Baby O at 34 weeks...

Baby O is now over 4 pounds! The kicks and jabs are getting stronger these days. Baby O has discovered how to kick in my ribs this past week. Every so often I'll feel a good one that makes me say, "Ouch!" :-) It is a lot of fun to feel- even the ones that hurt a bit. I have something called pubis symphysis disfunction which causes pretty nasty pain if I'm on my feet too long so I have to take a day off subbing here and there to rest but overall things are going very well. We are thrilled and very thankful for Baby O's progress and we are getting more and more excited to meet our little one in about 6 weeks!
Below is the latest progress on Baby O's growth starting with the earliest pics.
Here I was at 14 weeks (I think that's right, I should have written it down).

17 weeks...

22 weeks... (Baby O definitely had a growth spurt!)

26 weeks...

28 weeks...

30 weeks...

34 weeks...

Baby O Showers!

While we were in town I also had two baby showers!! The first one was thrown by my mom, grandma, and aunts. They did a beautiful job decorating and making a fun, special evening. It was so great to see so many familiar and loved one's faces.


Here are the fabulous hosts!

We played a baby trivia game and learned something incredible. The question was: What is the most number of children one woman has ever given birth to? Take a guess. (The answer is at the bottom.)
Here I am admiring a beautiful hand-made quilt.

I don't remember why this duck made me laugh so hard, but it must have been a good joke.

Mari, Mom and me having some fun with Baby O.

Two of my old teaching colleagues and friends.

The answer to the trivia questions......69!! Can you believe that?!
It was a wonderful evening where I felt showered with love and support. Thank you to the wonderful hosts for a lovely evening!
I had a second shower thrown by my friend, Laura, and my sisters. It was a very special time with friends and family.

We played the game where you have to cut off a piece of ribbon to guess how big I am around. Apparently, my sister, Jayne, thinks I am a bit bigger that I actually am.


Group shot (Hannah was taking the picture- Thanks Hannah Banana!)


A big thank you to the hosts for throwing a wonderful shower. I loved every minute of it- Baby O sure is loved!

Our Post-Christmas Christmas

Zach and I were able to have a nice visit in January to celebrate Christmas with our families and visit with friends. It was WONDERFUL! We celebrated Christmas with the Mallekoote side at Mom and Dad Mallekoote's house.
It was a zoo, mind you a very fun zoo, with the 8 grand kids opening gifts.

Here Zach is playing "Peek-a-Boo" with Matthew.

"I see you!"

Grandma and Matthew

Grandpa and Rachel

Here Dad is relaxing while the kids take a dinner break from the festivities.

We also celebrated my parent's 40th anniversary! We made them a scrapbook and other gifts to celebrate this grand occasion!


The next day we had the privilege and joy of witnessing Dad and Tracy's profession of faith as well as Tracy, Cal, and Hannah's baptism!! What a beautiful celebration it was. After the service we had a reception with family and friends.


You've got to have the goofy picture too...

Then we were off to celebrate Christmas with Dad, Tracy, Cal and Hannah. We talked, played games, and went for a walk all while enjoying the day together.
Hannah opening her gift...

Cal with his gift...


Zach really liked his Swedish hat.

We celebrated Christmas with Mom O later in the week. Unfortunately my camera battery died that day so I don't have any pictures. But we had a lovely time visiting with Grandpa and Grandma, opening gifts, eating delicious burgers (Thanks Mom!) and playing games together.
The rest of our time was spent relaxing and getting together with family and good friends. Below is a picture of Colton, my good friend, Heidi's, little guy. He's getting so big!

Anne giving some love to Baby O.

Dinner at Branns with family.

Dinner at Kobe Grill with Seth and Andrea.

We took Cal and Hannah out of school for a special lunch at Culvers one afternoon.

All in all it was a wonderful visit! We feel so blessed to have such loving and warm families to share this special time of year with.

Preggo Update: 30 weeks and counting...

Hokey Smokes- we are in week 30...that means only 10 more weeks until we are at the long awaited 40! At times I feel like I've been pregnant forever and at other times I want time to hurry up so we can meet our little BO. I am doing my best to enjoy this pre-baby time. I have gotten into the typical nesting phase lately. I love to organize so it's actually been pretty fun! The pregnancy book I read each week says to take lots of baths and naps so I figure I better heed that advice, and often :-) This Christmas break I've been hard at work on my next grad class. I'm trying to work ahead so that when BO comes I have a few weeks to take off from class.
Zach has been working on remodelling our garage into a working man cave so he can do house projects year round. He has been making awesome progress. (I'll post pictures when he's all finished.)
Below is the latest progress on Baby O's growth starting with the earliest pics.
Here I was at 14 weeks (I think that's right, I should have written it down).

17 weeks...

22 weeks... (Baby O definitely had a growth spurt!)

26 weeks...

28 weeks...

30 weeks...

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a wonderful, joyful Christmas celebrating the gift of our Savior!
We haven't gotten any snow over here so it didn't feel very Christmasy but it was still a very nice day. We had a pretty typical Sunday over here. Zach preached in the morning and the children's choir I lead sang in the service (which was so sweet). There's nothing like watching little 6 year olds belt out songs for Jesus. :-)
We spent the afternoon at a friends house. We enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner followed by playing Apples to Apples. We came home and were able to chat with some of our family and hear about their days which was fun. After night church we came home and opened our gifts (we each got the other a variety of our favorite candy). It was fun opening our candy gifts by the glow of the tree and enjoying a quiet evening together. We both were commenting on how this will be our last Christmas just the two of us...it's exciting to imagine that next year there will be three stockings hung on our mantel with care.
Sorry I don't have any pictures but I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas. We love and miss you!

Pregger Update: 26 weeks...

It's hard to believe that we are at week 26 already. Time is just flying by and Baby O is getting bigger and bigger! Baby O is about 2 pounds right now and is roughly 14 inches long. I am noticing myself grunting a bit more when I try to get up off a chair or when I'm putting on socks. I'm feeling a lot of kicks and jabs lately which is so much fun. BO especially gets active after I eat. Zach and I will often just stare at my belly for a while after a meal to try and catch BO displaying his/her soccer skills for us.
Below is Baby O's progression so far.
Here I was at 14 weeks (I think that's right, I should have written it down).

17 weeks...

22 weeks... (Baby O definitely had a growth spurt!)

26 weeks...

Wowzers!

Cute Story: This week I was subbing in a first grade classroom. I noticed a little girl staring at my belly for quite a while. I could tell her wheels were spinning as she was trying to figure out why it is so big. Finally, she tapped me on the leg, looked up at me and said timidly, "Mrs. O, I think you're eating too much." I then explained that there is a baby in my belly. She seemed relieved and spent the rest of the day trying to put her ear on my belly and telling me she could hear the baby giggling. :-)

Give Thanks!

We have so many reasons to give thanks for the blessings we enjoy each day. I love Thanksgiving and spending time with family and friends and investing in the relationships we are so thankful for! We were able to be in GR for the Holiday and enjoyed a wonderful weekend visiting those we love. We spent Wednesday evening with Mom O and that side of the fam. On Thursday, after a wonderful service at Westend, we headed to Mom and Dad Mallekoote's house for a feast- look at that beauty of a bird (way to go Mom!)

Here we are about to partake in the wonderful feast. (We missed you Dave K and Hutts!)

After a delicious meal and some rest we all went for a walk to a playground to play with the kids.


Zach and Rachel swinging together.

We ended the evening by playing a marathon two game stretch of Go to the Head of the Class (my favorite!) with Mom and Dad- what a hoot!
The next day we spent with Dad, Tracy and family. We hung out, gave each other foot rubs, and did a little shopping. Zach and Hannah spent some quality brother sister time together shopping at Meijers.

For dinner we all went out for pizza. (Side Note: Anyone living in Grand Rapids looking for excellent pizza, I highly recommend Salvatores on Bridge Street.)

The weekend flew by and before we knew it we were on our way home. Thank you for a wonderful weekend. We are so thankful to have wonderful family and friends to spend this special Holiday with!