has flown, but I've been terribly grateful for the time it's given me to finish getting ready for our new little arrival as well as rest up for the big event to come.

For any of you wondering just what I've been up to for the past five weeks.. Lest you think I've been sitting around wondering what to do with myself, here's a quick synopsis of my activities:

I've been sewing, sewing sewing..

I made curtains for the nursery:



Matching bumper pads for the crib:



Made two Quilt Tops and tied/bound one of the quilts (the other is off at Aunt Sharon's house to get quilted):


(I know.. This one looks all wrinkled, but that's because I folded it up and put it in with the rest of the quilts before I took a pic.. I promise it's not that crazy in real life..)



I made three flannel recieving blankets (that were not nearly thrilling enough to take pics of) and a cute bag that originally was destined to be my diaper bag (until my niece gave me an awesome one for my baby shower), but now I'm thinking of using it as my Sunday tote..



In addition to all the sewing, I picked up and sorted out all the 'stuff' in the nursery; organized all the shower gifts and did some shopping to fill in the gaps. We re-hung the nursery shelves and got everything put back together:






Then I looked at the bare blue walls and decided to try my hand at some wall art. I saw some paper mosiac-type representations of nursery rhymes online and decided to see if I could do the same. Here are the results:










Add to all of the above: writing nearly 100 thank you cards (Thank you again to all of you who have been so generous over the past few months.. we truly have been blessed with wonderful and generous friends!!), doing our taxes, walking Molly every day, obtaining a libarary card and starting to read again (I can't tell you the last time I actually finished a book before last month), cleaning the entire house, keeping up on the laundry, and getting some rest in between, I have definitely not been at a loss of things to do.. which is just the way I like it. :-)

Fruit Orchard

As black as my thumb is (I can't make any sort of plant life grow properly), I've always wanted to have a backyard full of fruit trees. It's just a pleasant thought.. to know that you can just go out to your 'orchard' and pick some tasty fruit to eat.. yummy.

So.. since we now have plenty of land and (supposedly) I'll have more time to tend such an endeavor, we decided to plunge in and plant some fruit trees this spring.

We went all the way to Atascadero three weeks ago to pick up our bare-root trees and then spent all day Saturday planting them. We planted 15 trees in our little orchard and then helped Steven and Shanna plant 23 trees around their house. It was a LOT of planting for one day. But, thankfully, we had the help of a tractor to dig the holes, so it wasn't nearly as painful as it might have been.

Here are the impressive (ha ha!) pics of our little fledgling orchard. We still need to run the water and spread the mulch (pictured here in large mounds directly behind the trees). I know it doesn't look like much, but I have faith that one day in the not-too-distant future, it will bear fruit.. and lots of it. :-)

35 Weeks

As the date is fast approaching, I figured a couple more 'pregnant Kathryne' shots might be warranted. Here is one from today..



Don't worry.. I won't bore you with too many more.. probably just one more right before he's born.. you know.. just for documentation and history's sake..

The Nursery

The nursery has been.. an ongoing adventure. Honestly, with the moving and the unpacking, etc., we just have not had time to even think about it. However, with the due date coming at us quick, we decided to focus right before we left for Christmas and at least get the paint on the wall. It took us several weeks to decide and agree on a paint color, but the weekend before the holidays, we finally came to a consensus, and the fun began.

Chad labored diligently all Friday night to get the paint on the wall and then all day last Tuesday to get the beadboard installed on the bottom and the furniture moved into place. Don't get me wrong.. we still have a lot of work to do, but at least there is progress being made. Here are some of the pics of the work in progress...

Baby Shower!

While we were in Phoenix for the holidays, my family and friends there decided to throw me a baby shower. We had a great turnout and it was fun to see everyone!! We had people there from Tucson, San Jose and even as far away as Colorado and Maryland! There was yummy food and lots of 'catching up' with people I haven't seen in a while. It was a great evening and I want to thank all of you who made the time to be there and, of course, for all the lovely gifts! This little guy is definitely going to be well dressed and cared for! :-)

32 Weeks

Ok.. for any of you keeping track, I'm actually at 34 weeks on Saturday. However, I took some pics a few weeks back and had our 32 week ultrasound and I'm just now getting around to posting them. (I know.. I know.. I'm a slacker).

Thus far this pregnancy has been a very easy one. I feel great, I'm still taking Molly for 45 minute walks 3 or 4 times a week, and I don't have any of the evil symptoms I've heard so much about. I pretty much feel the same as I always have. I have 6 weeks left and I hope the trend continues (everyone keep their fingers crossed!).

Anyway.. here are the pics and the best of the 3-D ultrasound pictures. Enjoy! :-)

Molly

Introducing the newest addition to the Reed Family:



Her name is Molly and she's an 18-month-old Yellow Labrador Retriever. We've been wanting to adopt a dog since we moved into the new house, and finally had the time to actually sign up, get approved and wait for just the right one to come along.

We adopted her the weekend before Thanksgiving and she's definitely been a welcome addition to our home. She's mellow and loving and is pretty much content to sleep most of her day away. She loves people and follows us around like our little shadow. She's great with kids -- Tanner had lots of fun with her over Christmas and Steven and Nathanial have come to visit a couple of times and she's been great with all of them. Overall, you couldn't ask for a better dog.

For those of you still in shock saying to yourselves "Kathryne? Dog? What the heck?" (for those of you who don't know, I've been decidedly anti-dog most of my life). Chad has grown up with dogs and has been trying to talk me into having one since we got married. I had a convenient excuse at the old house -- we didn't have a back yard and no fence to keep it in. However, I've slowly warmed up to the idea over the years and once we got moved and settled, it just felt like the right thing to do.

Besides, I'm planning to be home by myself with the kids in this lovely house that has 10 entrances, most of which are glass, and I decided I could probably use the added security.

In just the short time she's been with us, she's made herself at home and we feel like she's one of the family.