Christmas in IN, More Baby Showers, and 36 Weeks

Warning: long post, lots of pics

Matt and I drove home to my parents house in Indiana on the 18th of December - we made really great time considering someone in the car had a few extra potty breaks to take (hint: it wasn't Roscoe or Matt). The most memorable part of the evening...the trucker climbing out of his truck in southern Indiana who took one look at my belly and said "Guess we're having a Christmas baby, aren't we?!?". The only response I could muster was "We hope not!", when in reality I was thinking to myself "Wow, I must look enormous". Of course my sweet favorite attempted to reassure me...it worked...sort of.

We spent our time in Indiana sleeping in, eating home cooked breakfast (thanks Daddy for all the bacon...Nash's first 'sound' may be very similar to an oink!), playing with Roscoe in the snow, spending time with my family and spoiling my sweet nieces. It's easiest to break it down by day...so here goes:

Saturday, 19th:

Couldn't wait to get my hands on my sweet M's. We totally crashed Tyler's parents' house to love on the twins. Rick and Terri - thanks for letting us interrupt! We didn't stay long, but it was enough to hold me over! Mom and I went to Muncie to get some last minute shopping in and that evening Katy and Clint came over and Daddy cooked ribs - mmm.

Mya and Macy

Sunday, 20th:
We all went to church where the kids did a skit and some testimony for the service. We spent most of the morning in awe of the gigantic Christmas tree that was in the sanctuary. I can't describe how big it was and I don't have a picture, but it was enough of an "event" to get it in the church that someone recorded the feat and made a DVD. After church, my sweet sisters threw me a baby shower in Bluffton for friends and family who live near there. It was a great time (and great pizza!) and I loved getting to catch up with everyone who was able to join: Jessi (and M's), Katy, mom, Aunt Karen, Jenny, Kelly Kober, Donna, Sarah, and Madison. I don't have any pics from my camera from this shower, but I'll get some from my sisters and post them as soon as I do! Sunday evening, mom and dad watched the girls while the 6 of us (me, Matt, Jess, Ty, Katy, Clint) went to Granite City in Fort Wayne for dinner and drinks. No craziness considering some had to work the next day, but it was so nice to get to spend time with my favorite girls in the world and their boys - something I wish I could do more of!

Monday, 21st:
M duty! Matt and I got up (to the smell of bacon frying) and drove to Jessi and Ty's to hang out with the babies for a bit until they had their 12 week well baby checkup. I helped Jessi with the girls at the Dr's office while Matt headed home. The babies already weigh close to 11 pounds each! After the appointment, we stopped in OB to see mom and she put me on the monitors for a non stress test and to watch my blood pressure. My BP wasn't great, but not awful - so nurse mom prescribed more rest on my left side. I headed back to Jessi's to wait until Katy was off of work so we could look at a few houses she was interested in and Matt played racquetball with Tyler.

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday:
More of the same...loving on M's, home cooked breakfast, playing with Roscoe dog. Matt had the thrilling experience of coyote hunting with my daddy and we were able to catch up with Krista and Ian and the rest of the Kober clan (less Patrick) on Wednesday afternoon.

Macy Cakes and her goofy faces...love 'em

Mya (aka Ms. Frannie) looking innocent

Roscoe dog playing frisbee in the snow

Friday, 25th:
Christmas dinner was at my parents house with the whole crew and way too much yummy food - an 18 lb ham and a 14 lb turkey was plenty for 14 of us! We exchanged gifts with the extended family and then exchanged gifts with immediate family after everyone had cleared out.

Saturday, 26th:
We packed up the car and drove south to Bloomington to spend the next few days with my mom's extended family, but not until after a visit from the McMillans and Reiffs. I got to see all my girls (just not all at the same time) and was so excited to get to see Kelly and her cute preggy belly! After arriving in Bloomington, we spent the evening catching up with Grandma Harshman on her birthday, having pizza from the Pizzeria on Kirkwood, and letting Roscoe get used to a new environment.

Sunday, 27th:
Mom and Grandma were up bright and early prepping food for dinner while my sisters were prepping for another baby shower! They're so sweet! Instead of having my mom's family drive up from Bloomington for the previous shower they broke it down into two smaller showers and both of them were great. I can absolutely not think of another single item that little Nash will need when he/she makes an appearance! After the shower, a late lunch was served and I am 100% positive I went over my carb allowance with all the dumplings and desserts. Ooops! Totally worth it though! The evening was spent watching my little cousins play with Roscoe and playing cards with the "big kids". We then rented the Hangover...I'm sure Nash did not appreciate it - I laughed so hard I had contractions all night!

Katy, me, Jessi - my sisters and shower hostesses!

Brendan and Jordan - two on one tug of war

Grandma and Mom - thank God for dumplings and dumpling makers!

me, Macy, Mya, Matt

36 week belly pic in the snow - brr!

my sweet M's in the "all I want for Christmas is my auntie" outfits,
courtesy of their favorite Auntie Amy! ;)
Macy on the left, Mya on the right, Nash in the middle

Monday, 28th:
The drive back to Memphis went pretty well after sleeping in and packing up the car (not an easy task!). Although we did look for a DQ for over 3 hours, all was well once my oreo/peppermint Blizzard was in hand! We arrived back in Memphis around 9:15, just in time to see the end of the Hoosier game where we lost Maurice Creek to a fractured kneecap for the rest of the season. Bummer. The baby Hoosiers won the game, and it was off to bed for us...nothing is as great as reacquainting yourself with your own bed after an extended time away.

It was great to spend the time in Indiana, but bittersweet to be away from the Murphy/Koch crew in Pennsylvania as well. I know we'll always be missing the "other side" whenever we're in the opposite state and that it is just impossible to be in two separate places at once - but it doesn't make it any easier!

We hope all of our family and friends had a Merry Christmas and a great time with loved ones as we did this year!