Baby Girl Tostenrude - due April 20th, 2012!

Today, we give thanks for many things. First and foremost, we are thankful for the newest addition to our family - a baby girl who is due to join our family mid-April!

I'm so very thankful that we have family and friends to spend this day with. Thanksgiving is a perfect day to spend in stretchy maternity pants – now we are off to feed our bodies with delicious food and our souls with the love of our family. I hope everyone has a lovely day of Thanks!

Week 37. Only 3 weeks left to go!

You wouldn't believe how fast Stella is growing. I'm not miserable like some women seem to be at the end of their pregnancy, but I have found that there are a good number of things that I cannot do no matter how hard I try. Such things include but are not limited to: running up the stairs, cleaning all three bathrooms in one day, getting up from any seated or laying position using my abdominal muscles, standing or walking for more than an hour... and I'm sure there are a few more.

For now, I will continue to be thankful for having Nick here to help roll me off the couch and take care of the dirty work at the house :)

Nick and I are both getting really excited for baby to arrive. Almost everything is ready... except Pepe... he might not ever be ready for an addition to the family!

49 days left to go!*

*Approximately ; )

I am 33 weeks pregnant. That means we have 7 weeks left to go! We are both getting very excited for Stella's arrival. We have everything that we can imagine that we might need for her once she arrives. Our birthing classes are going very well, too! Nick is the only husband who has read all of the suggested husband/coach books that our birthing teacher has recommended. We are definitely getting well prepared.

Here are some of the pregnancy photos that my good friend (Chandra Bickler) took for us. I was 28-29 weeks during the photo shoot, so you can just imagine my belly a tad bigger and that's how I look now.

The approximate due date is July 28th, but our midwife has informed us that most first babies are over due, so we are going to expect her the first week of August, so as not to be disappointed when July 28th rolls by with no excitement.

On a different topic, Nick's Iron Man is Sunday, June 21st and we are both very excited for it. I'm excited to go on another vacation and Nick is excited to get the race under way. I think it will be a lot of fun for him... Hard work, but fun. If anyone is interested in watching the race, let me know!

Stella's Shower at Ann's house

Marlane's friends went above and beyond what any expecting mother could imagine with the baby shower that they threw for me on May 9th, 2009. The four (matching apron-clad) ladies who put this amazing shower together were Ann, Edith, Rosie and Jill. I was told that Marlane has the same apron, but wasn't allowed to wear it because she wasn't involved in the planning/execution of the shower :)

The food was amazing—and from what I was told—so were the mimosas! We played a few games of "Guess the most popular names from the 1800's" while sitting outside in the sunshine and then went inside to peek at all of the wonderful gifts that the ladies and our guests picked out for Stella. I feel truly spoiled to have had such an amazing group of friends who put this all together for me. Mostly, I'm excited for the little bambina to arrive so she can make good use of all of the amazing gifts that we received!

Baby Stella @ 27 weeks

I have grown quite a bit since the last time we took a picture. This was taken in Hawaii where being pregnant is pretty enjoyable because you don't have to wear many clothes :) I'm looking forward to the baby shower in Portland next weekend and seeing all my friends. I will be getting some professional pregnancy photos taken and I look forward to sharing those, too!

Relaxing in Hawaii

With the upcoming arrival of baby Stella, Nick and I decided to take one last vacation... just the two of us. We went to visit our friends Hector and Annie on the big island of Hawaii. We snorkeled, surfed, laid on the beach, visited some lava fields and generally just relaxed and enjoyed having free time alone with each other. We didn't want to come home. We loved it so much, we are actually considering making a move to the big island!

26 weeks and counting

Little bambina Stellita chiquita weighs almost 2 pounds now. She is movin' and groovin' most of the day, especially when I am doing yoga. I think she might be trying to do the poses along with me!

I feel great. Nick and I are spending a lot of time outside working in the garden while the chickens wander around and Pepe sleeps. I can't wait until the veggie garden starts producing some food!

23 weeks and counting

I know it's amazing... first we move to SLC, then we get married, now we are starting a family. It just seems so right to do all those things in this order now that we live in Mormonville!

Really, the most exciting part of our lives right now is the upcoming addition to the family. I am 23 weeks along (pregnancy lasts 40 weeks for all of you that have yet to read "What to Expect When You're Expecting"...) and I feel great. I have more energy than normal and I am beginning to actually look pregnant, instead of just chubby.

Oh, and IT'S A GIRL! We will name her Stella Kimberly Tostenrude and she is expected to arrive around July 28th, 2009 — but the midwife told us to expect her the first week in August so as not to be disappointed when she doesn't arrive by the 28th. Here is a picture of her little face.