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!