Surprise!

Today our co-workers from both the high school and the middle school threw us a little surprise baby shower. (Little did they know that I had already caught wind of this.) They gave us a very generous gift and a priceless scrapbook full of tidbits of wisdom and advice. We are so lucky to have such a supportive group of people surrounding us. We can't wait for them all to meet Spike. I am sure they will get a kick out of watching the two of us try to be parents! :)

Oops...I've been a little sidetracked...

I meant to get back on here two weeks ago after the last ultrasound, but things have been a little hectic around here with the end of the school year, the end of Joel's track season (in which he has 2 kids going to state finals!!), the end of my graduate classes and the beginning of my agency internship. Oh yeah...and we are trying to prepare our house for Spike! I realized that I haven't been on here for a while so I thought I had better update everyone. Up until now, this blog has been all about Spike and waiting for him. As life rolls on, this blog will begin to document all parts of our life as a family. There is lots going on right now for your reading enjoyment.

I got to go to another ultrasound with "J" two weeks ago. The measurements indicated that Spike is a big boy. He is approximately 1 lb bigger than the typical baby this far along. But that is okay. Everything looks good. We were able to schedule the c-section as well. As long as everything goes as planned and Spike does not show up early, he is scheduled to arrive on June 18th.

So we continue to wait patiently (or at least as patiently as possible in this type of situation). In the mean time some really fun things have happened.

• My friend Amy J found out that she is pregnant. She has had a rough road to get here and I am so thrilled for her and her hubby, Chris. So exciting!!
• My friend, Ginger and her husband Rob are also expecting a baby. They found out today that it is a boy! They are naming him Kegan. We are pumped that Spike will have a buddy to play with around the corner. (And 4 roads away.) We also realized that they could even be going to the same school and in the same classroom. Crazy that we can even think that far ahead.
• My life-long friend, Sally Anne called me on Sunday to tell me that she got engaged!! I am beyond excited for her. I haven't been able to see her yet but I can't wait to give her a huge hug! (If you are driving by Lansing on Sunday and you see two ladies jumping around in the Applebees parking lot...that will be us. I can't wait to have dinner with her, Tim and her daughter, McKenna. Such fun!
• I have my last graduate class this weekend. I will be in class all Friday night and all day Saturday. YAHOO!!! Just have to finish that really big paper and my internships.
• I officially start my agency internship on Tuesday by co-facilitating a group for people within the transgender population. I am sure that I will learn a lot. I hope that I can also help the group by being there.
• Joel is taking 2 kids to Track State Finals this weekend. It is so great that they made it this far and we just hope that they power through and do well this weekend.

Life is good right now...if we could just get out of school for the summer and meet Spike it would be perfect.

Busy, busy, busy

The past two weeks have been pretty busy in the Stapleton house. In addition to the chaos of our every day life of work, coaching and grad classes, we have been busy getting ready for "Spike". And check it out...I found a t-shirt with Baby Stape's nickname on it!!

Our brother-in-law, Jason, was super nice by helping us out. Jason volunteered to climb up into our attic, cut a hole in the nursery ceiling and install a ceiling fan! I am so excited to finally have a ceiling fan in that extra room. In addition to that, he helped put in a new light in our bathroom and helped Joel haul some furniture downstairs. Thank you, Jason!!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about the classes Joel and I signed up for. Last week we went to the CPR class and became certified in CPR. We are now card carrying trained CPR-ers. Scary to think about ever having to use it, but I am so glad that I am prepared just in case.

Last night, Joel had a track meet so I went to the baby care class on my own. There was so much information presented in this course. Learned all about feeding, changing, immunizing, bathing, SIDS, colic, umbilical cords, circumcision and so much more! (Plus we got a lot of fun free stuff...bottles, pacifiers, diapers, coupons...fun!) From this I decided that I am not sure how well I will cope with the umbilical cord stump...totally grosses me out. Everyone I talked to today said that when it is your baby, it is no big deal...I am not sure that I believe them.

I get to go with "J" again to the doctor tomorrow. She is going to have another ultrasound so I get to see Spike again! Yahoo!! The doctor's appointments are now every two weeks...we are getting closer!!

Somebody asked me today if I was getting excited for Spike to be born. That is a tricky question. Of course I am excited, but I am really more excited to get past the awkwardness/legalities that come along with the adoption process and be able to begin our life as a family....now that is exciting!! We won't have to wait too much longer!