36 weeks!

It's a major out of body experience to think that I'm in my 9th month of pregnancy. It's gone by SO fast. I definitely feel like I'm 9 months pregnant, though, complete with the grunts and groans that go along with that. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure that this little boy is starting to prepare for the big event. Yesterday, being a good wife, I woke up bright and early and went to support my husband participate in a triathlon relay (he's the cyclist). It turned out to be quite eventful. First, I had to ride in his car which is extremely bumpy and has tons of vibrations (it's an 85 Mustang). I haven't ridden in it since April, and it was not a particularly comfortable experience for me. It's also probably not the smartest since that is something suggested to bring along labor. Well, we get to the place, and we have to park 3 miles away. So, riding in a bumpy car, huge amounts of walking followed by a few hours of standing around= contractions. I've been having them off and on for the past few days- usually at night, but these were coming a little too close to comfort. I rested as much as I could afterwards, and they stopped.

My third and final baby shower was yesterday afternoon (yes, I was exhausted). I'm thankful that they (my coworkers) wanted to throw me one, but it was a bit awkward. I'm so glad that I work with one of my best friends and that she rode with me. It was only five people, but I got a few nice things and appreciate the thought. I'm so glad that all my showers are done, though. I'm not a fan of attention.

My big fear of the week: Jony is going out of town for a business trip tomorrow morning and will not return until Thursday night. With my random contractions and the fact that it feels like Jeffrey is pretty much poking his head out of my cervix, we're nervous about going early. So, I'm majorly taking it easy these next few days to try and avoid a husband-less labor. Or trying to, at least. Tuesday is car seat installation and work, Wednesday is pedicure with the sister and work, and Thursday is my 36w appointment. Meanwhile, I'm doing baby laundry (yay!). I just want it to be Friday...

Baby Shower Pics

So, I finally have some pictures from my baby shower on 10/10.

Maternity photos!

Our pictures are up! I'm so happy about them- there are definitely a few that I love. I can't wait until we get our CD so that we can make a book and get some printed and displayed!

Here's the link if you wish to take a look:

http://www.jstrattonphoto.com/Hammond/index.html

35/35!

I cannot believe I only have 35 more days to go (give or take a few)! This milestone seemed like light years away a few months ago, and now I'm here.

A few exciting/big things occurred in the last week:

1) My 34 week appointment was fairly uneventful, minus the large swab to my lady parts. No more lab tests for me! My OB said that I'm still as boring as can be so not too much to complain about. We got the cord blood banking stuff all situated and ready to go as soon as Jeffrey makes his big debut. I don't have another appt. until 36 weeks and then it's weekly from then on. 6 more maximum. Yikes.

2) We took our maternity photos yesterday! It ended up being amazing weather (very odd for Houston). Great for being outside, but it was pretty busy at the park. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turned out sometime in the next week or two!

3) House progress: It's getting there. We moved the convertible car seat and high chair (still boxed and both huge) into the attic for safekeeping until they are needed and are slowly getting everything situated. The nursery is SO CLOSE! Jony got the shelves hung, but he still has to do some touch up paint from where the screws were used. We're still waiting on the window valence and crib skirt from my mom, however, so hopefully we get those soon! We've got big plans for the coming week to whip the house into shape so that we can stop worrying about it.

4) Hospital bag= packed. I got completely overwhelmed about halfway through when I really thought about what I was doing, but I worked past it and got it done. It's now just hanging out near our door to the garage- just waiting.

I'm getting the car seat installed this week and have my last shower this weekend! Time is really getting ahead of me...

34 weeks!

It was a good week! I had my 2nd shower and had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends (who all have really great taste, by the way). Once I get the pictures from my mom, I'll post them. Less than 2 weeks until the next (and last) shower! I also had a great brunch with some of the Houston ladies and look forward to the next time. Maybe we'll have another one before I go into labor!

Jony and I are frantically trying to get everything done as it becomes more and more obvious that we don't have a substantial length of time left. Our goal is to make sure that everything is ready by 37 weeks so that we can just bum around and enjoy some down time before Jeffrey's big debut.

1. We started prepping our cloth diapers, which has been extremely exciting for me (and Jony teases me about it every day). I've been going at it slowly, but we should be all finished by tomorrow. Then, it'll be time to arrange it all in the nursery!

2. Since two of our showers are complete, I've been sorting all of the clothes, blankets, bibs, socks, etc. into laundry piles. Just in case Jeffrey decides to come a little early, it will all be ready to just be thrown into the washer/dryer. We actually have a lot more than we thought we did, and I'm sure we'll be getting even more at the next shower. Our dog is loving having all these soft items laying on the floor- makes a great bed for her to sleep on (especially with all of this rain we're having!)

3. Our nursery is getting somewhere! Jony finished the picture frames (I'm so proud of him- they look great!) and hung up our Eric Carle artwork. It's so nice to finally start seeing some color appear in there! He should be finishing the shelves in the next few days (weather permitting), and then I can start decorating!

4. We had our first experience with Target returns yesterday (which was ridiculously easy- I was shocked) and bought a few essentials for the hospital bag, which I will be starting to pack this week.

We've got our 34 week appointment this Thursday, where I will have the joy of experiencing the GBS swap and perhaps even my first internal! Even more exciting- Sunday is our maternity photos! yay!

# of things left to do in the nursery: 10/17

# of items left to buy: 3.5/18

33 weeks!

We're definitely in single digit weeks now- 9 weeks left at max! It hit me this morning that I'll be full term in 4 weeks. Super strange. However, I'm feeling pretty pregnant these days. Sleep sucks. My back hurts me so bad that I just can't find a good position. Thankfully, it's not too much during the day. I've started experiencing the joy that is sciatic pain, as well. Nothing I can't handle, though- it's all temporary!

A big accomplishment for this last week was getting signed up to bank Jeffrey's cord blood. We just couldn't justify not doing it knowing that we'd hate ourselves if something happened to him that it could have helped with. So, his first insurance policy is all set up to take place whenever he decides to be born! We'll pick up the kit next time we go to the OB (10/15), and keep it in our hospital bag until then! I guess I should start getting ready to pack that, huh? I did get some heavy duty pads today with a coupon, so that's a start!

I had so much fun going through all of the stuff from our showers- taking off all of the tags and starting to put some stuff together. It becomes more and more real with each item, it seems. I have all the clothes, blankets, bibs, etc. ready to wash, but that will wait until after all of the showers are complete (I have two more!). I am starting to prep my cloth diapers this week, though! YAY! I would start today, but I have to regular laundry first. Boring.

I did get some pictures, though! Enjoy!

In order: DH and I, the welcome display, our book drive! SO MANY BOOKS!, the Church women's quilt, pictures of DH and I as babies (I'm on the left) with Jeffrey's ultrasound, Jony's baby items, my baby items (Jeffrey will be wearing those frog shoes someday!)

Couple's Shower

Today was an amazing day. I'm so thankful for everything, from the gifts to all who came to our shower and definitely for my mom and sister for throwing it. It was so great! We had so many people come, (and many drove in- I was in awe that they came) and we got some great gifts. We only got two duplicates, so hopefully our visit to return stuff at Target doesn't go too bad. My super awesome sister included inserts in the invites letting people know that we're not using disposables, so she did a book drive in lieu of people bringing a pack of diapers. We have SO many books now! We're going to have to really go through them to organize them by age because they can't all fit in the bookshelf! The women at my church also made a quilt that everyone signed and drew a picture on, but I don't have that yet since they wanted it to stay for tomorrow so more people could sign it. We already have birthday cards for Jeffrey's first 18 years of life that people filled out that we'll store until the designated birthday, and some people dropped some coins off in a piggy bank for his college fund! During the gift opening, to keep people entertained, my sister had created a BINGO card full of stuff that we registered (it was pretty specific since she stalked my registry, lol). It made it really fun and everyone got really into it. Once I get some pictures from my sister and mom, I'll post them. Our dining room looks like Babies R Us (or Target, actually, since that's where most people went) threw up, haha! It's awesome.

Before our shower, we went to the BIRTH Fair and got lots of great coupons and information on some local business that focus on eco-friendly children toys, clothes, and cloth diapers. BIRTH is an organization promoting natural childbirth and aspects related to that- babywearing, breastfeeding, etc. We haven't had time to really go through and see all that we got, but it's a bunch of stuff (including a cute little onesie). My OB was actually nominated for the BIRTH Person of the Year award- pretty reassuring! We couldn't stay to see if he won since we had to get to the shower.

Overall- an A+ day!

So, it's October...

I knew it was coming, but it was still strange to see the change when I scroll over the time on my laptop. I'm having a baby NEXT MONTH! Craziness.

Why am I up so late concerning myself with the new month? Jony broke a piece of our AC (which is part of a piece that he already fixed on Monday since it was leaking...) and is currently trying to ghetto-rig it to work. He's concerned that he might not be able to do it. How sad. After countless fixer-uppers of this old crankity air conditioning that we have on this house in the last few weeks, it may be officially done just days before the fancy new one gets installed (next Tuesday- yay!). Could make for a fun weekend...

at least we have our baby shower and the fact that it's now October.