Week 31

60 days til our due date
Weight of four large oranges
856 movements felt
Craving turkey tacos
Feeling nauseous
0 Braxton-Hicks Contractions felt
67 hours of sleep
6 midnight trips to the bathroom

Week 30

67 days til our due date
Weight of a large head of cabbage
638 movements felt
Craving salmon
Feeling anxious to meet our little boy!
2 Braxton-Hicks Contractions felt
53 hours of sleep
7 midnight trips to the bathroom


*Milestone this week: Ben and I were both able to feel Baby Koske's hiccups! It was a pretty cool feeling :)

New Ultrasound Picture

This morning Ben and I had the privilege of getting a glimpse at Baby Koske. My weight gain is low, so the doctors wanted to ensure that baby was growing like he should. His heart beat is normally about 150-160, but today he was sleeping so it was about 128. He is a long little guy, his head under my left rib and his rump sitting at my hip bone (about 12 inches not including his legs). His stomach size was in the 40th percentile and head size in the 70th percentile. Apparently big heads run on the Ludwig male side - thanks dad!  Overall though baby looked healthy!!!

Our first Sounders FC game!

On Saturday we attended our first Sounders game. OK fine, it was Ben's second game and my first :) The game was unlike any other sporting event I have ever been to. The fans seemed genuinely there because they enjoyed the sport! I did not realize that when I bought the tickets that this was Kasey Keller's (our goalie) last home game. The games total attendance was 64,140!!! That is the most fans to have attended a soccer game in the US! I have never seen so many soccer fans in my life. It was amazing. In the last 15 minutes we scored 2 goals winning the game. I am bummed that it took us this long to get to such and incredible event, but we will not be missing out next year. I can't wait to share this incredible experience with Baby Koske - since he will of course be a soccer player...He is practicing his kicks daily :)

Week 29

74 days til our due date
Size of a butternut squash
604 movements felt
Craving avocado
Feeling anxious to meet my little man!
3 Braxton-Hicks Contractions felt
57 hours of sleep
6 midnight trips to the bathroom

Our Anniversary Getaway!

Our anniversary weekend started with a ferry ride over to Roche Harbor. The weather was beautiful with the sun shining bright! 

When we arrived at the resort, we had about an hour to explore our cabin and it's surroundings. The cabin was an adorable 2 bedroom/1 bath quaint getaway. It felt like home the minute we walked in. 

We then headed over to the local restaurant for a luxurious 4 course meal. Starting out with their crab and artichoke dip, followed by a shared caeser salad and crab bisque. For dinner Ben had their all too famous prime rib, while I had their morale mushroom crusted tenderloin. Both were heavenly. We each received our own dessert from the restaurant, I had the very last piece of their delicious apple pie and Ben had the berry cobbler. All in all dinner lasted a glorious 3.5 hours, during which time we enjoyed watching two otters play of the dock. It was a wonderful way to spend our first night. 

The next morning we had breakfast on the pier before heading out on our whale watching trip. While walking to the boat, this little guy decided to say hi.

The first wildlife we saw out on our whale watching trip were harbor porpoises. The captain followed them around for a bit trying to get them to play in the bow wave, but he was unsuccessful. It was fun to watch them hop in and out of the water though.

Half way through our trip, there were two young humpback whales spotted near the coastline. We were able to watch them for a few minutes until they went under for a nice swim.

When they came up again, they were so close to our boat putting on our own personal show. Humpbacks are rare in these waters as they have been on the endangered list for many years following humans hunting them to nearly extinction. In recent years their numbers have been increasing and young pups like these show us they are surviving well.

After our humpback spotting we took a leisurely trip back in along the coastline. We saw a few bald eagles in the trees with their massive nests and a few seals beached out on rocks catching some of the last sun rays before fall.

The naturalist on our boat told us that there were sightings of the J,K, and L pods of Orcas the day before from the lighthouse on Lime Kiln Point. Ben and I took a scenic drive up the coastline to see if we could see any. Unfortunately there were no Orcas, apparently they moved north towards B.C., but the view was beautiful. 

We did see an odd site while at the lighthouse, a turkey vulture (which are normally around when the weather is warm) swim in from the water and perch on the rocks to dry out. There was a wildlife rescue lady watching him to ensure he was not injured, because swimming in water is not normal behavior. He eventually took flight just over our heads, showing us he was in fine health.

When Ben and I came back "home" I started making butternut squash risotto and while that was cooking we enjoyed a great pastime game of Candyland. Ben got schooled several times but was a good sport about the whole thing. Eventually after game 5 or so, he was able to beat me. Better late then never I guess.

When cooking was wrapping up, Ben built us a fire out front to enjoy while we ate dinner.

With the fire at our backs, we enjoyed a toasty dinner while the sunset over the harbor. Dinner was the perfect taste of fall, a recipe we will definitely be making again!

After dinner the fire had perfect coals for s'more making, so that is exactly what we did. Instead of eating them like normal people, we stuck them in the freezer to have under ice cream later in the evening.

 We ended the evening with a few games of Monopoly. While Ben may have again been beat severely, he kept on playing and eventually won. This and Candyland will be a great addition to our families games! 

On Monday morning we checked out of our new home away from home hideaway and went on a nature trail through the sculpture park.  It was quite an odd site to come across a dragon in the woods, but this little guy was one of Ben's favorites (shocker I know).

After our nature walk we headed into Friday Harbor to walk around while waiting for our ferry. We stopped into my favorite lavender shop and bought some massage oil to use during childbirth for assisted relaxation. Neither Ben nor I had been to Friday Harbor for a few years and while a few things about it have changed, it is still a cute little town to walk around in. When we finally boarded the ferry, we were the front car and had a pretty stellar view. 

On our way home we stopped for dinner in downtown Snohomish at the Cabbage Patch restaurant. We had only previously been here for breakfast, but had heard that their dinner setting was just like home, with a menu to match. It was very relaxing and enjoyable and truly was just like being at home. The perfect ending to the most perfect weekend!

Week 28 - The start of the 3rd trimester

81 days til our due date

Size of a head of Chinese cabbage

502 movements felt

Craving salmon

Feeling thankful

22 Braxton-Hicks Contractions felt

44 hours of sleep

5 midnight trips to the bathroom

My first baby shower!

Last Sunday was my first baby shower hosted by the wonderful and amazing Rachel and Jessica. The girls transformed my house into a dream home with beautiful decorations, sweet treats and great guests. 

The girls started off the party with a drinking game. The one to drink the most orange juice (and vodka if they chose) from the bottle in the allotted time won! This was quite entertaining to watch! Apparently is it not an easy task, Kirsten mentioning that she could not feel her lips.

The ever so popular "how big is my mommy" game was next. Everyone seemed to over guess by almost the exact same amount! Except Sam...she was able to tie a bow with her leftovers while apologizing profusely :)

Next came the disgusting and yet amusing game of what candy bar is melted inside this diaper. Jess and Rachel only had one tragedy while melting the candy bars, they burnt the twix bar nearly catching it on fire! Interestingly enough the house smelled like smores - a delish smell really.

The afternoon ended with the opening of so many adorable presents that I cannot wait to use! When Ben came home I was able to go back through all the presents and get even more giddy that in less then three months we will be meeting our little guy!!!

This was the delicious sweets table!

Wednesday Wisdom

I thought this quote was appropriate as Ben and I look towards the future and how times will change with the addition of our little guy. This quote not only holds true for mother, but for father as well. We will have the time we need, because we were given this gift of life!

Week 27

88 days til our due date

Size of a head of cauliflower

308  movements felt

Craving salmon burger and sweet potatoes

Feeling strong, excited to meet my little man

5 Braxton-Hicks Contractions felt

41 hours of sleep

8 midnight trips to the bathroom