FULL TERM

Hello! Here are Andrew and me on 5/25/09, eagerly awaiting the birth of our precious son.

I am 37 Weeks in this photo, which is the beginning of my 10th month of Pregnancy and means the baby is FULL TERM!!!! He could be born now without worry of lung problems, etc. The lungs are the last organ to develop, so for the next few weeks he just needs to keep growing. I thank the Lord that our baby is fully developed now and that he appears to be healthy in every way!!

Baby Boy Banks is still wiggling and squirming a lot. He is so adorable! He has hiccups at least once a day too.

When I stand up straight and look down I can no longer see my toes, but I do see an amazingly cute baby bump! Check out my view!

For the record my belly button still has not popped out, I still have not cried over a commercial, and I don't have stretch marks yet. I am so hoping I get thru these next few weeks without them! That would be thrilling!

Not to say I haven't had my share of misery and suffering throughout this pregnancy, I sure have, but I do want to keep this on a positive note, so I'll just stop there. (However if you are interested in the not so great side of pregnancy, just let me know I'll tell you anything you want to know!)

At my Mid-Wife appointment last Tuesday, I was at a 24 pound gain, BBB's fundas measurement was at 38 cm (which is perfect), his heart rate was at 130 and my blood pressure and everything else was just fine.

At this current time I know of 14 other pregnant women who are or have been pregnant during at least some of the time I have been and of the ones who were due before me, they have ALL (except 1 scheduled C-sec) went early...up to 20 days early, yikes!!!!!!!

So with that in mind we have not made any firm plans in a long time and pretty much have been getting things ready at home (though we still have plenty to do before he arrives, like pack our hospital bags, practice breathing, etc) which has been great and we've mixed some fun into each weekend, but over all I'M BORED!!!!!!!! We all are....tee-hee....so I checked the weather and decided to surprise Andrew and Emily with tickets to a Loons Baseball Game tonight!!! I just can't wait to have something fun to do! Go Loons! Oh and bonus, they are having Fireworks after the game tonight too!! It'll be great!

As of today, 5/30/09, BBB is due in 16 days!!! Please pray for a healthy BBB and a safe delivery. I am trying to be brave and I know I can do this...or at least that I have to, but I am scared to give birth too (I have definitely cried about that!). Thank you for your prayers, excitement and support!

With much love,

Shannon

Garage Sale (5/16/09)

So we had our 1st ever Banks Family Garage Sale on May 16! It was fun and we sold a lot! We had everything priced to go! Emily actually made double of what we did, after we paid for the ad we put in the Midland Daily Newspaper (What a rip off!).
The best part is that everything that didn't sell, got piled into the back of our truck and taken straight to the Salvation Army. We decided that nothing that went out was coming back in, lol! I felt like we had gotten rid of so much (and we did), but I as look around our home and it is still quite full!!!
It was a lot of work, but we had fun together, we got rid of lots we didn't need and we made a little $ too, so it's all good!

Mrs. Smith & Emily (5/15/09)

Emily's 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Smith, at Siebert Elementary stopped by on Friday night to surprise us with a gift for BBB! We were all thrilled to see her, especially Emily! Isn't that cool, what a special lady!! We all laughed when we realized that in 5th grade Emily was shorter than Mrs. Smith....now look at our girl! Thank you for the wonderful surprise visit and gift, Mrs Smith!

Baby Shower - 5/2/09!

On May 2, 2009, an amazing Baby Shower was thrown for us, by friends: Heather Schember, Emily Garlinghouse, Angela Hernden and sister: Emily Thompson!
The "venue" was creatively and beautifully decorated with a Winnie-the-Pooh and Boy theme. We had terrific food, fun games, great prizes, wonderful guests, and a fabulous time was had by all!
Here are some photos for you to enjoy!
Our family! Emily & me Brenda, Emily, Emily, Me, Heather & Angela

Setting up & Decorations!

Cake!!! Aunt Emily & friends greeting our guests!

Food check, by Angela and Heather...almost ready!

Food line! YUMMERS!

Friends and Family!

GIFTS for Baby Boy Banks!!!

Clean up crew!

A GIANT THANK YOU to Emily, Angela, Emily & Heather for all of your creativity, love, hard work and the time you spent in planning and throwing BBB the most amazing Baby Shower Ever! You are awesome, thank you!

And Thank you to everyone who attended, for sharing this most special day with us and for the many wonderful, useful, thoughtful and most of all greatly appreciated gifts for BBB and us to use-very soon! We can barely wait!!!!!!!!
Love,

The Banks Family

Baby Boy Banks' Bedroom

I had the Best Mother's Day ever! We set up BBB's room!!!!!!!!!
You have no idea how much work and organization it took to get his room to this point, but CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!! I am SO excited!!!!!!!!!!! It is just perfect! We can't wait for him to move in!


It feels so good to have everything washed, set up and ready for his arrival, what a relief!
We are in the 35th week now, just 5 more weeks to go. (33 days until his due date!) On Monday, my Mid-Wife said BBB is 5&1/2 pounds, he's getting so big. Please continue to pray for his development and a safe delivery!
Thank You All!

Mother's Day!!!

OMG, Andrew surprised me with these absolutely beautiful flowers, from Hawaii, for Mother's Day!!!! Aren't they wonderful!?!?


I am so excited and super surprised! This is awesome!!! Woot, woot!
THANK YOU ANDREW, for being so sweet and thoughtful! You totally made my day, actually my whole week!!! They are amazing, thank you! I love you!