Oh yeah...

For whatever it's worth, my doctor said she would expect BabyW to be somewhere around 7 1/2 to 8 lbs. I wasn't sure if she meant right now, or when he's born... and of course it's just a guess based on her 20+ years of experience... so we'll see. Anything under 9 lbs sounds good to me!

38 Week Update

38 Week Baby Update: Apparently my crampiness on Friday was not in vain... it was definitely accomplishing something! I'm a little more dilated. Still technically 1 cm, but my doctor said it was definitely good progress from last week! She said a few more crampy days like that and I should be in real good shape. (Too bad I haven't felt anything since Friday!) BabyW has a strong heartbeat and continues to be really active. So we just keep waiting and watching.... and walking! :)

If I hear another person tell me I look like I'm about to "pop" or "explode," I just might! LOL. It's funny how people don't think much about how they word things. I don't mind at all when someone tells me it looks like I could have this baby any day, or that I must be glad to be at the end, or something else that compassionately recognizes that I must be 9 months pregnant. But popping, exploding, bursting... followed by looks of amazement or snickers...somehow those aren't so encouraging! But it's okay... I am definitely thankful to be at the end. I'll just be glad when people go back to looking me in the eye when they talk to me rather than in the belly.

Yum Yum Yum

So I haven't had ANY real cravings during this whole pregnancy... until now. You know, now that the weight gain is supposed to level off and I start thinking about how long it'll take to get my figure back. Ha! :)
For the last 3 days, I can't seem to get enough:

• Ben & Jerry's "Imagine World Peace" Ice Cream,
• Minute Maid Berry Punch,
• & I have even had dreams about an endless selection of Cinnamon Rolls & Donuts!

I don't even like donuts & ice cream all that much! The only thing saving me is that this baby is taking up so much room in my belly, I can't eat much at all before I'm stuffed!

Monday Morning Musings

We had our first weekend in probably 9 months that we didn't really have any plans and there was nothing major we had to do! It was definitely refreshing. We watched several movies and went to Trader Joes with our moms to stock up on some quick meals to have on hand for the first few weeks home with BabyW.

Of course an empty to-do list doesn't last long. We discovered last night that our garbage disposal has a hole in it and had been leaking and spraying nasty old food all underneath our kitchen sink for who knows how long! Talk about disgusting! Mike cleaned it all out but there's definitely some water damage we'll have to treat and we'll now be buying a new disposal. That's not the fun kind of home improvements we like to invest in, but it's just one of the joys of home ownership.

No real news on the baby front. My cramping stopped after Friday night and I felt pretty normal all weekend. We're just waiting... :)

Our movie reviews from the weekend:












New In Town - a random RedBox pick that we were very pleasantly surprised by! It's rated PG and it's just a fun clean movie we both really enjoyed.
The Client - an old suspense I thought I'd seen but never had... pretty good.
Confessions of a Shopaholic - clearly a Chick Flick that was exactly what we expected... mindless entertainment, cute but predictable.... definitely not Mike's favorite.

Could it be?

I've decided that everything about pregnancy is really just a mystery. For every symptom that could be one thing, it could just as easily be something else! :)

• Swelling in one leg: it could be a blood clot, or it could be completely normal.
• Pain in your lower abdomen before 37 weeks: it could be preterm labor, or the baby might just be positioned akwardly.
• Dilated 1 cm: you could go into labor tonight, or it could be 4 more weeks.
• And my latest... what feels like menstrual cramps nearly all day: definitely the onset of early labor, but still... it could take hours, it could take days, it could take weeks.

So while it's definitely hard not to wonder and try to figure out what's going on, I am definitely learning to just make mental notes, and keep on waiting. :) It's not like I really have another option anyway. But.. talk about making a girl crazy! What gets me through: No matter what, BabyW will DEFINITELY be here within the next 4 weeks. Guaranteed. I'd rather it be more like 4 days, but the end is definitely in sight! :)

2009: The Year that..... ?

We started filling out BabyW's baby book a few nights ago, which was pretty fun. There is a page to list stuff about what the world is like right now: current events, headlines, world leaders, pop culture. It's kinda interesting to try to write down what sets 2009 apart. So now I wonder if I should go back and add that this was the year Michael Jackson died? I don't really think so. As much as he was an incredible musician and definitely a defining icon of the 80's, I just don't know that I find his life worthy enough to document. He certainly wasn't any kind of role model for young boys. I've never been one to be star-struck though and I value integrity, humility, and honor much more than fame, riches and even talent. I believe that our talents are gifts from God and more of a responsibility than a privilege. So while I feel for the Jackson family at this difficult time, I think I'll save the space in the baby book for something else... What would you consider some significant events of 2009?

Random thoughts...

1. Progress! With the glider, that is... we recovered the ottoman last night and it turned out great. Of course I didn't think to take a picture, but eventually I'll post some of the whole nursery. The chair itself actually doesn't look bad in the old fabric, so we'll just see how motivated I get in the next couple of weeks, but if it doesn't get recovered, I actually don't mind.
   
   
2. Next time... I won't work up until the day I go into labor. I definitely wouldn't recommend it. I've survived... and for a while it was definitely no problem. But this last month has definitely taken it's toll on me and I find myself wishing I'd planned to stop working a little earlier. Fortunately, my job, which used to be extremely stressful and busy, has been fairly slow recently, so it's more just the physical toll of being stuck in an office and not resting. The end is near and I'll make it, but for anyone considering it, I'd strongly recommend finding another way...
   
   
3. Not in my Control: I've known since about 18 weeks that I tested positive for GBS (Group B Strep bacteria). It's fairly common in pregnant women... we're just "colonized" not infected, and the risk is that it will be transferred to the baby during delivery. Since they now routinely test for it, they are able to give IV antibiotics to the mom during labor and so long as I have that IV for at least 4 hours before giving birth, the risk to baby is significantly reduced. If I should deliver faster, they will treat the baby himself with antibiotics. So while it can be a serious issue if the baby were infected, the odds are so rare now that I've been reassured it's nothing to lose sleep over. We will probably be kept at the hospital for an extra day so the baby can be closely monitored.
   
   Well, then I get a call this morning from my doctor's office letting me know that there is a fairly high-level of GBS in my urine and that now they want me to take an antibiotic for the next 7 days... in addition to getting the IV at the hospital. I talked to the doctor and he still reassured me that I don't have reason to worry. There is no greater risk for the baby. If anything, it just means I have a slightly higher chance of getting an infection after birth, but it's much easier to treat me than the baby anyway. So now I'm just trying to put it out of my mind and not worry about it. I can't worry about the fact that apparently women in my family have fast labors (will I be able to get the IV for the full 4 hours?) I'm not going to request an elective C-Section just to avoid the risk of passing it to the baby (although the thought has certainly crossed my mind!) I just have to wait and trust that everything will be fine. Easier said than done.

Oh how I love getting a great deal!!

I made my first Craigslist purchase tonight and I'm so excited! I found a couple selling a brand new Baby Bjorn carrier - in the box - for $25!!! I had registered for the exact same one - which costs $79.99 - at BabiesRUs.

So while Mike is at the movies watching Terminator with some guys, Shelby and I headed down Cedar Road to pick up the Baby Bjorn. The couple selling it was really sweet and it was in GREAT shape! So then to top off the good find of the night, we stopped by Bruster's Ice Cream where I got a Maple Walnut Waffle Cone and Shelby enjoyed her free Doggie Sundae! I even got a call from Elsie and got to hear all about how she and Jocelyn are doing. I may not have had my feet propped up like the doctor said, but it was a fun night and now I'm going to go pop in a chick flick, prop up my fat ankles and call it a night!

Oh, and for the quick doctor's appointment update: Apparently my cervix is soft but closed. Well... since my doctor thought 1 cm last week, but the other doctor thought closed this week... I'm somewhere between closed and 1 cm. A bit of a bummer... but really, these things don't even mean anything. I could still go into labor tonight or sometime in the next 5 weeks. :) Stay tuned...

A Few of my Favorite Things (so far)

I realize this list may change drastically once BabyW is actually here and I grow to love the super practical things, but as I've been blessed by 4 baby showers and have done some bargain shopping of my own... these are just some of the things I'm most excited about:

Swaddle Designs Receiving Blanket: This is clearly bigger and more luxurious than any other I've felt and I managed to find two of them for a steal on a Target Clearance rack. I think they were purchased online and returned in-store ~ works for me!












Soothe & Glow Seahorse: This little guy is so adorable and he plays really soft relaxing ocean sounds and lullabies, even a hymn! I think I like him because it reminds me of a GlowWorm I had as a kid.











Praise Baby CD: I just got this in the mail from my good friend Amy and am looking forward to finding more music like this too! I hope it will be relaxing and uplifting both for baby & me!











Hide Them Hooters Nursing Wrap: This is basically a knock-off of the Hooter Hiders or Bebe-au-Lait brands that I found on Etsy.com It was half the price of the name brand and in the exact pattern I loved! And I think these things are the best as I'm not a fan of just popping out a boob in public. :)











Sara Bear Diaper Caddy: Cute and functional. I got this at another shower and this will be our little changing station for downstairs.











BabyW's Baby Book: I always enjoyed looking back at my baby book as a kid and I just love the design of this one. We've already filled out most all we could to this point. Hopefully I'll make time to keep it up as he grows!

One fat ankle & One REALLY, REALLY fat ankle!

Tomorrow, BabyW will officially be full-term (37 weeks) and we're excited for him to come whenever he's ready! Well... actually we're hoping he'll come sometime between July 3-17th... or I guess this week would be okay too, but as much as we're "ready," I'm hoping he'll wait until July. My dad has to fly to Seattle June 29-July 2nd and then Mike's family leaves on July 18th for their cruise to Alaska! No pressure baby. :)

I'll be going to the doctor today and hope to hear that things are continuing to move forward and progressing. I'll also be hoping to find out that everything is fine with my super fat right ankle. It's weird. I actually have not had much swelling at all, but every so often, just my right ankle gets really fat. This time it's stayed that way for several days. I wouldn't think anything of it if both ankles were the same, but there's a significant difference. I did call the nurses line yesterday just to make sure I didn't need to be seen sooner, and she said as long as there was no pain or redness, I could wait until today, but that I need to stay off of my feet and lay on my left side. Well... that wasn't exactly possible yesterday as I had to work and then it was Justine's birthday and we had plans to go out to dinner for the night. But I did let Mike drop me off at the door and I am going to try really hard to just take it easy tonight after work. :) Happy Birthday Aunt Stiney. My "little" sister is really 27? Wow, when did we get so old?

What's in a name?

We never knew what a stir we would cause among our family by keeping BabyW's name a surprise until he's born! I actually really stink at keeping secrets, so I must say, it's been kind of fun and we haven't slipped up at all. No one knows except me & Mike and it's been kinda nice. We certainly aren't doing it just to torment the rest of the family... although they may sometimes think so! :)














We have a few reasons:

1. At first, we weren't sure what we would pick, so we didn't want to announce a name only to change it and then change it back again.
   
2. Everyone may know someone with his name that would make them not like it, so there's no way we could satisfy everyone. You know, we all had that fat kid in our 2nd grade class who picked his nose and was a nerd. Well... mine might have been named Adam, and Mike's could have been Steve and my mom's could have been Timmy.... If we filtered out all of those, we might never come up with a name!
   
3. We wanted to pick the name that we both loved and we felt would be a good fit, without endless opinions. Most people are quick to give their opinion when they think they might be able to change your mind, but (at least we're hoping) once it's final, no one will tell us if they don't like it... it'll already be settled and they'll just grow to love it.
   
4. Surprises are fun... and there just aren't that many opportunities to have them!

Our decision to wait was definitely confirmed when we did tell one random lady at a garage sale who asked. The conversation went like this:

Lady: What are you going to name him?
Me: We're deciding between Brutus and Horace. (obviously these are not true options)
Lady: Oh, I definitely like Horace much better. Yeah, Horace is better.
Me: Well, we'll see...

(And as we left, we said to each other: "did we ask her opinion? we actually didn't really want her opinion... and frankly we were leaning toward the "brutus" option, not "horace" so now we just have someone telling us they aren't crazy about our choice, yeah, we're definitely glad we're keeping it a surprise.")

Welcome Baby Jocelyn

Elsie, Mike & big brother, Aiden welcomed their new little girl, Jocelyn Myra into their family yesterday. She was born 2 1/2 weeks early but was a healthy 7 lbs 5 oz! Now if it weren't for the fact that she has been born into an Ohio State family, we might already have an arranged marriage worked out. But I don't know if the daddies would ever agree to a Wolverine-Buckeye union! :) Even so, we think she's adorable and can't wait for BabyW to meet her! Congrats Elsie & Happy Father's Day to the proud daddy &(the rest of the dads too)!

Nearing the End!

It has been so fun to be pregnant alongside of several other pregnant friends. I have especially enjoyed talking to Elsie over the last 9 months because her due date is exactly one week before mine.. so we're always practically at the same point. Or we were until today! Elsie is at the hospital in labor this morning! She'll be having her little girl today - How exciting! And then I realize... woah, that would be like me going into labor next Friday! It's only 2 1/2 weeks early, so the babies are fine... but yikes! I'm pretty set on having this boy sometime in July... not June! But obviously these little ones can have ideas of their own! Who knows... but it definitely hits home to hear that she's going early! Especially when we were both at the exact same point of progression at our 36 week appointments... :) All I can do is wait and see...

It does make me feel even better about the fact that Senneca came over last night and the nursery is cleaned, organized and pretty much done... and other than buying some extra diaper cream for downstairs & children's Tylenol, I got her "mom-stamp-of-approval" that we have everything we need!

Woah Baby - 36 weeks

It's no wonder my back has been hurting lately... look at this huge belly! Well, this boy is definitely getting big! He apparently gains an ounce a day at this point. Fortunately, Mommy's weight gain seems to be leveling off! Now we're just in waiting mode... 27 days & counting. At least last night I did finally pack my bag for the hospital! Yay!

36 Week Update

I had my first weekly doctor's appointment today, and much to my doctor's surprise and mine, I am dilated about 1 cm. No effacement, but she said his head is down nice and low and that things are definitely moving in the right direction. So what does this mean? Well, it means I could go into labor in the next few days... OR maybe sometime in the next month. LOL. Basically, it doesn't mean a whole lot at all. Not at this point. But it is encouraging, and definitely closer than being completely closed. I'll probably get a better idea of how things are progressing at next week's appointment. So, stay tuned.

This really should motivate me to get off the computer and go pack my bag for the hospital!! Hmmm... maybe I will... you know, just in case. :)

No more Baking in my Kitchen!

I LOVE to cook, but I hate baking. Weird? Well, I can take a lot of liberties with cooking, it just seems to come natural... I can modify recipes, make up recipes and a lot of times I can recreate dishes I've had at a restaurant just by knowing what different spices taste like. Not so with baking. I ALWAYS mess up something when I bake. Tonight's baking adventure was Amish Friendship Bread. This is the second starter batch Suzanne has brought me...all the way from Raleigh! Last time I added ingredients before I divided up the starter and had to throw the whole thing out. Tonight, I think it will turn out okay, but I was doubling the recipe (so if I messed up, I'd really waste a lot of ingredients) and I needed to add 3 tsp. baking POWDER and 1 tsp. baking SODA.... well, I read it like 3 times, and then added 3 tsp. of baking SODA. Plop, it was in there and then I realized I screwed up. Too late to fix it. So I'm baking it anyway. I don't know... maybe it'll be fine, but I hope it doesn't taste funky. I think after tonight, I'll stick to cooking and leave dessert for someone else. I do have 3 starters if anyone would like them!

FREE McAfee Virus-Scan

All the details on how to get McAfee VirusScan Plus for FREE are here on Faithful Provisions Blog. I just ordered this from Amazon.com myself and will get the $50 rebate, making it free!! Yep, it's for real! :) Just be sure to follow the instructions listed on the blog so you order the one sold directly from Amazon and not one from a 3rd party seller. Here is the link to the correct product on Amazon.com. You just have to purchase it for $50, select free shipping, and then fill out the rebate form. We desperately need this for our laptops at home!

It's about time :)

I'm finally eating my applesauce. Why is this blog-worthy? Well.. it's really not, but I have been carrying this little cup of applesauce back & forth with me to work every day for the last 4 weeks in my little insulated lunch bag... and I never eat it, so every single day, I carry it back home, put it in the fridge, and start over the next day... thinking at some point, I might finally just want to eat it. Today it finally happened. :)

1 Month to Go!

It's so hard to believe that today is June 15th... exactly 1 month before BabyW. is due to arrive! This weekend, I had my 4th and final baby shower with some ladies from church, and I am finally feeling like we have almost everything we need to welcome our little boy home! We have been extremely blessed and it is such a relief to not feel like there are a hundred things we need to go out and buy!

The carseat is now installed in the back seat of my car (thanks Mike!) and that's definitely kinda surreal to drive around with. My friend Senneca is going to come over this week and help me finish putting everything away in the nursery and maybe we'll even tackle the glider! I still need to pack my bag for the hospital but we're almost as prepared as we can be!

I'm still hoping he'll wait a couple more weeks, but we're definitely getting close! He's an active little boy, and watching him move around in my belly has been really fun the last couple of days... I might actually miss that part of being pregnant. He's definitely crammed in there, but when he moves, you can see it from across the room. Yes, it looks a bit alien. :)

Some of you have asked if I plan to keep this updated once he arrives, and the answer is definitely YES. I may not be as frequent, but I do hope to keep it up! I just need someone to come clean up my laptop at home... it runs soooo slowly!

PICTURES!!!

What a bunch of adorable kids! Jessica & her mom took tons of great pictures at my baby shower last weekend and you can see them all by clicking HERE! I didn't realize quite how fat my face had gotten until I saw these pics... but whatever, I'm 8 months pregnant in the summer... I guess it's just par for the course! That's why I love my "skinny mirror" in my room that I use to get ready... it doesn't matter what I really look like, as long as I think I look fine! :)

Did you notice my little countdown ticker today? FOUR weeks 6 days! I can't believe how quickly time is passing! Last night, we hung up BabyW's name on the wall above the crib, (no, we're not spilling the beans early... we'll be taking it down until he arrives!) and I washed and put away a bunch of his stuff. Have I mentioned that we have a ton of clothes??? Good grief... maybe I won't have to do laundry for the first 3 months!

Free Food = Happy Pregnant Woman!

Arby’s is offering something FREE every Wednesday for the whole summer!! There is no coupon necessary for these deals as long as your local Arby’s is participating.

Here is the Calendar:

June 10th - Free Roast Chicken club with any soft drink purchase
June 17th - Free Regular Sidekicker with any sandwich purchase
June 24th -Free Regular Roast Beef with any soft drink purchase

July 1st - Free Regular Beef ‘n Cheddar with any soft drink purchase
July 8th - Free Orange Cream Swirl shake with any sandwich purchase
July 15th - Free Regular Roast Beef with any soft drink purchase
July 22nd - Free Roastburger with any soft drink purchase
July 29th - Free FruiTea with any sandwich purchase

August 5th - Free Regular Roast Beef with any soft drink purchase
August 12th - Free Roast Chicken Club with any soft drink purchase
August 19th - Free FruiTea with any sandwich purchase
August 26th - Free Regular Beef ‘n Cheddar with any soft drink purchase

Secret Readers?

I know that Nana & Jeanie read this daily... and there must be a few more... so if you frequently stop by, but never leave comments... comment on this post or send me an email at least, just so I know that I'm not just writing these posts everyday for my own entertainment. :)

Anyone there?

DIY or not?

At heart, I am a "Do-It-Yourself" girl. There are so many things out there that I think, "why spend all the $, when I really could just make it myself?" But then in reality... I never have time. As much as I'd enjoy some of these projects, there just seems to be too much else to do. So I'm trying to learn the balance... like I'd really love to just make my own nursing cover... it's really quite simple, or create these cute letters with BabyW's name for over the crib, but I still haven't even started recovering the glider. And my schedule over the next couple weeks is nuts. So I guess I'll just suck it up, spend somd $ and order them.

Let's be honest....

Well, I guess if I could post my good weight gain at my last appointment, I should be honest and post how it all evens out eventually... So this time I managed to gain 5 lbs since my last visit. That's crazy! Now how sweet is my husband? When I told him... he said, "that's okay, you had only gained 2 lbs in the other 4 weeks, so that just makes 7 lbs in 6 weeks... and that's just over a pound a week...that's still really good!" That definitely made me feel better :)

Anyway.. it's all for good reason. I am now going to the doctor weekly, and everything is looking great. The swelling in my ankle from this weekend even went down and the doc told me I had darn good looking ankles for 35 weeks pregnant! :) It's still kinda surreal that at my visits now, the important things they tell me are about knowing when to go to the hospital, and making sure I know how to get there! I guess we really are almost done!

We had our last class at the hospital last night, so I guess we're supposed to be all trained and ready... ha! I fully expect to not know what to expect. I am still really relaxed about the whole birth process. I figure there's no point getting myself all worked up about it or having too many expectations of how I want it to go, because you just never know. We've read and gone to classes and talked to friends, and I'm just trusting that we'll remember what we really need to when it's happening. Now, I just need a few free days to get my to-do list done. Still no bag packed, no carseat in the car and no recovered glider! :) I have a feeling that's going to be the story of my life for the next few years...

CVS Deals

On several of the Bargain Shopper blogs that I frequent, I always see these great deals and freebies you can get at CVS, but we've never had one anywhere nearby. I noticed a new one out at Hilltop last week, but that's still too far out of my way to make it worthwhile. Yesterday, we noticed that they tore down an old gas station on the corner of Volvo & Kempsville and there is a sign saying that CVS is coming soon!! That's within walking distance to our house! So... in a few months, I'm going to start trying to get good deals like this!

FUN Weekend! :)

What a fun weekend! It started on Friday with a "Ships Ahoy, It's a Boy!" Baby Shower at my work. Mike got off early and joined us and then I got the afternoon off too! The Childress family arrived at our house Friday night and I had another great Baby Shower brunch thrown by the MWC girls on Saturday morning! We have been very blessed and just enjoyed the time with friends more than anything. Here are the few pictures I got with my camera... Jess took tons so when she gets time to post them, I'll share more! :) Thanks to all of you for such a fun weekend!
Look at all these babies & prego bellies! Elsie is due a week before me & Melissa is due three weeks after. They are both having girls... it was funny to see how high my belly is with this boy compared to theirs. Just a few more weeks and we'll meet them all!

What's Your Style?

I just took this fun Find Your Style Quiz. I think they got me spot on! Check it out!

50% Cottage Chic

Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you! You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background? Your true inspiration (whether you know it or not) is the sea... the colors found at your favorite beach: white and light beige of the sand, a variety of blues for the ocean and sky, and greens and pale grays of the sea glass... but the key is white! Your space should feel light and airy and give off the mood one has when at the beach: laid back!

50% Contemporary

So fresh and so clean! Antiques? No thanks! Vintage collections and clutter of any type? Not for you! You like your space new and sleek. Each piece is chosen carefully as if it was a piece of art, and your love of minimalism is expressed throughout each room. Furniture has clean lines and geometric shapes are preferred. You're not afraid of color; in fact bold color options only highlight the minimal items you choose for your home. But, the key is clean! To master the minimalist interior you not only have to be selective in the few furniture items you bring into the space, but you must also find a way to hide all of the real life items as well.

34 Weeks (+ 1 day)

Overall I'm feeling pretty good these days. Rolling over in bed is a little painful and challenging, but nothing like before. Breathing is definitely hard and sometimes I have to push on my belly to get this boy to move because he gets way up in my ribs or in an akward spot on my hip bones... but that's just par for the course at this point, and I'm happy to say I really do feel pretty good. I started having some Braxton Hicks contractions today. I had them a couple months ago, but today was more painful... but definitely bearable and not bad enough to concern me. It only happened sporadically about 3 times, so nothing to worry about. But I do know I need to start taking it easy. I've been burning the candle at both ends and I think it's time to slow down... well, maybe after this weekend! :) It's hard to believe that we'll officially be full-term in about 2 1/2 weeks! Craziness!

For Mom & Mike...

Apparently, tomorrow (June 5th) is National Doughnut Day and Krispy Kreme is giving you a FREE doughnut!

My mom has been known to make it through 11 of a full dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts in one day, so one freebie probably won't cut it for her... but I must say, I don't even like doughnuts much, but this picture is even getting my mouth watering for a Hot & Now. :)

Want $ back for Online Shopping?

I just signed up for Ebates. Basically if you bookmark the Ebates site, and follow their links to all the stores you already shop at online (there are literally hundreds!), you get a percentage of your purchase Cash-Back! It's free, simple and the way it works is that all the stores pay an advertising fee to Ebates for the publicity, and that way Ebates can send me/you a rebate check. If you want to sign up and give it a try, click here and you'll get a $5 bonus and I'll get a bonus too. They mail the checks 4 times a year, so it will just accumulate a balance and send you a check each quarter. Worth a shot! :) Just be sure that you start on the Ebates page and use their links to the other stores (don't just go directly to Target.com or something) so you're logged in and it will track your purchases.

What a difference a year makes!!

This picture was taken exactly one year ago from this weekend. These are all of my dearest friends from MWC and their ever-expanding families. I remember thinking last year how huge our group seemed considering we were just 7 single girls back when we met Freshman year of college in 1997. But as I get ready to see most of these friends again this weekend for my baby shower, I realized that we've grown significantly just since then! Lily & Luke were in their mama's bellies, but now they are here and Joshua is on the scene too... plus Elsie's little girl will be showing her face in just a few weeks and my little boy a week or so after that! 5 new babies in just one year! 7 has become 23...and I know we're not done growing! I am so blessed to have friends that I consider family. I'm excited to see them all this weekend!! (Except we'll miss Dr. Amy Brown... but hopefully her summer visit to Virginia Beach the 3rd week in July will be just in time to meet BabyW... who knows, we've always joked that she should deliver our babies... mine might be as close as she's gotten yet!)

Today's Adventure

Well one of my biggest fears just came true: I got stuck in an elevator. Of course this had to happen when I'm practically 8 months pregnant. Reason number 1001 why I'm ready to leave this place! The elevators here at work are always acting up, but I've never actually gotten stuck before. Unlike the weird lady stuck with me, I managed to stay pretty calm and in control. We were stuck on the second floor. I tried pushing all the other buttons but nothing would budge... so I used the emergency phone to call security. They answered, but then took like what seemed like forever to show up. Meanwhile, it was getting really stuffy and hot and I was trying to make small talk with this odd woman who just insisted on barging in front of me and pushing the buttons herself and then telling me we needed to call security again and tell them to hurry. LOL. I'm the pregnant, claustrophobic one, and she's freaking out.

So when we finally heard some voices outside the door, she starts banging on the door and it opens.... halfway. We get ready to walk out and the door closes again! She tells them "it's scary in here" and they open the door again and tell us to hurry up and get out. While these 3 guys make jokes about how they are surprised the phone even worked and how other elevators in the building have issues too... I just decided I was done with them so I walked down the stairs to the first floor, took care of what I was originally headed down for, and then slowly walked my prego-self back up the 3 flights to my floor...

So now I have to decide... for the next 6 weeks... do I risk taking the elevators again, or do I just huff and puff up the stairs... hey, maybe all the extra exercise will make BabyW. come early! :)

Just a few...

Things I am looking forward to in about 6 weeks...

1. Meeting our little boy!
2. Not having heartburn after just drinking water.
3. Being able to breathe.
4. Sleeping on my tummy.
5. Sleeping on my back.
6. A REAL Margarita!!
7. Not always having spots on my shirt right below my belly that I can't even see (from unknowingly resting my belly on dirty/wet counters, or whatever).
8. Not coming into work!!!
9. Seeing Mike with our little boy!
10. My wedding rings fitting again.
11. Buying toilet paper in bulk at Sams and actually having it last a while!
12. Exercise (did I just say that?!)
13. My pants not constantly falling because I have a huge belly pushing them down and a flat butt that won't hold them up.
14. Being able to cross my legs again.
15. No longer wondering if my water might break or I might go into labor while at work.
16. Random strangers saying my baby is cute instead of my belly.
17. Did I mention meeting our little boy?

Counting Down...

Have you ever seen Design Remix on HGTV? It's where they basically redecorate a room in the house using items they already had from other rooms. Well... that concept is working quite well for our nursery! This weekend, Mike switched the brown curtains from the guest room with the bamboo panels we had in the nursery and it made such a huge difference! Now it's softer and browner... and they will help block the sunlight since the nursery gets full-sun all day long. Hopefully that'll help keep it cooler and darker so BabyW. can sleep! We are also using the bookshelf from the office and a funky blue light from the kitchen! Nothing like FREE decorating! Even so, another weekend has passed... and I still haven't reupholstered that glider!!! Just 6 weeks left! Yikes!

We did have a great weekend though... Saturday night we had our "End of an Era" party with a bunch of couples from church. Since our kid-free days are almost over, we wanted to have one last "adult" party at our place. Everyone brought over one of their favorite meals to share and we had some Margaritas, Daqueris, Pina Coladas (all baby-safe versions of course!) and had a great time. Then yesterday, Mike and I had a date-day together. We ate lunch at Watermans (where we had our Rehearsal Dinner), watched the airshow at the beach and then spent the afternoon at the Aquarium. We even had time to come home and relax a little (which for me meant a nap, and for Mike meant watching the Stanley Cup Finals!) It was a really fun way to spend the weekend, especially as the next two weeks are full of baby-stuff, and then we'll be halfway through June and BabyW. could arrive anytime! :)