It's been a while since I've written. I apologize. So it's April 25 and I'm officially 38 weeks today. Just got back from the doctors and there really isn't any news to share. I am 50% effaced and 1 - 1.5 cm dilated. This is a different doctor than I saw a few weeks ago who said I'm 80% effaced, but this is the 2nd week in a row that I've heard I'm 50% effaced...so she said she'd see me next week. Could be great timing with Dad/Cathy coming out on May 4. Guess we'll see when Maddie decides to show up!

Since I've written last, we received the nicest card from Aunt Nancy Daylida - my mom's very good friend. Aunt Nancy wrote in the card that she remembers mom playing cards and commenting on how fussy I was...something to look forward to b/c I'm sure Maddie will pay me back. Aunt Nancy sent a gift of money that we will surely put to good use. Thanks Aunt Nancy!

Mrs. DiVincenzo, Nancy's mother in law, sent us the most beautiful blanket. It is a huge pink dog made with the cutest fabrics. We can really see all the love that went into this blanket. We hate to even use it. Mrs. D wrote a nice inscription on the back of the blanket. We love it so much :)

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'm going to go back to my bad daytime television that I'm officially hooked on now that I'm off of work.

Love,
Jennifer

So today is my last day at work. :) I'm ready to be home and finishing up Maddie's room and relaxing a bit. We washed all of her bedding and clothes. The crib is all put together. We're going to pick up some last minute room decorations this weekend and then I'll start sending the pictures to Sarah to post.

Uncle Eddie and Aunt Connie sent us our umbrella stroller and wipie warmer. Thanks so much!! I can't wait to be walking Maddie (once if finally quits raining out here this summer!). I'll think of you guys when we use it :)

As of Tuesday, I'm 80% effaced and barely 1 cm dilated. So it could happen at any time. Lynn/Julie say two weeks...so we'll see!

Alrightie, I must get to "work" for my last day.

Jennifer

Yesterday we received the rest of the invitation from Nancy. So now we know all of the details. We're really enjoying the virtual shower. Thanks to my sisters and brother for all of their hard work. We absolutely love it!

We also received a Target gift card from Grandma and Grandpa Rohrlick. We can use that to pick up a lot of last minute things. Thank you guys so much for your generosity.

My work threw me a surprise shower yesterday. They decorated with pink streamers, it's a girl signs and little teeny baby figurines. We had pizza, cupcakes and cookies (some of my favorite foods! -- thanks Maddie). They gave us some beautiful flowers that will go on our outside patio. I would list all of the gifts they gave us but we'd be here all day! Sleepers, jumpers, pacifiers, baby book, bikini (if you could see this!!), hat....almost the rest of our Target gift registry!! :)

That's the latest update. Only two more days of work left :) And we're 36 weeks and counting.

Oh yeah...our friends Ben and Andrea had their baby boy on Monday morning. Sam weighed in at 7 lbs and 4 oz and is healthy and happy. As are his parents. We were able to spend some time with them in the hospital during Andrea's labor -- she was a champ. It gave us a good glimpse of what things will be like. The nurses kept checking in on me...guess they thought I could go at any minute.

More later...

xoxoxo.
Jennifer

This is from Keith....

Hello All,

Just wanted to thank you all for these wonderful gifts. It's like we are back in the burgh! It means so much to be able to share this experience with family and friends.

Hard to believe Madison is 4 weeks away! Unsure of what to do when she is born or how she will change our lives? It's like taking care of Rockey with diapers right?

Jen apparently has all the thank you stuff covered. So many gifts from so many people, thanks!

Yeah!! Another exciting night last night. Keith called me at work and said we had three boxes along with a long tube on our front door step. He said he wanted to wait until I got home to open everything.

I got home at about 5:40 and we had the first of our two part Prepared Childbirth class starting at 6 (until 9:30!). We decided to wait until afterwards to check everything out. Poor Keith mentioned he wasn't feeling well before the class but thought he could tough it out. We got through 50 minutes of the class and Keith decided we had to get home...and fast! We reregistered to take the class this Saturday and then got home just in time. He had some really bad food poisoning - Bad meatballs at a gourmet grocery store. Good news is that he's feeling much better today!!

Anyway...we still managed to check everything out last night.

The tube contained the Welcome Madison sign. It is the neatest thing. Jessica, the sign is so beautiful. You're such a wonderful artist. All of the Malloy nieces and nephews put their personal touches on it. I wish I had it with me so I could go through what everyone did but I'm at work -- I'll write more about it later. I love how it traveled the country from Pennsylvania, to Florida and then to California. My sisters/brother had an instruction sheet in the tube to let everyone know what to do once they received the poster. They kept this sheet with their comments and suggestions so I could put it in Maddie's scrap book. What a great idea! The shower organizers have not left anything out :) and truly are showering us with love!

Ocean Wonders Aquarium Bouncer - from Jeff and Tammy (Keith's brother and our sister-in-law). The bouncer is in addition to the boppy that we received on Tuesday. You guys are so thoughtful - thank you so much for sending. We've heard that the bouncer will be great for us...so we can eat dinner!! It has lots of bells and whistles that will keep Maddie occupied :)

LeapStages Infant Learning System - from Keith's parents. They have written that they hope Madison has fun with this and it will help her grow! Love Grandma and Grandpa Rohrlick. We've heard that is great and can't wait to use it. This is in addition to her crib and all the goodies from our Saturday shower. You guys are too much. Thank you!!

Baby Einstein Play Gym - from Aunt Rita Malloy, Jeanean, Rita, Terry, Maria, Rita, Cathy, Jeannie, Colleen and Liz (I remembered the sheet today with everyone's name!). Aunt Rita is Uncle Bill's wife (my dad's brother) and all of the ladies are my cousins and cousins' wives. The play gym is in addition to the highchair and headrest. We love everything you have sent and appreciate it so much. The play gym is going to be fun for us too...lots of lights and action! Thanks again.

OK. That's it for now. Talk to you soon!

Love,
Jennifer

Ok, I tried to work for a bit but I wanted to fill you in on some more about the shower out here.

Lori and Megan, as I mentioned before, came out for the shower. We had manicures/pedicures on Friday and then did some shopping. They bought me two beautiful tops - you can see them in the pictures from this past weekend. If it wasn't for them, I would have worn sweat pants. Thanks Lori and Megan!!

My friends Heather and Amanda threw us a great shower on Saturday. I worked with both of these girls at my job in SF. The three of us have since changed jobs but have remained great friends. Heather opened up her home to 10 of my friends.

We sat around and gabbed for a while and then played a Madison game -- how creative is this?? Heather had 8 questions about Madisons, such as, What actress played Madison in Splash? What number president was James Madison? and What university is in Madison Wisconsin. After the game we ate -- great food (butternut squash mac/cheese, egg salad sandwiches, spinach salad with nuts and craisins, cupcakes and apples with fruit dip). Then came the presents. Oh my did we get such wonderful things!!

My mother in law sent us a beautiful sheerling coat from their trip to Italy for the Olympics plus a ton of clothes :). Keith's parents also bought Maddie's crib (pics on the site). They seem to be loving the thought of their granddaughter!!

Lori, her mother Betsy, cousin Alisa and sister-in-law Jen (in addition to being Lori's family are all my friends, too!!) got us the crib set. We can't wait to set it all up this weekend. Thanks so much guys. We'll always think of you when we look at the crib set.

I told you about Megan's gifts...tub/bath accessories. The bath stuff is so cute!!

Our neighbor Patricia (we're lucky to have such nice next door neighbors. Patricia has been a fabulous resource and friend) got us a great outfit with matching sneakers!! Too much. Socks, Baby Einstein toy, car mirror and a picture book, too.

Our friends Ben and Andrea (close friends we met out here through Keith's business partner, we do a lot of traveling with them and dinners, too. Andrea is due next week with their little boy! Talk about good timing...Maddie already has a prom date!) bought us a pink gingham chair with Maddie's name embroidered on the back. We can see her sitting in this chair watching Steeler games (or Giants...sorry Keith!).

Taji/Josy - I worked with them at my current job. Two more good friends that I met out on the West Coast (I've been lucky!). They bought us our swing. We know this swing will be a God send and give us sanity when we need it!!

Heidi - Heather's sister - got us an animal book (you know Maddie has to at least love dogs!) along with a stroller toy and car mirror. Thanks Heidi!!

Julie - (a friend we met through our neighbors Patricia and Billy) gave us the cutest hooded bunny robe with towels, sleeper and wash cloths. I can just see Keith wrapping Maddie in the robe and giving her a squeeze!!

Nancy and Juliana (my sister and niece) sent us the sweetest outfit. Pants with a matching shirt. Nancy has already sent us Juliana's clothes. Maddie will be well dressed, to say the least!

Amanda (one of the shower hosts) gave us lap pads, onesies, the cutest outfit with matching little cardigan. Amanda orchestrated a scrap book. She sent out pages to family and friends. This brought down the house at the end of the shower. Everyone's pages had the best pictures...my mom, Jimmy, me when I was little, the family together. It is one of the best memory keepers that we'll ever get. Thanks Amanda. This gift will be in our lives forever.

Heather (last but not least) in addition to having us all at her home, making delicious food and providing such a warm, welcoming environment for the shower gave us an outfit, onesies, bottle brush/dishwasher basket and the great little crab bath toy/wash cloth. Thanks so much!!

After we opened the gifts, Keith came in with the most beautiful flowers. Of course all the ladies loved this (and we heard from a few husbands about how Keith is making them look bad). Thanks Keith. :)

It was such a great day. Wanted to share it with all of you. I will be sending Sarah a lot of pictures of the scrap book so you can see the pages and how special it is.

Keith and I are blessed with family and friends like you who are making this experience more extraordinary than we could have hoped for.

Alright, I really better work now.

Love,
Jennifer

Hello Everyone!

First of all, I must tell you how surprised I (we) are at the Virtual Shower. What a great idea!! :) It is definitely bringing a lot of home to us out here in very rainy California.

So let me start by telling you how eager I have been. Of course I don't handle surprises well and have been too excited to see how everything will unfold.

When we first received the diaper cake a few weeks ago, we weren't sure what it meant. But let me tell you how we both "ooohhheed and aweeed" at the teeny, tiny diapers, the little bibs saying "I love Mommy" and "I love Daddy" -- what a reality check! Keith wanted to take it apart so he could see what the diapers look like, but I wouldn't let him. I figured he has a lot of time to see the diapers!! Thanks for putting that all together Julie!

We received the invitation last week. Reading the poem choked me up! Nancy...you should have been a poet! We love it and I show every person who comes to our house. :)

On Friday, March 31, we received a package filled with the cutest pink plates, glasses, candle holders, drink stirrers, and appetizer sticks. This one really got our curiosity going. Lori and Megan (my very good friends from Pittsburgh were out for my California shower) did a good job not letting me know a thing!

Yesterday...Keith got home and saw about a dozen boxes along with a stryofoam cooler in front of our house. He called me at work and I couldn't wait to get home to see everything. We opened all of the boxes and here's what everything was:

- Our diaper bag from Aunt Rita and Uncle Gary, Aunt Irene and Aunt Cathy. Thank you so much! We're thrilled that you guys are involved in the shower. It's amazing how the internet can bring us all together. We checked out all the compartments in the bag and were anticipating what we'll be filling it up with.

- Our High Chair and Headrest from the Aunt Rita Malloy Daughter/Daughter-in-laws Clan. (I'm sorry I'm at work and don't have the list with me but I want to be sure that I don't leave out any names!) Thank you all so much. We're so glad to have you all as part of our shower. And can't believe we'll have a baby that will fit in a high chair. Unbelievable.

- Baby Monitor from Kristen, Jon and Sydney Petrel. I worked with Kristen in Pittsburgh and we've stayed in touch over the years. Thanks for thinking of us. It means so much. Kristen has been a great ear for me over the past few months of pregnancy. :)

- Boppy from Jeff and Tammy Rohrlick. Jeff is Keith's brother (my brother-in-law) and Tammy is our sister-in-law. Thanks for sending the boppy. I'm going to give breast feeding a shot and this will definitely come in handy. It's honeydew green just like Maddie's room :) It also came with a teething ring.

- Bathing supplies - the cutest hooded towel, wash cloths, bib, cap, j&j products (+ bathtub) from Megan O'Grady. Megan was out for our California shower but only half of her gift showed up before hand. It was so exciting to get the rest yesterday. Megan is one of my very good friends who has done so much for me during these 9 months. She has sent me maternity clothes (yes, she's been my personal shopper)! This was so important when the morning sickness was so bad I couldn't get myself to the store. Thanks Meg!

- A cooler filled with the most fabulous foods!!!! This is so exciting. It's from Nancy, Lynn, Julie, Dawn and Dad/Cathy. These meals will come in so handy when we're reeling about what to eat. The meals include chicken, pork chops, top sirloin and all the fixins (apple cobbler too!). Thank you so much for this. As soon as we got these meals, the place settings made so much more sense. You guys are so great for doing this for us. What would we do without you?

This morning when I got into work, there was an email from Lynn explaining the shower to us. It was our first full glimpse of all the hardwork that has gone into this shower!! We had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. Lynn included the instructions that were sent to all of you but gave us the option of not reading it, but of course I couldn't stop myself. Can't wait for the rest of the shower. Thanks everyone. Sarah, too, for pulling the site all together and posting the pictures. I love looking at those. So everyone keep them coming!!

I have so much more to write, but I should really get to work (only 6 days left before my leave starts!). I'll try to get on again a little later. You need to hear all about our shower from Saturday and the great things my friends showered us with.

Thank you all once again!

I love you,
Jennifer

Hey Everyone!

This is where Jen will be posting in the future. For now, I'm just testing everything out, and exploring the site so that I can fill her in when we tell her about the blog. :)

Check back soon!
Sarah