"Funny" baby

Ok so Yellowstone pictures are still coming, I promise. Suffice it to say (for now) that we had an awesome vacation and I have just been too lazy to go through photos and update. But I will...
Anyway, last Friday we had our 36 week appointment (see above belly photo). and at said appointment we discovered that our little girl thinks she is pretty clever or funny or both... take your pick. Either way we found out that she is footling breech. What exactly is that, you might ask? Well at this stage a baby is supposed to be head down. That is good and normal and safe. Frank breech (the most common) is when the baby is bum down (meaning the head is right under the ribs). Footling breech is when the baby is feet first... meaning our baby is pretty much standing straight up and down inside of me, with her head pressed right under my ribs and her feet in my pelvis (see photo). Anyway, so what does this all mean? Well, our doctor let us think things over during the weekend and on Monday we came back for our 37 week appointment (yes she is still breech) to decide what we want to do. The options? Try to turn her or just schedule a c-section. She can't be born the way she is because footling breech babies come out feet first... and that means that the umbilical cord almost always comes out first, too, which is BAD. So, after asking lots of questions we decided to forgo trying to turn her. Our reasoning: The odds were against her turning - the way she is positioned and this being my first pregnancy (i.e. my uterus isn't super stretchy since it hasn't done this before) and my having an anterior placenta. So instead of risking having an emergency c-section, we have scheduled a normal c-section for our baby's birth date. So unless I start going into labor early (hopefully not!) our baby girl will be born around 8 a.m. on September 28 (at our 39 weeks, 2 days mark). That is 2 weeks from yesterday! Needless to say we are super excited to meet this little one and are SO glad to live in a day and age where our "funny" baby can be born safely!

One Month...

Today is September 3rd... which means it is just one month until our baby's due date. The past few weeks I have just been amazed at how close we are to having our little girl. Are we ready?!?! Baby item-wise I know we are not, but that will be rectified in about a week (my baby shower is next Saturday and then we can finally begin buying baby things that we don't get but need/want). Anyway, we are both super excited (and nervous!) to be parents and I think we are just going to be counting the weeks/days for our little one to arrive. Luckily there are lots of things happening this month to keep us busy. For instance: this weekend we are visiting my best friend who works in West Yellowstone, Montana. Next weekend is my baby shower. September 18 is my parents' house party - their house is 100 years old this year. September 25 is my birthday. Mix in doctor's appointments and more baby shopping, Arek's school and work schedules... and I think/hope September (and however much of October she chooses to stay inside) will pass by quickly. Anyway, this is mostly just my rambling thoughts... next week I promise to post something with pictures, which is almost certainly to be of our Yellowstone trip!

Ugly Cupcakes

The other day I asked Arek what treat he was in the mood for and he said cupcakes. Well, it had been a while since we last made cupcakes (or a cake, for that matter) so we quickly whipped up batter for cherry chip cupcakes (they sound weird... but they are not cherry at all; they actually taste like almond extract which reminds me of my favorite childhood candy: divinity... yum!) and put them in the oven to bake. Anyway, for some reason or another the cupcakes mushroomed when they cooked. And when I frosted them... well, you can see for yourself that it didn't turn out pretty. Honestly, I think these are the ugliest-looking cupcakes I have ever made in my life. Good thing looks have very little to do with taste! Regardless of their homely appearance, we are still enjoying eating them! I have learned a valuable lesson, though: next time I make cupcakes that have huge mushroom tops I am definitely going to use a icing bag and just squirt out frosting on top instead of trying to spread it with a knife.

Newest Craft Project

It has been a while since I last did a craft project (since I finished my quilt) but I have been thinking for a long time about what I wanted to make. I knew that I wanted it to be something for our baby but exactly what. Here was my dilema: 1) my mom has made a cute cross-stitch picture that will have the baby's name & birth date whenever she is born, and 2) Arek's mom is making our little one a beautiful quilt. So... what else is there for me to make? Well, I decided to whip out my dusty crochet hook and try my hand at making our little girl a blanket for her baby blessing. We are going to be able to use the baby blessing dress that my mom used for me and all my sisters, but I thought making my baby her very own blessing blanket would be sweet.

Anyway, here is what it will look like when it is completed (hopefully) except in white because, well, it's for her blessing:
And here is how I am progressing... nearly half the rows are completed, then I get to do the border!And I know I am about a week and a half late in posting this, but here is me at 32 weeks! I know to YOU I may not look huge (that's what everyone tells me), but it is so exciting to me and Arek how big our baby and I are getting! :)

Bingham Copper Mine

Last weekend I got off work at three and Arek and I looked at each other and asked, "What should we do this afternoon?" Our answer: drive down Bingham with my dad and two younger sisters and visit the Copper Mine. Turns out, for being "just" a big hole it was pretty cool. We watched two videos about the mine and how they make copper and learned a ton! And for a souviner we bought ourselves a postcard (we buy one for every place we visit) and a copper Christmas tree ornament. Here's some of the sites:
The mine itself. Holy cow, it is a big hole! I still find it fascinating that it can be seen from outer space! Also, the entire town that my grandma was born in is now somewhere in the middle of where the hole is
Kat and I in front of one of the trucks they use for hauling the dirt. It's looks pretty small to me...
Me and Arek in front of an actual-sized tire from one of the trucks in the picture above. The tire itself is 12.5 feet and weighs over 10,000 lbs! And the truck... it's as tall as a two-story building! Wowzers...Arek trying to "steal" the copper sheet on display... it's 99.99% pure copper. Me and my seestors by the official mine plack. It was a really fun day trip!

Baby Shopping... Finally

So on Tuesday we went shopping for our baby. We do this all the time but this trip we actually BOUGHT something. Amazing, I know, especially for me. I have a hard time buckling down and making buying decisions, especially ones I think are important and/or expensive. So we have officially bought our SECOND item for our little one. At almost 32 weeks, I figure that isn't too bad... :) Anyway, what did we buy?...

A stroller and car seat! Hurray! Yes, it is green and brown... we figured that green was a more gender-neutral color than blue or pink and since we plan on having more than just this one baby... Anyway, buying this has got me giddy with excitement about this baby. I mean, I have always been excited, but we actually have something for her now! (the only other thing we've bought is a one-sie that Arek fell in love with) Of course, there will be lots more to follow, but hey, we've still got 8 weeks (more or less)!

Foutz Family Reunion

Last week we were able to go on vacation to Bear Lake with my mom's extended family. It was a glorious 2 days away from work, just relaxing and playing with family. Here's a little of what we did:

the HUGE cabin we all stayed in... it slept all 30 of us! And it had a GORgeous view of the lakeMy family on the balcony of the cabin just before leaving. Don't we all look great? :)My Uncle James took us on a long drive up bumpy dirt roads to Bloomington Lake, just a few miles into Idaho. It was gorgeous! All the boys (and a few of the girls) did the rope-swing into the lake. It was fun to watch (and to have an excuse NOT to jump... because, honestly, rope swings scare me)Arek and Rachel playing on the beach... they are such good buddies (not that you can tell by this photo!)

Playing at the beach at Bear Lake. The water was WARM (well... for Bear Lake). Unfortunately, this is about as wet as I got... we didn't think the baby would like how cold the lake water typically is.

On our way home to Logan we stopped at Tony Grove and walked around the lake. As always it was absolutely beautiful! Arek has decided we now need to buy a plastic dingy so we can go rowing on the lake!