Everything is so close!

1. The inspector for the basement is coming Wednesday.
2. Ron came back today for trimming around the columns, and will finish up tomorrow.
3. I feel SO much pressure down there I can hardly stand for more than a few hours
4. Elijah’s canine tooth that has been bugging him is ALMOST through (tooth #14!)
5. Baby furniture is ALMOST done.
6. Baby clothes are ALMOST organized

I had to get those few things off my chest.  I’m feeling so anxious right now, because my desktop baby ticker gadget says 9 days left. I predict she’ll arrive on December 2nd – I don’t know why, it just sticks out in my head.

yikes!!! It’s almost happening! I’ve got some good news though…

…her name is pretty official now. Since our first Christmas Brad and I have pick out ornaments for each other and personalize them. Here they are for this year:

 

We’ve also had the same blue and silver theme – one day it’ll change, but money is being spent on better things for now. Anyway, see her name? Yep, Athena it is. I love it. It is unique, strong and holds special meaning to me in more ways than one. Finally, my baby has a name :)

So yea…I’ve already decorated for Christmas. I am a freakish-holiday lover like that. All I can say is THANK GOODNESS for Target and shatter-proof ornaments. How would you tell your 16 month old  “ No, those are not balls that I normally let you throw, those are Christmas ornaments.”

Exactly. You don’t….I’m just glad they don’t break. It was kind of funny tonight to find one randomly in the bathtub….

He is such a goof. I need to get the video camera out again. He will look us dead in the eyes and ‘talk’ to us. “Abu daad doo abu daibi” It’s so cute. He knows exactly what he is saying, even pointing to things while speaking, but it’s so foreign to us. Still, the cutest thing is him screaming “Daddy!” in perfect English. I love it!

We went to eat with Brad’s family over the weekend and it was SO much fun watching the boys play.

The balloon was obviously a huge hit with Elijah. “brrm, brrm, brrm” (He always tries to find a balloon in every book we own).

All the boys. They were so cute together!!Elijah wanted Logan’s car … I now have one in the diaper bag at all times! 

In other news I am so close to finishing up my school responsibilities, but since I am on Fall break I am having a hard time staying motivated. I have an ecology paper to write, a philosophy paper to write, and an eventual philosophy final to take (probably after she is born). So really just two things I have to do for now….focus, focus….

So we’ve kicked butt in the basement. I worked most of Sunday trying to finish it up – basically painting the door, trim and touch up work. Oh! and installing a door knob. I was nervous about that, but not as hard as I thought.  (For those that wonder, Brad has no patience for such things. So we agree it’s best if I do the ‘assembling’ in the house – which I happen to love for some reason). Brad and his dad were connecting some wiring stuff and hung up the tv. Here is our progress up until last night.

Brad and I did assemble our fireplace media center together! I love the ‘fire’! 

…See all of the beautiful, white trim work? …Sense all of my pride oozing for a job well done (at 38.5 weeks pregnant at that!)??

yea…so this picture isn’t really any different than before. I am just really proud of that door knob :)

I’ll get more pics tomorrow after Ron has finished. We still have a door to hang and some trim to place – Brad is going to ask Ron to do it, quite frankly I hope he accepts. The money will be worth the hassle to me. So if that goes as planned, we will just have to paint the door (for the storage room), the trim and install the door knob. WOOT WOOOOOOT!

I am sensing a nursery coming together with days maybe even hours to spare….Hang in there Athena (preferably after Black Friday)  :)

Here’s our ‘little boy’!

BEFORE

He did not like the hair cut one bit, the clippers intimidated him! (geez…I should have probably stayed and had something done to my hair too…)

and AFTER:

He looks SO much better now though!

and happier :)

Not only did he get a haircut, but he graduated a shoe size. I had to retire my favorite little size 4’s he wears to clumsier looking size 5’s.

I have to tell you, he is talking up a storm now. We are trying to teach him the word ‘help’ so he doesn’t point and grunt for when he wants something. It’s worked….sort of…his word for help is perfectly spoken as ‘down’. LOL….he asks ‘down’ for everything. Even when he wants up!

I haven’t heard him expand his vocabulary too much since I posted his list of words. But his comprehension has expanded a lot! We have his ridiculous fascination with books to thank. He points to everything in the book, “Dat, Dat?” – asking what’s that. We seriously have to ‘read’ him 10 books at least twice a day. It’s great, especially when he pats your leg to let you know he has to sit there when you read to him. And to think I was afraid he wouldn’t like books…Actually it’s the opposite. There isn’t a show that is on tv (that Emma watches at least) that interests him in the slightest bit. Can’t say I’m sad about that.

So, are you ready for Ms. Piggly-Nose? Here she is (as of last Tuesday the 9th…actually, exactly one week ago).

Take a look at those lips too! I asked if that was her tongue sticking out, but nope, just her lips! – Who knows where she got those from! I know she is 1,000,000 times cuter than what we see here, but can you fault me for saying that I still think she looks sweet? Black, puffy eye and all?  :)

oh, and she is indeed still a girl

lastly, here is her little foot that I will probably remember most about my third trimester. At the moment this ‘picture’ was taken, she was jabbing this little foot into the right side of my tummy.  Like she always does to make me jump and squirm. Does it look like her right foot to you?

I am getting excited to see her! I’m just really hoping she waits until after Black Friday. Or at least until after this weekend. We’re planning to go to Chicago on Saturday to do some Ikea shopping – crazy idea…probably, but I don’t want to be left out :) besides, I’ll see Dr. Chen this Friday and make a more educated decision then.

Not only do I want to go to Ikea, but we plan to eat at Texas De Brazil while we’re there….that is the B E S T place EVER!! mmmm…sooo hungry right now. Anyway. I have an ecology test tomorrow that I am totally not prepared for, but I am so burnt out with ecology I only made it two hours at the library tonight. Wish me luck, I will probably need it.

Before I go to bed, here is my 38 week survey

• How far along? 37 weeks 6 days
• Total weight gain/loss: –.5 (yes, I am a super freak and step on the scale multiple times a day.
• Maternity clothes? nope, Brad’s shirts and those Old Navy fleece pants
• Stretch marks? no, just that deep blue vein that keeps protruding father and father….funny, it’s right where her little foot jabs me!!
• Sleep: not so well, my body pillow is too misshapen being so old and the tempurpedic mattress is too soft to support my belly and back.
• Best moment this week: realizing that when I have her home I will feel and be much more able than I realized, because I won’t be pregnant anymore! I don’t know why I didn’t figure that out before….
• Movement: that little foot, and her booty rolling from time to time up by my top ribs
• Food cravings: orange Gatorade…how crazy?? So unnatural, but so irresistible! Maybe I need more electrolytes or something??
• Gender: girl
• Labor Signs: no, but I started to feel dull period-like cramps this week
• Belly Button in or out? the top part sticks out a little
• What I miss: being able to hug Brad…I mean a good squeezy hug; tummy to tummy. It’s awkward and uncomfortable at my size.
• What I am looking forward to: a cold beer with some of Mary’s super yummy hot wings. She makes the best kind
• Weekly Wisdom: Pregnancy is beautiful. Even when I get dumbfounded stares from strangers about how bizarre I must look (I am mostly speaking of 18 year old freshmen at school) – I should never let it question my self-confidence in my pregnant body
• Milestones: She has been practice breathing for more than a week now, so that means she’ll be ready, when she’s ready!

Have you been wondering what’s going on?

Firstly, no baby yet! Sorry if I scared anyone with my distance/silence. I’ve just been busy….probably busier now than ever in my life!

I have been working my tail off in school. What is due at the end of the semester, around the second week of December for normal students, is due around Thanksgiving for me. 2 weeks. Yikes! The worst is over I think, last week was so intense. On top of that, we are getting near the end of the basement and I am not the kind of girl that sits around to watch things happen. So you gotta see what’s happened from Friday (12th) until tonight (14)…as I look at my blue and red splattered hands. I need a good manicure and pampering day…

It was SOO dusty from all the drywall dust, as you can tell from the photo (11/7) 

The start of the floors. Thanks to Tim, Jeff and Dan we got them done in less than a week!

We then got to start painting (no milk paint this time, but no VOC at least). Becky and I kicked butt and got just about everything done in one day!…and if someone tells me for the 500th time I shouldn’t be on a ladder, I might lose it. Tell me what pregnant women do in countries that have ten times the work load we do here?---Anyway, gimme a break. Pregnant does NOT equal disabled.

So here we stand tonight…the floors are finished, painting is 99% finished, most of the baseboards are put in…basically a lot has been done. The only thing that is left is to get the columns in, which I think will be this week. Paint baseboards, put in a few switches, bar lights, and one last door. The end is so close….I think I may see a nursery getting done next weekend. Cross your fingers for me!!

the tv area, looking into the future bar. Which will be set up by Christmas. Brad’s parent’s GENEROUSLY gifted us the cabinetry and bar set up. It will be awesome! Can’t forget my dad either (not just for taking out the trash, but taking out his checkbook more often than we anticipated!) – We certainly have some great parents.

The “office”. You like our blue accent wall? Pretty blue isn’t it?

tv area.

the huge hallway.

So there you have it. With school, basement, family and pregnancy life is too crazy.

So let me get onto more exciting things….

I went to Dr. Chen last Tuesday and got the final ultrasound! She is estimating 6 pounds 8 oz and is perfectly healthy. I need to take a pic of the ultrasound because you can see her so clearly…almost too clear because I’m worried she has a “piggly” nose. The ultrasound tech assures me that it’s just smooshed against my uterus because she has no more room. I believe it, but I sure hope she will have a sweet nose.

I am not dialated at all. I haven’t felt any contractions, so I think she is okay having a smooshy nose in there for now.

I have the hosptial bags packed, her co-sleeper ready in our room, diapers, wipes, clothes…what else? I need to get the car seat in the car…OH! I brought up the bouncy seat, but that's going to be useless I can already tell because Elijah has made his claim. That is HIS bouncy recliner. I get the feeling teaching your kids to share is a hard lesson to teach. We’ll see.

I am also having some anxiety about being in the hospital away from Elijah. It’s the first time I will be away for the night and I don’t like it. He is going to miss me!!! I am going to miss him worse I think….who knows what I’ll be feeling at that time with the new baby and all. However right now it makes me terribly sad to think about be away from him for a few nights. He is so stinking sweet. This morning Brad and I both woke up to the baby monitor saying “Daddy… Daddy!”….so Brad went to get him, and as I was laying in bed, Elijah barged through the door; “Mamma, Mamma!”

Having a family is just the best thing ever. I never in a million years thought I would be the person I am with the blessings I have. Now we have another blessing to expect in oh…just about 17 days.   :)

That’s it for now. I have a couple projects for school, but nothing like last week, so I’ll make sure to update sooner next time. Actually…probably tomorrow because Elijah will be 16 months old, and it is definitely time for his first hair cut. I refuse for my child to have a curly rat tail…so that’s getting chopped first thing in the morning. but, if anyone could pull it off, he could…. Goodnight all.

Some of my favorite photos from the last few weeks…

Our little dragon – he was so NOT interested in trick or treating. He just wanted to climb peoples porches :)

Papou and Santa Evan at Boo at the Zoo!! LOL!

Of course it’s too cold now to open windows, but we are going to have to re-evaluate what “baby-proofing” means at our house. How scary is that!? there is a flimsy screen there, by the way…

I wish I could get him smiling like that all the time. What a sweet face!

Look at handsome Tristan! He is so sweet and squeezable. Good job Mary and Jeff :)

I love the way Brad is gently holding him. Brings back nice memories of my little guy.

Now if only Allison was on my left shoulder (and Elijah wasn’t fussing – he doesn’t like sharing his books) it would be the best pic of all time!  I love all of my chill-rens :)

Is there a better word than ‘busy’

for when you are busier than busy??

I really don’t even have time to tell you my latest news since October 21st! Wow…I’ll try to fill in later about Elijah’s 15 month appt (great by the way), my doctor appts, basement news, etc.

For now I just want to put on record how uncomfortable I am, and how FREAKED out I am that I will have a baby in less than a month. I’m not ready. Between school, home and family time I’M NOT READY! – yet, I can’t wait to see her sweet little face--

• How far along? 36 weeks
• Total weight gain/loss: +2 – 3 (really it depends when I can poop or not – just sayin’)
• Maternity clothes? ha-HA! Nope because I found SUPER comfy clothes at Old Navy on a great sale. Fleece pants for $8!
• Stretch marks?  remarkably, no
• Sleep: I wish, but I wake up SO thirsty all the time, then of course I wake up an hour later having to pee
• Best moment this week: finding out that the little body part she keeps jabbing me with is her knee.
• Movement: aside from the knee jabs, the occasional feeling like she’s wiggling her fingers way down there…Food cravings:hot chocolate…haven’t been too hungry these days
• Gender: girl
• Labor Signs: either BH or mild contractions on Halloween….probably all of the walking
• Belly Button in or out? halfway out – that part that used to be pierced anyway
• What I miss: I’m trying not to ‘miss’ anything because I want to enjoy the last few weeks of pregnancy. We are seriously considering this the last baby, so I’ll have plenty of time to enjoy being un-pregnant
• .What I am looking forward to: to many things to list…read the rest of my blog, you’ll figure it out. Mostly, I am anticipating the ultrasound next Tuesday!
• Weekly Wisdom: Even superwoman needs a break sometimes, so don’t ignore the ones that love you and try to help you (even if you know you can do it all, doesn’t mean you have to)
• Milestones: entering the last month of pregnancy. bitter sweet at this moment for me.

I can’t wait to see her, I just wish everything was crossed off of my TO-DO list. But even I know it’s not practical that the screen door has to be fixed prior to her arrival…it would just be nice :)

I’ve got some fun pictures to share as soon as I can. I’ve been so busy with school (seriously, staying until 11 pm most nights). I don’t see a break in sight until the middle of November…but I promise to show you some pictures of my little dragon from Halloween very soon!