Nursery

Last weekend James and I worked on the nursery and finished it all up! We went with an ocean theme, since we both love the ocean and it was gender neutral before we found out Wallaby was a boy. Most of the decorations are from the Bubbles & Squirt collection by Lambs & Ivy. I'm really happy with how it turned out--I think it looks nice and I enjoy hanging out in there (when it's cool at least). So here's some pictures of the finished nursery!

This is looking into the nursery from the doorway. You can see how most of the room is set up. Our room is to the right.

We got a toy chest that has pistons to avoid slammed fingers, a hamper that looks like a whale and the crib.
                            


Here's the glider we recovered. There's a two drawer file cabinet we're using as a side table that the lamp and night light are sitting on. There's the dresser/changing table that also has a bookshelf. There's a diaper pail, a diaper bag (hanging on the edge), and the painting I did.

A little school of fish below the window! These decals were so cute!

Our vinyl decals over the crib to make a little underwater scene for Wallaby. James was awesome putting them all up and helping me design it. The best part about the decals is that they're reusable!

Here's the quilt that came with the crib set. It's so cute. And the blowfish (which you can just see the bottom of) has a squeaker inside of it! He'll be sleeping in our room at first, so it might be a while before he gets put in the crib (especially since there's no air conditioning in the nursery and it is still HOT here)

The closet is hiding my sewing machine and craft organization on the right, and some baby stuff on the left. You can see the whale triptych, and the valance over the closet doors.

This is the rug we found at Costco! It was just one of those awesome accidental finds. Ocean-y and educational. Although I don't understand why the last row of numbers is backwards, it's still cute!

36 Weeks

36 weeks; that's 28 days, 4 weeks, 1 month left!!! In some ways the weeks are flying and in some they're crawling. Overall, the pregnancy has gone by extremely quickly, but these last few weeks seem to crawl by, though the days never seem to be long enough for me to get everything done. So I guess I'm just proof of Einstein's theory of relativity (if I understand the theory correctly that is).

Tuesday was spent crocheting and resting without much interesting going on. James keeps reminding me that not only am I carrying around a baby, but that he's "stealing my food" too, but I still feel lazy when I get tired so quickly. I do as much as I can, but a few hours out of the house wears me out, and if I push it, I end up with a lot of pain at the end of the day. Wednesday was a great day! Not only did I hit all the green lights and manage to turn left out of the complex in the morning (this never happens), but when I got to work and went to pull something out of my purse, I found a chocolate chip muffin in a ziploc bag with the cutest note written on it! James is so thoughtful and sweet and knows me extremely well :) Work was interesting; when I declined a call from James in front of my boss because he was talking to me, I got a mini-lecture on how God and family come before work stuff. Seriously, I work for a great boss, but after thinking about it, it was that I wouldn't interrupt an in-person conversation for a phone call, unless I were expecting a serious one. Either way, as I left, I was reminded "God, family, then work!" What can you do but laugh? We ended the night at First Pres' new young adult group, which involved pizza and a nooma video and discussion. I'm not a huge fan of the nooma videos, but now they're even weirder because the host reminds me of my OB.

Thursday was a LONG day. It started off with one of the contractors telling me that I looked huge. I really don't understand where people get off with ignoring basic common courtesy when confronted with a pregnant woman, and I'm even less understanding when they've been pregnant or have experience with pregnant women (ie their wives). I was upset about it, but honestly, I don't have that kind of energy anymore and being that upset is exhausting. Especially with the day we had; I spent at least 45 minutes on the phone with one of the company's warehouses dealing with about 7 different orders we had for one type of carpet and trying to figure out the nightmare that was POs, reference numbers and yardages. While on the phone, the other line hardly stopped ringing and it was just ridiculously busy. I was going to write a separate rant about people's filters and nursing bras, but ended up with no energy left. We also had a busy night since we spent a few hours at the hospital in Labour and Delivery.

It's certainly one way to get a tour of the maternity ward. Since I was still not full term--only a few days away, but not quite there--I had been told to call my doctor if I had more than 4 contractions in an hour. I had about 6 that I identified as contractions and when I called my doctor, I was told to go to the hospital. So about 10 minutes before work ended, I ran by the church and James took me to the hospital. We got all checked in, and I was nervous, but not really concerned because I was sure it wasn't anything huge. I'd tried changing position and drinking water, etc, but the contractions didn't reduce. However, they weren't hurting or getting more intense. They got me into a room (spacious and very nice) and hooked me up to monitors. Turns out that what I thought was Wallaby pushing against my stomach were actually contractions, and I was having them every 7-9 minutes (didn't even feel most of them, not even as a tightening!). However, no dilation and no effacement, so I was sent home being told that I was in false labour. I'm still having plenty of contractions; apparently mine just like to be on the right side (doctor said my uterus might be tilted that direction?) which is why I was confusing them with movement. They also said I don't need to worry unless they're painful and getting more intense. So even though I feel silly, it ended up being really good: we got a dry run, know what to expect and I feel so much better about delivering there--it was completely different than our experiences at the ER. Overall, it was a good experience and I'm glad that we went; I'd rather go and feel silly than not go and regret it if something were wrong. And now that Wallaby is full term, I don't have to worry unless the contractions are frequent and intensifying, or my water breaks.

Friday was another extra work day that I picked up and another crazy day. Like Thursday, my boss was running around like crazy and the day was spent putting out fires and taking messages while he was out of the office. James picked me up for my doctor's appointment, and when we arrived my blood pressure was a bit high, so the doctor had me lie on my left side and then retook the pressure after about 5 minutes. What a difference that made! It dropped by about 20 points! It also explains the frequent headaches I've been having, which I had just attributed to stress. So now I'm more aware of it and try to spend more time lying on my left side when I get a headache instead of just assuming stress or hunger. My weight gain has also slowed, and he pronounced that I had gained healthily. The best news was that Wallaby is in the right position, which means he's already head down! That was one of my big concerns, so it was great to hear that he's all ready to go when the time's right. And that I'm not crazy and I actually do feel little feet sometimes :) I have now dubbed the process of getting a breast pump via the insurance a SAGA. This saga continued on Friday. After still receiving no calls from Apria, though being assured daily I'd receive a call back the next day, I called them only to discover that the particular style/brand I requested wasn't covered by their contract with Blue Shield. After calling Blue Shield and discovering that I have NO RESTRICTIONS on breast pumps (for the 7th time), I had them call Apria. Apria told Blue Shield it was because they had no authorization, which I had given them the first time I called. After an HOUR on hold with Blue Shield, I finally discovered that with my medical group, Apria and Blue Shield on a three way call, Blue Shield and Apria were negotiating a price on that particular pump and I would receive a call back on Monday. I'm not holding my breath. Having submitted the original authorization request in July, I'm starting to get a bit freaked out about getting this taken care of prior to Wallaby's arrival. So, the saga continues.

Saturday was spent working on the nursery since it was a bit cooler than previous days. We got almost everything done in the morning, just a few pieces of furniture left to get and getting picture hanging supplies to finish the wall art. The afternoon was spent running around doing errands and getting those last few things we needed. It made it a really long day, but also made me feel better since a lot of what needed to get done happened, at least for the most part. Unfortunately, running around to a bunch of stores and walking all day took its toll on me and by the time we got home that night I was exhausted. After lying down to get rid of the headache I had brewing, I got up and could barely move I was in so much pain. My hips were just screaming out, from the joint itself all the way into my lower back. I could barely walk. I'm really not sure how many more evenings like that I can take, and will be glad when I can go back to walking or sitting or lying down without pain or clicking. Sunday started early: heartburn woke me up at 3:45. I was awake for about 2.5 hours before I finally felt better enough to crawl back into bed and sleep for another hour or two. At that point, church was out of the question; we were just too late. We did get a lot done--we drove all over the county getting stuff from Craigslist. We picked up an awesome toy chest (with pistons to prevent slammed fingers, a chalkboard inside the lid and a little organization tray) in Long Beach, a play mat that retails for $80 (!!) for only $10 in Mission Viejo and after running home to drop those things off, we ended the day picking up a two drawer file cabinet that's doubling as a nightstand/side table in San Clemente and getting more water (and some Bio Oil) at Costco. There was also an incident in the mall; a little boy walking by with his mom tapped my belly as he walked by. His mom didn't notice, and I almost turned right around to follow and bitch out the kid, but I didn't. Nonetheless, it was another energy-draining incident which upset me, despite my efforts to ignore it. Really, personal space at the least should be respected, and you should NEVER tap someone on their stomach; is it really that hard to teach kids to respect others?! When we got home, we were able to Skype with both our parents and show them the nursery before we moved everything into the crib in the middle of the room and covered it all with sheets because our unit was being sprayed for bugs (we found a cockroach!) the next morning.

Monday started sooner than I expected. I had my lovely international Skype date with a friend, and thought I had about an hour to finish up the last few things I needed to move, change and eat something before pest control arrived. I had just finished changing and pulling my long dresses onto the bed when the doorbell rang, and pest control arrived half an hour early. After feverishly picking up the last of the rugs, throwing some food into a bag and harnessing the dogs, I got kicked out of my apartment for the next four hours. With nowhere else to go, I took the dogs to the church and we hung out in James' office. I slept on two chairs pushed together, we got lunch at Panera and after another nap, I walked over to the library to pick up some reading. I was finally ready to shell out the $3 for a replacement card, since waiting in the customer service line when the quick check out was always available was getting old (I've never had to pay for a replacement card, so it was principle! Plus, I'd never activated the old card because we got married then moved!!) As I checked out my books and asked for a replacement card, I got a pleasant surprise: not only do they now offer keychain cards, which means I don't have to carry the big one with me, but this month only they're offering free replacement cards! I knew there was a reason I was waiting, even if I didn't know what it was. I left with 6 new books and have already devoured half of one of them. I read a chapter or two aloud to Wallaby every now and then; if he comes out of the womb with a love of murder mysteries, I guess I'm to blame. I finally got to go home, though there was a lot to clean up/put back when we got home. James did a lot of it, and even cleaned my bathroom while nothing was on the counters. We waited a bit too long for grocery shopping so ended up going to In N Out for dinner. I wasn't too upset--their animal fries are delicious!

How far along: 36 weeks

Total weight gain: 33 lbs

Favourite clothes: My pyjamas. I just want to nap!

Sleeping: Not great, but not as horrible as it could be. Mid-day naps and lots of rest are still required though

Best moment: Getting the nursery all done and seeing everything put together!

Worst moment: I did freak out a bit in the hospital since we were so not ready for him to be here yet

Miss anything: Same old, same old. Sushi, we will be spending some quality time together soon

Cravings: Never, ever watch Diners, Drive Ins and Dives when pregnant at midnight...

New symptoms: Same old, same old again. More stretch marks, hence the Bio Oil

Looking forward to: Meeting our boy. I can't wait to hold him!

Pregnancy brain moments: I've been doing ok this week actually

Listening to: No particulars

Crafting: Still working on that cocoon. It shouldn't really take this long, but I just don't pick up the crochet anymore since I'm usually spending my "leisure time" lying down

Baby projects: I think they're all being placed on hold, or being abandoned. We just don't have enough time left.

36 Weeks: One (1) Month Left!!!

Profile shot. Despite the fact that my belly is large, I still don't feel
*that* huge

Belly zoom

35 Weeks

We hit the 30 day mark this week!! I can't believe there's only a month left! So, the official due date is October 16th, but I have a feeling he'll be in there a day or two longer. I'm guessing he'll arrive October 19th, probably in labour by the 18th...any other guesses? Just for fun!

Tuesday was pretty chilled out. Running some errands, but my back pain is really interfering with my life. I have trouble moving around and every time I turn from side to side at night, I can feel my back click and pop. I haven't started waddling yet, and can still move pretty quickly if I need to, but when I first start walking after sitting or lying down for a while, I definitely hobble. Tuesday night we went to the "Maternity Open House" at St. Joseph's, which was described as a tour. Online, it told us to meet in the hospital lobby, but as a very rude woman there informed us, we were to go to a different building with a classroom. Gee, I can't wait to give birth in a hospital with such nice people...that was sarcasm, in case you didn't catch it. It was interesting; the "tour" was basically the virtual tour available online and I didn't really see the point of having gone to this. Plus, the air conditioning was broken and the people next to me really needed to use deodorant, which made the night pretty unbearable. I guess it was ok, but it felt like a waste of time for the most part. It's also frustrating that you have to pay extra to have a private room, which is the only way James won't get kicked out after 9 or 10 pm. (This is after labour, obviously). They also apparently force you to watch a video about caring for newborns; the assumption of ignorance is incredibly frustrating. But, we'll see; I'm going to go in with good thoughts since I want this to be the best experience it can be under the circumstances.

Wednesday and Thursday were full of work and pretty much the norm. But Thursday night, we had one of my sorority sisters over for dinner. She brought a delicious salad (I really hope my tastes don't change back after Wallaby is born--I'm loving enjoying fresh veggies and fruits) and we had bbq chicken sliders. This is James' creation of bbq chicken with Stubb's spicy bbq sauce and mozzarella cheese, on top of King's hawaiian rolls (SO GOOD). Plus, she brought chocolate gelato for dessert, which was fantastic! And, she left the extra salad and the gelato, which was also great. We had a really lovely time; we hadn't had a chance to catch up since shortly after the wedding, and it was great to reconnect. She left us with a beautiful crocheted blanket and an offer to cook us dinner after baby arrives. It was a fun night, with good food, good conversation and good company. We quickly packed up some of our stuff after she left in an attempt to get an early start the next day to Coronado.

Well, it wasn't a super quick start, but at least it wasn't too late either. We packed up all of the clothes and bedding Wallaby had received to wash, as well as our laundry and food and thank you notes to address. We stopped by Freebirds for lunch and the girl who prepped our order differentiated our burritos with the monikers "Momma Bear" and "Poppa Bear" which was adorable. Then we realized we'd left the packed cooler sitting on the stove. Luckily we weren't too far from home, so we only hit the road after going back to pick that up. We got to Coronado and James had enough time to run to the library to print out something he needed to sign to allow our apartment to reglaze our tub (yay!). Then we had our massages. It was an interesting experience. It was very different from what we were used to--a lot of stretching, but not much deep knot work. Since I can't lie on my back, I had an astounding assortment of pillows propping me up. I haven't been that comfortable in months! I was lulled to sleep for a few minutes on either side and woke up feeling more rested that I have for quite a few months. Unfortunately, the style of massage didn't work for James or me; James said he felt a bit beat up and my lower back was bruised the next day, which was too bad. Ultimately, for me, it was worth it for because I felt so rested for the first time in a long time.

Well, the idea of getting out of the heat didn't last--it was 103 degrees on Saturday (how is that even possible?!)! Despite the heat, we ventured inland to pick up a clip-on high chair we had been looking at, and I think it'll be really helpful, especially since it folds flat for travel and we have a counter height table, but our families don't. We did laundry and my godparents came over for dinner. My godbrother was also able to join us for dinner before heading to work, and it was great to see them. We had salad and ravioli, and it was fun to chat and relax. They brought the crib, so that got unloaded for James to set up the next day. Since it was still early when they left, we spent the rest of the night folding up the teensy, tiny baby clothes and bedding. As long as he isn't going through 5 outfits a day, he should be ok (again, laundry will be interesting because we only have the pay community washers and dryers that are downstairs).

Sunday we went to Christ Church; it's so nice to be able to walk down there, and the rector is so nice, especially since James' aunt and uncle used to go to church with him, which is a neat connection to have. In fact, after the service, he asked us (sincerely) to call them when we had the baby so they can pray for us, which is very sweet since we are neither members nor regular attendees. The only downside is the "parish intern;" I'm not really sure what his role is, since he seems like a seminarian, but seems to be done with seminary. His preaching style isn't quite to my liking: both the sermons of his I've heard are very long and very disorganized--like looking at someone's brain map for an essay before they move forward and organize their thoughts. It's like he tries to fit in too much instead of focusing in on one or two thoughts. After church we finished laundry and James treated the outside of the house with bug spray. The pups got baths and then it was time to pack up the car and head home. Since we got home relatively early, James decided to wash the dog blankets and our bedding (separately, of course) before we head to bed. The tub had been reglazed, and for the first time since moving in it looks clean!!

Monday morning saw me wide awake with heartburn at 5 am. It was horrible and kept coming back throughout the day. I had lunch with some friends in the circle and then managed to run a few errands, including grocery shopping and some returns. The hospital store ended up not taking returns, even though it was their fault that it didn't work, so I wasn't too thrilled with that. I can tell you, I'll never get anything from that store again considering how unhelpful they were. So much for hospitals doing the right thing...Ah well, such is life. We got the stroller and spent the night setting it up! It's so exciting!! It's beautiful and it'll be so great to have; just as easy to set up as it is to fold and steer! It was a long day, especially considering the early morning I had, but for some reason I still couldn't sleep. Eventually I'll get some rest and some sleep at night, but not for the past few days. All in all, it was a pretty good week, and every week brings me closer to meeting my little boy!

And the Cliffs Notes:

How far along: 35 weeks

Total weight gain: Somewhere in the realm of 30 lbs

Favourite clothes: You get to see those Sesame Street boxers this week!

Sleeping: Horribly. Hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep between midnight feedings once he's here...as for now, I barely get any sleep, and definitely no rest

Best moment: Dinner on Thursday was really great

Worst moment: Getting up Sunday night and not being able to walk from pain, Monday morning with heartburn

Miss anything: Sleeping, moving without pain, not being swollen like a balloon

Cravings: Salad with goodies in it (tomatoes, bell peppers, olives, avocado, etc)

New symptoms: Heartburn. Waah!

Looking forward to: Just in the next week, all the things we ordered should be showing up! Looking further forward, Laura and Chris' wedding is coming up! Yay!

Pregnancy brain moments: So I have a problem with remembering nouns anyways, and this is just exacerbating, but here are the two best ones:
Trying to describe the terracotta warriors: "Those Chinese people, that aren't real people"

The post office: "That place that takes the things to the other places"

Listening to: I haven't really had music I've been absolutely obsessed with. Just the normal shanties and war or drinking songs

Crafting: I need to crochet more! I only did one row. I need to get back into the groove!

Baby projects: Same as last week. Getting the car seat installed is top to do right now!

35 Weeks: Wallaby is the size of a durian. It's a fruit, apparently
Note the sexy boxers and squint (it was super bright)

35 week profile. Again, note the boxers lol

35 week belly. He's all out in front!

34 Weeks

I know there's only 5 weeks left now, but I feel like these last few weeks have been crawling by so slowly! I know it's gone fast, and there's so little time left, but I still feel like it's taken so long for these last few weeks to pass, and I think that feeling will continue.

I grabbed some old Cat Who... mystery books by Lillian Jackson Braun before leaving Walnut Creek. They used to take me about a week or so to get through in 5th grade, so I figured four of them would be plenty. Oh, how wrong I was. I finished all four of the ones I took in 3 days. And I realized something. Jim Qwilleran, who I had always admired was actually a womanizing jerk, a dirty old man. Maybe I just glossed over it because I was young and it went over my head, but YUCK. Anyways, maybe that's in the earlier ones; it's definitely interesting to see the difference in attitudes toward women displayed in the 60's and 80's, especially as the book is written by a woman. There are 29 books in the series, and I'd like to make my way through all of them again. Unfortunately, our library doesn't seem to have the early ones, so I'm a bit stuck...Coronado has them, but while we'll go down once more, I don't think we'll be back after that to return them.

Tuesday passed too quickly; unpacking and recuperating from the long weekend. It always seems like you need a vacation from your vacation, doesn't it? James had started feeling sick before we left, but got better once we were up north. Well, it was back in full force by Wednesday. We're relatively sure it's caused by the mold in our bathroom, though we finally have a new vent in the bathroom. They had to get us a commercial grade one to make it work, but it actually does! I spent Wednesday evening on my own with the pups while James went out with the groomsmen and women for a pre-bachelor party get together. He seemed to have a good time, but he really didn't sound great when he got back. Thursday was calm and we had tangy black bean soup for dinner. Since I couldn't decipher the directions (they made no logical sense, like big chunks were missing), I just made it up as I went and it ended up being really good!

I ended up working a half day on Friday to cover for my boss' wife. I would have worked the whole day, but I had a doctor's appointment at 2. It seems like everything is looking good--the doctor was late since his surgery that morning had run late, but there was nothing to be concerned about. Basically he confirmed my suspicion that since the gallbladder ultrasound came back negative for stones, it's just one of those fun mystery pains. It still pops up every now and then, and sometimes just touching my stomach is painful, but I'm managing. Friday evening our friends took us out to dinner at PF Chang's for James' birthday. We had a wonderful time and had some great food; even some leftovers to take home for lunch the next day! They also treated us to dessert at this place that specialized in macarons! Not the coconut, fluffy type, but the whoopie-pie look-alike type. They had all kinds of different flavours, but we went with salted caramel, vanilla and chocolate. I really liked the caramel and vanilla, but the chocolate had a weird fudge-like consistency I didn't care for. And the fact that there's a store that only sells macarons is crazy--definitely only in Newport Beach! It was a really fun night and I'm so glad we have such great friends.

Saturday was my baby shower down here! It was perfect--I have a bit of social anxiety so I always get nervous before these things. There were about 8 people there and it was great--we had food, played games and opened presents. Plus I got to catch up with people I don't get to see very often! The games were really fun---nursery rhyme riddles (with some I'd never heard of!), baby food guessing game (failed miserably) and baby animal names (very informative). I even won one of the games; no, it wasn't rigged! I was so grateful to Theresa (and John and John Lawrence) and Vanessa for putting this together for me. I just had so much fun. I think James' eyes bugged out of his head the most when he saw the 53" teddy bear my godmother got us--it's huge and cuddly and must be protected from the dogs who would also love it. We got to spend the evening with my godmother, whom we hadn't seen since Easter. It was great to catch up and have a nice dinner and chat, and she helped us out a great deal by taking the old crib down to San Diego for us to put into Coronado next weekend (which would have been difficult in our cars). It was a nice night, but we had to get some rest because Sunday was busy too!!

Sunday was the shower that First Presbyterian threw for us. We went to church in the morning, and after the service, they had McAulay Hall all decorated--it was so adorable! It was a beautiful set up and there were balloons in the shape of pacifiers and tons of people showed up. It was a little embarrassing, sitting in front of everyone, but at least this time they didn't make us give a speech (like at the wedding shower) haha. We had a great time, and good cake, but didn't have time to open the presents at the shower since it was about 20 minutes before the Christian Education class started. We opened them all at home, and had a wonderful time. It was so sweet of everyone and the items will be very well-loved and used, I'm sure. The only thing that upset me a bit was when I stood up, one woman told me that I was so big there was no way I'd make it another month, let alone to my due date. Now, this is the first thing someone has said that has upset me to this degree; don't tell someone their baby is going to be premature...it's not nice. And don't say it repeatedly! Plus, what woman is ok with being told how large she is? I mean, really?! I managed to NOT smack her, which I consider a very large feat of self-control, and even more so, I managed to keep a smile (if slightly strained) on my face. But, overall, I had a great time and everyone there was so loving and supportive. It's nice to know that we have such a large support network.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Babies R Us looking at strollers/car seats. The one we had registered for was a bit clunky; it would take up the entire trunk of the cars and it was quite heavy. A friend recommended the B Agile on facebook; it's made by Britax and their car seats attach (as well as any others with the help of an adaptor). We totally fell in love with it! It is true to its name, very agile, and light, easy to fold and so small when you fold it up! We ended up ordering the Sandstone colour travel system Monday night and I can't wait for it to get here!! (PS: Just realized it perfectly matches the diaper bag, which was a total accident, but is awesome!) My priority right now is getting clothes/bedding washed and the car seat installed in case Wallaby shows up early. In the evening, we had our maternity photo shoot! Alison Conrad of Alison Kay Photography was our photographer; she was James' colleague when he first moved to Orange in 2005. We had such a great time at Crystal Cove in Laguna Beach, even if we ended up with wet pants! I felt very pretty and can't wait to see the photos in a few weeks! And, we're set up for her to do newborn photos once Wallaby gets here too, so I'm thrilled! It was a really fun weekend, but it was a very long, long weekend and even before the photos I was in quite a bit of pain and exhausted. I took one of the pain pills my OB gave me and that helped a bit, but I'm afraid I was quite cranky before that. I had so much fun this weekend, but it was with relief that I crawled into bed Sunday night with plans to do a whole lotta NOTHING on Monday!

Monday was spent online--researching prices and strollers and seeing exactly what we still *need* versus what we want and how that works with the gift cards we've received. Also, about 5 hours of napping; completely and totally crashed out on the couch instead of running errands. But after hours of numbers and ending up with different numbers each time I added things up, I ended up giving up for a while, but will try again later. I also finished up some thank you notes, though we're going to have to go buy some more for the church! Finishing those is on my list for Tuesday, along with grocery shopping and organizing the baby stuff in the nursery...it became a mess again when we removed the crib lol. All in all, a wonderful week with a fun, exhausting weekend!

How far along: 34 Weeks! (3 weeks til full-term!!!)

Total weight gain: +30 the weight gain has slowed down a bit, and I have appointments every 2 weeks now

Favourite clothes: Those Sesame Street boxers I got are not only awesome, but totally comfy! (Oh, and I can't comfortably wear my normal bra anymore--nursing bras here I come? :/)

Sleeping: Still difficult for tossing, turning and getting up to pee. I try to get in naps during the day, during which I tend to sleep well

Best moment: The baby showers were such an outpouring of love and support, it was amazing!

Worst moment: Sunday afternoon between strollers and photos was really hard--I was in a lot of pain and very grouchy...Plus I'm still ticked off about that lady's comments. 

Miss anything: The norm. Does anyone know if I can eat blue cheese if it's pasteurized, or is it just any blue cheese that's out?

Cravings: No big ones this week, but I remain suggestible

New symptoms: The old ones--my stomach is so sensitive and there's both internal and superficial pain, but there's not much to do. Pain on and off in my hip. I'm finally getting too big to reach things on the ground, like my purse when I'm in the car. I'm just uncomfortable in general, but that's par for the course. Braxton Hicks contractions are kicking up again and, speaking of kicking, Wallaby has turned my uterus into a kickboxing gym!

Looking forward to: We have the labour and delivery tour this week and dinner with a friend I haven't seen in a while, plus a weekend in San Diego (our last til Thanksgiving I'm sure)

Pregnancy brain moments: Words get mixed up and I always say the wrong ones...or write the wrong ones

Listening to: We got Raffi cds from the shower! EEEE! 

Crafting: I need to get my butt in gear, but I've been so busy with other stuff that I've barely made any progress. Gotta change that this week...

Baby projects: Still the same. Like I said, I need to get down to work on these since I have like 5 other projects I still want to finish

34 Weeks: Wallaby has hiccups at least once a day!
It's true, for about 2 weeks he had a hiccup problem

34 Week profile shot

34 Week baby belly

33 Weeks

I feel like I say this in every post, but I really can't believe how quickly time is going by. Whenever Tuesday rolls around, I'm always amazed how quickly the weeks have gone by. At the same time, these last few weeks seem to be crawling! As I said, I can't wait to meet our little guy and hold him and not be pregnant. Despite all the aches and pains, I've really loved being pregnant, but I'm ready to not be for a while now.

I was so worried the past weekend because Wallaby had calmed down and wasn't moving as much as I was used to. I was going to call the doctor, but then his kicks started up again. Wednesday morning was especially interesting. James and I have been making a concerted effort to get to bed earlier since he's waking up earlier for work. It's made a big difference, and on Wednesday I even woke up early enough to sit and watch some news before leaving for work instead of grabbing a coke and bolting out the door with barely enough time to wash my face. Since James goes to work an hour before me, and 15 minutes before my alarm goes off, he tries to start waking me up before he leaves (yes, it is a process lol). This time I woke up, and as soon as I was awake, he started moving. And boy did he move. Not only did he have hiccups, but he was kicking and stretching out like I'd just given him an espresso! It was amazing! It's starting to get a little more uncomfortable since he's stretching out pretty strongly and kicking out pretty hard, but I just laid in bed, hand on my stomach feeling him move until my alarm finally went off.

Tuesday I had the biggest craving for Johannesbeeren or red currants. I used to eat them at my babysitter's house in Germany; we would pick them fresh and eat them in a bowl with milk and sugar. They were delicious and tangy. I cannot find ANY in the 18 years I've lived in the states, which is incredibly sad. If anyone knows where I can get FRESH red currants (not preserves), please let me know ASAP! I would love to have some again!!

For Wednesday's dinner, we decided to try this recipe for Chicken Pillows. Now, we changed some things (as usual). We didn't use three chicken breasts--how she managed to fit that much stuffing in each pillow I have no idea; we used two filet-ed chicken breasts and had more than enough filling. I also used 6 oz of cream cheese since that was all I had in the fridge. We also needed a little more butter and just eyeballed the bread crumbs. They were delicious! The filling is great on its own too, on top of a cracker or just by itself; almost like a chicken salad, but much tastier. Then when you cook them; YUM. Although, I would make a different gravy (and did when we made them for my parents on Saturday): try the Ikea gravy packs, or if you have Rahmsosse (from Germany), that works very well. We ended up freezing half of them, and eating two apiece.

Thursday we left for NorCal to spend the long weekend with my parents. We did the trip in two steps. When James got off work we finished packing and got a bit of a later start than we expected, leaving at 9 instead of 7. We ended up at the hotel in Bakersfield around midnight, with takeout bags from In N Out. The dogs were very well behaved and got a treat--they were allowed to sleep in the bed with us. I was very grateful for the A/C, since those two are like little space heaters, but neither of us slept very well in the hard hotel bed. After our complimentary hot breakfast (weird bacon), we hit the road for the rest of the way. Although it was nice to get a rest, I think both James and I would have preferred to drive through the night and sleep in in the morning. We were pretty lucky and didn't hit much traffic on the way up. James realized he had no church clothes, so we ended up having to make a Target trip for some khakis and a button up shirt; he had a belt, socks and shoes, but nothing else. We got in around 2 pm, and were able to celebrate mom and dad's 27th (!) anniversary with them that night. We picked up some roses and lilies, a tiramisu and a movie for the night. It was a nice night spent together, and mom got to feel little Wallaby moving.

Saturday was a long day. We left later than expected for the games, but that was fine since sleeping in was nice. It was a lot cooler than most years, but a pregnant woman still gets overheated pretty easily and it was hot enough. The cool weather meant it was a lot more crowded than usual. We missed my old Scottish country dance teacher, but got some meat pies for lunch. We got the last two meat pies and had to supplement with shepherd's pies. I was disappointed--this particular company doesn't give you any gravy, and their filling leaves quite a bit to be desired,  but I wasn't going to stand in another 45 minute line for something different. Next time though, I'll remember not to go to that stand; I wish Dixon Meat Pies was still there, but their double decker had raffle tickets instead of food :( We listened to the Browne Sisters, met up with a friend from high school and her beau, then headed out to shopping. I picked up my jam and coo-ed over the baby kilts, but we decided to wait til Wallaby arrives to get him one (but he WILL have one!). James and I left a bit early, leaving mom and dad to come home with Peggy who stayed for dinner. We made the chicken pillows and had the previous night's tiramisu for dessert. My toes looked like little sausages by the end of the day.

Sunday we went to mom's church as we do when we're up there. It was great to see everyone; we always feel so welcome and loved when we're there. It's such a lovely congregation, and we had a nice time catching up at the coffee hour. We had made plans to see Peggy at 2 that day, and we arrived to a surprise baby shower! The same friend from Saturday, my maid of honour, her mom and a friend from my home church were there. It was so nice to see everyone outside of facebook and spend time with them! We had such a lovely time, and I was completely blown away! We got to open presents, read some of the books we were given, eat spinach balls and h the cutest Disney/beach themed ice cream cake. The ice cream was delicious, but we all looked like we'd eaten Smurfs--the icing turned everyone's mouth blue! It had a cute little note on it, which read "Waiting for Wallaby!" It was such a lovely party and both James and I really enjoyed ourselves. It did make for a long day, and we crashed out pretty early.

We left Monday after packing everything up. Mom and dad had found a box of my old baby books, so we took some of those with us and packed up the car with all of our things and the puppies. We stopped at Genova's delicatessen on the way out of town for lunch (a meatball sub and a philly cheese steak, plus some frozen ravioli and meat sauce to take home) and then we hit the road. James drove the whole way, as he's wont to do. We hit some traffic--one of the lanes on the grapevine was closed and there were a few places where it slowed down a bit. I slept quite a bit, but overall we had a miraculously easy drive. Even in the middle of LA, there were hardly any cars on the road with us. It was great, but definitely surreal. We stopped by Fresh and Easy to pick up a simple dinner and  ended up asleep before 9 pm. It was a long weekend, but it was so much fun!!

How far along: 33 weeks
Total weight gain: Somewhere in the realm of 25-30 lbs
Favourite clothes: If I could just live in the new Sesame Street boxers I got, I would
Sleeping: Better with the tv on, worse if I'm not in my bed
Best Moment: Walking in and seeing my friends at the shower!!
Worst Moment: Waiting in line for meat pies for 45 minutes only to receive subpar food
Miss anything: Sleeping on my back!!! Sleeping on my side is only exacerbating my hip problems
Cravings: Johannesbeeren or red currants, with milk and sugar please
New symptoms: I get tired so easily, it's like the first trimester all over again, but more uncomfortable
Looking forward to: The baby shower next week and our maternity photos
Pregnancy brain moments: I don't remember any in particular, but that might be one in itself
Listening to: Mo Ghile Mear by Celtic Women
Crafting: The cocoon is the only project I have going right now
Baby Projects: The same ones as before, but I'm quickly running out of time!

With my parents

33 Weeks: Wallaby is the size of a honeydew
James can be in the photo when someone else takes it!

33 week profile (hobbit door!)

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