Some 37 week Belly Pics

"Mommy, WHY is your belly THAT big?!!!" Will was quite concerned about the size of my growing belly. He understands there is a baby inside, but I don't think he had really noticed how large I truly am until today!

The Nursery Nest

After all of my obsessing and nesting, things are finally coming together. Here is a few pictures of what the nursery looks like. We borrowed this crib so that we wouldn't have to move Natalie out of her crib yet. What a relief. I did not want to be chasing a 22 month old around the house at bedtime when we bring home a newborn. We made that mistake with Will and have decided Natalie can stay in her crib until she is 3 if need be.
I found the perfect mirror to go above the red dresser and fell in love with it immediately. I never dreamed I'd find a neutral nursery that I liked as well as my girl/boy nurseries, but I really love this bedding by Cocalo Couture. I have a few more wall hangings to frame and hang. Now, I am just obsessing over the perfect hamper/canvas bin to go with the decor of the room. Hopefully I will find something I like, but the realization came to me this week that it really isn't the end of the world if the baby arrives and we don't have a hamper yet! The bed will eventually be Natalie's when we switch everything around. As I mentioned before, we will wait a little while longer for that hurdle!
Here's to a smooth transition when baby P arrives!

Angela

36 and Counting

How does it feel to be 36 weeks pregnant?
It is so easy to forget this stage of pregnancy. I remembered so well the morning sickness of the first trimester, the energy and excitement of the second trimester and the frantic planning and nesting of the third trimester. But my memories of the last 4 weeks of pregnancy have become a blur of memories. All I really remembered until now is anxiously waiting for that baby to arrive and how time seemed to slow way down. Now that I have arrived at 36 weeks, I remember "why" I was so anxious for Will and Natalie to deliver.
1. my gigantic granny panty underwear that were swimming on me only 4 weeks ago no longer cover my rear end. I have a perpetual wedgie. How big does that mean my tush is getting?

2. If I try to bend over to pick up anything I feel strangled and unable to breathe while simultaneously getting sharp jabs from the inside reminding me that I am probably squashing the daylights out of my darling baby as well. Neither of us seem to fond of the process!

3. Suddenly, every situation seems worthy of tears. I mean, ALL coping abilities have taken a hiatus while the horomones have ravaged my body.

4. It feels as though my house will never be clean again. (see number 2) And cleaning a bathtub sounds like a rare form of torture.

5. All I think about is having the baby so that my mom can come help me. Seriously, there are times when only a mother can help!

6. Choosing an outfit for the day is a 30 minute process, because it is extremely difficult to find anything that will cover my belly and a pair of pants that will stay up and not expose the granny panty situation described in number 1.

7. My nesting urge has taken over my brain and mega important things such as finding a coordinating hamper for the babies room are all I want to talk or think about. I am confident that my friends find these conversations as thrilling as I do.

8. My goals of not reaching 198 pounds for the third time in a row are slipping out of my grasp as I see my body headed for that delivery weight set point once again! Seriously, what is with that number? It doesn't matter what my prepregnancy weight was. It is where I always end up.

9. I am pretty sure my husband thinks the phrase, "hold on a minute, I am having a contraction" is just an excuse for getting out of something I don't want to do.

10. My ribs hurt.

I am trying to cherish this pregnancy as it will most likely be my last. When I think of it in those terms, I am sad. I don't want to rush into this delivery, and I would really like all my delivery goals to be accomplished in this final delivery. I will share more about that subject tomorrow! But in the meantime, I feel as big as a barn door and am getting very excited to meet this little life inside of me! Especially to find out exactly if it is a "he" or a "she".
Here's to the last 4 weeks!

I Am Back from my VERY LONG LOA.

How can it be that I have let so much time go by without even giving a second thought to my blog? I have to admit, I have given it many a thought. The problem is, I felt so uninspired. The longer I went without writing, the harder it seemed to get back on the horse. My lack of inspiration and sense of humor I believe was caused by two things. First, the diagnosis of my brother-in-law with brain cancer and secondly, the morning sickness that accompanied the fantastic news that we are expecting #3. And, now, here I stand at the end of my pregnancy ready to embark on another new phase of life, and I haven't blogged a thing about how I am feeling about any of this.
You may ask me what my new years resolution was this year? I only had one because it was nagging at me so bad. I promised my husband I would start blogging again. Let's see if I can really follow through, but I hope so, because to be honest, I have missed y'all in my cyberspace world. Yes, I just gave in a wrote "y'all" because I hear it so much down here that it's the only word that seems to sum up how I feel right now!

Dinner Revelation

Last night at dinner, Tom was trying to convince Will to eat his food. Tom would dangle one piece of chicken over Natalie and say, "Here little Birdie! Here little Birdie!" and she would bite. Then he would dangle a piece of food over Will and say, "here little Froggie! Here little Froggie!" Will would grin and take a nibble. The whole meal went on this way. Then Will suggested he feed Tom.
"What kind of animal am I, Will?" asked Tom as Will dangled a piece of food over his head.
"You are a dolphin, daddy!"
"Oh, okay! So Natalie is a birdie, you are a froggie, and I am a dolphin! What is mommy?"
"Mommy is a WHALE!"
Out of the mouths of babes....

Kitchen Remodeling

As many of you may have noticed, I have been slightly MIA lately. We moved into our house, and then a lot of things happened all at once. We started remodeling the house and in the middle of tearing down wallpaper in our dining room we received a call from my parents informing me of my brother-in-law's brain tumor.
David remains so amazingly positive, and I read his blog to be UPLIFTED which I think is incredible. www.jumpdavidjump.typepad.com summarizes his condition better than I ever could. He starts his treatment very soon if he has not already. Please keep him and my sister Amy in your prayers! Thank you.
So, the day before I left to go be with my sister and brother-in-law in Minnesota I found out some interesting news. Yes, baby number 3 is on the way and I am due February 16th. Thankfully, this wretched morning sickness did not kick in until I returned from Minnesota. I am just starting my 11th week. I have been so sick but am hoping it will start to get better soon, so that I can be a better mother again. Will's new favorite question is, "and you're gonna throw up?"
Now, in the midst of all this "throwing up" we have been remodeling our kitchen. I thought I would post some "before" and "during" pics. I will post "after" pics when it is completed.
Here is the kitchen before. We just finished tearing down the wallpaper, replacing all the appliances, replacing countertops and replacing the hardware. Yes, I helped.
Here's an upclose of the granite we chose. Chris Yaughn (Yaughn Countertops) did a great job with the counters. I could not be happier! You can see where we still need to tile the backsplash.

My new sink and faucet make me so happy.

It has been hard to steam down the wallpaper without bringing a little drywall with it. Oops.

It is coming together though and even though my walls look atrocious at the moment the kitchen is so much prettier already.

Here is my new stovetop range. We had to modify the cabinets to put this in. We have purchased a wine chiller to put in the hole where the old oven was.

Now I just can't wait for the painting to begin!

Too Smart

My little man Will turned THREE a few weeks ago. He literally found independence overnight. It is like he woke up on this third birthday and said, "from now on I will do EVERYTHING by myself. I am a big boy now!" My husband and I have had to rapidly adjust to this new found independence and help foster it. At first we resisted a little.

"Um, Will what are you doing with a chair pushed up to the refrigerator? The milk jug is too heavy for you!"

"You can't get ice by yourself! "

"Get down from that counter, you are going to fall."

But, I am happy to say we have figured out that it is best to just let him try and guide him along the way. Things also stay a lot more peaceful that way as he will fight us all the way if we try to hold him back.

Today, Will was resisting taking a nap. We had been back and forth about it and after 30 minutes of lying awake in his room, he came out and announced he needed to get a cup of water. I let him climb on the counter to get his own cup. I let him get his own ice. I helped lift him up so he could fill his cup with the filtered refrigerator water. Then, I gently tried to ease the lid onto his sippy cup so it wouldn't slop. Big mistake!

"Mommy!!!!! I want to do that by myself!!! I can put my own lid on!"

"I am sorry Will, I was just trying to help. Is there ANYTHING that you think you CAN'T do?" I asked, slightly exasperated.

He grinned a sheepish grin. "Yes, " he nodded. "I don't think I can TAKE MY NAP!"

Touche!