Ready for Little One

While my mom was here June 10-14, we got a lot of things ready for Little One. We organized clothes and supplies, shopped, and cleaned.

Since then, I've kept busy. I am so glad I took maternity leave a week before the students ended school. I've been so blessed with this extra time!

We moved the crib and rocker into our room as recommended by our baby care class and multiple research articles. (but we'll move him out after first 3-4 months). Jeremy put up the window valance that MomR made for us. We made our last drop-off to Good Will, which was one of MANY trips over the past few months. I cleaned every knook and cranny in the house, and every space is now being used to its fullest capacity.

We tested out the car seat, high chair, stroller and swing with my baby gorilla. We met with our dula (birth coach) last week to go over the birth plan again. Also, we finally sold our old TV. And we packed and checked the hospital bag for the 4th time. Everything is ready to go!

Now all we need is a baby! Today is actually the due date, and there are lots of labor signs that he should be here soon. To pass the time, I've been watching a lot of The Cosby Show, sleeping, eating, playing piano, organizing old letters and scrapbook things, reading tons of baby advice books. Jeremy and I went swimming a few days ago. And Thursday, Taryn went to the beach with me!

(above: 38 weeks)

(We've been wearing and sleeping with the baby's swaddle blankets so that they smell like us. Babies are very sensitive to smell)

Yesterday, I was having a lot of contractions and other early birth signs, so we suspected the baby was coming within the next few days, or sooner. Jeremy decided to work from home so he could be with me. I had a MONSTROUS appetite, so we ate breakfast at IHOP. I had french toast, egg, fruit, and yogurt. Then lunch at Wendy's, where I ate chkn nuggets, burger, fries, and frosty. Then we went to See's Candies to redeem a gift card that I had. We ate a bunch of candy. And guess who got a horrible stomach ache? Jeremy! HA! Later, we had pork and mashed potatoes at home. Today, I've also been starving, so we had lunch at Pei Wei where I ate all my honey glazed veggies and chkn. Then we went to the grocery store to get some food I've been craving- Mac&Cheese.

The Conversation

You might remember when you were graduating from high school. "The Conversation" happened to all of us.

Every time you talked with adults, they asked you the same questions, and in the same order: So, Where are you going to school? What will you major in? Do you know where you'll live and who you'll live with? Are you excited? That's great! Well, good luck!

I loved talking about my college plans with people, but most of the time, you could tell people were just asking to make conversation, not because they really wanted to know or remember the answers. In fact, multiple times the SAME people from my Dad's work and from church would ask me the SAME questions week after week, acting like they never talked to me before. It soon got really annoying to answer the same questions over and over again.

Sometimes, when I could tell the questions were coming, I just wanted to blurt out "BYU! Summer Term! Probably musical theatre! Dorms! Nope, don't know anyone! Yes, I'm super excited!!" Just to avoid the monotony of the conversation.

Well, "The Conversation" is kind of repeating itself now that we have a baby on the way! It's pretty funny how predictable "The Conversation" is. It occurs with our co-workers, acquaintances and random people in stores. Sometimes we have the same conversation back to back to back in just a matter of minutes. And yes, many of the SAME people have asked us the SAME questions MULTIPLE times:

Person: So when are you due? -Or- When is your wife due?

Us: Just a few weeks, now! June 25.

Person: Oh my goodness, I never would have guessed you're due so soon! You look like you're only 7 months pregnant.

Us: No, it's true! I've actually gotten pretty huge compared to what I was before.

---If it's a mom, at this point she ALWAYS says: Oh, but this is your first right? Maybe that's why, but when I had my first, I was way bigger than that! I gained over 60 pounds with my first!

Me: Well, I'm not too far from that weight gain, either!

Person: Do you know what you're having?

Us: A boy!

Person: Oh, well watch out! They can be crazy!

Us: Actually, we're really glad to have a boy. We hope to have all boys.

Person: Oh, really!?

Us: Yeah, broken bones and broken windows sound much easier to deal with than gossip, cattiness and what her friends said 4 years ago in 2nd grade.

Person: Haha. True! Do you feel ready yet?

Us: No, but we're making progress!

Person: Well, get all the sleep you can because you won't have much soon. And enjoy your hot showers while you have the time!

Us: Haha. That's what we've been told!

Baby Showers!!

(Gifts from work friends and students)

My best friend from work, Taryn, threw me a shower with all my work peeps. It was awesome. She made the yummiest Pumpkin Cake Whoopie Pies known to mankind. Many of my students also gave me gifts and cute drawings of me singing while pregnant!

(Taryn & Me)

(Jeremy opening gifts from my students)

Then, a great friend from church, Lucy, threw me a shower with all my social peeps. It was awesome! She organized lots of fun games and prizes for everyone. MomR flew out from Colorado to be there. And my twin cousins, Shauna & Amanda, drove up from San Diego to be at it, too!

(Me & Lucy)

(The Ultra-sound Game. You had to put my ultra sound pictures in order by week -9 weeks total- and correctly identify Little One's body parts)

(Marcy & Me. She is due in August)

(The Baby Food game. I had to guess what flavors they were, and I was pretty good at it! We tried it with Jeremy later, and he hated every flavor- even the sweat potatoes. Pretty funny that I liked the food and he hated it)

Jeremy and I received tons of wonderful things!! Thank you everyone, SO much! Now we feel much more ready for Little One to be born. He is actually due in ONE WEEK!!!

Sac Town for Memorial Weekend

Highlights included the drive up with lots of potty breaks for my squished bladder, sleeping on Katie's new bed, and being able to soak in a hot tub while being pregnant! (we could control the temperature).

Jeremy and Matt went to 6 Flags, Marine World. Several people thought they were twins! While the boys were gone, I enjoyed the Sac Jazz Festival with DadZ in Old Sacramento. Then I went to the Railroad museum with MomZ. Then I topped off the day watching the swing competition with Aunt Linda. Each of these events were all part of the Jazz festival. We had two free tickets, so we shared them throughout the day, lettingt each person go to the part they liked. Luckily, they let me go to ALL of it! It was really AWESOME!

The best part of the trip was just relaxing with the fam. It was nice to be there without a major family event going on because it allowed us some good quality time with Matt and the parents before the baby comes.