Reading & Riding Shower

Three of my wonderful friends at work threw us a baby shower on Aug 27 … a Reading & Riding shower (isn't Brandi clever) … where the ladies brought their favorite books for Weston and contributed towards his car seat!

The hostesses: Ofelia, Brandi, Me & Shirley (no we didn't coordinate on purpose)

Here is the group in the Family Room at the church … I love my job for many reasons … the ladies in this room are at the top of that list of reasons!

Tiffany's commentary was definitely a highlight of the shower!

Practicing for Weston :)

I just couldn't get over how beautifully this was wrapped … with tissue paper … mad skills Kari!

I got some wonderful books (like Corduroy) … and it was so fun hearing the stories of why people loved the books they chose.
See … told you they are fun! Pretty sure Haley deserved this ;)
Brandi is due 5 weeks before me … its been so fun going through all of this together … aka, learning from her every step of the way. Can't wait for Atticus & Weston to be buddies.Ofelia and I are the Communications Team at Grace… I love working with her!
They had these adorable baby socks hung up on a clothesline and people put their car seat contribution inside … so cute!
Thanks ladies … we feel so loved!

31 Week Update

Just wanted to post a quick update. I have several posts coming soon with fun pictures from our first two baby showers and my first time seeing my little sister dance as a Showstopper … so stay tuned for those.

We had a doctor's appointment this morning. Everything seems to be going well! We got to hear the heartbeat again … which she said sounds great. My tummy is measuring 32 weeks (we are 31 weeks) but this is consistent with all of our measurements since week 19. She says it doesn't mean anything in particular, just glad that its consistent. She educated us on pain management options for labor and we made an another appointment for 2 weeks out.

We'll take short and sweet any day if it means all is well in Weston world!

Rude Awakening

Tim almost didn't make it out of the house alive on Thursday.

He was shaving … getting ready for work … and I awoke SCREAMING & CRYING … with the absolute worst Charlie-horse in the history of the world in my calf. No lie. Thankfully he realized what was happening before I did and safely discarded the razor before coming to my aid.

It lasted for what felt like half an hour … and today … three full days later, it is still sore. I read recently that leg cramps are a common side effect of pregnancy. Weird!! I'm not sure why exactly, but it has definitely been true for me over the past couple of months. I take a bath most nights to get my legs to relax so I can fall asleep … and then have to be very careful not to stretch in the mornings to avoid the painful Charlie-horses. Hopefully the trauma from this past week will help me remember this for the next 2.5 months.

Other than this odd side-effect, the pregnancy is going pretty well! Weston has become more active and you no longer have to just feel his presence … sometimes you can see it from across the room! Which is all very fun and another reminder that he'll be here so soon! We can't wait to meet him, but are perfectly happy for him to stay where he is until mid-November … so we can all (him included) finish preparing for his grand entrance!

Still in Shock

It was a normal Thursday at work … came in, got situated, plugged in my computer, checked e-mail, sent a file to the printer and headed down to the 2nd floor to do a test print about 10 minutes before a bi-monthly meeting at 11:30. Had a great meeting, had some great help getting a tedious project knocked out in about 15 minutes … feeling very content and peaceful despite the crazy busy-ness going on at work getting ready for the fall. I make plans to grab lunch with a co-worker, run upstairs to grab my purse and …

MY LAPTOP IS GONE!!!

So my first thought is that someone is playing a joke on me … I work with lots of fun people and this is totally possible … but a little more serious than someone messing with my blinds or turning pictures over. So I head over to the most likely of suspects and quickly realized that this was no joke. We called everyone we work with to make sure someone hadn't borrowed it or something. Nope.

I was pretty much in shock … and honestly, I'm still shocked. I work on the 3rd and top floor of the office building, people were around, and it was the middle of the day. Others had much more clarity of thought and checked the parking lot, etc. I mean … what do you do in a situation like this? We called the police and they actually sent an officer out to take fingerprints from my desk and the cables that had to be disconnected from the computer before someone could take it. Haven't heard anything yet, its highly unlikely … but Matt Henke is living out his detective dreams and canvasing Craigslist. So, I guess all hope is not lost, but I'm not holding my breath.

Which means that over the past week or so, I've had to come to terms with this loss. Now, the computer does belong to the church, so technically I didn't lose anything … but I've decided that I would have rather had my car stolen. For real. It feels like a total violation. If you were to ask me what I would grab if my house was on fire … besides my husband and cat … it would be this computer. I spend most of my days working on it and its the greatest computer I've ever had. This MacBook Pro and I understood each other. I may not be the most organized/clean person in the world … but my computer was … with all the little preferences set just the way I like them. Sigh. It still makes me very sad.

Fortunately, I was able to get a new MacBook Pro this past Tuesday and am back in business. And while this new computer is a little faster with a bit more memory and is a nice clean slate … and I am very grateful … but it doesn't quite numb the sting of loss. I last backed up most of my work stuff about a month ago … but there are a few projects that I lost my original files for … which is a major bummer. I also lost all of our recent pictures … some of which I plan to get back from my sisters … but I realized today that we lost all of the pictures from Tim's discovery flight where he got to fly a little Cessna plane (with the help of a licensed pilot) … take-off and landing too! I took lots of pictures from the backseat … I meant to blog about it, but it never happened. Guess that's a lesson in procrastination.

Anyway … its still shocking and has caused lots of heartache. I know its just a machine … but it doesn't feel like that. So do me a favor and GO BACK-UP YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW!!

Goodbye my friend! May your new owner appreciate you (and all your beautiful fonts) as much as I did.

26 Weeks: No News is Good News!

We had our 26 week check-up yesterday (Monday) morning and all is well with Mr. Weston! His heartbeat is strong and he is still measuring big. He measured 27 weeks yesterday, but that has been pretty consistent since our official sonogram. So, we're thinking he'll either be early (which could be a fun birthday present for me!) or be big … I'm voting for early :o)

I was also tested for Gestational Diabetes yesterday … had to drink the super sweet fruit punch and then have my blood drawn an hour later. The doctor said they would definitely be in touch that day if anything was not as it should be and that if we didn't hear from them, then all was well. And I didn't hear from them … so no Gestational Diabetes for me :o) Woo-hoo! My doctor wasn't anticipating that I would have it since I am still 2 lbs under my starting weight (thanks to the months of being sick everyday) … but it runs in my family, so I wasn't so sure. But thankfully we don't have to worry about it! Phew!

I know I said at the beginning that I would try to post a belly picture weekly … obviously that hasn't happened :( but here you can see that he has definitely grown since 19 weeks.

He started moving around about 6 weeks ago, but in the last couple of weeks, it has definitely increased! He even moved my book the other day as I was resting it on my belly while reading. Its so neat to know that he is there and doing well! He moves so often now, its a constant reminder that I am not alone and a small glimpse into what it will be like when he gets here! So exciting :o)

Overdue

So … apparently, I'm not a natural with the blogging. I have the best of intentions, but perhaps the expectations are too high. So, I'm trying to bring those back down into a more realistic range so that posts can happen more often. I do still hope to post some of our adventures from July … but have given up on things being in chronological order as they would never actually make it up. I am at least trying to be timely with posts about Weston … So, please bear with me as we continue to get acquainted with the blog world. ~ Danielle

We have a name!

After many lists and much consideration … we have chosen a name for our little guy …

Weston Scott Kuykendall!

His first name, Weston, is one that we both really like, but doesn't have a particular meaning … neither of us know a Weston, so to us, its a name all his own. It's not common, but not particularly odd either. It's a strong name and comes with many possibilities for nicknames: West, Wes, Dub … so that's fun!

His middle name, Scott, he shares with his daddy!

It's so fun to be able to call him by his name already :o) … needless to say, we are so looking forward to meeting him and getting to know his personality!