Ohana Means Family

I am so thankful this year. Thankful for a good job, to live somewhere beautiful and inspiring,  to have great friends whom I can count on. But most of all this year I am thankful for my family. My own little family will be growing by one this year. If that isn't exciting enough, in a matter of days my sister will be here to stay!

I moved to Montana in the summer of 2007. I knew no one, wanted to go to school for photojournalism, and Montana sounded like a romantic and wild place to live.

To help me meet people I joined the UM Symphony Orchestra, the UM Equestrian Team and, most importantly, the staff of the Montana Kaimin. I built myself a little family with the people I met through these pursuits. When I met Patrick and we got married, my Montana family got even bigger.

Despite the wonderful family I had made, I have always longed to be close to my family of origin again. My mom lives in Hawaii. My sister and my dad live in Oregon. A trip to Oregon is obtainable, but just far enough away to not be a regular occurrence. A trip to Hawaii is even more rare. 

So when my little sis came up to Montana for the wonderful baby shower she planned for Patrick & I, my thoughts were focused on convincing her to stay. I felt a very strong pull to have family together since my own little family is growing. I'm not sure what Patrick or I said that actually stuck (possible nothing, as Mr. Grayson can be very convincing as well) but something did because MY SISTER IS MOVING TO MONTANA!!!

Me and sis at the baby shower.

I am so overwhelmed with happiness and general joy. Thinking about doing holiday traditions together, hanging out on weekends, going to Yellowstone, watching her play hockey (?), and most importantly, her sure presence at Grayson's birth/the beginning of his life.

Not to mention the fact that she's bringing with her Mr. Jason Owens, boyfriend extraordinaire. I know Patrick is thrilled to have a funny, smart and football-savvy guy like him around (not to mention his knowledge of beer!) and I just can't wait to have them both close.

In the meantime, here are this weeks bumpdate photos (check out that beautiful sky!). Our baby is gaining about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long (about the size of some bok choy). Only a few weeks left!

35 Weeks

35 weeks down, five weeks to go. Although, I have a feeling that Grayson might be coming a little early—possibly coinciding with the full moon. The December full moon, called the Full Cold Moon, occurs on December 17th. This is exactly one week before my estimated due date. According to Farmer's Almanac: "The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon is called such because during this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule."

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons @JrOlivera.com

According to popular belief and decades of folklore the lunar effect is real. However, there have been multiple studies done regarding the correlation of the moon and birth rates—none of which prove that there is any connection at all.

BUT...despite the lack of hard evidence, ask any labor & delivery nurse and they will tell you that the birth rate increases around a full moon. In fact when Patrick & I went to tour the hospital earlier this week, our tour guide, a labor and delivery nurse, told us that we could only look at one of the smaller birthing suites because all of the others were full due to the the full moon. So believe what you will, but if Grayson comes a week early I would not be surprised. 

While we are discussing the night sky, another really interesting thing happening right around Grayson’s birth is the arrival of Comet ISON. At least a million years ago, according to NASA, Comet ISON began its journey from the Oort cloud, a swath of icy objects that orbit far beyond Neptune.

Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, and the 
 Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

ISON is set to pass closest to our sun on Thanksgiving Day. If it is able to survive this trip around our sun, we tiny earthlings will get to experience a rare view, as ISON will be visible to the naked eye all night long from late December to early January. ISON is predicted pass closest to the Earth on December 26th. If you're into astronomy like I am (and probably Grayson will be too, since his father is also a space-nerd), check out this cool calculator showing the distance of ISON from the sun, it's velocity, etc. So perhaps it is that fortuitous day on which Grayson will make his appearance and not a week earlier.  

But whatever day he arrives, I'm just so excited to meet him. Of course, as I've said before, I want him to stay put at least another 4 weeks. (Grow, baby, grow!) As you can see below, he certainly is. Measuring the over 18 inches long and tipping the scales at around 5 1/4 pounds  (the weight of a honeydew melon), Grayson is too big to somersault around in my tummy anymore. Luckily, as of our last appointment, he is head down so that's one less thing to worry about. Now he just needs to keep on growing!

34 Weeks

Due to daylight savings time messing with our photo schedule, these pictures were actually taken at more like 34 1/2 weeks but it's close enough. Grayson now weighs 4 3/4 pounds - about the size of a cantaloupe - and is almost 18 inches long. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. It's hard to imagine that in just over a month we will finally get to meet him. 

Got a little overwhelmed again this week with how much there is left to do to prepare for his arrival. Thankfully one big component got taken care of this week - the car seat. Thanks to a very generous gift from Great Aunt Mary Anne and Great Grandpa Duganz, we now have a top-of-the-line car seat to bring Grayson home in. It's a relief to know that if anything were to happen early, we would at least be able to bring him home safely. 

Statistically, four out of five car seats are installed incorrectly. Luckily, the local fire department is certified in child seat safety checks. So next week we'll be making an appointment to ensure our car seat is installed correctly. It's a great service to the community and I'm excited to take advantage of it.   

Maternity Photos Sneak Peek

So no Bumpdate today. It was dark when I got home at 5:30 p.m. Daylight savings time is the worst. We will have to start shooting the Bumpdates on the weekends when there is actual daylight outside. In the mean time, here is a sneak peek of our maternity photos.

Thanks to the help of my wonderful friend Stacey, we went out a couple of weekends ago and took these maternity photos. It was a beautiful fall day and the Bridgers looked amazing. We had fun, even my camera-shy husband.

So here they are. Stay tuned later in the week for the 33 week Bumpdate (preview: Grayson doesn't just kick anymore, he does full-body rolls).