A Long, Wordy Post-Holiday Update

Well, we're back from the whirlwind holiday tour! We spent five relaxing days in Temperance with Jason's family where we got to spend time with his brother, Andy, which we don't get to do a lot, and actually had lots of down time, which was especially strange for Jason since he never gets much time to just hang out without working on school stuff. He had a brief glimpse into what summers are like for teachers (perk #1, I'd say) - although his summer will be spent taking care of a baby!

We spent Christmas Eve having a delicious dinner with the Burghardts, followed by gifts and board games (and LOTS of cookie consumption!).

Jason and I exchanged gifts on Christmas morning, then headed up to Saginaw to stay with my family for five days. My brother, Justin, was in from Denver (first time we've seen him in a year!) and we got some VERY exciting news from the Hanson clan (see the below image for the cousins' "first picture" together!). Erin is due in July with baby #4 and, as you can see, this picture will be much cooler in retrospect since right now it just looks like a comparison between my giant orb and Erin's normal, slender figure...Still, we're thrilled that the cousins will be so close in age and we can't wait for them to meet!

Another highlight was getting a prenatal massage from the lovely Traci Rapin, which I'm convinced gave me a whole new lease on life. My hips were pain-free for an entire day and a half afterward (the longest relief I've had since about month 3)! She also gave Jason a little tutorial on how to massage away some of my discomfort during these last weeks and while I'm in labor. I'm eternally grateful to her!

The strangest thing about the trip was saying goodbye to everyone knowing that the next time we see them we will have a third member of our little family! Reality really set in as we were on our way home (finally - home!! Seeing loved ones sure is great, but there's nothing quite like being home, sleeping in your own bed!) and we realized that the only thing we have left to do is wait for the big moment.

I'll try to update this more often as the big day gets closer. Until next time, here's me at 37 weeks 2 days.