Letting It All Hang Out

I've been debating whether or not to post these pictures. Because, well...who really wants to show anyone photos of their bare mid-section. But in the end I decided "who cares." Here I am in all my glory! It is funny to think that at 4 months I felt like I had such a bump.

It's In the Bag

We've started packing our bags for the hospital. I think I have all of the major items covered, clothes for the baby, clothes for me, car seat, baby book, camera. But the list of suggested items says something about "comfort items" ....soft music, candles. I'm not sure soft music or candles are going to do anything to help comfort me during labor. In fact, if I hear Josh Groban while I'm in labor I may become more enraged. Do any of you have suggested comfort items or is this just more "fluff"?

Touch Your Toes

I can no longer reach my toes. My toenail polish has needed changed for a week, but I kept putting it off because I knew it would be a struggle and I would end up out of breath. Finally, last night I told Scott he was going to have to help me. He removed the polish for me but neither one of us were willing to take that next step of applying more polish. At least the chipped up polish is gone.

*Not my toes in the picture.

Video Camera

This weekend we plan to research video cameras and make a purchase so that we have one in hand in time to record Baby C.'s entry into the world. Do any of you have product recommendations?


*CLARIFICATION: Based on some of your comments I feel I need to clarify my original post. I did not mean that we want to film her actual "entry" into the world. But once she has entered the world we want to get some film. Whew!

I think I Can

Lately, I've found myself reciting the mantra of The Little Engine That Could.

What stands between me and the weekend? One telemarketing campaign meeting, one presentation to undergraduate marketing students, and one data conversion meeting. Plus a bunch of unforeseen firefighting, I imagine.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

Fully Loaded

At our shower on Sunday we received the Pack 'n Play from our registry. Last night we assembled it. This thing is fully loaded; changing table, mobile, diaper stacker, basinet. It has more features than my car. Now, if I could only figure out how to get it to change diapers and handle night feedings we would be set.

Baby Brain

My brain is mush. Fielding 1.5 million questions a day used to leave me feeling energized, today it exhausts me. Solving a problem used to seem like an exciting challenge, today I cannot muster up enough mental energy to tackle a problem. On Saturday, Scott left our seats for about 15 minutes to hit the concession stand. When he returned I couldn't tell him anything that had taken place since he left. This morning I put ice in my coffee cup instead of my water bottle.

Mothers, does this fogginess go away or must I simply adapt?

***Brother, I will beat you to the punch line "How is this different than normal?" Ha! Ha!

8 Months

Scott says I'm getting bigger by the hour. I'm not sure how I feel about that comment.

Whale of a Weekend

We had a crazy weekend full of celebrations. The photos don't really do it justice and I realize I forgot to capture most of it in pictures but I chalk that up to the madness that was our weekend.
Friday Night: Visited friends and welcomed their new baby girl, Harper. My brother, sister-in-law and parents arrived to spend the night. Saturday: Tailgating by 8 a.m. Iowa beats Iowa State! Whoo Hoo! Sunday Morning: Off to Cedar Rapids to celebrate my in-laws' anniversary, Scott's birthday, brother-in-law Kraig's birthday, and Nephew Davis' birthday. Sunday Night: Shower given by the Cornish's Cedar Rapids friends. The shower was fabulous and Baby C. got all kinds of precious things. I'm glad to be back at work so I can rest (HA!).

Juggling Act (aka Maternity Leave)

Baby C. is expected to make her debut in 5 weeks. Because I have been at my job for 7 years I have plenty of paid time saved up so I plan to take off the full 12 weeks made possible by the Family Medical Leave Act. I have been trying to wrap up projects and work ahead on many other tasks so that I don't leave my team overwhelmed while I'm gone. There will be two major ongoing initiatives that I will have to participate in while on leave so I'm trying to set up parameters to avoid getting sucked into being fully accessible throughout the 12 weeks. I'll be frank: I'm starting to freak out about how this is going to work. Guess this is just the beginning of that juggling act between career and family.

For the Record...

I just took out the trash and recycling again. Yep, Scott's traveling. Plus this week there was a ton of cardboard from the baby furniture. If you're confused....see last Tuesday's post about trash.

Refreshing

I bought this 3/4 sleeve sweater at Motherhood and wore it for the first time today. It was so refreshing to wear something that didn't have flowers on it and didn't tie at the waist. Only 6 more weeks to go but I am getting a major itch to update my maternity selections. You'll probably find me at the mall by weeks end.

Winds of Change

It's been a good month for Scott. Last weekend he celebrated his birthday and this past weekend he was off to Nashville for a bachelor party where he apparently rode bulls and had a few drinks. Maybe he senses the winds of change on the horizon and is just trying to pack it all in now :-) !

The Furniture is Here!

The furniture arrived on Thursday. Scott put together the crib and our neighbor, JD helped him carry the dresser upstairs. The small 3 drawer chest is one that I had as a baby. Scott painted it and I changed the hardware. The cute teddy bear in the crib is from Grandma C and matches the room perfectly!

Grippers

I headed out to Target today to get some socks for Baby C. I was quite perplexed to see that most of their infant socks are "socks with grippers." I suppose it is possible the baby will walk out of the womb, and thus need grippers so she doesn't slip?!?! Anyone else have an explanation for this?

Heading the Right Way

I had my 34 week appointment this morning and the Dr. could tell that Baby C.'s head is down! Way to go baby! Let's just hope she is better at sitting still than her mother. We need her to stay in this position for the next 6 weeks!

She's Hot!

We were watching the Republican National Convention last night and I noticed that the Indiana delegates were wearing buttons that said "Hoosiers for the Hot Chick" others were wearing buttons that said "Sarah is a Babe."

COME ON PEOPLE! Sarah Palin is the first woman to be nominated on the Republican presidential ticket and the only way you can describe her is based on her looks? How about intelligence? Strength? No....the best way to describe women is to base it on their looks. Guess we haven't come that far.

Trash Duty

I've accused Scott of traveling every Tuesday night in order to avoid taking out the trash. I'm not kidding....he's gone 90% of Tuesday nights. So, I sit here blogging about taking out the trash in order to avoid the chore for another 5 minutes. I have developed a technique to get the recycling bin down the drive way. I just kick it. It makes an obnoxiously loud sound, but it saves my back a few more aches. Alright, no more procrastination.

Seriously?

I was having lunch with a friend who is also due in October and we ran into a friend of hers who just had a baby a few weeks ago. Somehow it came out that we should go buy Depends now to spare our husbands the embarrassment of having to buy them once the baby arrives. Seriously? What other glamorous things have I not yet learned about pregnancy?

30 Years Old?!?!

Today is Scott's 30th birthday. We started celebrating Friday night with the surprise arrival of 8 of our friends from Chicago. On Saturday several friends stopped by our tailgate to wish Scott happy birthday and Saturday night we headed downtown for dinner. Two of our friends announced their pregnancies this weekend...the pregnant ladies are the ones enjoying ice cream (of course) in the photo above. Thanks to everyone who helped pull off the surprise weekend...it was a hit!