December Update

This past week has been a whirlwind of events!

Cheerleading for Shelley has been progressing well, with only a few minor bumps. The girls have their game routine almost completed, their competition routine is mostly learned except for the stunts, and they know all their sidelines! We've been talking about doing a "show team" of the BEST girls to enter our game routine into competition, but we'll see!

We took a tour at Summerlin Hospital, where we will deliver Baby Girl, of the Delivery Room, the Post-Pardum Room and the nurses station, etc. We also got a bunch of free goodies! It was a comfort to see the Delivery Room (which is HUGE!! Our tour had almost 40 people and we all fit in there, with room to spare!!) and to see what amenities they have, etc. They also did a wonderful job of explaining all the "steps" the hospital takes and the visitiation policy, etc. We did our research and this is the "best" hospital in Las Vegas, with the highest level of NICU (at a level 4), and it seems like we made a perfect choice!!!

We had another doctor's appointment as well, and everything continues to look healthy and wonderful. Dr. Brill told us that it dosen't look like we'll have to induce, blood pressure is normal, baby's weight dosen't seem to be outrageous, her size is appropriate and the amniotic fluid looks good...but when we come in for our 39 week appointment (if we make it that long) we'll schedule an induction (just in case) for sometime in week 41...

Dave's soccer season came to an official close at the Soccer Banquet Wednesday night. The families and coaches all gathered together and really celebrated the girl's season. It was a wonderful turn-out, and the parents were so supportive all season long. The girl's ended their regular season completely undefeated, and only lost once at tournament!!!

We attended LaLa's Christmas Pageant for her preschool class. It was so cute to see her all dressed up! She was that little girl in the front though that didn't sing a word, and yawned throughout the performance!!! It was precious!!! Pretty soon, Baby Girl will be putting on just such a performance!! Unbelievable!!!

We attempted to have our 4D ultrasound on Saturday morning...however, Baby Girl was quite stubborn and refused to "uncurl" herself from her ball :) She had her knees all tucked up to her forehead, and her arms curled around her head, so we could once in awhile see her profile, and the top of her head....she does have some hair though!! We have rescheduled and are keeping our fingers crossed that she cooperates the next time. She's either going to be super duper stubborn...or a really good sleeper :) What was really cool though, was that we were able to see the entire ultrasound on a big screen tv, and as the technician poked around on Shelley's belly trying to get her to move, you could actually see baby girl reacting to the pokes!!!

We also attempted to have our Car Seat professionally installed into the car (since 4 out of 5 car seats are not installed properly, we want to make sure Baby Girl is exceptionally safe) but the "company" that works with the hospitals never showed up!!! Bummer!!! They have another event on Wednesday evening though, so again, our fingers are crossed!!!

We did the final step of pre-registering at the hospital as well, so when our time comes, we won't have to worry about paperwork...the receptionist that checked us in though definatly assumed we were there for the real deal though until we reasured her we weren't :)

Saturday evening was the Gibson Holiday Party. It was a "potluck" at a faculty member's home that was magnificent! She had it decorated wonderfully, and it was such a good time to hang out with all the staff. We ended up being one of the last to leave though, and we didn't get home until after1:30am (definatly WAY WAY WAY past Baby Girl's bedtime, and by default Shelley's)...but it was a really fun time!

Shelley Christmas "shopped" with her dad via phone on Saturday morning...it was actually quite fun to wander through Kohl's trying to find the same products and clothing, etc. It worked out really well!! We also did the vast majority of our Christmas Shopping on Saturday - we powered through and got pretty much everyone covered! We were On Fire!!!

On Sunday morning/afternoon we worked a charity event for NCCF - a charity for children with cancer. It was co-sponsored by Hogs & Heifers (a Fremont Street Bar) and they donated over $10,000 in gifts. Santa was there to hand out gifts to the children, they had arts & crafts, stocking that they were able to have their names air-brushed on, lots of food and cupcakes they were able to decorate (which is what we were in charge of). It was so heart-warming to see the families come out and participate, and to see how grateful the families were.

We spent on of the evenings this past weekend making Christmas Cookies. Dave got his dad's "secret" sugar cookie recipe and went to work! Yummy!! We realized that we don't have cookie cutters though...who dosen't have Cookie Cutters!!!!! So, Dave was quite creative with his cookie designs...including a dog!

Speaking of dogs, Dave purchased his first gift for Baby Girl (other than all the necessities) - it's a giant sized stuffed animal dog - we've named it Mr. Dog!!!

This week at school is Treat Week...each staff member brings in goodies to eat throughout the week and everyone is able to enjoy the wonderful treats! By far, one of the best weeks of the year!!!