Counting Down the Days!

We can hardly believe that instead of months or weeks left until Mills arrived, we can now count down the days! 

It has been an exciting few weeks since our last blog post.  The first thing that probably happened after that were the amazing baby showers thrown for us!  Nana Peggy, with the help of her family, did a Dr. Suess themed shower that was so wonderful!  Dr. Suess cupcakes, lots of Dr. Suess books and characters, blue and red balloons, delicious food and a life-sized Cat in the Hat were some of the features.  Take a look at some of the pictures below.

Friends and family from Jarrett’s side of the family and the state were in attendance, as well and Jillian’s Mom and sister Jennifer.  We received so many wonderful things for Baby Mills – we were so blessed by everyone’s generosity!  It was quite a feat to get everything in the car – and in a way to allow for more gifts from the shower to follow at Jillian’s Mom’s house!  Luckily Jarrett remembered a compartment below the “floor” in the car, so lots of things fit there! 

The next day it was on to Grandma Sharon’s home in New Albany, Indiana.  The theme was baby boy blue, and there were so many adorable little items all around!  Grandma Sharon had a sign made for the shower, got an adorable multi-colored polka dot cake, had blue candies of every kind, and a lovely spread of food.  Jillian’s family and friends were in attendance, and Mommy and Daddy were once again blessed with all of the wonderful gifts for Baby Mills!  Not all of the items fit in the car, but luckily they will be coming when Mills arrives as the family caravans to Pittsburgh to meet him!

On the way back from the showers, a great find – an adorable rug of blue gingham and red to match the room!  Pottery Barn Kids Outlet is the best – we highly recommend it! 

After returning to Pittsburgh the focus has been getting everything settled before Baby Mills arrives.  All of the clothes have now been washed and put away, and Mommy and Daddy finally located a white curtain rod (a little sweet-talking at the Home Depot, and we even got it cut to the size we needed!) and a blue valance that match perfectly.  Uncle Jay has completed the cutouts for the signs that Auntie Jen will be painting quotes on – it’s all coming together!  We’ve also had fun getting in things like the bouncey seat and putting those together.

Jill's colleagues at PNC gave her a surprise baby shower a few weeks after the family showers.  This lunch time shower was a complete feast of Jill's favorites.  They even invited Jarrett to attend as an added surprise.  Jill has some of the best colleagues ever.

A couple of weeks ago, at the doctor’s office, the doctor decided that a place above Mills’s home should be checked out – a bump that was painful at times – so Mommy and Daddy got the chance to see Mills again!  He’s getting quite big, so it’s a little hard to see him with the ultrasound, but we did get to see that Mills is growing very well, and got to see hands and feet, the spine and Mills moving around like crazy!  It’s a party in there!  We got to bring home a DVD of the whole thing and some pictures, which Mills will get to check out when he’s older!

Speaking of it being a party, the little kicks have gone to rolling movements, and, just as the What to Expect app describes, Mills is practicing moving from one side to the other!  Mills has been a little annoyed with another development, though – Mommy has had a couple of Braxton Hicks contractions, and Mills doesn’t seem to like those too much!  Luckily if Mommy takes it easy those don’t happen too much.

Mommy has definitely slowed down in general – Mills is becoming quite a load to carry around, so Mommy’s walking has gotten very slow!  On a trip to the mall a couple of weeks ago Daddy was pretty surprised at how slowly Mommy was walking – and that the marathon shopper was more than done after an hour and a half!  All of that will change very soon when Baby Mills arrives – Mommy, Daddy, family and friends are getting very excited for his arrival!