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.)

Things we have been through together:

• High School Graduation
• College Graduations
• Amanda studying in Finland
• Our Engagements
• Planning each of our Weddings
• Moving away from Albert Lea
• Amanda starting Grad School
• Me housing a Fetus

And somehow we are still sane, still friends, and haven’t even had a fight. I have discovered that Amanda deals with my life changes by crafting. A lot. For my wedding, she made over 100 pinwheels that we used for centerpieces, boutonnieres, and bouquets. And so far, she has made 2 hats, 4 burp clothes, a sleep sack, some bibs and a few unmentionables.

And here we are last week at my baby shower, slightly older, still goofy, and looking a bit less awkward then before. Sometimes I think Amanda is more excited about this baby then I am. Of course, that is easy to do when you don’t have to carry a 6.5 pound bowling ball in your pelvis. But she puts up with my TMI pregnancy stories, my obsession about whether any of my current symptoms could mean labor, and any other complaints I have. That is a best friend.

Now it’s time for a general life update. The reason I haven’t written in a week is partially because my “Before Baby To-Do List” needs everything to be checked off. It’s also because I feel like I’m currently on my death bed with a cold and I’m terrified that labor will start and I will feel like hell. I even took a sick day yesterday, which I simply do not do. Ever.

Andrew and I have also noticed there is some kind of a crib shortage going on in the Twin Cities. Did everyone decide (like us) to wait until now to buy their cribs? We are looking for a specific kind, but we have been to Ikea twice and Target multiple times. Their websites always say they have some in stock, but they never do. I’m not that worried. I’m sure the baby will find somewhere to sleep around here.

As I mentioned before, I had my baby shower last Sunday. My wonderful sister-in-law hosted and it was perfect for me. No games, just pleasant conversations and platefuls of cake and cheese (but not together).

Here’s a very blurry cellphone picture of my sister and I. She was a big helper in making sure to get everything unwrapped our of the layers and layers of wrapping.

And I just had to include this one because of Molly’s face. Perfect.

Back to drinking copious amounts of hot water with honey and hoping this cold magically disappears before the baby decides to come.