35 plus 5

So today marks the day in pregnancy that I had my dear sweet Aubrey. What a surprise and wonderful blessing she was and is! I kept thinking how funny it would be if our little man decided to arrive on the same day, but I sure hope he doesn't. I'm still way to disorganized and unprepared for him to make his entrance just yet.

I just need a bit more time, but not too long... I'm feeling more and more ready physically, but not so much in other respects. Can you be ready and still not ready at the same time?

It will be interesting to see when he makes his grand entrance. I kind of see myself going all the way, but I definitely wouldn't mind getting a few weeks knocked off for good behavior! : )

RIght Place, Right Time

I saw a few tips in a magazine I get about when the best time to buy/do different things are. Thought it was interesting and so I decided to share:

The best time to get...

GAS: Gas stations tend to change their prices late morning. Get your gas before 10am if prices are on the rise, and after 12pm if they're falling.

CLOTHES ONLINE: Wednesdays and Thursdays by a savings of 42% on average! In-store sales are usually on the weekends, so to be competitive, online shopping sites start their sales earlier in the week.

The best time to go...

TO THE BATHROOM AT THE MOVIES: Don't want to miss anything? Check up runpee.com. It actually lists current movies with time recommendations for running to the bathroom without missing much.

*( A pregnant woman's friend to be sure! Now, I just have to make it actually out to the movies...)

TO THEME PARKS: September

TO THE MALL: Least crowded=When they first open or right before closing.

Lightest traffic= Mondays and Tuesdays

Most selection= When inventory first hits for a new season ( Spring in Jan,

Summer in March, Fall in July, and winter in Sept.)

TO THE GROCERY STORE: Wednesday, shelves are stocked and weekend sales are still on.

It's A Record!

So I put 3 new posts on today so make sure you scroll down to see all the awesomeness. After all, phenomenon's like this don't happen every day!

Valentine's Day Fun

So better late than never... ( Seems like I should have that cross-stitched somewhere, I say it so much!)

Aubrey was very excited about a few Valentine's activities we did this year. She helped pick out a treat for Daddy and got a new pink cup with hearts on it for her. We made heart sugar cookies ( which never made it to the frosting stage by the way) and had a great time getting messy, eating WAY too much raw dough, and pretty much covering the kitchen and ourselves with flour! A good time was had by all...and the cookies were pretty yummy too!

Little Boy Blue

Well we took on the task of painting the office this weekend with "cool sky" for baby boy. It turned out really nice actually, I'm really glad we did it, because it made the room feel a lot larger and more open.

Steve and I had a great time working together, laughing at my 8 month belly trying to fit into my painting clothes, and just enjoying each other's company. The job went by quickly and we've decided after painting our whole house upon moving in last year, we definitely have gotten better at this whole painting business. We used a primer-paint in one paint this time and it actually worked really well and saved us a coat, so that was nice. Thankfully we've gotten better at estimating how much paint we need too... ( anyone need 10 gallons of roasted almond?)

Aubrey and Daddy prepping the room. I put up the blue tape during the day and Aubrey came in and said, " It's bootiful mommy! It's my favorite!"

Being silly...

Me and my girl
She was soooo happy to help. We had a little roller and she was pleased as punch to roll a bit of paint on "all by herself". The trick was getting her to stop...

This picture is posted to show you I'm not vain! Me in all my early morning, pre-shower, paint clothes wearin', pregnancy glory : ) My sweet little Aubrey rolling her roller while I worked the "mommy" roller.

We don't believe in silly child labor laws in this house...

Reaching "high like the sky" as she said.

Proud of a job well done : )

34 Weeks Pregnant

So believe it or not I took a pic this week and got it up in a timely manner! Shocking, isn't it?Yay for me... anyway. We are entering the "red zone" now it feels like. 6 weeks 'til D-day and it's sure coming fast.

We spent the weekend painting our office for our little man. It turned out really good and I'm excited to start putting together the nursery. Ok, maybe excited isn't exactly the word I'm looking for....I'm anxious to have everything in order, but definitely not thrilled about trying to find a place for all the millions of "misc" items that have found a home in our office for the past year and half.

I'm getting TONS of braxton-hicks and let me tell you...they are not painless like all the books say they are. I don't remember having this many with Aubrey, but they say that are more frequent, intense, and noticeable with subsequent pregnancies. Either way, not my favorite. Heartburn had also returned, but hopefully that means the little guy ( according to old wive's tales at least) is growing some curly locks in time for his grand entrance into the world. : )

I was looking at March's calendar and all I have to say is I better end up having him in April ( if I can pencil him in : ), or I'm going to have to hire an assistant to get all the things done!! ( FYI, in one of my many lovely daydreams I pretend I can hire a lovely assistant that runs my errands, does returns, grocery shops, occasionally occupies Aubrey so I can nap, and cooks gourmet meals nightly!) Sigh...if only : )

No, I really do love keeping busy and I love being a momma, but I guess if someone out there is really dying to be my assistant, I definitely be up for giving it a go! : )

Pregnant Pause

23 WEEKS

24 WEEKS

25 WEEKS

29 WEEKS

31 WEEKS

It seems my resolution to take weekly baby bump pictures this time around and blog about how I'm feeling has gone they way of so many of my grand ambitions. I did go back in my photos and actually found some I have taken, so I'll just post them in succession. This pregnancy has felt like it's on fast forward anyway : )

I'm 33 1/2 weeks now and about 6 weeks from D-Day. I'm definitely starting to feel the pressure. I only have 2 injections after tomorrow! Woo-hoo. I guess from there it's considered fair game, although I could use the extra time.

As I'm sure every other woman who's ever been pregnant can sympathize with...I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHEN HE'S COMING! I'm an admitted plan-a-holic and having trouble coming to grips with the whole mystery of it all : ) Even though Aubrey came just 2 short weeks from where I am now, I'm not sure if I should prepare just in case, or not let myself even think about it because heaven knows I'll probably go to 42 weeks or something crazy like that!

I've definitely got a serious case of "nesting" though and feel the need to have my house in order. Everything seems so disorganized and out of place at the moment. I do feel better though this week. We finalized our baby budget and got a lot of the "essentials" out of the way so I could breathe easier ( well not that easy...I still have little feet kicking my ribcage : )

We were able to score a gorgeous solid-wood mahogany dresser for his room. We have been looking FOREVER for something that would even remotely match Aubrey's cherry crib ( which apparently is not the cherry color in style at the moment), and that was not astronomically priced. We found this at an outlet store and got it for less than 1/2 the price of the same exact model selling at Babies R' Us. It even cost less than the pressed wood laminate one we were looking at at Walmart/Target. It's pretty much the nicest piece of furniture we own at the moment...sad, but true, and I love it!

We also are painting our office ( which is being converted to the "boys room" for baby brother and future baby brothers to share ). Steve and I went back and forth on doing it, but the paint was bought tonight and so we are committed...or should be, I can't decide which one. : )

I'll be excited to start putting together the nursery and get a little of this nesting business out of my system. It's been all I can think about!

My SIL and mom are throwing me a baby shower in a couple of weeks so that should be fun! We definitely need a few blue things around here...I don't think Steve will go for reusing Aubrey's pink and purple wardrobe for our little man.

Sorry the latest picture is from 31 weeks and I'm almost 34...I'll get on that! But given my track record, you might not want to hold your breath. I most definitely have exploded this past week. I swear you can see my growth daily! I'm really getting big now and no longer "cute pregnant" and starting to feel a lot more uncomfortable. Nights are especially uncomfortable, but running after an active 2 yr old has been interesting too. Aubrey and I have had bad colds for a couple of weeks now but are finally on the mend. Steve has a runny nose today though so we might be in for another round...

As for the baby...my ever expanding belly must mean he's really growing in there. I definitely have kept up with a phenomenal appetite that he seems to be benefiting from. I get lots of big movements now, mainly poking out elbows, knees, and a few other unidentifiable little bumps and lumps.

Aubrey has noticed my ever decreasing lap space, although it has not stopped her from still wanting to squeeze on there as well as she can. Aubrey talks a lot about "baby brother" now and about she want to help make him happy, change his diaper, and play with him. We'll see how that actually all goes when a bring a crying baby home that doesn't go away after a few hours : ).

Speaking of Aubrey... do you think it's too late to try to potty train her??! aack! I feel like things are so busy right now with church, baby prep, being pregnant, and sickness we just haven't found a good time. Also, she has been plagued by terrible diarrhea for over a month and we're still waiting on some test results to come back to give us more info. I definitely don't want to start her until that is over...but for all those more experienced mothers out there...am I way too late? I could do it after the baby too...hard I know, but hard now too. I'm just so torn about it and my time seems to be getting shorter and shorter.

Wow...okay if you made it through this whole post you get a cookie! mmm...cookies....um , anyway hope this satisfies with a few pics and an update and I'll work on another post soon. : )