showered with love!!

so this post is a little late, but 5 of my dear friends threw me a shower a couple of weeks ago! it was PERFECT and so fun!! :) it was so fun to see everyone and celebrate baby Ruby Belle;s upcoming arrival! i got lots of great stuff and the display, food and set up were spectacular!!! here are some pics...

Hip Hip HOORAY!!!!

my last day at work was today!!! (i'm not going back to work until Jan 11th, 2010!!!) i can't even explain how great it feels!!!...even after working a 13.5 hr day today, which followed an 11 hr day and a 10 hr day. the sad thing is...this is normal for me. maybe that's why i'm SO excited about being done!! really, i love my job, but being pregnant and working such long hours doesn't mix well. so, now i have 3 weeks until my due date and i am hoping that i don't have much more than that, and really, about 2 weeks or a little less would be fine! you know how many people have told me in the last few days that as soon as they took off work they ended up having their baby the next day!!! well, not sure about that. is that supposed to be encouraging?! i'd be ready if she came tomorrow, but would really prefer a week at least to catch up on sleep, rest, relaxation and preparation for her! :)

so weird...to pack up and leave a place where i have LIVED for the last few years!!! and SO good!

36 weeks

so, here we are...36 weeks! i'm headed to the doctor on Monday. he will start checking my progress at this appt so i'm pretty excited that these weekly appts from here on out will tell me how things are progressing. i'm apprehensive is more like it. i have 2 friends who were about a month ahead of me and they have both given birth now...that makes it SO much more real for me! crazy!!

so, here's the 36 week shot...my belly button no longer has hope of staying hidden. it's officially out.



and me again, after a friend's baby shower and a new hair cut! (and a bowling ball looking belly) yep, now i'm like all the other moms who cut their hair short with the coming of the new baby. (i swore i'd never do it, but here it is)



and still putting final touches on the nursery...will post pics sometime soon!

34 weeks!!!

the countdown continues...
i had my 34 week appt today (it's officially 34 1/2 weeks, but who's counting?!) i was counting, but NOW i'm really counting cause my old elementary/middle/high school friend who was due exactly a month before me had her baby today!!! i'm SO excited for her, SOOOO excited and can't wait to see pics of her sweet little girl!!...but man, that makes it SO much closer and real for me!! exciting...? YEP!!! scary...? YEP!!! i'm so excited though!! i go back in 2 weeks and he'll start checking my cervix then to see if/how i'm progressing! it's getting SO real!!!

10 things

10 things I LOVE/HATE about being pregnant:

i love/loved:
1. craving "real" food - i normally could go w/o meat for weeks and live off salad and sweets, but now i want all the good stuff!
2. feeling the baby move
3. gaining weight and not feeling bad about it!!
4. ultrasounds
5. naming the baby
6. getting the nursery ready
7. watching my belly grow...and grow...and grow!!! and having a little person in there! crazy!
8. strangely enough, my moods...they have actually been a little more stable than normal!!!
9. dresses - a savior in the comfy category
10. anticipation

i don't love so much:
1. feeling nauseous all day long
2. back pain
3. pregnancy insomnia
4. back pain
5. bathroom breaks every hour during the night
6. back pain
7. not being able to have an adult beverage...esp when out on a nice dinner! :(
8. back pain
9. back pain
10. back pain

Truly, i've loved being pregnant! well, now it's getting to the point where the annoying little things are adding up, but overall...it's a miracle!!

the countdown is on!!!

...well, it has been really for the last 9 months, but who's counting?! i'm getting so excited and my belly is getting bigger by the day. it's really a good thing that for whatever reason, i'm a more emotionally stable person when i'm pregnant (so far at least). people have really be thinking they can say whatever they want these days. for instance, there's this man at the gym...i'd say he's about 65. well, a few weeks ago he told me he was thinking about getting on the bikes i was riding, but decided against it b/c he'd noticed i just keep getting bigger. well, that was so clever and sweet. so, today, he comes in, walks past me on the treadmill and says "hey, Chubby, how's it going?" CHUBBY?! he called me chubby! nice...and tactful. it's a good thing i can laugh about it.

it's hot out there!

so, this is a few weeks late, but IT IS SO HOT!!! so hot that i came scarily close to passing out the other day when i was walking. not a smart idea. i know the "almost passing out" feeling because a few years ago i had a mini little heat stroke while riding my bike outside in the July heat. i acutally passed out that time and woke up in some man's car at the construction site he worked at. thank goodness, he was super nice and just trying to get me home, but since i was passed out, he didn't know where to take me. anyway, i swore i'd never do that again. my, what time does to help you forget! so, a few weekends ago i went out walking on a Sunday midday. i made it about 40 min then started to feel that faint feeling. so i stopped, rested, but it was hot and i wasn't getting cooler. so, i went to the only place anywhere in sight...the one house on the street. random, but i had no choice (my husband wasn't answering his phone b/c he was out working in the yard). i knocked on the door and said to the man, "i know this is random, but may i come in your house to cool off. i am really hot and pregnant as you can see, and i have to cool down or i'm gonna pass out." nice intro, huh? thankfully, he was nice and let me in, got me some water and let me chill for a minute. i couldn't talk much so it was kinda awkward, but the more i tried to talk, the harder it was to cool off. so, after 5-10 min i asked him to take me home. it was only about 1/2 a mile, but there was no way i was gonna give it another shot. truly i was scared that i'd hurt sweet little Ruby Belle, and SO thankful that he was home, willing to let me, in and nice. not sure what i would have done if not...scary. so, now i take better precautions before heading out...and now i realize that although i've been regularly keeping up w/my exercise throughout my pregnancy, i'm still human, still pregnant and must be more careful!