The Nursery Is Almost Ready...

We bought the crib from my cousin and his wife, we got a great deal on the changing table from a second hand store (you'd never know it was second hand...it looks untouched and brand new), the chair (which is comfy and rocks) belonged to the Mr.'s parents and is about as old as he is, the shelves came from Lowes, the mirror was a wedding gift from my youngest brother, I painted the three sheep paintings, and the many sheep/stuffed animals we have been collecting ourselves or have received as gifts.


The changing table is all stocked and ready to go for the first week or two. Everything has been cleaned and put in its place. The only thing missing is the beautiful hand made cradle and quilt from the Shep Srs. We wait with great anticipation to see them both.

38 Weeks and Counting Down

It could be any day now. At my most recent appointment I was dilated to 3 cm and my doctor said that we could have a baby within the next week. Holy cow, it is becoming more and more real everyday (not that it wasn't real from the first moment we knew about LB, but you know what I mean right?)!

Our Family Shower

In my lack of sleep and "babybrain," I forgot my camera for this shower, so I don't currently have any pictures at the shower. My lovely sister-in-law, Adrie, took pictures for me, but I don't have them yet.

Anyway, my fabulous, generous, wonderful mom and sister-in-law Adrie threw me this shower on March 7th. My family was there and some of my mom's friends (all people I knew also) were there too. Everything was decorated so cute with ducks, frogs, babies, and baby toys. We had three different soups to choose from for eating along with salad and chicken salad sandwiches. Then there were cookies, cheesecake, and cake for desert. And then...oh boy...the presents...everyone was so generous! We could hardly believe and were so grateful for everything we got. Here are some pictures of my card loaded with gifts!



HOLY COW...RIGHT?!!!

LB at 36 Weeks

I got to see baby Caleb one more time before he decides to grace us with his presence. The doctor needed to make sure that he was no longer in the breech position!! Everyone was happy to know that he did in fact make the flip!!



These ultrasound pictures are a little tough to figure out. The one on the right is a face shot and the one on the left is a profile shot. I'll let you figure the rest out. :)

35 Weeks

Here we are at 35 weeks. On this particular day we had our birthing class. Much to my dismay I did not feel any more prepared for Caleb's arrival than I did before we went. In fact, I became more nervous. I was all ready to take the less pain drugs, and after hearing more about them and seeing them administered I am now second guessing myself. At this point in time I am leaning towards no thanks/we will see when we get there. I can do it without them...so many women before did it, my mom did it, and so can I. It was just tough going from one "extreme" to another. More nervous or not, however, we are still more excited than anything else!!!

Our Trip to Traverse City

In early February we decided to take a short weekend trip to Traverse City. We went with our friend's Darvin and Jessi. We planned it as our little Babymoon...whatever that is...apparently you're supposed to take one, so we did.

On Saturday the boys went snowboarding and us girls scrapbooked in the hotel. Later that night we went out for a nice dinner and then went swimming. The water was nice and it felt so good to swim. The Mr. jokingly said as I was floating on my back that I looked like a whale. I don't know about you, but I think no one should say such a thing even if he is joking. :)

On Sunday before we headed for home we stopped to check out the frozen Traverse Bay. It was such a beautiful day! It was a fairly warm day, but still cold too. There were lots of people on the ice and we all thought they were crazy. There was no ice in some places and big cracks in others. Also, if you stood and listened closely you could hear the ice cracking, but what do we out-of-towners know about the Traverse Bay ice?!


Overall it was a great little trip and we had tons of fun with our friends!!

My First Baby Shower

On January 19th my good friend and her mom threw me a fantastic baby shower. We played some fun and silly shower games, ate some really good food, and then of course we ate cake!! Amber and her mom did a great job and all of my friends were so generous with their gifts. I felt so special. I do have to say though that my favorite gift was from Mama Shep and my sister-in-laws...her name is Lulu.



Meet Lulu...the Shepherd family nursery must. We love her!!

It's a...BOY!!!

Well, our little one is a boy!! He will be named Caleb Stephen!! Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?!! We have an ultrasound picture of his manhood, but we didn't feel it was appropriate to post it online. :) These pictures are LB (Caleb) at 28 weeks.

Christmas 2008

We started our Christmas celebrating early with the Shep Srs. and the Prasads. We travelled to the big city for a long weekend away. We had a blast celebrating Christmas and seeing Peter enjoy his first Christmas.



It was also great watching our active little nephew Peter play, walk, and explore his house.



On Christmas Eve we spent time with the VanSingels. We ate a yummy dinner, opened presents, and spent time together. My brother Brian fell asleep on us again this year...he's a snowplower and this year's Christmas like last year's came with a lot of snow.



Then it was on the Christmas day when the Mr. and I celebrated our last Christmas as just the two of us. The Mr., as usual, did a really good job picking out presents for me...he always worries so much I won't like what he gets me, but I always like everything.