2 Months and Counting

Thats right, only 2 more months until Gribble is here (and gets a real name ;)!
In the meantime I have a lot to catch you all up on.
The last time I wrote was before Thanks Giving. I must say that we are so blessed to have the family that we have. James and I hosted my mom, sisters, and grandpa as well as his dad, Deb, and girls. Things went really well, it was the first co-family event since the wedding. Everybody pitched in and we all had fun. I have to say that with everything going on for my mom and sisters I am extremel thankful that they/ we were able to have a good holiday!
The end of the semester went really well, one of my teachers was so impressed with a paper that I wrote he wanted to submit it for an award! I appreciatively declined, there was a lot of drama with a professor last semester and seeing as how I won't technically be a student anymore by the time of the award announcement I feel like it would probably end up being more of a beaurocratic hassle than I have time fore, never the less I will take the compliment :) It was nice that this last semester was so easy and stress free. Being pregnant did not get in the way and my class load was light enough that I am happy to have ended my Undergraduate career on a good note. I actually graduate tomorrow, which is a wierd thought. Of course, I am happy but it's strange to think that I wo't have class in the spring or subsequent semesters...what will I do with myself??? HAVE A BABY... and then probably go get my MA.
Back to the baby (and how busy we have been)... My mom threw us a shower a couple of weekends ago. It went great and I think everyone had a great time. It was so nice to be surrounded by family and friends. I have to mention how fantastic my little sisters are. They halped clean, cook, decorate etc Hailey and Brittanni decorated the front of my moms house like an oak tree from the 100 Acre Wood! And Rainbow, Hailey's mom/ my mom's freind, made me a delicious red velevet cake and decorated it herself. (pics to come- mom has them...)
Last weekend James and I had our "Labor and Delivery" class at Kaiser. I have to say that I was a little disappointed with it, maybe it's because I am a planner and have researched/ read a lot about delivery, drugs, options, standards etc. but I felt like I really didn't learn anything new. And niether did James. I will say that I thought the "practice" contractions were helpful. James and I would not have taken the time to "practice" labor positions and coping. The person leading the class handed out a stack of index cards with positions or coping mechanisms (feet massage, breathing techniques, etc) and then timed out 2 contractions worth of time with the rest in between for us to see how long a 60 second contraction was and for the husbands to get feedback on how helpful they were. I think it is a little bit silly to give feedback on how James handled a pretend contraction but sitting and thinking "is this really how long 60 seconds is" was good and it gave me the opportunity to find what might work to make the time go by faster. All in all I was happy to have taken the class even if it is just re-assurance that I am as prepared as a first timer can be :)
So that brings us up to speed. Gribble has been moving a lot but the doc didn't say if there was any indication about baby's position. I go back in about 3 weeks to be measured again and hopefully by then someone will give me useful information. Last night Gribble had hiccups for a long time, I think baby has had them before but only for a couple of minutes. James is really enjoying how strong the movements are because now he can always feel them whereas before he couldn't always tell if it was the baby or something else. He is also reading to my tummy more often or stopping to talk to Gribble through out the day. It is SO CUTE. He is going to be a really great dad.

I just have to say again, I feel very blessed to have my friends and family. There is so much going on in everyone's lives but it is nice to be surrounded by so many wonderful people who care so much!

Merry Christmas,
Love you