35 weeks along, 35 days LEFT!!!

Ok, WOW! Isn't it crazy that I am 35 weeks along?? CRAZIER still to think about it in terms of days because that means I only have 35 DAYSSSSS left before I meet my son! (If he comes on his due date of course). This week was such a whirlwind! We knew we had to get the house (somewhat) clean because Mom was coming Thursday night to stay with us. Not not mention, we only have a BABY ON THE WAY and need to get everything in order. I have just one question... Did anyone else feel like they had to rearrange their ENTIRE house just to get ready for a baby??? Um, let me just tell you that we have been working little by little for a couple of weeks now on getting the nursery ready, BUT this meant that we had to change a guest room into a nursery. Easy enough, right? WRONG. First we had to rearrange the office so that we could put the guest bed in the office with the desk and bookshelf and all the other "office stuff." Then, we had to empty out the closet in the guest bedroom. Easy enough, right? WRONG again. This closet was packed full of STUFF. Stuff that we didn't know where else to put. Let me give you a glimpse of what SOME of the items in the closet were: my wedding dress (big poofy wedding dress), all giftwrap and giftwrap accessories (not in ANY sort of organized fashion, just in the closet), a dresser full of t-shirts that Brandon and I don't wear on a regular basis, items that I bought on Black Friday this past year at a great price to keep as gifts or back-ups in case we needed one including crock pots and tupperware sets and coffee pots, random picture frames and other decorative items that we just don't have set out, etc. ETC ETC ETC. ETC.... ET CETERA. You get the picture right? There was a LOT OF STUFF stuffed in that closet that we are in the process of finding space for right now. In the meantime, we keep accumulating more baby stuff and just keep putting it in the nursery so now we need to paint. And now we need to find a place for all of this STUFF plus all of this baby gear to go while Brandon paints. At any rate, we managed to clean up enough for Mom to come stay with us. She got there Thursday night after our childbirth class and the next morning, rode to work with me so that Daryl could pick her up there and they could head on down to SC to do last minute wedding planning. Mom got to meet a lot of my coworkers and finally put faces to names in the stories I tell from work =) I wished she had been able to stay a little longer so I could have shown her around even more (because this was the first time she had seen where I work) but I know they had a ton of stuff to do, not to mention the drive to and from SC in front of them that day! Then that night Brandon and I went out to eat for Cole's birthday with the rest of the family. It was chaotic and funny as usual and I think Cole liked his birthday gift from us. Brandon and I got tickets for Cole and Brittney and Brandon and me to go see Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker in concert later this summer! Then, Mom got back from SC with Daryl and she stayed the night with us again so she could go to my baby shower the next day at Joan's house. Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast at IHOP (YUM) and then went to get manicures and pedicures! It was, by far, the best pedi I've ever gotten. I don't know if the girl felt sorry for my poor legs hauling around all this extra weight, or what, but she gave the best calf and foot massage ever.

Then baby shower time! Brittney had been planning this shower for a long time and was really excited about all the decorations and spent a lot of time and effort on everything and it all looked great! The baby's room is done in all lime green and chocolate brown so everything from the balloons to the cake to the green apple decorations were lime green ad brown! And she even made these cute favors out of baby jars and painted the lids and filled them with m'n'ms. Something a little traumatic happened at the baby shower... I've been swollen for about 2 weeks now and it happened so fast at first that I didn't have time to get my wedding rings off. At the baby shower, I was swollen so much that my rings were actually cutting into my finger so hard I thought I might start to bleed! I ended up having to soak my hand in ice water for about 15 minutes and then use dish detergent to get them off (plus half my knuckle). It was very painful and I actually wanted to cry, partly from the pain and partly because I don't ever take my rings off. I am proudly married to the man of my dreams who gave me gorgeous rings to wear for eternity and I want everyone to know I'm married! If I have to go the rest of my pregnancy without wearing them, it will be the longest amount of time I've ever gone without wearing my rings =(

Ok, here are some of the pictures from the shower but it's taking a while to load them all so I'll have to load the rest later...

I love this precious picture with Corben laying his head on my shoulder! For almost 3 years now, the kid has had my heart wrapped around his little finger... its crazy to think that in 5 weeks or so, I'll be even more in love with my own little boy!! (Not that Aunt Bethy will love you any less, Corben) =)

Here I am with my FIRST box of DIAPERS!!! Whoa!
Here is a picture of the bride-to-be and the mommy-to-be!! I love you Mom!


I want to write about Mom's wedding but I think that deserves a post by itself...
Here are the stats for this week!
How far along? 35 weeks 1 day

Weight gain? I go to the doctor tomorrow so I'll find out then if I've gained any more but so far, 32 pounds. (ugh)

maternity clothes? uh, yes.

Sleep? I'm not getting enough. I'd loooove to be able to sleep through the night again without waking up to go to the bathroom or from pain/being uncomfortable...

stretch marks? Nope, we're keeping a close eye on my tummy these days though...

belly button in or out? Out.

Best moment this week? My baby shower and my mom's wedding!!
movement? I realized for the first time this week that what I thought was just my baby "knocking" to get out in a rhythmic pattern was actually him having the hiccups! Don't make fun ok? I thought he was just trying to get out and was banging on what he thought was the door! =) Haha! But then one day it hit me all of a sudden that he had the hiccups! So cute! He's had them 4 or 5 times now!

food cravings? frozen lemonade still but I've been practicing restraint =) and still candy =)

Food aversions? coffee

what I'm looking forward to... a weekend to relax (somewhat) and get the baby's room painted... I keep saying that but it REALLY has to get done sometime this week!

milestones.... I'm starting to have more and more baby "stuff" and its kicking this mommy into high gear! I've been busy washing baby clothes and blankets and trying to get organized. My house looks like Babies R Us exploded inside... and it will never be the same, I hear =)

34 weeks

Wow, we're definitely on the home stretch now... 34 weeks. In 6 weeks (or less) I will meet my son. My tiny little sweet baby boy. The little boy that will depend on us for everything he needs. I wonder sometimes if it still hasn't hit me yet because this is serious stuff. I looked at Brandon the other day and said "We're about to be parents... forever... because once we're parents, we'll always be parents, until we die." What a crazy idea! My role as "mommy" will stick with me the rest of my life. I will never not be a parent again. Does anyone else feel the weight of this responsibility?! Do we realize how profound this journey of parenthood is?? It makes me grateful to my mom because I know from the moment I was born, she was striving to be the best parent she could possibly be. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely terrified, but absolutely honored, and one hundred percent excited to be a parent and as Brandon has been saying "I am aware of how unaware I am of how much my life will change." I'm not having second thoughts or anything like that, I'm just realizing how real all of this really is =) If that makes any sense.
This past Sunday was Father's Day. I haven't celebrated Father's Day in about 6 years for reasons that are probably obvious to anyone reading this blog and that won't be discussed here even if you don't know. At any rate, I was very excited that this was Brandon's first Father's Day. Brandon is so excited to be a Daddy and is so sweet to his little boy (my belly) that I can tell he will be a wonderful dad. If you don't know, what first attracted me to Brandon was his maturity and grace in handling a particular situation and I think God really blessed me when he gave me someone so gracious to marry. Brandon is even keel (most of the time) and handles situations with such maturity that I am blown away. Even if I am irate and screaming at him, he calmly tries to reason with me and diffuses the situation. He's told me stories of different instances where he has been either talked down to, embarrassed, cut down, or yelled at, and when I ask how he responded- thinking of course that he would tell me he yelled back or flew off the handle, etc- BUT he always tells me how he wanted to react and that he didn't and just tried to handle it calmly. What a man. Is anyone jealous that my son will have such a cool-headed father? What an asset that will be in disciplining and raising our child. I am so fortunate to have Brandon as my spouse and best friend. He may not realize it, but I look up to him and admire him. He is everything I ever wanted in a spouse and now that he is going to be the father of my baby, I am realizing more and more just how lucky we (me and baby boy) are.

To my husband and father of our child, I love you and want you to know how proud of you I am. I can think of several great men in your life who have influenced you and want you to know that you emulate the best characteristics in all of them. You are a man of great wisdom and grace and are admired by so many. I can't wait to raise our son with you and can't imagine being on this journey with anyone but you. You make me laugh, you inspire me to be better, you encourage me, and you are better to me than I deserve. Happy Father's Day to the man I admire most in life.

I promise I'll post pictures at some point this week...

How far along? 34 weeks 4 days

Weight gain? Weeeeell... about that... 32 pounds... I'm not entirely sure this is accurate. Ok, I'm desperately hoping that it isn't accurate. To my credit, I did go to a different office location so the scale was different and little miss nurse didn't even let the little weight thingy stop wavering up and down before she just slid it back and told me to "hop down." PLUS, I've been swelling a lot in my legs, feet, and hands so I'm thinking some of this weight is water weight.... right?!


maternity clothes? uh, yes.

Sleep? What's that? I think its absolutely hilarious (note my sarcasm) when I read in my pregnancy magazines and online that now is the time in my pregnancy when I should be "storing up on sleep since when the baby gets here I'll be so exhausted." Are they kidding??? Has ANYONE who has written any of those articles every been pregnant? Because let me tell you, I go to bed at 10:30, get up at approximately 1:30 or 2am to go to the bathroom, then wake up around 3 or 4am because my hips hurt or my legs are cramping up, then up again at 5 to go back to the bathroom, and then just about cry when my alarm goes off at 6. When exactly does this "storing up on sleep" or "resting up" for the baby happen?

stretch marks? none so far... lotion and i are very good friends.

belly button in or out? Out. and causing a scene sometimes =)

Best moment this week? swimming at the pool with my husband... weightlessness=a very good thing right now

movement? Only all the time =) I expect nothing less from my baby boy with an achiever mommy =)

food cravings? frozen lemonade from Jims. O-M-G amazing. Don't ask me how many I've had, I'm embarrassed to say =)

Food aversions? coffee

what I'm looking forward to... my baby shower this weekend and Mom's wedding!!

milestones.... I start going to the doctor every week now! Wow! I can't believe I'm already at this point in my pregnancy!

33 weeks

So much has happened since my last post and I really started out wanting to write every week but I've been so tired and so busy with other things that it just hasn't happened. I'll at least try to capture the highlights from the last few weeks. Brittney and I have had several very good coupon classes lately and some not so good classes... One of the not so good classes was an hour away and at a church. Since it was at a church, they requested that we not take up the usual fee, but instead, let them take up a donation at the end. We had been there before and done that very same thing and it turned out fine. Well this time, I counted the donation before we left and counted out $44 and SOME CHANGE. Ask me how insulted I was that someone had dug in their pocket for some dimes to throw in there. Ok, I'll tell you... VERY. Keep in mind that I'm pregnant and pretty hormonal at times so I was desperately trying to keep my emotions under control when I realized that this group of 13 ladies was going to send us home with 22 dollars apiece and NO gas fee, which was required for this class since it was an hour's drive for us (even further for me, since I had to drive about 20 minutes to get to Brittney's house). Brittney looked at me and said "I'm gonna take this stuff to the car, ok?" because she doesn't like confrontation and didn't want to deal with talking to the lady that hosted the class. Fine. I was irritated enough that I was going to say something, whether Brittney was going to stay with me or not. I calmly informed the lady when she asked if the donation was enough that "no, it is less than half of what we were expecting and normally receive." She and another lady nervously looked back and forth at each other and said "well I guess we can write you a check for the difference." And when I told her the difference was $83 dollars, she proceeded to look at the other lady and said "I guess we can write a check and mail it to them for $80, right?" And I wanted to say, NO actually I said 83 dollars, not 80!!!! But I didn't. Then a few minutes later I heard the ladies talking and one of them said "Yeah, we can vote on it at church." Um, excuse me? Vote on WHAT exactly? Whether or NOT you will send me the rest of the money you owe me? Ok, now I am officially ticked. Get me outa here. This was a few weeks ago. Have I received a check in the mail? NO. Let me just stop here.

Ok, next bad class we had... The directions said "go past the brick house and we live behind there." My first thought (for some reason) was that this was going to be in a trailor. Nothing wrong with living in a trailor, I was just concerned about space for 10 people plus us, plus all our stuff we bring. Sure enough, we roll down a gravel drive past the brick house, past the pasture with BULLS (YES BULLS!) to a trailor. Ding Ding Ding. I win. I knew it was a trailor. Still not a bad thing. However, Mr. Husband of the lady who is hosting the class is outside puffing away on a cigarette. THAT is a bad thing. THEN, Mrs. I am hosting this coupon class comes out the side door of the trailor puffing on a cigarette. DOUBLE BAD thing!!! Brittney and I look at each other, terrified, and mouth "we gotta get outa here!!!" BUT, we did the honorable thing and unloaded the car, and walked inside, where immediately upon entering I gag. The cigarette smell is overwhelming. Why? Because they clearly smoke INSIDE their house. There are ash trays EVERYWHERE. I was mortified. All I could think about was my baby and how I shouldn't be around smoke, let alone how much I HATE the smell of cigarettes. We got all our stuff set up and sat down to wait for the guests to arrive and after 3 ladies got there the host looked at us and said, "Ok, there's one more coming and then we can start." UH... wait, did you say just ONE more lady coming or ONE HUNDRED? Because I could have sworn you said "ONE" and we have a requirement that states a minimum of 10 people have to attend the class, otherwise the host has to pay for the difference. Why do we have that requirement? For exactly this reason, classes that we take time to prepare for, drive to, and conduct, not to mention all the refreshments and supplies we provide so we want it to be worth our time. We ended up teaching the fast coupon class in the history of A Penny Filled Pantry. Not joking. It was a matter of life and death. Well maybe not that serious, but our health was certainly at risk!

As far as other happenings in my life, I went to Northern VA for a college girlfriends reunion weekend at Susan's new house. We had so much fun! We got there Friday night for Susan's housewarming party and boy, does she throw a great party! There were a ton of people there and she was so prepared! I was impressed for sure. PLUS, her new house is fabulous and I'm so happy for her! She and her dad spent a ton of time remodeling and the results are awesome. I'm particularly jealous of the heated tile floors in her bathroom! Yes, heated! Then Saturday morning we got up and Whitney, Susan, and Laura surprised Sierra and I with a baby shower brunch!! Sierra and I had no idea and it was so sweet of them!! Here's a picture of the cute cake they got for us and some of the yumminess... Thanks to Whitney, Susan, Laura and Susan's mom for making us feel so special and so loved! Then that afternoon we went to Susan's parents' house to swim in the pool and it was so relaxing. It was just what I needed because being weightless for a few hours is absolutely fabulous when you are carring around 30 pounds more than you are used to! There was one downer to the weekend, and that was that Whitney's GPS and laptop were stolen out of her car and she had to leave Saturday night because she had to redo a presentation for work. Bummer =( I was so sad that happened, especially because I know Whitney was concerned since it was her work laptop. BUT, at least it was things... things that can be replaced... and not Whitney, because there is no replacing Whitney! So Whit, as sad as I am for you losing your gps and laptop, I'm really glad you're ok!!! That night Susan, Sierra and I went to dinner and then on a little coupon outing... and by this, I mean I needed to use a couple of coupons because they were expiring or the sale was ending or something. At any rate we went to Walmart and got 22 tubs of Pampers baby wipes and some Sour Patch Kids for $2. We were pretty excited! Then, apparently I was on a roll with my free stuff because we went to rent a movie at Redbox and got it for free using a code I had! Woohoo! All in all, it was a fabulous weekend and I realize every time we get together, just how much I miss my girlfriends and how grateful I am to have made such wonderful lifelong friends. Makes me miss college =)

I'll have to post some more pictures when I have time...

How far along? 33 weeks 4 days

Weight gain? 29 pounds... when I went to the doctor last week and got on the scale I was ecstatic to see that I had only gained ONE pound in THREE weeks!!! Who knows, maybe I'll keep the weight gain to a minimum the rest of the time and might possibly stay within the "healthy 25-35 pound weight gain" for my pre-pregnancy BMI!

maternity clothes? For the most part. I can't remember the last time I wore a pair of non-maternity pants, other than my PJs... on the other hand, I've bought some maxi-dresses lately that aren't maternity, which is nice, because I'll be able to wear them after he gets here too.

Sleep? Oh how I miss thee... I've been getting up 2-4 times a night to go to the bathroom and I've started waking myself up because I'm crying so hard because my hips hurt. The other day Brandon looked at me and said "It makes me so sad when you wake up crying in the middle of the night" and I hadn't even realized I'd still been doing that. I remember most nights when I wake up crying but not all. The pain in my hips is so bad that I can hardly stand it and I think exhaustion is the only thing that gets me back to sleep.

stretch marks? none so far... I'm keeping an eye out for those bad boys though because I know my tummy is stretching tighter than ever now, but Brandon just checked yesterday for me and didn't see any... whew!

belly button in or out? Out. And very clean. =)

Best moment this week? Brandon laying his cheek on my belly and feeling baby boy kick him

movement? This is a crazy question. I feel like I must have the most active child ever. Now, he has his moments when he'll sleep, but then there are times where, for an hour or more at a time, he will kick nonstop and squirm and wiggle and move all around. He's figured out that at night, when I lay down and am still, he can get up and dance and move all over the place... I sure hope this doesn't mean his days and nights are mixed up.

food cravings? candy. I can only imagine that I am making up for sweets making me gag in my first trimester because really the only thing I want to eat ever is candy. Like fruity flavored candy. Chewy Sprees, regular Sprees, nerds, pixi stix, pez, sour patch kids, etc... you get the idea...

Food aversions? coffee

what I'm looking forward to... going to pick up our crib this weekend and painting and wallpapering the nursery (finally)!

milestones.... BabyCenter.com says this week he should be about 4 pounds, like a pineapple! how cute!