31 weeks

I'm 31 weeks today, so if all goes as planned I have somewhere between 6 and 11 weeks left. Little pal is kicking a LOT, and I can feel him moving almost constantly when I am sitting or lying still. I think he must sleep when I'm up walking around, because I almost never feel kicks then. I am looking incredibly pregnant today, more so than usual. I think the shirt is adding to that effect.

side view (pardon the laundry basket)
front view

5 bucks to anyone who can tell me what show we were watching...

nursery part 2

The nursery is painted and has some furniture. We still need a crib, and then just to decorate the walls and put down a throw rug or two. Here are some pictures:

this is the corner across from the door. We left one wall the tan color that it already was, and the other three walls are green. The empty space there is where the crib will go.

to the left of the crib is our papasan rocker, and that dresser is what we'll be using as a changing table, with a contoured cushion. The top drawer is already housing the few cloth diapers we've accumulated so far.

This bookcase is directly across from the door. The door pictured is the closet. I didn't plan on having a giant bookcase in the nursery, but it was in this room when Tim's office was in here, and it won't fit in his upstairs office because of the sloped ceilings. We don't really have anywhere else to put it, so we'll be anchoring it to the wall and using colorful bins on the shelves to store books and toys.

This dresser belonged to my brother growing up. We have the matching chest of drawers in our bedroom closet right now. When he moves to a grown up bed, he can take the matching chest and the twin headboard as well. The lamp on top is his "tanning lamp"...a gooseneck lamp that we will get a UV bulb for. This was suggested to us by the midwives to have on hand in case he is born jaundiced.

nursery and such

The nursery is now painted and pretty much empty except for little pal's stuff. We're moving some dressers in on Saturday so I'll post pictures after that.

This past week or so has been interesting....I got the flu or something similar, and stayed home from work on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, and ended up going home early on Friday as well because I was still exhausted. We had a prenatal appointment on Wednesday night and I found out that I'm somewhat anemic, so that could have contributed to the run-down feeling. Babies start to store iron for later use during the last part of the pregnancy, so my intake needs to increase to keep up with the demand. I'm now taking a supplement to boost my iron levels, as well as just watching what I eat a little more.

Tim and I have been looking into refinancing our mortgage with a FHA rehab loan, to give us money to finish the basement and add a bathroom. We met with Michelle's dad tonight to look at design plans and get a cost estimate. So far everything is looking good....fingers crossed that it all works out as planned. It will be so nice if we are able to follow through on it! I think it will add a lot of resale potential as well, having a second full bathroom. The work would end up getting completed during November/December....right when little pal is due to make his appearance. So things will be a little hectic over here, but well worth it in the end.

We are still exploring daycare options. Most likely we will end up at Paige's Playhouse, which is across the street from my job so would be super convenient. However, an in-home provider could potentially offer us a better price, so I am looking into those as well. We found one woman who is nationally certified (which is rare), and pretty close to my work. She is full at the moment, but put me on a waitlist. We are first on the list, so hopefully something will open up before February. Otherwise, Paige's looks nice, just not as flexible and cost-effective as an individual might be.

Labor Day

(The holiday, that is)

This holiday weekend is always very busy for Tim and I. His dad's birthday is the 4th, and new nephew Sammy's birthday is the 6th. Also a close friend has a birthday right in between on the 5th. This year, Sammy is turning 1 and I was in charge of the cakes...a personal sized one for Sammy, and a 12x18 sheet cake for the guests.

I don't think I'm cut out to be a cake decorator, or at least not a pregnant one. It was so tiring working in the kitchen all day getting these cakes ready. My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, and I was so hot from being so close to the oven for so long. I think they turned out nice, but in the future I will probably stick to other types of cakes, or at the very least not such large decorated ones.

Little pal is moving around a ton now. Yesterday I actually felt him move in multiple places at once, so he must be getting pretty big. I can often feel what I think is his butt pushed right up under my rib cage. Especially when I've had a big meal....because the only thing worse than feeling really really full, is feeling really really full and having a baby pushing on your stomach.

Baby shower is now scheduled....October 25th (a Sunday) at 2 o'clock. Aunt Jamie has generously offered to host it at her house, so that we can have one giant shower instead of several smaller ones. So watch for your invitations in the mail in the next few weeks!