Baby T's Domain

Happy 37 weeks!  That's right...as of Monday, we were full term.  Also, we reached another big milestone this week.  Since Baby T didn't make his appearance and Bridget was able to work the full week, she shouldn't have to return to work until after Christmas!  Since reaching her goal, Bridget has been humming, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."  :)

Now, we're just waiting for this little guy's arrival.  Bridget can tell that things are happening and has had some mild contractions, but no labor yet.  We've been on high alert, but part of us can't believe that this will actually happen in the next few weeks...or days...or hours!!  We had all of our immediate family members guess which date would be Baby T's birthday.  Everyone got two guesses and yesterday was the first guessed date, which makes it feel even closer.  Bridget says that it feels like we're living in the future, because this last week of September has been a week that we've been looking forward to for a long time...well, for about eight months!

When Baby T does decide to make his appearance, we're ready, as evidenced by the pictures of his nursery below...

Many thanks to our family and friends who helped outfit Baby T's room, especially our parents, i.e., the soon-to-be grandparents!  Also, Brad deserves much praise for his skills in putting together all of the furniture and installing the video baby monitor.  We get a kick out of using the remote control to scan the room and have even threatened the dogs about putting it in their room for a day, just to see what they really do in their crates while we're at work.  Pepper informed us that that would be an invasion of privacy and he would file a lawsuit, so we haven't taken that risk yet :)

Speaking of the dogs, this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of our pups, Pepper and Penny.  They love the baby's room and we often find them rolling around on the rug and playing in there.  It will be interesting to see how they feel about the room after their baby brother arrives :)

36 weeks!

We hit the 36 week mark on Monday, which is a big deal to us as this is when our doctor told us that they wouldn't stop Baby T from coming if he decides to make his debut!  To celebrate, we had a doctor's appointment and an ultrasound.  This was the first time that we've gotten to see our little guy since, well, finding out that he's a little guy :)  It was so fun!  We first determined that he is head down and face down, so he's in prime position for delivery.  That means that every time Bridget has been rubbing her stomach and thinking that she's feeling his head that she has been patting his butt instead - ha ha!  The second thing we determined, which was the biggest surprise of all, is that he has quite a bit of hair!!  We've been wondering about this for awhile, especially since Bridget had a full head of dark hair and Brad had a little blond hair when he was born.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to determine the hair color :)  Pepper and Penny were both thrilled that their little brother will be hairy, just like them!  The ultrasound tech kept going on and on about how much hair our baby has and that we might need to schedule a haircut for when he's born.  So, it looks like Kitson will be getting another Boggess/Thoenen family member as her customer :)

The fuzzy looking stuff in the pictures below is the hair...

Next, we got to see quite a few of Baby T's body parts, including his legs, which were up near his head - flexible little dude!  Here's a picture of his foot...

We got to see that he has a full bladder and stomach, which means that he's practicing swallowing.  Also, we could see his diaphragm moving, so he's also practicing breathing.  We got to see his umbilical cord, which is not wrapped around his neck, thankfully.  Of course, we also got confirmation that he is still a boy - he was quite proud of himself!

Since he was face down, we almost didn't get to see his face, but near the end of the ultrasound, we got a good look at him.  It was amazing!  Due to the angle, it was almost like 3-D.  We could see his face smashed up against Bridget's uterus.  His little hands were near his chubby cheeks and it looked like he was blinking.  In the picture below, he's looking right at the "camera" and you can see his cheek and that his eye is closed.  Brad couldn't stop looking at this one and imagining meeting his little boy...

Also, we got an adorable profile shot - Bridget is convinced that he has Brad's nose :)

Everything checked out well.  He's measuring at 36 weeks and 2 days, so right on track, and he's estimated at 6 lbs 2 oz, which is also right on target.  Bridget isn't dilated yet, but our doctor warned us that that doesn't mean anything and he could still come any day.  So, we're on high alert for "Baby T time," as Bridget's family calls it.  In the meantime, we'll be visiting our doctor on a weekly basis, we have both a breastfeeding and CPR class coming up, and we have just a few more items to get to make sure that we're ready for our baby's arrival.  Also, we're fitting in some quality time with friends and family.  We will of course keep you updated and post some pictures of the nursery soon...

Baby T Showers...

At the end of August, Brenda and Nikki hosted a fabulous nautical-themed shower for Bridget and baby boy Thoenen.  They went all out with the decorating, thanks in part to Pinterest :)  When Bridget walked into the house, she was in awe of the attention to detail and cute decorations that were perfect considering her and Brad's love for the ocean and Baby T's nautical-themed nursery.  Here are some pictures of the amazing shower...

Seriously, we all think that Brenda should think about a career in event planning!

After some snacking and chatting, we played a few very fun and creative games sponsored by Nikki, including guessing the guest's baby pictures (a popular guess was that Brenda's baby picture was Brad's!), writing birthday cards to Baby T, giving advice to the parents-to-be, and predicting our baby boy's looks.  The last game is something that we constantly discuss and wonder about, especially with our due date quickly approaching.  We can't wait to see who this little guy looks like, be it one of us or a grandparent, aunt, or uncle!!


Bridget had a blast at the shower and was so happy to spend the afternoon with so many great friends and family members.  She was showered with gifts, and we are so grateful for all of the help stocking our little guy's room.  Here are a few pictures from the shower...

Then, last Friday, Bridget's work hosted a lunch shower for her.  It was nice to spend some time celebrating Baby T with her coworkers.  With the work shower over, it now feels like everyone is waiting for and guessing about her last day before the baby comes.  We'll just have to wait and see...

Last weekend, our friends Laurel, Terra, Carly, and Sarah threw us a fun co-ed shower at Laurel and Danny's house - we had a blast!  We were impressed by the cute and creative decorations (many of which were homemade by Carly!) and the delicious food (great BBQ by Danny!) and drinks (blue Sangria by Terra!), including the fabulous nautical-themed cake.

It was so nice to celebrate together with our friends and family!  We especially enjoyed the game organized by Terra where everyone helped us gather items to take to the hospital for delivery.  Props to everyone for their enthusiasm in bringing us items - we had some good laughs from it, especially Kyle's success due to his proximity to the expectant parents, the mad dash to give us items, the occasional flying baby item, the necessary drink for the dad-to-be from Mark, and, of course, the kiss from Julia!  Then, we opened gifts and were surprised to find that we almost finished our registry.  Here are a few pictures from the shower...

Thank you so much to our wonderful hosts, friends, and family who celebrated with us!  Also, special thanks to Marcus and Julia for making the trip across Missouri to attend :)  

Now that we have everything we need to welcome Baby T, we've spent the last few weekends packing our bags for the hospital (Bridget takes her time packing...) and getting a few leftover necessary items.  We also have been doing some laundry and putting the finishing touches on the baby's room...pictures to come.  With that done, we both feel like this could happen any minute...and now that we're past the 36-week mark, it seems like that could be the case.  We had a doctor's appointment and ultrasound today, but that's for another post.  We'll keep you updated on what the next few weeks have in store for us...