36 Weeks

 A couple of pictures from Drew's and my birthday yesterday:

Only two or three more weeks to go!  Last Friday I was dilated 2cm at my 35 week checkup, and I'm going later today to see if there's been any more progress.  As of Friday I've gained 35 pounds (but I have a feeling I'll add a couple to that today).  



How I'm feeling: I still feel comfortable, for the most part.  I wake up a lot at night to flip from one side to another, but overall I'm sleeping fine.  My belly is feeling BIG, though!  You can always tell when you're getting close when you feel the baby kicking at the top, bottom and side of your belly all at the same time.  My doctor told me last week that her head is down, but sometimes it feels like she's laying sideways in there.....I'm always feeling feet or knees (or elbows, maybe?) poking out on the sides.  Sometimes it hurts quite a bit.   I wish so badly that I knew what all of those body parts are.....I love pushing on my belly, trying to figure it out. 



Drew has a hard time sitting on my lap when I'm reading to him before bed.  And it's hard to bend down to pick things up off the floor (I'm constantly doing this because toys end up everywhere and it drives me crazy!).  And it's funny......our cat Scooter loves to come lay on our laps after the boys go to bed at night.  She'll climb up and lay right on top of my belly.....it's a perfect little shelf for her! 


What people say:  It totally depends on what I'm wearing.  Some of my shirts are very minimizing, and people can't believe I'm so close to the end.  But last week after dropping the boys off at school, I made a mad dash to get a ton of errands done.  I was wearing a t-shirt that I normally don't wear, and all of these strangers kept asking when I was due, assuming I was about to have the baby any day.


Are we ready?  I came home on Tuesday while the boys were at school and did a lot of organizing in the baby's room.  So yes, I feel like I'm getting there.  I still don't have anything hung up on the walls, but on Tuesday I filled a few frames with some cute scrapbook paper.  Now we just need to hang them.  I'm making progress on my photo albums (although I probably won't completely finish before she's here) and I've been sorting through the boys' clothes, trying to box up things for goodwill (although I think I'll wait to give them away until the baby's born, just in case it happens to be a boy!). 


I still need to find some kind of swing (anyone in our area who's reading this and has one you're not using and wouldn't mind loaning, let me know!!) and I probably need to pick up a few newborn-sized clothes (both of my boys were over 8 lbs but they wore newborn clothes for a few weeks).  And I'm sure there are a bunch of other things I haven't even thought about yet.


Names??  I've narrowed down my list, and I think I'm back to my original favorites of Lauren and Molly, plus maybe one or two more.  I feel like I'm kind of stuck, though.....I don't think I'll be able to fully agree on one until I see the baby (hopefully that will help sway us one way or another).


Celebrations: I am so blessed with so many sweet friends.  Two weekends ago, I had plans to meet my friend Kristin for lunch up in town (she lives in Dallas but said she'd be in Houston that weekend).  So I got to the restaurant to meet her, and six of my blogger girl friends (a bunch of us Bryan High girls who all happen to have blogs and have reconnected through them over the past couple of years) were there to surprise me!!  It was so much fun.....I was totally shocked.  They pampered me so generously with a spa gift card, a Gimme a Break gift card (since they read my blog and know that I'm about to go crazy with my boys!), plus a lot of adorable baby stuff.  None of them live in Houston, so they all drove into town just for that.  I couldn't believe it.

Then last weekend, I met with some of my close friends down here at for lunch at LaMadeleine.  I didn't want any kind of formal shower at all, but a couple of friends insisted on at least a few of us getting together to celebrate the baby before she comes.  It was perfect because it was very low-key and informal.....and again, they gave me some super cute girly things. 

Whew!  This was long!  Check in hopefully later this week for a 2-year update on Drew.....