So about that Labor thing....

Went to childbirth class Friday evening and all day Saturday with the hubbs. Did not know what to expect. Figured I would be sitting cross legged on the ground with hubbs behind me as I practiced breathing in and out in. I also figured there would be a lot of couples for me to people watch at. Turns out I was wrong. We did very little breathing exercises (fine by me) and there was only one other couple in the class.

We walked away very informed and I feel pretty comfortable about this whole Labor thing which is just around the corner. I even feel quite calm about it. Even the hubbs was thoroughly impressed by the level of information we received. Of course, there were the occasional movies showing women's London and France clearly exposed, at which time hubbs ducked his head and asked me to tell him when it was "okay to watch again".

Aside from the classes, I washed the crib bedding, and all of my newborn and 0-3 month clothes and they are nicely put away in their polka dotted pink paper lined drawers in the dresser (my mom is an avid drawer liner). My favorite things to fold were the many pairs of Trumpette socks which I received in both the Mary Jane and Cowgirl styles. Seriously, are you kidding me? Can socks be any cuter?

It is my final week of work before I am off on maternity leave. Trying to get things organized as much as possible for while I am away but so far I am procrastinating like crazy, focusing more on finding a table lamp for the nursery.

In other news, I am have been going to physical therapy for my sciatica. Today was my second time and I have to say I am feeling a bit better. Quite better that I can actually walk upstairs without hurting too much or yelling out to many profanities. It still hurts like a mo fo when I switch sides in the middle of the night. Not a fun task.

35 Weeks

Here I are am in all my glory at 35 weeks! Five more days of work before my maternity leave. I am counting down the minutes and seconds.

They are off...

I have officially taken off my wedding ring and engagement ring. Yup. I held out until 5 weeks before the due date. Pretty impressive I must say considering I usually hear you take the rings off earlier. My ring finger now as an indentation. My fingers look like nice and juicy, fat breakfast sausages, Jimmy Dean maybe.

Clock Watching

Lately, I have been obsessed with trying to guesstimate when I will have our baby. It is just so crazy not knowing when it will be. I am on my way to 35 weeks and curious to know if she will be early or late. I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions all the time now for the last week and half. Not sure if that is a sign that labor could be just around the corner or not. I only have a week and a half before my maternity leave starts (whoo hoo!) and will be so glad to be able to not have to carry my belly and sore back around in the morning trying to get ready for work. My morning routine is taking about 2 hours, ridiculous!

On to other news, at my sister in law's baby shower on Sunday I feasted on desserts like no other. Yes, I indulged and have been doing more lately as I realize how pissed off I have been about my lack of sugar intake. Plus my weight gain is pretty on target so I don't feel like sweating it anymore. I still it very healthy so I think it is okay to work dessert back into my diet.

The Saga Continues....

Okay, I ate my words about what I said about strollers. Last weekend at my baby shower my mother-in-law gave us the stroller we wanted. Unfortunately, I immediately noticed a couple of snags in the fabric right at the front. I am a stickler for having things perfect. No way was I going to keep a stroller that was already defective in my eyes. Then as we were loading my car full of the gifts, I soon realized how large the stroller ended up being when folded. It took up 3/4's of the trunk of my Volvo sedan plus weighed about ten tons. That was it, I was over the stroller and realized that I needed to trade up. It looked like a great stroller in the store and handled well but the snags, fold up size and weight were not going to work. So we cruised back down to the baby store and returned the Graco and purchased the Peg Perego Pliko in Moka. I had checked it out before and liked it but decided to go with the Graco for some other reason like the extra cup holder or something. After reading raving reviews about the Peg online, I decided that I wanted something I was going to be happy with. The Peg is 10 lbs. lighter than the Graco. TEN POUNDS! Plus it folds up vertically and much smaller than the Graco Family Truckster. Plus you can remove the seat lining to wash which I love. More expensive, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

"Gonna be a Nice Little Saturday, Maybe a Little Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond...I don't know, I don't Know if we'll have enough time"

I love Old School. Seriously, who doesn't like that movie? Anyways, I have a nice little weekend planned. Tomorrow I am taking all of my gift certificates which I accumulated at my shower last weekend and my work shower yesterday (pics to come) and stock up on all of the remaining necessities. I have a couple of returns, mostly because I got the same thing twice, and I need to also start washing all of the clothes. Then on Sunday my sister in law, Lisa, is having her baby shower. It is baby #2 for them so it will be smaller and more intimate. I am making Carrot Cake Cupcakes with coconut on top. Yummy! Hopefully between all of the nesting the hubbs and I can sneak out for a nice movie and dinner. I am thinking Burn After Reading, we'll see.

One and Two, Three and Four....

Yes, she is nudging my ribs as I write this. My little baby girl is trying to do step aerobics off my rib cage. There is one rib in particular that is super sore even when I touch it. It must be bruised. I feel her squirming all day. Her quarters are getting quite cramped I am sure. My hips feel like they have been pulled apart like a piece of bubble gum. According to all my pregnancy newsletters she is weighing 4.5-5 lbs. I am confident she will be on the large side. She is already measuring big (according to my doctor and 28 week ultrasound). Plus, I was 9 lbs. 12 1/2 oz. when I was born and hubbs was a little over 9 lbs. himself. I guess we'll see. Despite all of her aerobic moves, I still love feeling her squirm around and can not complain. This final stretch really is fun, even if uncomfortable!

My Baby Shower

Saturday was my baby shower with family and friends. I had so much fun! My cousin through it for me. She completely out did herself and made sure every little detail was perfect down to the pink M&M's. She really is a Martha Stewart. We played some really cute games, ones I had not even heard of before, ate a fabulous brunch followed by the most delicious and beautiful cake from a local bakery. We topped off the day by opening a sea of presents where I got so many cute things!

The fabulous food, and that is before three of the main dishes.

The gifts before everyone arrived!

My aunts hard at work.

The hostess (my cousin) Amy and her daughter Anna and me.

The outside area. Little bottles of water on the table with little vases filled with Gerbera Daisies.

My Aunt Kathy and Me

My Mom and Me

My Sister in Law, Lisa, and I, she's due two weeks before me.

I received some fabulous gifts. My favorites included a cute yellow antique rocking chair for the baby to rock in when she is a little girl, a super lush raspberry color Little Giraffe blanket and snuggly and last but not least my diaper bag which my sister in law Juliana got me. It's Juicy Couture and super big, exactly like the one pictured here. I loved all of the onsies and cute outfits. Everyone was so generous! This baby will be styling, that is for sure!

I Am Desperate

Today I did the unthinkable. I shoved myself into a pair of my pre-pregnancy jeans just out of shear frustration with maternity jeans. The pants I got my self into (after some shimmying and squatting) are a nice worn in pair of Sevens a size larger than my rest. Obviously I did not get one notch of the zipper done but I was able to wrap my belly band around the waist and "Wah Lah!" I am wearing Sevens that make my butt look like it should! Not like a flat pancake. They are slightly more comfortable than my maternity jeans and look fine. I am wearing a long maternity tunic to cover any waistband unevenness. I don't think I will make this a regular occurrence, but I just had to do something.

On another note, my shower is tomorrow! Yeah! I am so excited. I will make sure to take TONS of pictures. My cousin is throwing it for me and I am sure it will be so cute. Off to get a pedicure after work so I look all spiffy for the day.

This is what I do when Hubbs is Away

This is me this fine evening. Frustrated that I have not taken belly photos in about 4 weeks. So I took matters into my own hands and took this very flattering picture of myself...and is one of the better ones out of the batch. Clearly the top I am wearing is not maternity. Also, please excuse the mess. We are still unpacking and my sciatica has delayed the process of organizing our bathroom, but I still have enough energy to take Glamour Shots!

Lonely

Hubbs is away on a business trip this week. I am bored. Since my back is still out of whack I can not unpack much at all. I want to get things organized, hello nesting, but this handicap is prohibiting me to do so. My family/friends shower is this weekend followed by my work shower next week so hopefully I will be able to get the nursery all perfect once those happen. I am so exited.

Hubbs painted the baby's room pink over the weekend. It turned out pink alright, very pink. The furniture is assembled, now the room just needs to be filled. My mom is going to make some curtains so I need to pick out the fabric this weekend. This is so much fun. I love decorating!

The downstairs t.v. remote's batteries are done so now I need to go to the store to buy some more, oh and also a plunger....

Lucy kept me up all night because she wanted to go outside and play in the backyard, which means, bark at critters and wake up the neighbors. After realizing that she really was not going to stop whining, I finally ended up letting her out at 5 a.m. to go to the bathroom in which she ended up super wet because apparently it rained overnight! Nothing like looking for a towel in your barely unpacked house at the butt crack of dawn.
Oh well. I still love her.

The New Status Symbol?

Why is it that strollers seem like they are the new status symbols? It used to be cars, clothes, hand bags, etc. Now it is baby gear.It seems like there is a plethora of extremely expensive strollers out there. At a wine festival we went to on Saturday I noticed a couple with a Stokke stroller. Those things are just plain goofy looking and also look rather unsafe and the price tag for those puppies is $1,200!!! This is wine country people, not New York.

What happened to practicality? When did the baby industry get so focused on having the coolest gear at top dollar? I see normal couples spending thousands of dollars on baby gear just so they can have a Bugaboo just like their favorite celebrity. I did a ton of research on strollers and while I considered getting the more expensive Peg Perego or MacLaren, I realized that both did not have the features I wanted which I ended up finding in the Graco Quattro Tour Sport. It is one thing to put a hefty price tag on something that really is worth the top dollar, but another thing to not offer all of the amenities is just weird. It's like buying a Lexus without leather seats and electric windows. Those things are just standard in luxury vehicles, so why can't they be in strollers?

Ready

I am so ready for summer to be over with. We have had one too many heatwaves. I am tired of sweating before I go to sleep each night wondering when it will cool down. Tired of wiping away the sweat between my boobs. I want to hear the rain pattering against the windows as I snuggle up in the covers. Since we leave the windows open at night to let air in, Lucy can hear all of the dogs barking in the neighborhood which she in turn decides to answer them and wake up the entire house. She does this every night when it is hot.


I am ready for my sciatica to buzz off. This is getting out of control. Maybe if I start eating sugar again, it will feel better. Interesting rational.

I am so proud of Hubbs for starting to cook. I am the only the cook of the house and when he wants something to eat it either needs to be a quesodilla, grilled cheese, sandwich or a frozen burrito for him to cook. Lately, he has been venturing out more and making eggs in the morning, and even helped me make calzones last night. I know, look out. But this is big, coming from someone who rarely sets foot in the ktichen. I have been encouraging him to learn to cook more since pretty soon it will be a lot harder for me to turn out nutritious and hearty meals every night (except weekends, we always eat out on weekends). I think he will do just fine.

Supermarket Sweep

Today I stayed home because my back is still not better and being at work moving around is just not in the cards today. Yesterday the flats I was wearing made my feet super swell up. After work I swung by a local market and came close to getting plowed into by some stupid woman with a shopping cart who was in a hurry. I was ready to literally pounce on her if she did so as it would of caused major pain to my poor little back. So that's what I am doing, oh yeah, and attacking the ridiculous ant problem we have in our kitchen. Those effers keep on coming back no matter what I am doing.

Moved

This weekend we moved. We moved to a house back into our home town (about 10 miles away). Before we were living in a little suburb town with three restaurants (okay more) which we thought would be fun to live in but turned out to be super isolated. Anyhoo, we are back in town. Moving sucked like moving always does. We started bright and early on Saturday and still were moving things yesterday evening. We still have a bunch of crap at our old house which needs to be a carted to the new house, but we can handle that this week.

My body is worn out. I obviously did not do any heavy lifting, but standing on my feet and getting things organized was one tough chore for an 8 month pregnant chic. My sciatica is on fire and I even have to walk with a limp it is that bad. Sunday was the day we had the moving truck so that was the roughest day. Even being worn out, we still ended up making it to a BBQ that evening where I planted my ass in the chair and barely moved the rest of the night.

One of the most pain in the ass things about moving is not being able to find necessities for those first couple of days, i.e. your toothbrush, face wash, shoes, etc. The first night Peppermint Patty decided to investigate the new digs but wanted to check back and make sure we were still there and would wake us up every hour by prancing on top of us meowing and then bouncing off the best to go explore again.

Baby furniture is ordered and should be getting it next week so we can begin working on the nursery!