Monday
The folks over at Rachel's office hosted a shower in the afternoon.  We received many more goodies for Kennedy.  They also conducted a stroller race and as is tradition, the forthcoming father is obligated to participate.  Jason lost his heat, but only narrowly.  The photo below shows just how close it was.

That evening, we attended our prepared childbirth class.  They had a couple come in who had recently had their baby at the hospital.  Their story was very captivating for all of the eager parents to be, especially since their experience was still so fresh.  They also played a clip of Bill Cosby Himself.  He had a pretty neat monologue about the birth of one of his kids.  It was pretty hilarious, Rachel and I were both crying it was so funny.

Wednesday
Rachel attended her regular checkup and while Rachel normally receives a perfect report card, we were surprised with  some slightly different news.  Rachel's blood pressure had spiked and the doctor noted that she won't let Kennedy go another two weeks without inducing.  Apparently the only way to relieve the high blood pressure is to have the baby.  That was a real shock for us since all of the other visits had been so routine.  True to form, Jason got a little anxious about the news.  He wasn't there for the appointment, so that likely made him worry more than he might had otherwise.

Through the rest of the week, we have been spending as much time as we can resting a prepping the house for Kennedy's arrival.  We had received so many items from the various showers, that we had no idea where we would put all of the baby gear.  Somehow we have managed to put most of it away in a somewhat organized manner.  It's obvious; however, that a baby is about to take over our house.

Rachel has also started to experience one of the less glamorous side effects of pregnancy.  Her feet have started to swell.  We've included a photo below for documentation purposes.

With all of the excitement last week, we forgot to mention that Dennis has made a cradle for Kennedy.  Over the past couple of months he has been working in his shop to make her a bassinet.  When they were in town, he assembled it for us.

We are so very excited to meet our baby girl and look forward to her arrival.  I (Jason) am especially looking forward to taking care of my family.  It must be some sort of primal instinct.  I can't exactly explain it, but just the thought of her and the forthcoming memories makes me feel so proud and brings a smile to my face.

It would be unjust it we were to complete a blog post without including the weekly profile picture of my lovely wife.  See below for her week 36 photo.