For the Books

Christmas was great. We had a wonderful holiday and Pete was able to relax a bit, despite feeling the pressure to study lots for the upcoming MCAT. We spent Christmas Even and Christmas morning with Pete's family and got to participate in all the traditions. It is so fun to me because it is all new traditions that I didn't do growing up. Pete's mom makes such an effort to make all the traditions feel special and I felt so loved to be included in it all without a thought. It was wonderful!

 Christmas Eve --sorry for the TERRIBLE quality!

We then spent Christmas afternoon with my family and had fun being together although we were missing my brothers families! The nieces and nephews are so much fun to watch open presents and of course the food is always yummy! In the evening Pete tucked himself away in a corner somewhere to read a new book he got and some of us played the new Millionaire Monopoly. I haven't played that game forever and it made me remember why I never really liked it--it takes forever! But we still had fun.

Uncle Peter with Ellie (we loved playing with all our nieces and nephews!!)

Over the break Pete took a lot of time to study and worked as if he was still in school. I was so proud of his determination and motivation! That being said, he did also spend a lot of time helping me to check things off my baby list. We slowly started putting the nursery together and were able to buy a few of the big items we needed with some Christmas money!

 Pete hard at work--he has used his toolbox (an awesome wedding gift) in the last few weeks more than he has in our whole 2 years of marriage!

On the 27th, Pete's extended Sundwall family had a baby shower for our little girl! It was so fun to be together. We laughed a lot and were showered with such sweet gifts and advice!

Then that weekend we went with Pete's family to stay at the Grand America in Salt Lake. It was our little mini family vacation and we had a blast being downtown and hanging out. Again, we laughed a lot and enjoyed being with Pete's family.

After the new year, I went back to work and Pete went back to school. It felt sad to have to get back to reality, as it always does, but Pete and I were ready to get on with the crazy month ahead of us!

Pete continued to study hard and I continued to try and prepare for the baby. It is a slow process it feels like and I don't think I will ever be ready. Pete started a new semester at school, although his main focus was still getting that MCAT done.

Pete surprised me with a little birthday dinner the night before my birthday. I came home from teaching dance and he had the table all set with a table cloth and candle. He had gone to the store and bought everything needed to make a mock version of my favorite Kneaders sandwich! I was incredibly impressed by his skills and was amazed at how delicious it was! It was sweet of him. He also bought me a rose and some cute little shoes for the babe!

My actual birthday consisted of work, laundry, dishes and the like. But such is life. I got a lot of sweet texts from family and friends and I felt loved, so that is what counts I believe.

Pete FINALLY took the MCAT on January 24th and the amount of relief that is in our home now is tangible. That was such a huge thing on our list and although Pete feels anxious to find out his score, I feel like we can now focus more on the baby and really preparing for her to come.

So that is where we are at now. I am 38 weeks and 5 days along and definitely feeling it. I have felt so good throughout this pregnancy and was starting to wonder if I would ever feel that "I'm so done" feeling that everyone says they get to. Since going back to teaching dance at the beginning of January, it has been a bit of an adjustment but I was still surprised with how capable I felt with keeping up. There are good days and bad days of course, but I feel like this last Monday was the end of the good days. I am just feeling large, unable to move and pretty uncomfortable. So there--I made it, I guess.

It is a weird feeling to feel like I want to be done with pregnancy but not quite ready for the baby to be here yet. I still feel unprepared, but I don't know that that will ever change. So I guess I just need to take each day as it comes and enjoy it for what it is--baby or not, she will eventually be here and whenever that is will be soon enough.

A few pictures of the nursery...

You can see here the beautiful curtains and quilt my mom made! As well as a few other nice gifts we have been given (diaper genie, high-tech swing, and hair bows (hanging on wall))

I worked really hard at making that mobile, and I am rather pleased with how it turned out. I will try to get a better pictures of it.

Pete enjoying the rocker recliner after working hard to put things together--I tend to just sit and watch.  

Pete's aunt Bessie threw a shower for us in our old American Fork ward. It was so fun to see all our old friends again. There were some really sweet and special gifts given to us. This particular gift was for Pete from some of our dear friends. We feel so loved by our wonderful friends and family who have helped us prepare for this little girl!