31 weeks

Thank you to Grandma Prell and Aunties Erin, Hilary, and Molly for planning a wonderful baby shower in Eau Claire! Thank you also to all you came to celebrate and for all the beautiful baby gifts!!

Thank you also to Grandma and Grandpa Park, Auntie Soo, and Eddie for driving up from Illinois just for the day!!

Here are some photos from the event:

Erin at 27 weeks and Johanna at 31 weeks

With the Grandmas

All Gabe's Aunties

Darcy and me

Darcy, Connor, Johanna, and Gabe
( I have a similar photo from Darcy's shower before Connor was born!)


Krista, me, Sarah, Heidi, Jenny, and Cassie

Longtime friends

Some of the family :)

Auntie Erin made a beautiful quilt for Gabe and a matching puppy!

31 weeks

Thank you to my mom and sisters for planning a wonderful baby shower for me in Eau Claire this past weekend! Thank you also to all who attended and for all the beautiful baby gifts!

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Park, Auntie Soo, and Eddie for driving up from Illinois just for the day!!

Here are some photos from the event:

my growing belly

I thought this would be kind of fun to see my growing belly. The first photo is at 4 weeks, the second one is 15, and the last one is 30 weeks. I'm missing a few weeks because I don't have the jpegs from the photos, but you get the jist...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

30 weeks

Here's 30 weeks in Duluth:

I survived and enjoyed camping during my third trimester!!! :)

We spent a four-day weekend in Duluth--camping and enjoying the city and lake. Our favorite things included a train ride and carmel apples. It was really nice to have some time away together...sort've our "baby-moon." In baby news, Gabe is growing fast--at least I hope he is because I've gained 7 pounds in the last 2 weeks. YIKES!

Pray for us and our upcoming decisions about a place to live, childcare, and our jobs. I was feeling anxious about everything falling into place, and a few good friends have commented that it'll be fun to watch and see what God has in store. He's been faithful before, and I know He'll be faithful now.

Here are a few more photo ops from our vacation:

29 weeks

WOW! We are almost 30 weeks!!! Only two and a half months to go... time is flying by quickly!

It has been good a week...we had a nice 4th of July weekend. We finally began our baby registry at Target and Babies R Us (with lots of help from Vanessa and Rachel!! :) )...and my parents came to visit us for the 4th. Hilary returned from Australia yesterday and I got to see her for a little bit last evening. Welcome back, Hilary! :)

Gabe is super active and is responding to noise and touch! He's growing quickly!

Here I am at 29 weeks:

(check out our cat Cecelia in the background...I don't know what she is going to do once we unpack that box; it's her new favorite spot!)

28 weeks

We had a fun-filled weekend with the Park family. We spent much of our time together shopping at the Mall of America, visiting the Underwater Aquarium, and--of course--eating!

Here is our family at Olive Garden Sunday afternoon (it was a little windy :) ):

Changing the signs:
Soo and her boyfriend Eddie:
Brother and Sister :) A giant sea turtle:


In baby news, I had to go in Saturday morning for a 3 hour glucose test to test for gestational diabetes. After fasting for 12-hours, drinking a nasty "fruit punch" sugar concentrated flat drink, being stuck at the doctor's office for over 3 hours, and being poked 4 times, I was left with a hungry stomach and bruises on my arms (I have small veins).

But--Praise God--the test came back within normal levels! :)

Here I am at 28 weeks:

27 weeks

It's been a busy week full of changes! I said "goodbye" to Wells Fargo in West St. Paul and "hello" to Wells Fargo at the 3M Center in St. Paul. Bittersweet is the only word I can think of that appropriately describes the transition. I'm really enjoying my new location, and--at the same time--I miss West St. Paul more than I can say.

Friday morning, I walked into the West St. Paul breakroom and found my co-workers surrounded by food, cake, gifts, and baby decorations. They threw me a surprise baby shower!!! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful co-workers!!! Baby Gabe is almost ready with lots of baby clothes, a carseat, stroller, basinett, and other misc. baby items!!

Here are a few photos from the event:

Peter was given an extended lunch so he could come and join the fun!

With Lisa, our Assistant Manager

Just a small part of the crazy West St. Paul team:

Amy Nasir, Patricio, Maria, me, and Dorina!:)Opening my stroller and carseat travel system!

Gabriel Peter is still three months away from his due date and he already owns THREE "I Love Daddy" bibs! He loves his daddy very much!

Such sweet outfits!

Maria and I in a new Jetta! :)

27 weeks:

26 weeks

26 weeks: take 1:

We had a relaxing weekend. Peter celebrated Father's Day on Sunday and his birthday on Monday. We went to Famous Dave's to celebrate his birthday. We made the hostess and manager guess his age. First they guessed 18, then 16!! I think I'm in trouble...it's not going to be long until people start thinking that I robbed the cradle...when--in reality--I'm only 3 months older than Peter!

Everything is going well with the baby. We discovered that if we press on my belly, Gabe will push or kick back. We had so much fun playing with him on Saturday that he must've been thinking "Leave me alone! I'm trying to sleep in here!"

26 weeks, take 2:

25 (and 1/2) weeks

This is my "If I don't take a picture now, I'll completely miss 25 weeks" picture. LOL Apparently, both cats wanted in on the photo op as well. I'm still enjoying this part of pregnancy and can't wait to finally see Gabe in about 100 days. :)

It's been another long week. Last weekend, I was in Cumberland for the auction at my Grandpa's. It went well and was good to see family. The sun and fresh air tired me out.

Peter had a great time on the MS150 bike ride. He really enjoyed riding his patriotic (red, white, and blue) rented road bike. When he got home Sunday afternoon, he was pretty tired out.

Reese (our dog) had a great time visiting and playing with her friend Sonic at Crystal and Steve's house. She was tired out when she got home as well.

All this resulted in Peter and I taking a 4 hour nap Sunday afternoon and Reese sleeping for just about 2 days straight. Reese has all her energy back, but I think Peter and I are still recovering!!

24 weeks

Here I am at 24 weeks. It's been a busy week and it'll be a busy weekend for both Gabe's mom and dad. I'll be in Cumberland at my Grandpa's for his estate auction and Peter will be riding a bike all weekend (150 miles!!!) for the MS150.

As far as Park Family news this week, I found out the end of last week that I was accepted for a service manager position at the Wells Fargo in the 3M building. It's the same position I am in now, but at a different location. It's a much smaller location and I will be the only service manager there. The hours are fantastic "mommy" hours :) They are closed Saturdays, and open Monday thru Friday from 7-4:30. It's great to know that I'll be home by 5 at the latest in the evenings! Praise God!

As excited and blessed as I feel about the position, I'm having a hard time saying goodbye to my West St. Paul customers and co-workers. Pray for my transition... I have built so many wonderful relationships and pray they will continue.

Erin and Kurt found out yesterday the gender of Gabe's cousin...but I'm not sure I can spill the beans on the internet yet...stay posted... ;)

23 weeks

We spent Sunday afternoon at Grandpa's farm in Cumberland. It was good to see family...including my Grandpa's brothers and my Uncle Bob and Aunt Mary, who are officially moved to Arizona now!

This was my first time seeing Erin since I found out they are expecting! It was fun to get some sister photos :)

Erin at 18 weeks and me at 23 weeks:

Erin and Kurt find out if they are

having a boy or girl on Monday!

Gotta get Auntie Molly in a photo!

Since Auntie Hilary is currently in Australia,

we left room to photoshop her into this one! LOL

Baby Gabe is keeping busy lately...he is doing a lot of gymnastics lately and seems to think "kick-mommy-in-the-bladder" is a fun game! Peter felt him kick for the first time last night...what a precious moment. I'm amazed at how we are getting to know our son even before he is born.

Now that we know it's a boy, we've started to buy more baby clothes...we happened upon a 50 % off thrift store sale on Monday and got all this (including the coffee table--which Peter sanded and plans on staining) for...

???guess how much???

...only $8.50!

We are pretty proud of our find! :)

22 weeks

IT'S A BOY!!!

We had our ultrasound on Monday morning! We found out we are having a baby boy!!! Our boy posed for several pictures; I have to scan the rest of them soon! It was amazing to see his little head, fingers, toes, and heart beating. He was opening and closing his little fist, waving "Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" He was also putting his hand in and out of his mouth...looks like we might be having a thumb-sucker! He weighs about 1 pound, 4 ounces right now. What a little miracle!

Though not as much fun to look at as the photo above, here are some 22 week belly pics. I had fun goofing around with my sisters: