Our Bellies

This time I'm not the only one sporting a growing stomach...

That's right, my hubby is a proud wearer of the "Empathy Belly."


Each guy in our childbirth class this weekend had to wear the belly for 30 minutes. It consisted of a big strap secured underneath that restricted their breathing, and then came the body belly suit. It weighed about 30 lbs., had some balls in it to imitate jabbing arms/legs and was even warmed up to feel the extra heat of another person. And of course, there was a lovely jean smock for over the top. Jeremy was fond of his new boobs...and gained even more appreciation for the extra weight his prego wife is carrying.

Though the class got a little long by Saturday afternoon, it was good. Felt more comfortable with everything by the time we left, especially from the viewpoint of what to expect specifically at ISJ. The two nurses were great and made it move as fast as 2 long sessions about childbirth and newborn care possibly could. And as a sidenote, my husband actually surprised me a bit. Not that I don't already know he'll be a great dad, but he had a little more hidden knowledge that I wasn't aware of. All of our scenario cards/problems he jumped on right away and answered; and before the nurse officially showed us how to swaddle wrap the babies, he had his done and she made him show the class (a proud moment for Jeremy). All in all, he was a supportive hubby and I know he'll be great in the delivery room, too.

And now onto the real belly at 35 weeks...

Brothers, 34 Weeks and Childbirth Class

This past Sunday, Jeremy and I got some short but sweet time with my family. My older brother Jeff was in town for a couple days for work, so we all met for dinner in St. Paul Sunday evening. It's not too often that we can call all be together because of distance, but it's awesome when we do. Love my family. We were just missing my sister-in-law Bobbi and the kiddos.

This week also marks 6 weeks to go...


A different angle. And now I know why I never do this one.

Jeremy and I have our childbirth class this weekend - Friday 6 - 9pm and Saturday 9am - 4pm. They recommend doing the 6-week program, every Tuesday evening for 2 hrs. With Jer's fall harvest schedule, that wasn't happening. So we opted for the cram sesh this weekend. Not exactly excited about spending a good chunk of our weekend in a conference room, but it'll be good for us first-timers. Then Sunday is our first dose of Thanksgiving with the Wolff extended side of the family. Bring on the turkey, people!

So fly like a G6

Well, not really. I just have that song in my head right now, and this post is about vehicles. I actually get the "feeling so fly like a G6" tune in my head quite a bit being that I work at a dealership that once carried Pontiac, so we've always got a few G6s on the lot. My next marketing campaign...a rap homage to the G6.

Anyways, onto my actual vehicle situation. I've been leasing a Nissan Altima for the past 3 years and the lease is almost up. Not to mention, my miles are almost up, too. So I started looking for a vehicle earlier this fall with the guys at work, being that I'd probably do an early lease return to avoid overage on miles.

After plenty of debate on a lot of different new and preowned vehicles, we decided on a 2011 GMC Terrain. It's small SUV, so bigger than what I was used to with my Altima, which meant better for winter driving out in the country. It's AWD and has good space in it, too. These puppies have been tough for dealers to get because they've been selling as fast as dealerships are getting them in from the manufacturer. So I put my name on one of the preordered ones and it came in about 3 weeks ago. Really liked it, so it's a done deal. I must say that car shopping is not one of my favorite things, mostly because I really just don't care about vehicles all that much (and I work at a dealership, go figure). It's a big purchase so I get sweaty palms and all that good stuff when finalizing, and who really likes that? But, working at Snell has its perks...got a steal of a deal employee price, and they let me drive another car while I was waiting for the Terrain so I didn't have to put more miles on my Nissan.

Here's the new ride when it came in...feeling so fly like a Ter-rain. Yeah, doesn't really work.

And before I move on too quickly, I had to say goodbye to the Nissan this week. It got inspected and returned to the Nissan dealer, so no more Ali-T (side note, why do people name their cars? I know my roomies and I all had names for our vehicles...ladies, remember the Stratusphere?). I must say it was a really good vehicle and if I was getting a car, I'd probably go with this one again. Ali-T, you will be missed.

Baby Shower

Last Saturday, my girlfriends threw Baby Wolff a shower in Bloomington. From the food to the games to the music (no shortage of hip-hop and rap!), it was "me" to a T. Everyone was overly generous and I had such a great time hanging out with friends and family. Mine and Jeremy's little one is already so spoiled and so loved. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came. You all have no idea how much it means to me and how thankful I am for such great friends. And to the wonderful hosts Rachel, Christy, Erin and Bibs, I could go on and on and probably get a little choked up, but all I'll say for now is...you've outdone yourselves again.

Just a few of the pictures - realized as I'm uploading these that we never got a group one, so hope I get everyone included at some point!

Christy and Bibs...two of the four hostesses in front of the food masterpiece

That's right, Swedish Fish...a fav candy for sure

The incredibly delicious food...pork fajitas, various salsas, guacamole, monster cookies, cupcakes...did I say my friends know me all too well?

Part of the decor

Game #1, guess who brought which bib/onesie. Let me tell you, this was not easy...especially with my pregnancy brain. Laugh it up, everyone.

Bibs with baby Natalie (born Oct. 18 - congrats, Christi!)...and yes, that IS Bibs with a baby

Christi's other adorable kiddo, Caleb

The grandmas - Terri and my mom

Stanly!

Representing Janesville...Jess, Heather and me

Awesome diaper cake from all the Janesville girls

Another adorable little one...Marissa's daughter Charlotte

Amanda, Melissa and me

My Twin!

What shower would be complete without the Chinese String Test? All of us left with a report on how many kids we're having and if they're boys or girls. I'm supposedly having a boy, girl and boy. We'll see if the Chinese are right.

Me and my mama...love you!

Erin and Christy...the two photographers taking a break

Eagle and Tree Hugger

With Marissa

Both due December 26

Hostessess with the mostestess (hard to do in the plural form, come on) - Erin, Rach, Bibs, Christy

Typical

And for those of you who stayed for the after party of food, wine and slumber party, here's the recap of Rach's N*SYNC dance. Lots of laughs that night for sure.

Thanks again everyone!

33 Weeks

Why hello 33 weeks. Glad to see another week of pregnancy in the books. And another fruit, too. According to BabyCenter it's about the size of a pineapple (in weight) and according to The Bump it's the size of a honeydew. Both fruits that I really love, nice.

I've been dwelling on my pregnancy recently, and have realized how quickly it's gone. Despite the growth spurts, itchy tummy and extreme forgetfulness, I've had an amazing pregnancy so far (knock on wood, still 7 weeks to go) and love reminding myself that I'm housing this little babe.

And here we are at 32 weeks


33 weeks...my friend Bibs took it (a little blurry there, Bibby!)



I had another 2wk appt this morning. Doctor Larry is on vacation this week, so I got a different doc (which they recommended you see a different one or two in case your actual doctor doesn't deliver you). Doctor DeWitt was great, too, so I'm feeling pretty confident about the variety of docs ISJ has for delivery. He did an ultrasound today, and the first measurement was the head. Aaaand we still have a big-headed baby. Heartrate was 135bpm and he/she weighs 4 lbs. 13 oz. Right on track! Head is still down, so let's hope it keeps staying that way.

Also, this past weekend my friends hosted a baby shower for me. I'll post later on it, but I just have to say that it was overwhelming how much love and support Jeremy, Baby W and I have. Definitely a great feeling for first-time parents. Post and pics to follow!

Spider

This year we had a whopping one trick-or-treater for Halloween. That's one more than what we had last year, though! I understand, we live out in the country, no close neighbors, no kids right on our road and our house from the outside looks a little haunted. For real. Bummer, but we did have one very special, adorable little trick-or-treater who made my Halloween evening...

Jaxon, our nephew was one puffy, happy spider!

A little blurry but incredibly cute...

Despite a cold, he was a real trooper...

So glad Chad, Tenia and Jaxon stopped over for our first official trick-or-treater!

Forgetful Jones

Anyone remember the Sesame Street character Forgetful Jones? My parents used to call me this all the time when I was little. I used to think they did it just because it was fun to say and because I was an avid Sesame Street fan. Naive little me. Now I realize it's because I can truly be a space cadet.

Case in point. Last night I lit a candle in the kitchen and the living room after dinner. When Jeremy was putting Kenna away for the night, I thought to myself that I'd blow out the candles, put away dishes and head to bed. Well, I blew out the kitchen candle, put away dishes and went to bed. As Jeremy walked downstairs this morning to leave for work I hear him yell, "really, Anne?!" I forgot to blow out the living room candle. Terrible, I know.

Another case in point from today. I have two key fobs for my car. Because it's a push button start car, sometimes the batteries need to be replaced on the fobs. A good few months ago I went with my mom to Batteries Plus and had them both replaced. Since that day, I haven't been able to find my spare. And I swear I've searched everywhere. Now I'm coming up to the end of my lease and the inspection is tomorrow. I got a new vehicle last week, so we've just been letting my car sit a few weeks until we return it. Sunday, Jeremy and I were taking some stuff out of it and then locked it. Being that I have to drive this to the inspection tomorrow, I looked for my key fob in my purse this morning in preparation. Not there. And no back up because the spare is still MIA from a few months ago. I'm already mentally preparing for a key fob hunt tonight when I get home. Otherwise this sista isn't even going to be able to drive my car anywhere, let alone get it returned.

My hubby thinks I'm slightly nuts. I feel really scattered and frustrated. I'm hoping I can blame 80% of this forgetfulness on the baby (sorry child). Okay maybe only 50%...after all, my nickname was Forgetful Jones.