Lia's here!!!!!!!

 Welcome to the world Lia Rose Beckman!

Starting induction

Just waiting for a baby...

She's HERE!

Due Date!

December 8th is finally here but Lia is not! Maybe later?

Either way, she will be here on Wednesday! 12/12/12, I think she's holding out for a cool birthday. I'm okay with that.

Thanksgiving!

10 days and counting! I've had a busy week! Keith's 33rd birthday was November 20, Jessica flew in on November 21st, Thanksgiving on the 22nd and a long weekend of hanging out! Thanksgiving was a much needed distraction. Jessica was here for almost a week! We had a great dinner, Keith made a yummy turkey. My mom made sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn casserole and dressing. I made the Thanksgiving morning breakfast casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, gravy and the pumpkin pie. All that food for 5 of us! But, the leftovers lasted a long time and were delicious!

Keith turned 33! My old man! I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, thinking he would request something easy (in a box perhaps? Funfetti?) and he said a cheesecake. Of course! I've never made one, so I found Martha Stewart's Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake. It was a lot easier than I expected. I did have to go buy a spring-form pan. The center was a little bit gooey and the edges kind of stuck to the pan, but really, who cares? It was freaking awesome. I guess all cheesecakes are better super fresh!

We went to the Christmas tree farm with every intention of cutting down our own tree, but after we were there for 5 minutes it started snowing and it was painfully cold. We looked at all our options and picked the Fraser Fir. The branches were soft and waxy and it smelled so good. We came home and decorated it! I think it looks beautiful!

This was supposed to be her last ultrasound at 36 weeks.

Now there are no more distractions, just waiting and waiting for Lia to arrive. My doctor checked me last week and yesterday and said there are no changes. He figures Lia is nice and cozy and has no plans on evicting herself any time soon. He wants to give me one last ultrasound on Tuesday to check her weight and position again. He said he would induce me by Dec. 14 if she doesn't come before then. I'm so swollen and uncomfortable, I'll sign up for anything at this point. Maybe he's wrong and she will surprise me and show up willingly any day now. That would be great! Or maybe he can induce me on 12/12/12, that would be fun for her!  

Happy Birthday to my husband! He wouldn't wear my tiara! 

Martha Stewart's raspberry cheesecake, SO GOOD! (http://www.marthastewart.com/340227/raspberry-swirl-cheesecake)

This was our neighbor's front lawn yesterday morning.

It started snowing like crazy about 10 seconds later. 

Fraser Fir all decorated! It smells great!

Jasmine & I!

My watermelon & I!

36w1d

Lia could theoretically be here any day. I hope she hangs in there for a couple more weeks, but she'd most likely be a happy baby if born today. So, with that in mind, I did the last of the shopping. All we really needed was wipes, nail clippers, just little odds and ends that we didn't think of. 

I had bought the shelf to put the camera monitor on, but you couldn't see into the crib from that angle. Now it's awkwardly hanging next to her name. The monitor is pretty high tech, it has night vision, color video, lullabies you can play through the speaker, temperature monitoring and you can talk back and forth with the parent unit and camera. You can also remotely change the camera angle.  

A WATERMELON! I believe it. She has got to be 6 pounds, easily. I go for my last ultrasound on Tuesday and they will estimate her weight then. I can't wait to get her last picture before she's here!

All done!

WATERMELON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

34 Weeks

I'M. SO. UNCOMFORTABLE.

33w1d

Craft day! Keith hogged the television all day with boring football, so I headed out to Michael's for some crafts to work on. I had gotten these baby shoes on clearance at Babies R Us for $4 and I blinged them out! I love them! They really look better in person, they are tiny! It says they are for a baby 6-9 months but they seem a lot smaller. 

I got an idea off of Pintrest to paint the knife block. So I sanded it and painted this turquoise color...

While I was at it, I finished this Gator wreath I started a couple weeks ago. I had wrapped the circle in yarn and then forgot about it. So I picked up some letters at Michael's and pained them also! As long as it's still football season, I can still hang it on the door.

32w3d

I had a regular check-up at my doctor's office today. I asked him how far over my due date he would let me go if Lia doesn't show up by December 8th. He told me he wouldn't let me go over 41 weeks and since a week later would (12/15) fall on a Saturday, that he would induce me on December 14th (Friday). I really think she will get here on her own, but it's nice to know that no matter what, she will be here by 12-14!! Maybe she wants to be a 12/12/12 baby, who knows!?! I still get to have one more ultrasound at 36 weeks before she gets here. I'm looking forward to that!

Grandma Barbara was here for 3 weeks to visit, but left today to head back to warmer weather. Next time I see her, I'll have another person to introduce her to!

Here is this week in pictures. I'll add some of Grandma when I can get them off my mom's phone:

Louie innately knows he can't stand on my stomach anymore. He doesn't even try!

Every day these trees change so much!

Mom and Grandma brought me home a NJ shirt from the Shore Store!

How cute is this guy?

If that doesn't say true love, I don't know what does...

31w1d

9 weeks left!!!!! Single digits! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!

It's cold! The high today is 52 and the overnight low is in the low 30's! The 7-day forecast shows no high over 58 degrees. I guess it's only going to get worse from here on out! I'm scared! 

Here are a few more pictures of the baby shower gifts we got...

Debra got us this neat rainbow projector! I love it!

Keith's Grandma Carol hooked up baby Lia! The Starlight Swing is so beautiful! The Motorola baby monitor is as high tech as they come. Camera on the baby and a wireless parent unit that has color video/sound/temperature. AWESOME! Cousin Tara got us the "Sassy" play gym :)

Grandma Carol also got us Lia's Pack N Play. We set it up just to be sure all the parts were there and it took Louie 5 seconds of alone time to test it out. Ughhh! But he looks cute in it. 

Baby Shower

Last Sunday when we got home from our trip to NYC, we had a delivery of 2 huge boxes of gifts from our friends and family. Jessica organized a "Shower By Mail" baby shower for us! We are so grateful for all the beautiful gifts! 

I wish I wasn't in my pajamas, but I was super exhausted from our "BabyMoon" (see previous post). Some of the pictures came out blurry, but here are the good ones....

What a nice sister!

Full of gifts!

Christmas in September!

Our stroller base from Mr. & Mrs. Harvey

Adorable PJ's and burp cloth from Vicky

This is so awesome, a rainbow projector! I'll post a picture of it in action - From Keith's parents

Cozy swaddle sack from my Grandma Daphne

Louie is thankful too :)

Shark robe! Future photo op! Also from Grandma Daphne

King Louie (I feel guilty when I think of his impending neglect)

PJ's and threads from Heather

They know they won't be the house babies much longer!

Dr. Keith is thrilled about this thermometer

Pillow from Debra, it says, "Lia Rose"

Beautiful quilt made by Debra AKA "Nana Debra" with love :)

A fraction of the diapers in my future

I CAN'T WAIT TO USE THIS! I hope she likes being "worn"

Leia got her a kitty cat outfit :)

And of course Leia picked out a pretty tutu!

Amazon! From my Dad :)

Aunt Joni got us this beautiful teddy bear onesie. It comes with a matching hat and blanket. I've decided this is the outfit we will bring her home in. It's so soft and perfect, I just love it.

Lady Bug swaddle from Maria!

I should also mention that Keith's Grandma Carol (Lia's Great Grandma Carol) sent us a ton of gifts from our registry a week earlier. I will post some pictures of that. She got Lia got her swing, Pack N Play, baby monitor, sleep sack and muslin blankets. I don't think we could ask for much more. We are so thankful to our family and friends and busy Aunt Jessica for doing all of this for us. It means a lot and we truly appreciate it. I can't wait for Lia to enjoy it all. Only 10 more weeks! 

*It's currently 10PM on Saturday night and Keith and I just went to Babies R Us and bought some Dreft. We are currently cutting out tags and washing baby clothes. Ohhhhh what a wonderful life :)