Where is baby?

Not here yet! The little booger. So, in lieu of pictures of baby, here are pictures of our current babies!

Bosco likes to plop down on Bruno. Or me. Or anyone/anything around. And they both like to lay in the sun. Weirdos.

Bruno usually has his tongue out. This is an odd moment.

Sleepy face? Should be, since he’s laying on my bed. AKA The couch.

Here’s Bruno’s sleepy face. Again, on my bed. Maybe if I “made” my bed every morning (pick it all up, throw on actual bed), they wouldn’t have the chance to lounge on my sheets and pillows.

This is how we spend our days. Except normally I’m not taking pictures; I’m laying on the other side of the couch. Sometimes with a dog face in my own. Good thing they’re cute.

On to other things (the only semi-baby related thing today):

I made a lamp! Okay, so I broke a lamp (on accident) and took the cord and shade and put it in a vase. It sat around the kitchen for a couple of weeks because I couldn’t figure out how to make the shade stay in the vase nice and straight. Turns out if you take a paper towel roll (okay, one and a half) and hot glue it to the base of the shade it will stand up straight! Then I wrapped some ribbon around it. So it’s not something you’d buy at Pier 1 (where my original beautiful lamp came from) but it works. AND it matches. Because inside that shade (which oddly looks shiny. It is not.) is fabric that matches the curtains. *Insert me doing a silly “woohoo” dance here*

I’m going to plant flowers today, since my parents are here and can help. And by plant, I mean put them in pots and hanging baskets. Because our hanging basket flowers died many many moons ago. They look sad. So do I, when I look at them. See the dead flowers? Poor dead flowers. (Be happy you don’t see the old man across the street mowing his lawn with no shirt on. We’ve got a fun neighborhood.)

And here are the flowers and “pots” we’re putting them in. *See the mulch? We did that on Sunday. I almost died.*

We got the moisture control potting soil, since I tend to forget to water the flowers. *See picture above of dead flowers. Maybe I’ll get pictures of them when they’re potted. We’ll see.

Hopefully we have some good news to post this week about baby. I doubt it. Oh well, he’ll come when he comes.

2 weeks left… AKA week 38.

Okay, we’ll get it over with:

I just figured out how to make pictures bigger. Baby’s been making my belly bigger all this time, so maybe he’s smarter than me. He gets Nathans genes.

Here’s a fun picture- Nathan took a picture of my face (you don’t get to see that one), then of my belly (see above picture, you’re lucky you get to see that), and of my feet:

My little toe on my left foot sticks up. Interesting. I wonder if that means something? I’ll come into money? I’ll have a life full of happiness?

My parents came up this Monday and Tuesday and taught Nathan how to smoke (on the BBQ, you crazies) and make BBQ sauce. I hate BBQ sauce, but I love pulled pork and ribs, so yay! I didn’t get any pictures, but imagine Nathan as pretty darn giddy and you’ll get the mental image. We had pulled pork, ribs, baked (smoked) potatoes, and corn on the cob. YUM. Baby likes BBQ.

They also brought me pajamas for my hospital stay- now I don’t have to look like a bum in my sweats and t-shirts. Guess I should wash them and re-pack my hospital bag (we’re going to have to move up from a carry-on shoulder bag to a rolly-bag.) We also picked out baby’s going-home clothes! We might go to the outlets (hello! 4 exits away!) to find some other clothes, since Nathan has officially picked out 1 outfit. Total. I’d love for him to pick out the going home clothes, so we’ll see if we get around to it this weekend- I need to walk walk walk, so it’ll probably happen.

We’re ALMOST finished with the baby’s room. We just have to hang some shelves and get a bookcase (this kid’ll be reading at 2 weeks, or at least if he wants to get through these books in his lifetime he’ll have to start by then!) then we’ll be finished. Sneak peak pictures:

Here’s the crib. And the ever-so-torturous green stripes. Which I love (now that I’m not putting up tape, taking down tape, putting it back up again (with Nathan’s help) and painting them).

Nathan wanted the chair by the window, so he could watch the birds at our birdfeeders. My mom asked if he was a grandpa. That sticker on the window says something about the NRA… Nathan wants to keep it there to scare intruders into thinking we have guns and will shoot them. We DO have guns, and he’s taught me to use them. Beware.

Teeny tiny little baby socks. How cute. I lined the drawers with some cute (AKA free since it’s what I put in the kitchen cabinets) paper. Oh, and there’s some mittens. No scratching!

Here is part of baby’s new rug! We got it for $13 at IKEA. I love. Plus that tractor toy (and a few others, on the other side of the rug, which is littered with baby clothes that need to be washed. No need to see that. Notice my toe in the bottom right corner? It’s painted with my pregnancy polish! I tried to get Nathan to paint my toes (since I have major trouble now, with not being able to bend or see my feet) but that was a big-fat-failure so my mom did it. Yay!

And here’s a couple baskets of diapers. He probably won’t be able to use them for awhile, so I’ll probably put the disposable newborn ones in there, but they look so cute right now. Cloth diapers are possibly the cutest baby things ever.

We’re getting close to baby time! Our countdown clock says 13 days, 7 hours until July 13. AKA 14 days. Of sleeping on the couch. Woohoo. Wish me luck.

35 weeks total… so far.

Okay, since I last posted we had our 1 year anniversary! Yay! In that time we also had to bury our favorite cat in the whole wide world, Daisy. All of her cute kitten pictures are on the basement computer, and my pregnant patootie isn’t heading down there anytime soon (you should see the pile of laundry that needs washing. Not gonna happen.) Needless to say, she’s buried under our beautiful tree in the front yard. Unfortunately, Nathan forgot about that while he was mowing, and stepped right on top of her, possibly caving in her burial cardboard box. It’s okay, he’s going to re-fill in her grave and put some grass seed back on there. Poor cat. It’s always interesting around here at Casa Woods.

Here’s a fun picture of how we spent our anniversary (besides picking up the cat from the pet hospital.)

We roasted hot dogs! On the grill! Then we roasted marshmallows for smores… over the stove. It’s electric. Kinda interesting, but I still got my smores, so I was a happy (indoor) camper!

Here are some fun photos of the dogs, just because they’re cute:

That’s right, Bruno reads the paper. He’s quite the genius. And Bosco likes to ham it up for the camera.

Also, here I am, in all 35 weeks of my pregnancy glory.

You can’t tell, but the little bugger always has some part of him pushing through my belly. Last night I thought he was going to rip through my side and just show up. It was super. And painful. One month to go. Unless he decides to stay in longer… in which case I’ll have a one-on-one with the doctor.

Oh, in other news, we finally got rid of Mango, our orange cat that we (okay, I) got from the humane society last September. She’s been… let’s just say a butt and we were afraid of her peeing on baby when he gets here. We tried to find a farm to bring her to, but alas, no takers. So, we visited the humane society on Saturday and I begged (and pleaded) for them to take her back. I ever-so-nicely offered half a giant bag of food, some litter, and the cat carrier that we brought her in. Take it away (but take my cat too, pretty please)! They took her (though we were there for an hour, begging) and now we don’t have to deal with her! No more cat fur! No more cat pee! No more dogs chasing the cat! (Poor dogs will be lonely now.)

Next week is my last week of work until September. Woohoo! The dogs won’t have to be put in their cage unless I go to the store, so they’re going to be even more spoiled than before. (Might I mention one is lying on the couch right now. Spoiled? For sure.)

Oh, and we got a camcorder. Video camera. Whatever floats your boat. We got some nice footage of the pups, and can’t wait to get baby video too! Pretty sure we need to stock up on batteries for the regular camera too. Oh boy, there’s a lot to do.

I’m pretty sure other things have happened, but I forget. Oh well. We’re heading into week 36 now, and the doctor said they’re ready when baby is! I still have to pack my hospital bags. Oops.

Week 33

This week has been busy! Nathan and his buddy Nate (apparently, there can never be enough Nathans around!) moved the cedar chest and heavy TV from the baby's room into the basement on Sunday. Woohoo! Now I just have to organize, then paint. I'm so glad Nate was able to come over to help us, since I can't lift anything heavy, and there's no way Nathan could have gotten that cedar chest out the front door, around the house, then down the outdoor basement steps into the basement. Yes, that's the way it had to go. There's no way that sucker could have fit down the stairs indoors because of our refrigerator. Anyway, getting that stuff downstairs makes me happy. It's the little things, I suppose.

In other "little things" news, we finally unwrapped our thrift store stroller (thanks, Mom!) that's been sitting in our shed since Christmas. Nathan brought it into the living room, and he couldn't figure out how to open it up. I laughed at him, and then proceeded to show him the "easy-one-step" way to pull it open. Unfortunately, that didn't work. :) Either way, we got it open (yes, it IS easy... we were just light with it since we were afraid to break it!) and it's great! Nathan figured it all out pretty fast, and I was the one asking questions, go figure. He showed me how to change the front wheels so that they turn instead of staying straight (yay!), I showed him how to recline the seat... He showed me all the other things. It's pretty neat, and the canopy comes off! And everything cloth comes out to clean. Okay, this is pretty boring to the normal person, but we got so excited trying to figure everything out, and picturing little baby in there. We also pulled out our new carseat, and Nathan had to show me how to use it, too. The stroller and the carseat are the same brand (Chicco) and I was told (AKA I saw online) that they fit together to create a system- so when baby is really small I can leave him in the carseat but still push him around in the stroller. I took pictures, of course. After jumping up and down in the living room when we figured it all out. :)

Here is a picture of the flaps that unsnap to lock-in the carseat (no baby falling out of this sucker!)

Here is the stroller... and Bruno. That dog doesn't move. Oh, and there's Bosco's head too- he's learning from his brother.

 Here is the stroller with the carseat latched in. Yay!

Same thing, but with the carseat canopy down.

For these pictures I took off the canopy for the stroller (because I figured out how. All by myself.) But when the stroller canopy is on and the carseat canopy is as well, it still leaves breathing room, but baby doesn't get any sun.

In other news, I brought the little girl I babysit for over to our house yesterday. She had never seen the dogs and wanted to play with them. Well, they're bigger than her. And if anyone knows our dogs, they rule the roost. And apparently, Karina.

Yup, that's Bosco, laying across her. What a pain.

We only have 7 weeks (47 days) until baby's due date. Eek. We had our 3rd lamaze class last night, and there were 2 babies in the nursery- it's still crazy to think that they send us home with one of those. We learned new breathing techniques, including one called "Hee Haw" that Nathan decided would be used as "Yee Haw" and that made everyone in class laugh. Go figure he actually said Yee Haw each time. This week our teacher gave us clothespins and we had to spend a minute pinching them together, apart, together... then spent a minute resting, then did the whole thing again. I thought my arm would fall off. It was to show us how hard contractions will be. I told her that if we have C-Sections we wouldn't have to go through that part. :) Also, I don't remember the reason why, but we had to put the clothespins on our ears (I think so we feel the pain, and use our breathing techniques through it). Nathan looked so funny that I laughed the whole time. Apparently I wasn't supposed to do that. I laughed so hard I cried! I told the teacher that laughing is still breathing, and she said one time she had a woman laugh her baby out. That'll be my technique; we just have to bring a clothespin.

Week 31

We’re 30 total weeks down! Our countdown clock says we have 62 days left before this little guy is officially due. We’re trying to get everything ready, but the main part of it is his room, and it still has the cedar chest and (extremely heavy) TV in it… that I, sadly, can’t help carry to the basement. (Sadly as in: Haha, I can’t help!, and also as in the fact that I’m such a “go-getter” that those suckers would have been moved months ago if I were the incredible hulk. Alas, I am not.) I mentioned those items again to Nathan last night and I got the usual “Yeah, I’ll get to them” (because that’s how we do it around here). When I mentioned that if baby came at 37 weeks we could have a little one around here in only 6 weeks; boy did that freak him out! I swear he stopped breathing for a minute. Granted, little one can still come in 8 weeks, or even later than that, but I’d rather be prepared than painting his room a week after he’s here. (Either way we’re using no-VOC paint, so it won’t harm him!)

Now for the pictures!!

Week 31- I put on my old shorts (thank you, hair tie, for “buttoning” them up.) But hey, at least I can still fit into them, except for that belly, of course.

And, since Nathan was at work, this is how I took that awful wonderful picture!

Hehe. Our counter height chair with the sewing machine box on top of it. I’m nothing if not creative. If I could have had Bruno sit long enough for the camera to sit on his head, well, goshdarnit I would have.

In other news, we have our first Lamaze class tonight. Why in the world they don’t schedule those things for Saturdays, I have no idea. I’m most looking forward to getting a tour of the maternity ward. Supposedly they’re all private rooms, but we’ll see. Plus I get to decide if I (okay, we) want baby to hang out with us the entire time we’re locked up in the hospital or if we want to do it the “normal” way where they watch baby in the nursery most of the time. I’m undecided.

We planted flowers this weekend. And by we, I mean Nathan. And by flowers, I mean bushes and climbing varieties; no tulips or pansies here. Yet. I weeded out the backyard area (where those darn concrete cylinders used to be) and then weeded out the sidewalk in the back, then came around front to get all those dandelion plants that had taken over by the mailbox. I helped Nathan plant next to the mailbox and by then I was out of air/steam/breath. I think I was going through a hot flash. It was really nice out when the clouds were covering, but once the sun came out, WHEW it was hot. So, I sat on the front porch while Nathan brought me water, and I watched the teeny tiny red bugs that have taken over; all while Nathan planted the other 2 climbing plants AND the bush. He’s so nice. Plus before that he mowed the lawn. And weed-whacked. He was my hero of the weekend! Meanwhile, besides the weeding I did, I was pretty useless. I can’t believe how winded I get anymore. Hopefully that’ll go away in 6-8+ weeks.

Week 29

No picture this week, because we haven't gotten out the camera. We working on making our yard look nice, including some new rhododendron bushes and some fun climbing plants with a few trellis'. We'll be putting in climbing hydrangea, clematis, and wisteria; they'll go on one side of our front porch, in the mulched area by the new bushes, and by the mailbox. Hopefully it'll smell pretty! Our neighbor has a lilac bush that smells amazing when we have the windows open. Also, our beautiful dogwood tree is a-bloomin'. Maybe I'll take pictures later. :)

It's NFL draft week, which means lot (LOTS) of sitting around watching TV, and only once in a while hearing something about the Chiefs (Nathan is happy with the picks so far, in case anyone is wondering.). So today both of us piled onto our huge couch with the dogs (with enough room for the cats, who were nowhere to be seen....) and stared at the TV for awhile. After a bit, baby started kicking! Probably because I was laying on my side, squishing the poor little guy, but at least I'm learning how to make him move. :) Anyway, Nathan got to see my belly move quite a bit today, and boy, was he excited. It's the first day he's seen it (mainly I just feel it, and he'll feel it every now and then) and I think it made his day. Little dude is quite a mover, but he's getting in quite a few less hard kicks since he's getting bigger and running out of room. I was never a fan of the random hard kicks that surprised/hurt me, so I'm glad it's just movements now! I know over the next month we'll get to see lots more belly movement!

I always thought those 3D and 4D sonograms were CREEPY. No way would I want one, because baby looks like an alien. BUT now that we're getting closer I'm getting so excited about seeing what this little guy looks like, I told Nathan I wouldn't mind getting one of those done. Even though it still creeps me out. He said I only have to wait 10 weeks. :) Har. It would be neat, but it's an expense that I think is unnecessary. We'll get to see him soon! Hopefully at week 37 (hey, I'm impatient.) but Nathan is hoping for July 4. It's funny because when I was scheduling my next 5 (yes, five) appointments (since they're all getting closer!!) the nurse said "Just don't hope for the holiday weekend!" and I had to laugh, since that's what Nathan wants. He thinks it would be neat since I'm a "holiday" baby as well. We'll see. :)

Is this week 27 or 28? Everything is a blur.

We went home last weekend for our baby shower. I’d say it was a long trip, but the dogs were in the very back of our new SUV, and since it’s a new (to us) car, it made the trip a lot nicer! Way less crowded then taking the truck! Of course, the trip home was VERY crowded, but we only had to leave 1 thing behind, so the SUV did it’s job. I wish I had taken pictures of the backseat on the trip home, but when we got home I just wanted to get all that cute baby stuff in the baby’s room. Let’s just say there was no room. We had to ask each other if we could get into the other lane since our back windows were blocked and we couldn’t see the blind spot. At least we (and the dogs!) had plenty of room!

Here’s a picture of our yummy Patty-Cake!

This is the table of yummy-ness:

Diana made some amazing punch, with a beautiful fruit ring in the middle. (Seriously, I think this and the Patty-cake was the #1 talked about thing at the shower )

We played some games (my dad had a little trouble…)

Here are a few pictures of us opening gifts. We like to play with bows.

Of course, no shower would be right without Aunt Nikki making a crazy comment and embarrassing her mother.  

On our way home we stayed the night in Indianapolis (to make the drive more bearable- thanks mom and dad!) and a lady asked me when I was due! It was the first random person to ask me. I guess now I look pregnant! Whew. While it is uncomfortable sometimes, it’s pretty neat.
Today we went shopping and a lady came up to me and asked if I was expecting, then asked if she could pray for me. I told her sure (why not?) and she asked my name, took my hand and said a prayer right there for me! It was pretty nice (though I thought she’d do it in the comfort of her home, instead of in the freezer section at the local Shop-n-Save….) until she pressed against my chest and almost knocked me into the frozen potatoes. I guess we can laugh about it now, but it was rather weird.
My next doctor appointment is this coming Thursday, and I think the appointments will be every 2 weeks now instead of 4, so at least I’ll get to hear the heartbeat more often! I suppose it’s time to start painting the baby’s room, and getting everything organized. Or maybe next week.