Baby Update and Another Air Force Move!

Okay, I think it's time I blog about baby and other news in the Baker household!  We've been so busy getting everything ready that the blog has suffered as a result.  Hopefully, you all understand.  :)  From preparing the nursery to planning another move this summer, we really have been on the go!

Normally, I would have blogged about this right away, but it's not really my first priority right now.  We did get news that we will be moving again in June...to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois!  Blaine will be working a joint staff job for two to three years.  I know he misses flying but I can't complain that we will have him home for a good while.  I've never been to the midwest, but I hear St. Louis, which is only 30 minutes from the base, is a great city with so much to offer!  I have been thumbing through my official visitor's guide to St. Louis and have found a lot of neat things to see and do.  It may be my pregnancy cravings, but one that stands out is a brewery that makes it's own sodas!  Yum!  

As far as baby goes, she is doing great!  We had more visits to our midwife than we would have liked last week due to some blood pressure issues with me, but it was good to get the careful attention and see our sweet girl on ultrasound again.  They did a non-stress test on Baby Sam and she was not so happy with being poked and prodded.  Our midwife even put a loud buzzing/vibrating wand next to my belly when she wouldn't move for us, and it startled her so much that she jumped to the other side of my belly!  I felt so bad, but we all laughed.  Then on ultrasound, we got a glimpse of her very chubby cheeks and the fat rolls on top of her feet!  Ahh, I'm in love.  The ultrasound showed that she is growing right on track and estimated that she weighs about seven pounds now.  And my blood pressure is back to normal thanks to the medication I am taking now.  It hasn't helped with the ridiculous swelling of my entire body, but everyone tells me that will go away after baby girl is born.  Fingers crossed.  ;)

And, for fun, here's how my growing belly has changed over the past nine months!  

2 months (or close enough)

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months...this was taken today!  

I look back on the first picture at seven weeks and laugh at the fact that I thought I was overweight then.  If only I can look like that again when this is all said and done, ha!  ;)

I do have some pictures of the nursery, but they are grainy iPhone photos, so I'll wait until I can get some better ones to share them with you here.  Who knows...maybe next time I blog, I'll have pictures of our baby girl to share, too!!

IO Culture Day!

I know I should be posting nursery pictures, belly shots, and baby updates...but I couldn't pass up blogging about an awesome experience we had today.  Each year, ACSC (the school Blaine attends at Maxwell AFB) hosts an International Officers' Culture Day.  Of the 400 students here at ACSC, roughly 80 of them come from different countries around the world.  Today is a celebration of them, and they get to showcase their countries with decorations and foods from home.  What a treat!  We had such a great time, I think I could have stayed all day!

We sampled foods from Afghanistan, France, Georgia, Germany, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.  There were many more countries there, we just didn't get to all of them.  It was really special, too, to see all of the children running around and playing in their traditional garments from back home.  We felt humbled and honored to be a part of such a fun day for these families!  You could see the pride in their eyes and smiles each time we stopped to listen about their cultures and try their homemade dishes.

Such a great turn out of people!

Edros and Zai (Malaysia)...Edros was in Blaine's class last semester.

Khalifa (Qatar) was also in Blaine's class last semester.

Mamman (Nigeria) is on the right...he's in Blaine's class this semester.

Blaine really likes Mamman...he's also a pilot and his wife is a neurosurgeon.  No big deal.  ;)

Tiger (Taiwan) is also in Blaine's class this semester.

Had to pay a visit to the UK for Blaine and his mom!

Blaine thoroughly enjoyed Pimm's and Boddington's while I devoured bangars and scones with jam and clotted cream!  Yum!

I really enjoyed the homemade sauerkraut and sausages from my homeland of Germany!

As we were leaving, we stopped for a while to watch the kids play a soccer (football) game.  It was amazing to see children from all of these different countries playing together...I think everyone watching was smiling and in awe of this precious picture.  :)  Today will certainly be a fond memory of ACSC for me.