Lovely Day

Saturday was a lovely day.  I was showered with more love, fun, affection and gifts for our little one than I deserve or expected.

Special thanks to Katie, Nicole and Jessica for throwing, what I think was, the most beautiful baby shower I have ever been to.  And thanks to GOD for stopping the rain showers for the baby shower.  Below are some great shots of the day and decor!

Retroactive Blog

I have been slacking with my posts.  I'm blaming it on a LONG week at work and the fact that the last thing I have wanted to do lately is sit and type.  I've been more interested in getting things done around the house--but more on my "nesting" projects in a future blog.

I wanted to post some retroactive pics from my baby shower last week.  My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and future sister-in-law threw me a fun and adorable party last weekend.  The theme was "what little boy's are made of" so there were lots of bugs and frogs.  Fortunately, there were no puppy dog tails in sight.  The cake was so unique--a baby's bum!

Thanks for a fun shower and for all the love and gifts that our family showered upon me and Baby K!
 

Hanky Panky

At 32 weeks I've gained 22 lbs.  Not bad...many of my pre-pregnancy clothes still fit.  However, only a handful of my pre-pregancy undies still fit.  In fact, at this point, only one brand will do.  Thank you, Hanky Panky, for creating the perfect blend of style and comfort.  But at this point--thank you mostly for the comfort.

Mommy Dearest.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.  But mostly, I'm giving a big shout out to my mom.  She pretty much is the best.  Mostly, because she puts up with me and all my quirks and loves me more than any other woman on the planet.  Love you Mommy!

For the second year, we celebrated Mother's Day at our house with both sides of the family.  We had a yummy BBQ after church and had a great time.  And for the second year, the boys beat the girls in Cranium....well, there's always next year.  And next year, Baby K will be crawling all around:)  Looking forward to the addition.

Happy Mother's Day Lois, Mary and Debbie....and soon to be moms, Hannah and Sarah!

Webcams so they can Skype with Baby K.

Matt's brother Jim and his fiance, Mel.

Mom showing off her Charade skills.

And though we celebrated moms today, I can't forget about my fabulous dad!

"Ready, Set, Deliver" Class #1

So I still haven't rented Baby Mama yet, but I will this week. I wonder if her lamaze class was anything like mine...probably not.
Less than ten weeks to go in this pregnancy and for the next five Mondays, Matt and I will be attending a "Ready, Set, Deliver" birthing class at our hospital. Tonight was the first class. We sat in a semi-circle, kind of how I imagine an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting looks, with about 15 other couples. Except instead of saying "Hi, my name is Hannah and I am an alcoholic," I said "Hi my name is Hannah, this is my husband Matt, and we are due July 5th."

Summary of the night: Matt almost fell asleep from boredom--until they put on a Bill Cosby sketch which woke him up for a few laughs (I'll bet he won't be falling asleep, or laughing, when they start showing the real-life birth videos). And I almost fell asleep too...except in my case it was utter relaxation instead of boredom.

The instructor had the women practice different positions to relax and focus on V E R Y S L O W breathing. At first, breathing that slow was difficult for me. I am a fast paced person and my lungs have historically followed suit, but it is incredible the difference it makes when you concentrate on nothing but breathing slow. Oh, and did I mention that while I was working hard breathing, Matt was massaging my back, neck and hands. I could get used to that! Needless to say, if we don't take away anything but the massage from the next four classes, it will be worth the $90 dollar class fee.

Bring on week two and another massage!

Yosemite Weekend

We took a Kratz family weekend trip to Yosemite and had a great time hiking and exploring through the park.  Yosemite is one of the landscapes that never gets old.  In fact, I think that it is more stunning each time I visit.  Day one was spent in Yosemite Valley and day two in Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy, which was a first for me.  Hetch Hetchy rivals the Valley in beauty, but was so quiet and less travelled in comparison.

Since I'm pregnant, we decided to forgo Half Dome (and because hiking Half Dome ONCE in this lifetime is enough for me) and settled for a meager 15-16 miles of other scenic hikes.  Our level of intensity grew with each hike.  Day one was Lower Yosemite Falls (appx 2 miles) and Vernal Falls (appx  4 miles).  Day two was Wapama Falls (appx 9 miles).  All in all, I was pretty proud of myself for hanging in there.   I only suffered from a few Braxton Hicks contractions and wasn't sore at all today!

We stayed at the Evergreen Lodge and would recommend it to anyone looking for a upscale, woodsy retreat.  The rooms are brand new, 400 sq. ft, duplex condos with a fireplace, couch and a cute deck overlooking the woods.  Plus, the shampoos and lotions smelled scrumptious.  The grounds were impeccable with lots of activities for the kids (ping pong, bingo, rec room) and adults (I played a couple rounds of Bingo and ate my fair share of s'mores).   The tavern looked like it had been there for 100 years and was so charming.

Here are some pictures from the trip.  I am now at 29 weeks and there is no mistaking my belly!

Not so bad...

Baby K and I had our Gestational Diabetes screen today and it wasn't as horrifying as I have heard from other women.  I expected the drink to be intolerable--and, don't get me wrong, IT WAS NOT GOOD.  But I had a nostalgic moment when drinking it. 

Growing up, my dad was always in charge of securing orange flavored drink for our soccer teams.  Saturday after Saturday, year after year we would make a stop at McDonald's on our way to the soccer field.  My dad would fill up the large plastic jug with water, ice and orange mix...It was the half-time beverage of choice for the "Ladybugs" soccer team.  It's funny the things you remember.  I have no idea who was on my team or if we were any good, but I can remember our uniforms (black and red) and our game time snacks.  I guess it should have been evident back then that I wasn't going to be a star athlete:)

I do wonder if Baby K will be a star athlete, or a guitar genious or a rocket scientist.  I'll be content with happy and safe and healthy, but I am excited to see the little dreams and passions that God has already started seeding in his heart.  It's my job to help those dreams and passions grow and I hope I am up for the task!