Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2010 was an absolute blast. Dave and Becky came in to town to celebrate with us, and I am just constantly amazed by my wonderful my in-laws. 

Thanksgiving morning started out with a black cloud of smoke escaping my oven as I pulled out breakfast. The sauce on my monkey bread leaked out of the pan and melted into a thick goo on the bottom of the oven. That wasn't my ideal plan for impressing the in-laws, but I'm sure it will turn in to a story for years to come. We all took turns scraping the goo off of the bottom so that we could turn the oven back on to roast the turkey.

Fortunately, we got the oven clean as a whistle, and that turkey roasted up in no time. It turned out well, thanks much to Becky who was a huge help making dinner! I couldn't have done it without her!

This picture is blurry, but I thought it was adorable. Poor Oskee is used to her sleep, and she really wore out trying to keep up with 4 adults for 4 days.

D&B also helped us pick out colors for the nursery, and so Mike has been working hard yesterday and today getting it painted! My back is out of sorts, so I've just been helping with the taping/prep, etc. He's doing a fantastic job!!

Here's a picture against the newly painted nursery wall. BBW @ 36 weeks. I didn't buy the crenshaw melon for this week because we all know that the baby is bigger than a silly melon anyway. Besides, where does one find a crenshaw melon?

I officially feel much bigger in the last few days...

 Here's another great shot of our Oskee girl. She loved licking up the turkey juice that dripped on the floor...

Today we took her to the Christmas tree farm, and she had a blast smelling everything and getting muddy. The tree is now in the house, and it smells fantastic in here!

We are so blessed and thankful for family, friends, health, and this tiny babe on the way. Mike and I are getting so excited to meet Owcy!

Until next week.... we love you all!!

BBW

I think we should change the nickname from Owcy to BBW (big baby Wade). Apparently, measurements can be deceiving because this 'little' one is actually larger than average. It weighed in at 6.5lbs in the ultrasound this morning. Praise the Lord that we have nothing to worry about. As always, the ultrasound was wonderful. Modern technology is amazing, and I can't believe my baby is still in the womb, yet I already know it has 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 kidneys, 4 heart chambers, etc. Hope you enjoy the profile pic from today. It was hard to capture as Baby was playing peek-a-boo. It kept moving it's hand in front of it's face. You can see the hand at the bottom of the picture.

Three special cheers go out to my wonderful hubby who got chains on the tires so that we could 'bear' the 2 inches of snow on the Seattle roads. Well, it was snow yesterday. Today it was ice because they didn't send out the snow plows or salt trucks until this morning...even though the snow started falling Sunday night. Oh well, now it's a snow Tuesday at home!

Cheers! Heather, Mike, Owcy/BBW, and Oskee (who LOVES the snow!)

blessings and babies

I said earlier this summer that I wanted to have many posts with this title, and today seems like a great day for that!

Church this morning was awesome. The service started out with the baptism of 7 babies and 2 of my current favorite praise and worship songs. How is a preggo supposed to make it through that without crying? Well, I didn't in case you are wondering. Waterworks McGee was at it again =)

I feel like God totally blessed me today with the passage that the sermon was about. I felt an overwhelming sense of peace that He is in control of this baby, He LOVES this baby, and He IS taking care of it.  

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". Phil 4:6-7.

May the Grace and Peace of our wonderful Lord Jesus transcend your Thanksgiving week.

Our love to all of you! XO, The Wades

"Honeydew" list

It's crunch time around the Wades.. we are counting down to only 5 weeks left before little Owcy's arrival! Our honey-do list is growing and shrinking at the same time. I suppose that is good, as we are at least getting some things accomplished! If only we didn't keep adding to it as well.... We've got the dresser/changing table in the nursery and loaded with clean newborn clothes. Mike's been working hard getting new blinds and curtains hung in the nursery, and soon we may tackle some painting. He's also currently working hard on making dinner, and it smells delicious in here. You are all welcome to come to the Wades tonight. I have got a keeper, that's for sure!

 Here's 35 weeks. Baby should be about 18 inches long and tipping the scales at 5 1/4 lbs...

We are hoping Baby is that big at least. My measurements at this week's OB appointment haven't changed since they last measured two weeks ago, so they are concerned that little Owcy isn't growing. We're scheduled for an ultrasound next Tuesday to make sure everything is ok. It is going to be so so hard for me to not peak when they are down in that 'gender revealing' area. Mike is committed to the surprise though, so I think we'll turn away again!

Re: the not growing baby.. .worst case scenario is that they have to induce me after the ultrasound if they are really concerned. So, even the worst case scenario results in a healthy baby in our arms. We'll keep you updated though!

As I get closer to delivery, I get more and more emails about the pregnancy do's and dont's, checklists, coupons, etc etc. This week I got an email about the craziest celeb baby names of the year.. aren't you glad we didn't chose any of these names:
Draco Verta (boy).. I love Harry Potter as much as the next guy, but really?
Buddy Bear Maurice Oliver (boy).. Mike Cooper says 'Don't poke the bear". Likely you shouldn't name your child anything with bear in it either..
Sundance Thomas Jennings (boy). Sounds kind of girly to me...
Beatrix Carlin Sweetin Coyle (girl), as in Potter?
Amadeus Benedict Edley Luis Becker (boy). Looks like they couldn't make a decision here.

Here's a quick Papa Cooper update: His heart procedure went well last week and he is back to work and feeling well! We are so glad! Also, we are anticipating a wonderful visit from Gaga and Papa Wade for Thanksgiving, and we're SO excited.

Thanks for your prayers and your love of Baby Wade. We appreciate you! Love, Mike, Heather, and little Owcy

parenting prep

This blog post is brought to you by insomnia, heartburn, and hunger. How do those things go together? Well, I think it's just called: the third trimester. It's good prep for what is to come, and I've been sleeping really well this week (especially for me), so I don't mind being up at 2:45 to share with you all. Both TUMS and oatmeal have also been ingested, so now I just wait for that all to kick in and re-try this nights sleep. In the mean time, I'll share with you what has been going on in the world of the Wades this week.

Another terrible  symptom that I am experiencing is the loss of my uterine tracking device. Let me explain. When I was growing up, my brothers, dad, and I would consistently lose or misplace things in the house. This was no big deal because we lived with Jill Cooper who has a fantastic 'uterine tracking device' as we called it. She always knew where everything was (even when I was trying to hide something under my bed). She's so good. Up until now, I had inherited her uterine tracking device. Praise the Lord! Apparently, my uterus is otherwise occupied because I have lost some things this week that apparently I depend on a lot... my blue tooth, my palm pilot with my medical programs (it's where I look everything up), etc. I feel so handicapped! I need this device back. So now I am on to praying to St. Anthony.. "Tony, Tony, look around, some thing's lost and must be found....."

Mike and I are slowly entering the world of parenting by caring for this little Oskee. We think it's hilarious how we negotiate who will take her out for her morning/evening walk based on our schedule for the next day. She's recently recovering from a UTI (poor pup), and so we've been discussing her excretion at length. But she is giving us (or at least me) a run for our money the last few weeks. Mike is so much more patient with her than I am (I am sure that does not shock any of you), but I am frustrated! She's eating the strangest things.. literally my homework (I swear, the dog ate it), CDs, pens, two of my textbooks this week, her plastic 'pet hair magnet/remover', 1/2 a loaf of bread (off of the tall counter..explain that one), etc. She's also taking up peeing in the house (mind you this is after the UTI was diagnosed and a week plus into her antibiotics). These recent behaviors are a stark contrast to when we first brought her home in July, so I'm confused! I'm not a huge fan of this behavior, and I am just so frustrated because I don't know how to communicate with her... hence the parenting prep. I think this is all just a tiny morsel of a taste of what is to come. So Mike is researching to remedy the 'bored' dog scenario, and I am working on my patience. If any of you dog owners have any advice, it would be appreciated!

Ok.. enough complaining. Here's a BLESSING!! Baby Wade is moving like crazy, and Mike gets to feel it all of the time. Many many times a day I see a 'nobbly bit' (foot, elbow, knee, etc) sticking out of my belly, and I love it! We are So blessed by a healthy 34 week baby.

Well.. it appears I have also lost the cord that uploads pictures from the camera to the computer. I'll look for it this weekend and try to post the 34 week picture with the cantaloupe.

Thanks for enduring this long post! Love, Heather, Mike, Owcy, and Oskee

33 weeks

Hello bloggers. Time is flying at the Wades, and all is well. We skipped week 32 because the vegetable was a jicama, and I ran out of time to go find one! I was thinking this week that you know you are tired when the 'fruit of the week' is something that doesn't require you to find a new recipe that incorporates it and/or cook it at all. Enter week 33.. we are a pineapple! Hooray. Thank you to TJs who had them on sale for $2.99, and I am an all around happy camper!

Baby now weighs a little over 4 pounds (how did that happen?) and has passed the 17-inch mark. Babycenter also notes that little Owcy is "rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look". Thank God! I bet it is quickly working on it's old man look however.. I feel like all Caucasian babies look like old men when they come out!

Last weekend we went home to STL to attend an Illinois vs Purdue football game and take a trip down memory lane with Mike. It was absolutely fabulous (no surprise there!). Stay tuned for a full post about those adventures, but for now enjoy this sneak peek. Who ever thought I would fall for a man in orange and blue?

LOVE, Mike, Heather, and Baby Wade (who has discovered my ribs this week)