Hello, 39 weeks

For anyone checking in, wondering if there is baby news, there's not a whole lot to report.  This baby girl is due to arrive in 6 days!  I'm so happy to have this day approaching and know that Kyle will be arriving in 3 days!  I'm feeling good but getting increasingly uncomfortable.  Luckily, I'm not swollen at all.  I keep checking my rings to make sure I can still get them off of my fingers easily.  As I was meeting with friends and running errands today, the thought has been in the back of my mind that this could be my last weekend before she's here and changing our world.  Several people at work last week were encouraging me to relax and maybe even start my maternity leave early.  Well, I did a lot of relaxing yesterday and got a bit bored.  It's very quiet around the house on my own and I don't want to spend hours and hours watching TV.  I've already knit two baby hats and I went and picked up 4 new books.  The projects that I'd like to have done, I either can't do them on my own or don't have the energy.  Over the next few days, I'd much rather be finishing up paperwork and some assessments at work than sitting around the house.  As long as I know that my mornings will be much more productive than my afternoons, I can get through the work day.  5 days of possible work seems like so few to begin with.  So, here I go into my last (maybe?) week of pregnancy and can't wait to finally meet this baby! 


In other news, today has been a very busy day.  My brother-in-law Leon had a layover at the Seattle airport, so I met up with him, other brother-in-law Joel, and soon to be sister-in-law Jessica for a very, very early breakfast.  It was great to have a chance to see him, as those opportunities are few and far between.  It is very nice to know that we'll have a longer time to visit and see the whole Korynta family when we're in MN in December for Joel and Jessica's wedding.  Then I went to the gym and swam.  I think it's probably going to be my last swim before the baby arrives but we'll see.  Then I met up with a fun group of ladies, two of whom have 1 yr. old daughters, and 4 others that are all currently pregnant with their first babies.  Of the seven of us, only one woman wasn't pregnant.  It was quite the fertility table :)  We had a great time talking and will hopefully be meeting regularly.  After that I went up to Seattle to join another group of fabulous ladies to say good-bye to a friend who is moving to Japan tomorrow morning.  It was a busy morning and a nap was needed when I got home. 

Here are the latest belly pictures:

 38 weeks

39 weeks

Ladies Weekend

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a weekend with some of my favorite ladies, whom I've known since I was about 11-ish years old.  We figured out that the first time the four of us spent time as a group was a trip to the mall in 6th grade :)  We also tried to remember the last time the four of us spent any time longer than a couple of hours all together.  There's a chance that it hasn't happened since high school.  There's no way we'll let it go that long again!  I think (hope and pray) it's going to become an annual event.  I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate having some "me" time before our bundle of joy arrives.  We lounged, we talked, we laughed, we shopped, and we ate a lot of fabulous food.  Julie, Katie, Mikaela, and I went over to Bainbridge Island and stayed at a B&B.  The island is a quick ferry ride from downtown Seattle.  It's a pretty little community that has a lot of art and local events like zucchini races :) Unfortunately, we needed to leave to come back to Seattle before being able to witness what a zucchini race really entails.  

 A fantastic bakery, which we visited twice!  I had forgotten how much I like tea lattes.  Julie is obviously very excited to order a delicious baked item :)

 Modeling our new wool caps.

 Showing my 37 week belly.  I think this is angle makes me look larger than I really am.  Of course, it could be the stripes, too :)

 Katie and I both had the amazing butternut squash ravioli.  Seriously amaaazingly good.

 After our dinner we went to a french restaurant for dessert.  Yes, everyone, we were treating ourselves very nicely this weekend!

 Breakfast was served in this dining room.  The porch outside was the location of my skype date with Kyle.  It was a little chilly but at least it wasn't raining!  If only the dining room would have been open earlier, I would have really enjoyed sitting inside by the fire.

Tacoma Shower

My mom, sister-in-law Brenda, and friend Kadee hosted a baby shower for me at my home in Tacoma.  They did such a great job decorating, preparing food, and making in day into a fun celebration.   It was especially fun for me to have people attend from all different areas of my life from family, to co-workers, friend from church, college friend, and other friends from Seattle.  I am continually amazed at the generosity people have for the anticipation of a new baby. 

I was also honored with shower at Hedden Elementary.  My co-workers have great advice and talents to share.  Watch for a banner in a future post that was painted by one of the 2nd grade teachers.  I want to hang it up when we bring our baby girl home from the hospital.  I'm excited to use the gift cards that we received to do some shopping!  I've been really holding back and not buying anything myself but now I can get the necessities and a few extra, fun things for the nursery.

In other news, I have reached the 37th week of pregnancy and am considered to be full-term.  That in itself is a relief to me.  Kyle and I tell our baby frequently to be patient, as Kyle will be home in 16 days and she needs to stay put!  I'm trying to get things organized at work and am looking forward to the end of this week, which is parent/teacher conferences.  With the students out of school, I should have quite a bit of time for paperwork and making sure I'm doing everything I can before maternity leave.  Maybe it's time to get a bag packed for the hospital, just in case!

The pictures below are from my shower:

 Brenda and her mother Kathryn getting ready for the shower.

 Posing with my 36 week belly by the food :)

 Lovely autumn decorations

My mother and me by the framed poster that she gave us for the nursery.  I've always loved this song.