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Category: Personal
Today, I am 39 weeks pregnant. I am large and in charge by now. I don’t have much to say here other than Andrew and I are pretty much ready to go. Furniture is set up, clothes and cloth diapers are pre-washed, and the hospital bag is pretty much packed and ready to go. I am feeling even more relaxed because today I decided that even if baby isn’t here yet, I will be done working next Tuesday. The knowledge that I only have four more days of work is very comforting.
Today Andrew also bought me my “push present.”
I thought it was quite fitting. And it’s pretty sweet that he is already giving me kudos even though labor hasn’t even started.
At the beginning of this pregnancy when I thought ahead to the end, I envisioned Andrew and I busy getting everything in place while I enjoyed some ice cream and discussed names. What I didn’t foresee was spending 10 days on the couch because I came down with influenza.
What a terrible combination. I can’t move around very fast in the first place because I practically have to roll myself everywhere. Then add on top of it being so tired I can hardly stand up while I wait for my oatmeal to cook. Now throw in a cough that stops me in my tracks and you know what I’ve been dealing with. It has not been fun. Now I know what bed rest is like and I feel for anyone that had to deal with that during pregnancy.
Sitting on the couch all day means I am continually taunted by the things I need to get done, but just can’t because I’m sick. So frustrating.
My best friend in the whole wide world is now officially 27 years and 1 week old. Yes,she is a better friend then I am since I can’t even write her a birthday post for an entire week after her actual birthday. Oh well, she puts up with me and I am very glad.
We met in 7th grade at church and we have been besties ever since. So that has been what, 13 years? Some marriages don’t even last that long. We commend ourselves for staying friends all the way through our incredibly long awkward phases.
This sums up our friendship nicely. I’m pretty sure we were at least 17 in this picture, not 13 like I’m imagining everyone thinks we are. That puts us squarely in the middle of our awkward phase. I’m sure you couldn’t tell that just by looking. (And that look on my face? I like to call those my horse teeth. They come out when I am laughing hysterically.)
With saving money in mind, I decided to put my nice camera to good use and try to take some maternity pictures at home. Obviously, I knew that they wouldn’t look as good as if I went to a professional photographer, but I was hoping I could edit them to make them look halfway decent. Hopefully this baby doesn’t come before we get a second try, because otherwise we will be stuck with these.
I know the belly is what we want in the picture, but apparently Andrew was willing to sacrifice the top of my head instead of backing up a few steps.
I figured that maybe Andrew could zoom in on the belly while I was on the phone with my mother. Instead I got a full body shot with an excited Ralph running through.
Yes, the fetus and I are so large now that we tower over the tree in this artsy shot by Andrew. Next stop, climbing a skyscraper in a pregnant rage over not being able to find French Toast Crunch in stores yet.
On New Years Eve six years ago, I had my New Year’s kiss with a cute boy. I never thought that I would end up marrying him and now I’m even having a baby with him.
This is the first photo we have together from that night. It isn’t the best picture but, at the time, we didn’t realize this would be a picture we would look back on fondly. Eight days later, we were officially dating. Having our anniversary practically on New Year’s Day means that it is easy for us to look back at each year and what we have accomplished.
Christmas Eve was spent with my family at my house. It was nice to not have to travel. But all of the workaholics in my family worked a half day. Somehow the morning started with my brother being missing, but not really. He wasn’t around when my sister went to pick him up for work that morning and he wasn’t answering his phone. Now, my brother has a tendency towards bad luck, so we spent the morning in a half panic until Molly spotted him on the job site a few hours later.
Of course, our familial concern only made Mason crabby. So when he showed up with his contribution of burrito flavored beef jerky, he was angry that we cared so much to bombard his phone with messages and even go so far as to Facebook his roommate (who we haven’t met) to make sure he wasn’t dead.
But besides Molly spending her work day mentally planning Mason’s funeral and thinking about what to say in the eulogy she would give, the day was pretty laid back.
Andrew, my mom, the dogs, and I spent the morning playing cards.
Then we waited for everyone to arrive. It was a very odd holiday because there was no snow on the ground, our grandparents were traveling, and we didn’t give any gifts because we had decided to spend the weekend at Mystic Lake a few weeks ago. So we watched Christmas specials, stuffed ourselves with food, and played 13 rounds of Mexican Train.
Then, it was time for the traditional ugly Christmas sweater family picture. This year we didn’t have anyone to take the picture for us, so once again we resorted to the self timer.
This year, my family decided to take a small vacation together instead of buying gifts. We were sick of trying to figure out what everyone wanted. It was hard to find something my dad would actually like that was made in America, something techy for Andrew, and finding anything that my sister would actually like and not just feel obligated to keep.
So after trying to plan several trips that were out of our price range, we settled on spending a weekend at Mystic Lake Casino. None of us are gamblers, except my brother Mason who is extraordinarily lucky when it comes to things like bingo, so this vacation was a bit strange to plan. We may have been dazzled by the off-brand holiday cirque show they had playing in their showroom this season.
Check-in was Friday. Andrew and I were able to get on the road fairly soon after work, despite me deciding to make a mug of tea and a cheese quesadilla for the road as Andrew was starting the car. We checked in, brought our luggage up to the room and the hijinks commenced. My sister brought Andrew an ugly Christmas sweater to wear later in the evening. He tried it on while my mom was out of the room and this may have happened:
Yes we are immature and changed my mom’s background to this wonderful picture of her son-in-law. We thought it was hilarious; she was slightly amused.
I have had a great time looking through old Christmas pictures, so I figured I’d share a couple.
The first Christmas that Andrew and I were dating there was a huge snowstorm, so we didn’t even get to spend it together. Instead, me and my teenage siblings made snowmen in the front yard. It was obviously hard work.
I just wanted to show that I have a super cool sister.
This morning, I was honored at a baby shower that was being thrown in the toddler room where I work. It was a morning filled with delicious food (including cupcakes), very thoughtful gifts, and a fun time for the toddlers. There was enough seating for stuffed animals to sit with the children, very sweet words of advice exchanged, and a lot of toddlers running around with their pals.
My mother in law made me a beautiful quilt with Berenstain Bear fabric and even included the book “The Berenstain Bears and the Week at Grandmas.” I remember loving these books when I was little and I am so excited to share it with the baby.
My sister was able to come and she even spent Saturday night along with my mom at my house, which made for a fun girls night.
As a pregnant lady, I can do what I want.
Like cut a brownie out of the middle of the pan because that’s the part I like the best.