Pregnancy Journey - 33 Weeks

Hi there!

 The excitement has set in.  I've been excited for our baby boy this whole time, but a huge portion of pregnancy is filled with preparation and anticipation, and it feels like our baby is coming sometime in the distant future.  It's like something clicked over the weekend though and I suddenly felt that much closer to meeting our baby boy.  Maybe it's because I feel like we've got the house in order, his room almost entirely setup, and over the weekend we cleaned out my husband's car, so it's car seat ready.  Or maybe it's because he kicked me in the ribs numerous times over the weekend and I already feel so close to him, like I know him.

Weight Gain:  23 pounds at my doctor's appointment this morning!  That's 3 pounds gained in 2 weeks.  Baby boy is most certainly growing.

Body:  I'm feeling the extra weight.  Really I'm feeling large.  Like an elephant stomping around.  I know that's an extreme exaggeration, but I am just feeling big.  Not in a bad way by any means, I'm happy about it because I know our baby boy is growing, I just don't feel light on my feet.  Getting dressed for work is becoming a challenge, but I'm lucky that in the summer the law office goes business casual because that definitely makes getting dressed easier.  I'm just slightly more uncomfortable than I used to be.  I can't stand for too long either I've noticed.   

Cravings:  Just eating round the clock.  I've gotten into this new habit of being super hungry for my lunch at 10:30AM.  I really need to make a point to pack two solid lunches because apparently one isn't cutting it.  Salads have been more appealing lately, especially cold grain/bean salads.  I've been doing more chocolate almond shakes in the morning.  They are a great way to get greens at breakfast without actually having to eat a bowl of spinach.   My appetite is still sort of off though.  Food doesn't always sound all that fantastic even though I'm hungry for it.

Sleep:  No major complaints.  I'm sleeping.  Maybe not always soundly and I definitely get up in the night, but I still tend to get 6 solid hours most nights, so I think that's pretty good.  That being said, I'm not feeling all that well rested.  Sometimes getting through the workday is tough.

Best Moments:  We decorated our baby boy's room!  It was totally spur of the moment and it took certainly past my bedtime, but it was such a nice time together and just pure happiness getting it ready.  Our goal for the room was for it to be fun and colorful for him, and we definitely accomplished that.  Do you know that Amazon sells about a million ridiculously cute wall decals?  It is so hard to choose which ones to buy because they all rock.  We still have the alphabet, hot air balloons and planes, and the sun and clouds coming.  So there is more decorating fun to come.  I feel like I could just put wall decals on every inch of our house, but we'll just keep it to our baby boy's room (for now - ha!).  

Here is a glimpse of his room so far...

And above the diaper changing area...

The room was just meant for a little boy.  

Our pups had their yearly vet appointment last Thursday.  They are both doing well.  Everybody at the vet just loves Lincoln (yellow lab) because he's so happy to be there.  Jax, on the other hand, is a big baby and wouldn't even look the vet in the eyes.  He was hiding by his daddy.  Very nice to get their appointment out of the way before our baby boy arrives.

It truly was another gorgeous weekend.  Mother Nature is being so kind.  My mother-in-law came to visit which was wonderful.  We drove around town to show her where the hospital I'll be delivering at is, lunched at Chipotle,  then frozen yogurt dessert a few shops down, and then went shopping for a glider!  It's such an amazing gift.  My husband and I watched Finding Nemo on Saturday night and it took us the length of the movie to put the chair together, but look how nice it is.  Teamwork all the way.  It looks just right in the nursery.

My husband and I have been working hard on the house every weekend.  Cleaning and organizing all in preparation for our baby boy.  This weekend we spent hours cleaning out the garage.  Now we've only lived in the house 15 months, but there were boxes that we have taken with us every time we've moved that haven't been opened in years.  Dishes, books, movies, school papers from college.  It felt so good to go through IT ALL and clean out what we no longer wanted.  Our garage is now fresh and clean.  

Green rice is THE BEST!

 And I came across a Moosewood cookbook that has one of our favorite meals - Scrambled tofu with greens with a chipotle raspberry sauce over green rice.  Talk about serious greens.  We used the chard my husband has been growing in the indoor garden - 6 cups worth!  Hurray for leftovers.  The tofu portion is packed with chard and you make the green rice by sauteing spinach and scallions, blending it up, and then mixing it in with the brown rice.  It's heaven.  I never want to eat rice any other way.

My husband caught a picture of me shoveling it in...

This week we are interviewing two potential babysitters.  Really that's the last thing I'd like to accomplish before baby boy comes.  It would be so nice to have our sitter lined up for fall when I plan to go back to work.  Ok, maybe there are a few other things like keeping the house immaculately clean and having a perfectly stocked fridge at all times...kidding!  I swear I need to teach my dogs to vacuum while I'm at work too.