Couples Photo Shoot

Our friend Kathleen came over to our house and took a few pictures for us. These are me at 38 1/2 weeks pregnant:

The Nursery of Ellie Grace

We are very happy and settled into our new home. Multiple times I day, I turn to Michael and just say, "I really like our house," or, "this little home will just be perfect for bringing Ellie home to."

We are really happy here and are so thankful for the way God provided this place for us. We'll try to post a few pictures of the whole place soon, but for now, here are some pictures of Ellie's room. The landlord told us we could paint the walls if we wanted to, but the colors were basically what we were thinking, so we just left them as they were.

I knew I wanted purple and brown in the room, but that's as far as I had thought through. I had also pictured her name up on the wall. I bought different purple scrapbook papers and put them on wooden letters.







Next are a couple pictures of the room. Michael bought a dresser we are refinishing and that will be the changing table as well. The other corner of the room (not pictured) has our new Pack 'N Play, which has a changing station on it. The quilt on the crib was made by one of Michael's co-workers at MCC.





We can't wait to welcome Ellie Grace to her new room and home!

Baby Girl Chapman AKA...

A month to go

Less than 5 weeks until our due date:


This week I had my 35-week appointment, and now I will begin going to the doctor every week until the baby comes. It's surreal to have the next five weeks of appointments already scheduled, all the way up to our due date!

I've had a hard time differentiating between the baby kicking and contractions. During my appointment the nurse practitioner was measuring me, and suddenly said, "Oh! You're having a contraction right now." I was able to finally figure out the difference, mostly. I still have times when I'm not really sure, but since there's no pain, just a bit of pressure, there's nothing to worry about.

I've continued to gain tons of weight each week. I'm tired of feeling frustrated by it and have decided to just stop worrying about it. I've far surpassed the "recommended" weight gain for my pre-birth BMI, but oh well. I don't feel like I've used the pregnancy as an excuse to go crazy and eat irrationally. I know I haven't been nearly as active as I'd hoped to be. I guess I'll just have to work hard once the baby is here. Looking forward to some P90X, whenever I can start working out again!

We have to be out of our apartment next Sunday. Hopefully we have a house to move into!

35 Weeks

Five weeks doesn't feel like very much time. That's about a month. Wow. On the one hand, I'm anxious to meet our little girl and wish time would fast forward. On the other hand, I think through all the things we have left to do, (and the intimidating process of going into labor) and I pray she doesn't show up anytime soon!

This weekend we had some more car trouble to deal with. We are working hard to find a house because we have less than two weeks until we have to be moved out. We have a number of prospects, but nothing is set yet. Also, Michael is going to be out of town for three days this weekend...we're praying especially that Baby Chapman doesn't decide to make an appearance then. I am trying to think through all the loose ends I need to wrap up at work over the next couple of weeks. We have quite a few major baby items we still need to purchase. We need to pack a bag for the hospital, find a pediatrician, make some decisions about immunizations, finish reading "On Becoming Baby Wise," pack our entire apartment...the list goes on and on.

I'm beginning to sleep much less comfortably which means I feel sleep deprived these days, but I just see it as practice for all the sleepless nights in our near future.

We are both so excited and can't wait to meet our baby in a few weeks. We are so thankful and so blessed by this gift from God. It's been a long journey, and we are so thrilled that we are about to become parents. I can't imagine a better father than Michael...I can't wait to see him be a dad.

34 weeks

We've felt very blessed to make some really great friends in the 12 months that we've lived here in Fresno. A couple weeks ago a good friend from church hosted a couple's baby shower for us. It was fun to have all the couples we've met in our young marrieds group at church, as well as some other couples we've met in Fresno all together in one place. We felt loved and "showered" with a lot of adorable clothes, as well as a lot of things that we need. We're finally feeling like some of those necessary non-clothing items are being crossed off our list! Here's me on the way to the shower, at 32 1/2 weeks. We meant to take pictures at the shower, but forgot.



Last night the sweet women in the Women's Bible Study group at my church held a shower for me. It was a fun night with the ladies, and once again we are feeling so blessed by the gifts and the love and support from our church family. Here's what I looked like last night. I really can't believe how much bigger I seem in less than two weeks!



Tonight we went to our second childbirth class. We weren't going to have a tour of the hospital until the fourth class, but the teacher decided to take us over there tonight. I was excited to see it. It's definitely helping me to visualize the birthing center, the room, the hospital, the layout, etc. It's also been good to talk through some breathing techniques, and to just be comforted in knowing that I have a lot of options as far as bringing in an exercise ball to sit on, or the flexibility to do squats and walk around if I so choose. I'd like to deliver as naturally as possible, but am not going to put that pressure on myself either. My preference is NOT to be induced, and if I end up needing some kind of drug, I definitely don't want the full numbing epidural.

Another 34-week picture (today).



My doctor has mentioned a few times that most women stop working around 36 weeks. Well, that's less than two weeks from now! I plan to work later than that, but just knowing that deadline is so near makes me realize I need to at least start making arrangements for when I'm not at work. Time is ticking!

Moving, Again

(This is me at 32 weeks)


We are in the middle of our 33rd week, which means we have just over six weeks until our due date. Time is flying! My job has been crazy, but now that one-week of training 75 staff is completed and school has started, my work is hopefully going to slow down.

We started our 6-week childbirth class last week. It definitely makes it feel a bit more real.

After a lot of debating over the last few months, we've decided to move 35 minutes to Reedley, where my job is, and where one of my Michael's offices is. He can work mostly from there, so it ends up being a much better commute for both of us. Reedley is a small, cute town, but it's 35 minutes from Fresno, and we hesitate to move and feel like we're "starting all over" again. We know it's not really starting over, as we will still get to see a lot of our Fresno friends, it will just take a bit more effort. Regardless, we feel at peace about the decision.

For the first time in our marriage we've had to make a decision that affects us as a family, and not just the two of us as a couple. Moving to Reedley means a lot less money on gas, but more importantly, a lot less time in the car with a brand new baby. It means we can save money, and our work time can be a bit more flexible. This also means we won't need nearly as much childcare, if any. We're hoping to make it work so one of us is always home with the baby. That's really the end goal here.

We put in our 30 day notice at our apartment complex, so at this point we have about 3 weeks to find a place in Reedley, pack, and move! We know it's a little crazy with how close we are to our due date, but we're trusting it will all work out. I'm excited to find a rental house and get the baby's room all set up. The nesting instinct has kicked in and I don't have an outlet for it right now!