Saying goodbye to an old friend....

Yesterday, Dave's dog Kayla was put to sleep. Kayla's health was getting worse, but it still isn't something you can prep for. She was such a good dog- this is hitting him so very hard. Most all of you know how much Kayla meant to him.

Even though he hasn't lived with his parents for many years, Kayla has always been "Dave's girl". She got excited at the sound of his name, and seeing him made her ever so happy. They had a special bond.

Most of you know of my fear of dogs. The first dog that helped me tackle this fear was Kayla. The first time I met her I ran away in tears -I wish I could say I was kidding!! She was so big and scary and hyper. But over the years I grew to be less scared. She was the first dog I ever really touched, first dog I ever let lick me (Ew!), and first "animal/pet" I ever ever even bonded with. It's my first experience with loss of a pet, since I'd never had one. And even though she wasn't "mine", I had a special bond with her. If it wasn't for her, we would have never gotten Rylee. And I'm so grateful for that.

I'm really sad. I have never imagined losing a pet to hurt like this. Dave was sick last night and just so sad. Please keep him in your thoughts, I know this is so tough on him. Here are just a few photos I have of Kayla to share. My favorite is the one of her and Ry all curled up.

A friend shared this poem about losing a pet, and I wanted to post it here.

"Rainbow Bridge"

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.

There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Labor & Delivery... Again

I went in for my 33 week appt this morning, and my blood pressure was very high. I've always had very low blood pressure - in fact, too low- so this one was completely unexpected. I've been extremely swollen, and this week have been sick a few nights. The doc I saw wanted to be safe, so he sent me to L&D for monitoring.

After a few hours, my BP dropped enough that I could go home. It still isn't back down to what it usually is for me, but it was out of the 'high risk' range. I have to take my BP every day now, and monitor it to make sure I am not developing Pre-eclampsia.

They said that the baby is measuring a more "normal" length now, so that my due date is likely 12/12-12/15 again :) That's nice! However, if I do develop pre-eclampsia, they would have to take me early for both the baby's and my well being.

The baby's heartrate was 154. Nice and healthy. B/c of the BP concern, I now begin my weekly appointments with the doctors, until I deliver.

It was a long week. The travel wore me down, and I was sick quite a bit. Then Dave traveled, so we've been going non-stop. Rylee and I got some bonding in though :) But, my travel is done and I'm now officially "grounded". After this week, I'm kinda glad- since I'm not sure my body could take it! Another milestone achieved.

Last night I went downtown for a friend's bday party and it was so much fun! It was great seeing everyone. But I realized those long car rides (especially in rush hour traffic) are not as much fun anymore, LOL! My poor bladder!!!

Ry has a playdate with some puppy friends tomorrow, so I'll have the camera out and get some photos of my belly then!

Babymoon & 32 weeks

Dave and I had a blast on our little Babymoon. We had 2 goals: Sleep and Relax. And we accomplished both :) It was chilly up in Lake Geneva, but the trees were changing and everything was beautiful! We both got lots of reading in, and were just able to relax and enjoy.

Here are photos of us one night:

Aside from that- things are going well. Tomorrow I'm leaving for my last trip! Philly and NJ this week. I get to take customers to the Bears/Eagles game in Philly tomorrow and then head out to NJ to see customers one last time before I can't travel any more. I'm excited b/c it is a milestone that means we're almost there! I'm also kinda sad, b/c this will be the first time in a very very long time I haven't traveled for about 5 months. It will be an adjustment! After that we dive into all of our classes and that occupies much of November.

I have "dropped" quite a bit in the last week and I can feel the baby in a totally different position. I've also been having some intense swelling and the doc seems to think all is ok, so that's good. Just getting tired much easier and gaining lots of weight. The baby is kicking non-stop, so I do believe we're going to have quite the little feisty one on our hands :)

Below are some belly photos at 32 weeks:

Our Shower....We are so blessed

Our shower was held yesterday. I'm so touched by the generosity of all of our family and friends. It was amazing and our little girl is going to be very lucky! We are so blessed to have gotten so many wonderful, adorable, necessary things! Thank you to all who came and were part of our special day with us! I can say it was very overwhelming...in a good way. I wanted to be sure to talk to everyone, and spend time with all of our guests, and really catch up- but it was very hard. So hopefully I'll get to see many of you again soon.

A big warm Thank you to Mom, Peg, Aunt Kris and Aunt Sal. They did a fantastic job- and everything was perfect. Mom, I know you were running errands to late hours of the nights last week and getting up at the crack of dawn even the day of the shower- a big thanks!! All of the hard work you all did showed, b/c it all was terrific!

If anyone had a camera and can share their photos with me that would be great! I'll update this post with any links as I get them. Saving them in Snapfish or Shutterfly makes them easy to share! Here are a few I've received so far:

Ariel's photos: Click here
Mom's photos: Click here
Photos taken with my camera: Click here

Here are a few of my favs (remember, clicking on the photo will make it larger):

Thank you all again- Dave and I are ever so grateful.
Love,

Heather, Dave and BabyWags

30 weeks! Furniture is here!

Just 10 more weeks! Awesome! I can't believe how time is flying by!

The shower is Saturday, and I'm looking forward to it. Megan and Em get here Friday!! I'm bouncing off the walls excited! It is going to be very warm out- in Oct- who'd have thought. Next week Dave and I are going on a little Babymoon to get a way for a few days. With all the travel I've been doing - it was hard to want to leave. So we are staying close by and just doing a relaxing type of vacation. Can't wait!

The furniture came last week- it looks fantastic!! I haven't been home during the day to get any photos during good daylight, but I'll post the ones I took tonight. We ended up returning all of the bedding- and just going simple. The bumper and bed skirt really didn't work since they were so busy- and with this crib, we realized we just needed simple. So we did a lavender bed skirt and pale green sheet. Perfect!

Here are some photos. Will post any shower photos I get after this weekend as well!!!

Again- please ignore the colors- the chair and sheets are coming out a "odd colored" green in these photos- b/c taken at night. They all pretty much match the walls in good light!


Here is our crib and dresser. Baby's Dream, Serenity Style:


And some random nursery shots:

28 weeks

What a crazy week! Was in Nashville last week for work, and got a chance to see Brenda. It was fun to FINALLY make it down there and she showed me the sights. Lots of fun- even for this non-country music lover. This week it's off to Phoenix and then I'm almost done with work travel. It's hard to believe I've been able to travel so much being so sick and exhausted, but my body's in a routine, and it's been hanging in there!!

This weekend was Erica's shower- and wow! It's tiring- and it wasn't even my own shower, lol! It just made for a long day, and I have a feeling that mine is going to tire me out too. Hers was lovely- and the gals did an awesome job of putting it all together- so creative! Sounds like they are finalizing the details for mine now that they have the final RSVP. It's hard to believe it's just 2 weeks away!

We got great news today that our crib and dresser have come in. So hopefully they will get delivered this week! So exciting! We hung the curtains in the nursery today (still waiting on the blind to come in- had to custom order), and here's photos where you can see the lavender and sage butterflies:


Need to meet this week about baptism classes for BabyWags/us/godparents, so that can get set up. We are also finalizing all of our childbirth/breastfeeding/infant care classes as well. Looks like Nov will be quite busy! Other than that, we've just been trying to get lots done around the house.

I'm continuing to get huger and huger... Here's the latest photos at 28 weeks:

Third Trimester- Here I come!!!

We are 27 weeks today and finally in the 3rd trimester!!! WOOHOO!!

I think to celebrate my body decided to gain another 10lbs ;) Ah well, what can ya do. In all seriousness though, I think my belly did all of a sudden get bigger this week. I'm huge!! Hard to believe that I'll only be getting bigger the next 13 weeks. It's crazy!! So I'll take more belly photos this weekend.