Down for the count!

So, yesterday was 35/35 (35 weeks pregnant and 35 days left to D-Day)!  I also had my first weekly "check" at the doc's.  Turns out I am 70% effaced, but not dialating yet.  That could mean baby is coming sooner than we anticipated, or it could mean nothing at all.  Fun, right?!  And, if labor does start at any point from now on, they will not stop it.

I guess what freaked me out the most about it is that my mom's best friend's daughter-in-law was two weeks ahead of me, and after being given the same news, went into labor about 2-3 days later.  She had more going on than me (i.e. diabetes, older), but still.  It definitely sent me into a little bit of overdrive!  The bedding arrived yesterday, so I got that and all of the initial clothes washed.  I set up the bedding, and LOVE IT!  Thank God! lol!! (see below)

Please excuse the small black spot/stain on my floor. :)

The carseat will be installed & inspected on Friday after work, and we have already started packing.  I also went ahead and ordered the pack'n play and video monitor.  I had planned to wait a little longer, but the sale will be over on Saturday; plus I had received my completion coupon from Target.

Michael is so excited and I am still extremely nervous!  Work is not quite set up for me to leave, but I am taking no chances now.  Eval numbers will be turned in today, and the manager binders I started will be thisclose to finished by tomorrow afternoon.  The last thing I want to do is stress out now!  I need to relax as much as possible to keep this kid inside me for at least another week or 2! :)

Well, that's just swell!

And, I do mean SWELL!
I have definitely started to have a little bit of water retention going on.  I can still fit my rings on and off without trouble, so that's a good sign.  However, I woke up this morning feeling like I had a hangover without the fun party the night before.  That sucked.

According to our countdown to D-Day, we are 44 days away.  That means that at any point in time from now until the baby decides to make an appearance, we can go register at the hospital!  When I realized that this morning, I about peed myself.  Literally.  I already had the urge to go anyway. ;)  But, really.  That was kind of crazy to realize.  I mean, I know that we're close to the end, but the hospital is a scary place!

On to a happier note - we took maternity pictures this past weekend!  I am so excited to see how they came out!  I really wanted something kind of different in addition to the stereotypical, slightly romantic maternity shots.  And, I definitely knew I didn't want any bare belly ones.  Thankfully, I have developed zero stretch marks so far, but I'm still not a big fan of the naked belly pics.  I guess I just think that unless you are or have been pregnant, those can make people uncomfortable.  I don't know, maybe I'm weird!
Anyway... I wanted something quirky and fun - like us! ;)  I really liked the idea of having a graffiti wall that we could spray something about the baby on.  The usual spot for that downtown is kind of sketchy, so our wonderful photographer (Amanda of amandablythe.com) suggested checking out another spot.  We did, and to our pleasant surprise, there was a huge graffiti display of the word "Bunches" in blue with pink around it!!  Talk about awesome!  We had brought along some sidewalk chalk as another idea, so we added our own twist to the wall.  I used pink chalk and Michael used blue to write "We love you" on top of the "Bunches", and then we wrote out Ethan and Aubrey.  Seriously, I could not have asked for anything better.  After we got home, I wished that I would have snapped a pic of the wall, but oh well.  I'm sure we'll see the pics soon enough!  We also got some over by the old arsenal that were a little softer.  I changed into a maxi dress and we took some with baby books and booties.  And, of course, we got a couple of Michael kissing my belly. :)  I forgot to mention that Koopa came along for the ride!  We were able to get some "family" pictures as well, which made me very happy. :)  Koopa is just as much a part of our family as our baby!

Then, yesterday was Father's Day.  I had a nifty basket delivered to Michael last week with assorted nuts and Dad's root beer.  He loved it!  Then, Sunday morning I made him pancakes before we went to church.  Once we got back to the house, I told him that I had a dream that the baby left him a present in the crib.  (Silly, I know.)  I filmed him going to the nursery to find his gift.  "The baby" left him a note and pictures of Mommy. :)  I was FINALLY able to give him the boudoir album I did at the end of January!  I was 13 weeks pregnant at the time, but I felt incredibly sexy.  I told him that I would capture that sexiness again, promise! :)  He was quite the happy daddy-to-be.

I think that about wraps it up for now.  Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

The importance of self

If you've spoken to me lately, you know that work has been a stressful environment for me.  I have been working like a mad woman trying to get everything prepared for my leave, and not neglect the immediate projects at hand.  By the time I would get home, all I wanted to do was lounge and go to bed.  I was letting myself go.  I hadn't had my hair taken care of or airbrush tanned since January, a mani/pedi since November, a massage since September or a facial since last summer.  (And, yes, I find it sad that I remember those things - but I only remember them because they were based on important dates/events).

Well, my amazing husband gave me a spa day for part of my birthday.  Originally, he had set an appointment for me to go on the day of my birthday.  However, I kind of ruined that with working and an unplanned trip to the doctor.  It ended up being for the best, because saving it for last week could not have been a better plan.  With the Bunco shower on Thursday and the *big* shower on Saturday, I was in desperate need of a make-over.  I had my hair cut and highlighted on Thursday before Bunco, so I was looking fresh for that night.  Then, on Friday I had an amazing 4 1/2 hours of relaxation and pampering.  By the time I arrived home, I felt like a brand new person.  I did not realize how weighted and negative I had been feeling until it was all lifted away.  I realized even more the importance of taking care of your *self*, even while trying to focus and sacrifice for a new life.  This does not mean I'm going to be having weekly spa days, but I definitely won't have the same level of guilt for the times that I do splurge a little.  Michael could not believe the difference it made in my demeanor.  I was literally coming home every day looking and feeling like someone beat me up.  It was not pretty. lol

Anyway, I just wanted to touch base on that, because I honestly did not realize how badly I had let myself feel and go for so long.

Showered with blesssings

Over the past week, we've been given two baby showers.  I cannot express my thanks enough to the amazing people in our lives that have come together for the love of this baby.  It's amazing to me because no one has met this little person yet, but there is already so much love for him or her.

The Bunco shower was last Thursday night.  Bunco is always a night I look forward to, and this was no exception.  These ladies are wild and fun, and it was nice that my mom was invited as well.

Bunco Shower - 6/9/11

The Saturday was our *big* family and friends shower held at my parents' church.  I had not been to the new hall yet, and I couldn't believe how pretty it was.  There were tall windows so that lots of natural light could come in, and thankfully the day stayed beautiful long enough for the shower.  We had so many people come to share in the joy of our pending arrival, and the hostesses did a fabulous job.  It was more than I could have ever imagined or asked for.  I had tears within 5 minutes of walking in! lol  The food was delicious and everything was just perfect.  I am so grateful for the friends and family that a part of our lives, and will be a part of this little one's life as well.

Family & Friends Shower sign-in table - 6/11/11

Family & Friends Shower hostesses - 6/11/11

Family & Friends Shower gifts 6/11/11

"Ok, now it feels like a real person is going to be here!"

So, Michael had a moment last night. :)

I had my first shower with my Bunco ladies last night!  They are all so awesome!!  I am so blessed and thankful for such wonderful people in my life.  I always look forward to our once-a-month get-together, and this was really special.  My mom was invited, and I think she had a great time meeting everyone, too.

We received lots of wonderful gifts, some of which were clothes (we had none before)!  Once I got home, Michael helped me unload and put everything away.  We hung the clothes up in the closet, and when I turned around he was just standing there looking at the little onesies and robes with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. 

"Ok, now it feels like a real person is going to be here.  This room isn't just for storage anymore.  The clothes make it real."

It was such a sweet moment for us, and I am so grateful to these wonderful ladies for doing that for us.  Our baby has so much love already and s/he hasn't even arrived yet! :)

Maternity Leave, where are you?

Only 35 days of work left...  I can make it.  I can make it...

I've been mentally broken for a while, and now the physical drain is beating on me.  My lower back constantly aches, and I know that a major reason is my desk job.  I try to get up and walk around at least every hour, but I'm sure I go over sometimes.  I have a lot of prep work left to do for my leave, and that requires me to type things up, print, set up the materials, etc.  All of which have nothing to do with leaving my desk.  Plus, once I'm in the middle of working on something, I always get interrupted.  I usually try to just go ahead and take a walk break after that happens...

I'm just over it.  I'm not happy.

TGIF

I am so out of it today!  I started keeping a countdown on my dry-erase board at work.  Currently, 61 days until our due date and 39 work days left!  Woohoo!

I feel like there is something going on this weekend that I am forgetting about.  Right now we were just planning to finish up the landscape in the front, and I was thinking about hitting up the Farmer's Market in the morning.  We also need to do a "quick clean" since Michael took care of the "deep clean" on my birthday. :)  I want to make sure the house and nursery are ready for the shower next weekend.  I cannot wait!!  I also set up my hair appointment and a spa day/afternoon for the days before.  I am sooooo excited!  I think the reality of how close we are to the end will come once we have everything set up in the nursery.

Michael's time with Home Depot has come to an end.  They let all of their seasonal help go.  They said the next round of seasonal work would be around Christmas time, but Michael is definitely not interested in that.  We did not save up enough to cover the entire fence (he thought the seasonal work might last longer), but it definitely put a dent in it.  This is a big if, but IF we don't have to touch the money we've been saving for my maternity leave.....we might dip into that for it.  However, I like the idea of having a nice nest egg to fall back on in case of an emergency...so, we'll see. :)  If we don't, then I think we'll start back saving for the fence only when I come back to work from maternity leave.

I guess that's it for now.  So sleepy!  I hope everyone has a nice weekend! :)