Week 35

Greetings from Arkansas! It was an adventure but we made it here and are very slowly getting settled into our new home and our new "normal." I know you understand my lack of posting during this crazy time.

Week 35 was our last week as residents of beautiful San Clemente and it was both stressful & special.

*Warning this post is a day-by-day recap so get cozy or just scroll & look at the pictures to get the gist*

On Tuesday night,  I got a WONDERFUL surprise.  My girlfriend Rebecca (who use to live in CA but now lives in FL) & her adorable 6-month old Hudson showed up at my door.  I had just taken a shower and had on ONLY my Uggs slippers & an over-sized t-shirt when I saw her standing at my glass door. I started screaming  hysterically which triggered Nick to think I had gone into labor or we were getting robbed. Bahaha. I wish we had the moment on camera!  I just couldn't believe they flew all the way across the country to be a part of our going away party / shower & other final day activities.

This precious face came all the way from FL!

Future boyfriend of our little girl, no doubt!

On Wednesday the packers arrived and in the blink of an eye they wrapped & boxed our entire house. It happened almost too fast... Here is a little before & after.

Morning of...

By afternoon... 

(note: those red curtains underneath were w/ the house & we had previously removed)

On Thursday the movers arrived. It was a crew of 4 good ol' boys from Wisconsin and our 70 degree weather was like a vacation for them, not a work day. They were so happy to be loading up our house and not a 3rd floor apartment in Green Bay. :)  It was a complete miracle that they go their HUGE truck down our street and that there was enough parking open. 

Big Rig

On Friday I had my final doctor's appointment.  I got choked up during our last visit.  Dr. J is a wonderful doctor and I am super sad she won't be delivering our little girl. However, two of my fellow preggo girlfriends are also patients of Dr. J so they will be able to share pics at their appointments. The good news was that she checked me and baby is head down & I wasn't dilated (the ideal report!) so she gave me the green light to fly.  

The rest of Friday was pure chaos as a whole but I was so thankful that I got the chance to meet up with some of my faves for a walk on the beach trail. 

<3 this crew

Saturday was more last minute errands and then last trips to our house & the Pier before our farewell dinner / shower with our Small Group (separate post for that coming this week!)

We LOVED this house, our neighbors & SC

Yes, this is real. Yes, I took this picture.

Week 35

Soon-to-be parents

Dear Daughter, you are such a tiny All-Star! Your mommy is so happy that you are head down, healthy heart beat, moving lots and happy with staying put for the time being! Keep it up girlfriend, ok?!  

Lots more posts to come, I promise!  xoxo

Week 34

Hiiiieeee -
I must attempt to make this post quite snappy because we are t-minus 36 hours until the movers arrive! Oh brother...lots to do!  To recap Week 34 - Nick started his new gig in Arkansas and I worked my last week in Cali. I was nervous about him being so far away but, me & Dorsey Dog survived. Nick seems to really like his new role / team / office which of course makes me happy. My final week in the office flew by and when Thursday (my last official day) arrived, I still had 100 things I wanted to do for St. A's. I am praying that God will bring them someone absolutely wonderful and who will love it as much as I did if not more!

Yesterday the church where I work had a farewell reception for us after both worship services.  Cake & coffee in the Fellowship Hall and a chance for last hugs / good-byes.  The members of St. A's have become my family over the past 18+ months and I feel like I am robbing them of this baby.  The thought that I am leaving behind 100 eager "aunts & grandmas" to love & care for Baby Sass is hard... very hard. I will miss them all but we will be back in July so that helped keep me strong. Here are a few pics from the day.

Marian & Amy organized the reception - both are truly wonderful!

How cute?!

After the reception, we headed home and got ready for the Super Bowl.  Despite the fact that we probably should have been doing a 1,000 other move related things, we decided what the heck and had our small group friends over.  I am SO glad we did too!  Great food & even better company. ; )  

Here we are Week 34!

Dear Little One, you weigh over 5 pounds and are approximately 19 1/2 inches.  Supposedly from this point on you will gain 1/2 a pound a week until the end.  Who knows though - you could weigh / gain more or less - we are just praying that you are healthy. We go see Dr. J one last time this week and next week we will meet the new doctor who will deliver you. Hopefully we'll like her as much as Dr. J but that's a tough act to follow. 

Our final week in CA will filled with lots of mixed emotions but I know this part of such a BIG and wonderful plan for our family. 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~Jeremiah 29:11

Alright dear readers, any prayers and good thoughts that you'd like to send our way would be greatly appreciated. I'll try my best to keep up with the posting this week and next!  xoxo

Week 33

Hi again,
This post is going to be short and sweet since yesterday's post was quite long. Week 33 flew by!  I worked, Nick worked his last official week in CA, we organized (garage, closets, drawers - oh my!), we relaxed (a little), and the next thing you knew it was Sunday morning!

The tail end of the week was so gorgeous here. The kind of weather that had me looking at Nick about 27 times a day and asking the same question "Are you sure we have to move?"

Sunny, 78 degrees, 33 Weeks Preggo

Gotta love a self pic

Us + the big, bad wolf 

Doesn't Dorsey Dog totally look like a cartoon wolf in her shadow? It made me laugh.  

Here is the official "week of" picture but I must say the tank top I had on looks like it is too short, I'm wearing a sports bra - it wasn't my best look of the week but hey you guys will cut me a little slack, right? ; ) 

8+ Month Mama

Precious Baby,  you are just growing away and I'm stretching / expanding along with you. You are most definitely my child because you sure like to move around a lot. This week your Dad and I signed up for our childbirth class at our new hospital for the first Saturday we are in AR!  We have also been reading our books on what to do with you when you actually arrive. Disclosure - we are somewhat clueless parents but are learning lots so don't worry (yet!) 

Thanks for being a trooper during this crazy time! Like I said last week, you are so much better off staying inside where it is so peaceful and when the time is right (preferably as close to March 16th as possible) we will beyond excited to meet you. 

xoxo little one

32 Week Fun, Belated.

I am happy to report that since my last post no other major life changes or decisions have been thrown into the mix and although I'm pretty sure we are covering all the major ones right now I feel like that is worth sharing. Also after my last post I received several thoughtful emails, texts and phone calls from those of you who follow my blog.  Thank you.  It means a lot and without getting all sappy, I'll leave it at that.

After we returned from Arkansas, we had two super fun things occur and I must share although they are belated.  One was the gender reveal party for our close friends and the other was having one of my college roommates / best friend + her cute BF come stay with us from Chicago -  all in the same day!! It was the perfect thing to come home to after a pretty hectic week in AR.

Nick in the background with his pink bow on in support of GIRL

Mustaches for Team Boy

So how cute is this idea?!  For the gender reveal everyone had a can of silly string and at the same time everyone sprayed his or hers to reveal the sex of Baby B!  See it play out below... 

Mama, Daddy & Big Sister Hallee

Poor Hallee Jane started crying from all the commotion but we think she is excited to have a little SISTER :) 

Our Amazing Small Group / Dear Friends (sans Ryan)

*2 little girls now, 2 little girls on the way & 2 little ones (gender unknown) due this Summer*

We say that we have the most fertile small group EVER and that in order to be part of it you must produce a child.  Kidding, kidding. :)  It has been so special to share our pregnancy adventure with these truly amazing friends!

After all the baby fun we headed down to the Pier to meet up with B & Mik.  We couldn't have asked for a prettier evening. 

I snapped this shot when we were walking up to the restaurant 

I will miss evenings like this one

Good times, great friends

After drinks at the Pier, we headed home and B had a little surprise up her sleeve... She gave me a book for the baby and then proceeded to tell me that the 9 girls I lived with my Junior & Senior years of college also had books for me / Baby.  But that wasn't all... she opens her computer and each one of my girlfriends had videotaped themselves reading the book that they are gifting to the baby.  It was just the sweetest thing.  Of course I cried but I had some good laughs too. 

I look horrible but I love B's face. Marcel the Shell - how cute!

Watching the videos from the girls

It is moments / memories like these that truly put everything into perspective.  Nick and I are so blessed to have the friendships that we do and no matter where we live those will always come with us. 

I have my Week 33 pic but at this point I think you've read and seen enough for one day so I'll just wrap it up for now.  Have a great week pals! xoxo 

Ch-ch-changes

Oh friends I just don't even know where to begin... since my last post quite a bit has happened at the Sass Household.  Here's the BIG news - Nick accepted a promotion and we are relocating to Arkansas. Yes, Arkansas! As soon as we got wind of this news and the initial shock wore off, we booked our flights to Arkansas and spent last week there house hunting, BUYING a house, checking out the area and meeting with a new doctor.  Just writing it out makes me want a nap :) 


But wait there's more - Nick's official start date is Jan. 30th (as in next week!!) and we can't forget one small detail - I'm 8 MONTHS PREGNANT! Eeeeeee! So here's the plan: we are moving to AR the second week of February, setting up the nursery, getting unpacked, taking those ever-so-important birthing / CPR / childcare classes and of course having a healthy little girl. 


So bear with me if my blogging is inconsistent over the next few weeks or if you call me and I sound like a crazy person or you end up talking to my voicemail. We are in a total time crunch.

32 Weeks! 

Baby Girl, you are 18 inches and 4 pounds. Gosh you are getting big! You are excellent travel companion and we couldn't be more thankful for your cooperation. Trust me when I say that you are better off staying inside for the time being as life on the outside is a little hectic at the present moment. We can't wait to eventually meet you but for now just hold tight, keep growing and we'll be a happy little family in Arkansas soon. 

xoxo

30 Weeks

Happy New Year to You!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday, we sure did. As I mentioned - we went home for a 9 day a celebration: Christmas, a baby shower and my sister's wedding. It was a total whirlwind of unforgettable memories with family & friends.

I want to give each event it's own glory so I'll be playing catch up over the next week so you can see all the fun. In the mean time, here is Mama Peeps at Week 30.  It was crazy to write a "3" as the first number.

Baby, you are a growing girl! You are almost 3 pounds now and over 15 inches long.  This weekend we got into baby mode and purchased a glider AND a changing table. Your Dad keeps saying after each purchase - "so we're good to go now, right?!" Ummm not quite... a still have quite a list ; )

Please excuse my attire / "play clothes" as we call them in my family, we were cleaning out the garage & putting away Christmas

Ok dear ones, I'm a sleepy Mama so sorry for the brief post. More to come in the next few days.

xoxo