Growing

Hello again, readers!  After many requests, I figured it was about time to share some photos of my growing baby bump.  Baby R is now 33 weeks along, which means we (hopefully) have less than 7 weeks to go before we get to meet the little one.  So. Exciting.  I've been continuing to feel pretty great, especially with the help of a pillow at night that's about the same size as Todd.

We are moving into our house in less than 2 weeks now, and we are full on planning out the nursery, even though we haven't actually bought anything for it yet.  And this week we started our birthing classes, which will run for a few weeks.  I think Todd and I both felt pretty good at the first one since we already knew a lot of the information that was covered.  I'm sure there will be a lot to learn though as we continue, and plenty of fun videos to watch.

And now here's some pics from our last few weeks:

Todd, looking good after his 10K race.

Enjoying an elephant ear at Tulip Time.

Bachelorette party in northern Michigan with my future sister-in-law, Jamie.  They gave me juice at wine tasting.

Our friends the Catteys came to visit GR.

Outdoor dinners are the best!

On the swings with Carina.

And for the last pic of this post, our sweet Jackaroo, who is 6 years old today!  Happy Birthday, Jack! 

Signing on the Dotted Line

Ahh, we're 6 weeks in since moving back, and it is amazing how fast life can change!  I suppose these changes should be expected when hopping continents, but I we've gotten a lot done so far.  I must admit that I couldn't bear to post again until we had made more progress on our house hunt.  It just made me too nervous to talk about the fact that we had nowhere to live. But today that all changed!  Todd and I closed on a house this morning.  Hooooooraaaaayyyy.  We can't take possessions for 30 days, which is a huge bummer, but that will just make our move all the sweeter.  For now, we're living in Holland (Michigan) with Todd's parents.  Not ideal for any parties involved, but we're grateful for the hospitality.

The house is pretty much exactly what we were looking for.  The right size, the right location, doesn't need a complete overhaul, but there's still enough we can do to it to make it our own.  We'll be living in East Grand Rapids, which has a great neighborhood feel.  We are excited to be able to keep some elements of our European lifestyle there since there'll be plenty of opportunities for walking and biking to restaurants and such.  The process of getting the house was pretty crazy, since the market here has gotten really hot.  In the matter of only 1.5 hours, we had toured the house for the first time, decided on a price to offer, and signed the purchase agreement in the living room.  We even had a fun little bidding war with 3 other families, but we won it, baby!  We cannot wait to move in, my need to start nesting is killing me!

Speaking of baby business, all is going super well on the pregnancy front. I continue to feel good most days, just some slight discomforts to deal with here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary.  At the doctor's appointment today, we were again told that everything is on track - baby and mama are both growing at the right rate.  Less than 10 weeks to go before the big day!

And now, since I couldn't leave you without any photos, I'll begin with a pic of Jack at the dog park near us.

And I thought it would be fun to show some photos of a few pics I snapped at Holland's Tulip Time festival.  What would this Holland be without some tulips?

Along the parade route.

And just for fun, I snapped a photo of this sign posted on lots of doors downtown.

 

Yes, indeed, people dress up with traditional Dutch costumes and real wooden shoes.  I think those of you from Nederland would enjoy the spectacle :).