Week of the Honeydew (35, 36 weeks)

Baby Mangum is running out of room!

She is now 36 weeks and 3 days, that means only 25 days left until her due date! She is working hard on developing more fat and is taking up most of the uterus now. I can attest to that last part! She is definitely cramped, but it is fun to watch my stomach move when she flips over. At my last doctor's appointment the doctor had a hard time finding her heartbeat because she was moving so much. When we were done I had the jelly all over my belly because she tried every angle to find her heartbeat. 

35 weeks

36 weeks

Baby will be full term by the end of the week and could come any day now! So exciting! We can't wait to meet her! We also finally bought a car seat this week so we can officially take baby home when she arrives. My parents also bought us a glider which is now set up in the living room, ready for when baby needs to be rocked to sleep. We also packed the hospital bag and took it down to the car this morning, so I am feeling more prepared as the days go by. We can't wait until she arrives!

Baby Showers and Oklahoma

This past month has gone by so fast! Baby Mangum is growing right on schedule and as far as we can tell she is developing normally. This past month I was lucky enough to have 3 baby showers and I appreciate the generosity of so many friends and family members- we almost have too much baby stuff now, it's been a trick organizing everything! :) 

Cody and I were also able to drive to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving and were able to spend time with Cody's parents, his sister Mindy and her family, and his brother Jay and his family. It was quite the party! The boys got their fill of hunting, we went to the zoo, cleaned Cody's parents' storage unit and helped them pack for their move, had a baby shower, visited with each other, the boys rode horses, and of course we made some yummy food! We had a fun time and are grateful that we were able to see family.  

Work is going good- only 9 more days until I officially retire! It should be 10 days, but it snowed quite a bit yesterday (a friend who lives nearby said she measured the snow with a ruler and we had 11 inches). Since it was also pretty cold the roads were predicted to be icy so the school I work at called it a snow day and cancelled school today!

Cody's school is almost done for the semester! One more week and then a few finals and he will be done with his third semester, only one more to go! Cody's last semester doesn't start until the end of January which works out perfect because he will be able to stay home and spend time with our new baby, assuming that she comes on time. Although we wouldn't be disappointed if she came early :)

Here are some of the photo highlights from the past month:

MHA (Masters in Healthcare Administration- Cody's school program) Baby Shower

 I loved the invite welcoming our 'peanut'

Beautiful and yummy food. We had muffins, little croissants, fruit, and juice.

MHA ladies

 Our Oklahoma trip:

33 weeks-

Expectant mothers parking at the zoo

34 weeks

Mangum Ladies after the baby shower

Yes, at 5'4" I am the giant of the family

Cody said "do a funny face" and we all did the same thing. We must be family :)

Guess who had a birthday this month and is now super old?! That's right, Cody! 

Cody's new outfit and season 4 of the Mentalist- we are addicted to the show!

Matching baby dress and tie

New hair clippers

I also made a delicious cake (if I do say so myself) with a strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting, but I forgot to take a picture so you'll just have to image how beautiful and yummy it was :)

Happy birthday to my better half! I am so grateful for the past 5 years and am excited for the new adventures that are ahead of us! I love you!

Week of the Squash (31 weeks)

Hard to believe, but Baby Mangum will be here in 2 months! She is 16 inches long and weighs 3.5 pounds. Her brain is going through a period of rapid development and her arms, legs, and body are starting to fill out and look less wrinkly.

She has become quite the mover and loves to dance around right after I eat and when I lay down. Just when I think my stomach can't stretch any further, it gets a little bigger. I hope I don't rip in half! :) 

For Halloween this year we decided to invite Vanessa and Michael over for dinner in a pumpkin and pumpkin carving. Every year we make a hamburger/rice mixture that is then cooked in a pumpkin. After the pumpkin has cooked, you can scrape off pieces of the pumpkin to eat with the hamburger. Now that I am describing it, it doesn't sound so good but trust me it is! We also made bread in the shape of a mummy to go with our pumpkin. 

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Mummy Bread

After dinner we carved pumpkins while we watched 'Wait Until Dark'.

Cody and Michael hard at work

Vanessa and Katie putting on the finishing touches

Our finished pumpkins along with a baby pumpkin for Baby Mangum

Happy Halloween!

Week of the Squash (29 weeks)

So this post is a little late... Here are the updates from a few weeks ago:

Baby Mangum is now in her 3rd trimester! Her head is in proportion to the rest of her body and she is becoming sensitive to light, sound, taste, and smell.

Except for a nasty case of food poisoning, I am feeling good. I can tell that my body is a little sluggish and I get tired more easily, but it's nothing I can't handle :) 

This week was fall break at work, so I was very excited to have a 5 day weekend! A few weeks ago, one of my friends Vanessa and I spent a few hours at Joann Fabric and bought lots of material, buttons, felt, and puff paint to decorate some plain white onesies I picked up. I was so grateful for her help, I would have been in the store forever if I had to pick everything out by myself! I had been looking forward to starting my projects, but didn't find the time until this long weekend.

Newborn Onesies

0-3 Month Onesies (Valentines Day and St. Patrick's Day)

3-6 Month Onesies

Baby Skirts

Baby Hat

I had a blast decorating and can't wait to see Baby Mangum in her new outfits!

Week 2 of the Eggplant (27 weeks)

This week Baby Mangum's eye lids are starting to open and her retinas are developing. 

We got her bed in the mail this week and set it up right away! Since we will only be in Minnesota for 5-6 months after she is born and we only have a one bedroom, we decided to buy a pack and play for her to sleep in. When we move to our next mystery location we'll buy her a real bed to sleep in.

It's fun to wake up in the morning and see her crib in the corner knowing that she will be sleeping in there in 3 months!

As promised, I will now include pictures from a couple of weeks ago when my parents and brother came to visit us in St. Paul.

The crew arrived on Wednesday night and we went out to dinner at Baker's Square. Every Wednesday you get a free slice of pie with your meal and a few of us were brave enough to order the bacon pie. 

I tried some of Cody's pie. The pie was good as long as you picked the bacon off of the top.

I had to work on Thursday so Cody played tour guide for day. They visited the Stone Arch Bridge, Minnehaha Falls, and Como Park. I then joined them after I got off work and we ate at Muffuletta and walked around the Como stores. 

Stone Arch Bridge

 Minnehaha Falls- looking pretty sad with very little water

 Outside of the Como stores was a piano just off of the sidewalk. My dad played us a few tunes :)

On Friday we were all able to travel to Wisconsin to the Bass Lake Cheese Factory. Unfortunately we missed the motorcycle gang that passes through every year. Last year we just happened to go on this day and there were about 75 motorcycles parked out front. After we purchased our cheese we drove back to Minnesota and stopped in Hudson to look around and grab some ice cream. Then we went to pick apples at Afton Apple. We picked 3 1/2 bags of Cortland and Spartan apples and a few buckets of strawberries. We also went on a hayride and fed the animals at the petting zoo. Next we headed to 5-8 for a Juicy Lucy (a hamburger with cheese cooked in the middle). We finished off the night by going to see Avengers at the Riverview Theater. 

Hudson

Hudson

Afton Apple

Afton Apple

Hay Ride

Picking Apples

 

 Apples

 Petting Zoo

On Saturday we visited Downtown St. Paul. Our first stop was the Hill Mansion, then St. Paul's Cathedral, and a quick bite to eat before we went on a River Cruise. After the boat ride we found the home where F. Scott Fitzgerald was born and also the place where he wrote his first book. Ryan did some research and found out that one of the places was for sale, so we expect him to be moving here soon :) JK. We then walked up Grand Avenue and ate dinner at Cafe Latte. After dinner we headed back to our apartment and played games. 

 Our cruise staples: Popcorn and hot chocolate (not pictured)

The building where Fitzgerald wrote his first book

Sunday was a much needed day of rest! We made apple french toast and raspberry smoothies for breakfast and then headed to church. After church we drove to Woodbury and had dinner with my cousin Jen and her family.

Cody had classes on Monday, so I was the tour guide for our trip to the Mall of America. Baby Mangum was spoiled and now has a closet full of clothes :) After the mall we picked up Cody and headed to Target Field to watch the Yankees and Twins play. 

 Mall of America

 Yankees vs. Twins

Yankees vs. Twins

It was a packed vacation and we were all worn out by the end, but it was fun to spend time together exploring the Twin Cities. Next time they visit my parents and Ryan will be meeting Baby Mangum!

Week of the Eggplant (26 weeks)

It's hard to believe, but Baby Mangum is now 14 inches long and weighs 1.7 pounds! Her ears are becoming more developed and can now hear noises outside of her womb. Her lungs are developing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid. 

26 Weeks

Baby Mangum is definitely growing and I can regularly feel her kick. Cody has been patiently waiting to feel her kick and one night decided to put his ear on my belly. A few seconds later she kicked as hard as she had kicked up until that point and Cody certainly felt it! It's so nice when I get a break at work to sit down and she starts kicking. She reminds me that my job is only temporary, but we get to keep her forever. We are excited that she will be a big part of our lives very soon and we are so grateful for her!

My parents and my brother Ryan were able to visit us in Minnesota last week and we had a great time showing them around the Twin Cities and spending time together. I need to collect pictures and then I'll make a full post about it later...

Cody has been working hard applying for Fellowships for after he graduates in May. He worked his tail off and sent out 16 applications and has already had a first interview and has another planned for tomorrow. I'm so proud of him and all of the hard work he has put into his schooling and future job! I'll keep you posted on the application process!

Week of the Papaya (23 weeks)

Apparently Baby Mangum is going to be a papaya for a few weeks. This weeks the bones inside her ear are starting to grow and she can hear loud noises outside the womb. Cody better be careful what he says during the night- he only swears in his sleep and on the golf course :)

This week we headed to the Minnesota State Fair with our friends Anna and Mitch Ryan. They are fair veterans so they were able to show us around the fair grounds. The MN Fair is the largest fair in the US and has the most fried food on a stick (talk about something to be proud about :) We spent the day walking around, visiting booths, and of course eating! By the end of the day we had consumed an ear of corn, fried cheese curds (twice), chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick, a cone of cookies, 8 glasses of milk, a corn dog, a frozen apple cider pop, apple cider, and a steak and buffalo kabob. I know, we eat really healthy :) I think the cheesecake and the milk were my favorite fair foods. The milk was great because we bought a cup for a dollar and then we got free refills and it went great with our cookies! We had a great time and were a little sad that we probably won't be here to go again next year :( 

Fried Cheese Curds

Chocolate Covered Cheesecake

Apple Cider and Apple Cider Pop

Stopped by to see some of my relatives

This was also Cody's first week of school and he survived! This semester should be easier for him school wise but now he is applying for fellowships for next year so that will keep him plenty busy! 

This weekend we attended the annual MHA Fishing Trip in Brainerd, MN which is about 2.5 hours north of Minneapolis. There was a bonfire, volleyball, watching football games, playing Yahtzee, sitting by the lake, and meeting lots of new people. I wish I would have taken pictures, it was beautiful and we had a great weekend.

Week of the Papaya

 Baby Mangum is now 11 inches long and weighs 1 whole pound! She has formed eyelids, eyebrows, finger nails, and her brain in rapidly growing. I also felt her kick for the first time this week! Very exciting :)

22 Weeks

After our trip to Oklahoma, Cody and I drove back to Independence and loaded our stuff onto a trailer. We then drove to Des Moines, Iowa and stayed the night with my cousin Mark and his wife April. They were in Minneapolis last year and we were able to spend some time with them so it was fun to see them again. We got to see Mark's top secret job site and then Mark made us enchiladas for dinner. We then went to a frozen yogurt store (Cody's favorite) and filled our tummies with yogurt goodness :) We finished out the night by playing games and watching Brian Regan. Our stay was short and we wish we could have stayed longer, but the next morning we drove to St. Paul and moved into our apartment.

I went back to work this past Monday and had a whole new crew of kids to meet this year. We are waiting to see if any more new students come and then we will finalize our schedules for the year. Right now it looks like I will be working with a couple of middle school students as well as the first grade class. This should be an exciting year!

Cody enjoyed his last week of freedom and was sweet enough to clean the house :) He also got in a couple rounds of golf, a trip to Goodwill to search for treasures, and he and Michael stopped by a few estate sales but didn't buy anything. If you don't know, Cody loves to find a bargain and hopes to find hidden treasures on these outings. 

Saturday we attended the MHA BBQ and were able to meet some of the first year students. It is crazy how fast this past year has gone by! I remember being in their shoes not so long ago! After the BBQ we went to Vanessa and Michael's house to play games (Michael is in the program with Cody). Our favorite game to play is Ticket to Ride and Vanessa beat us all this time! If you haven't heard of this game, you need to look it up! 

Next up: The Minnesota State Fair on Labor Day