Almost time?

Here are a few of the pictures from last weekend. Honestly, most of these are the rejects. I have plans for the others. I'm not going to lie I think this pictures turned out great, but I don't really like the way I look. I should have probably done these about a month ago or maybe more then maybe I would like them better. I look bigger than I'd like. I may have also chosen the wrong clothes because as a coworker said it looked like the baby had dropped in the pictures; more so than it looks normally. But still a huge thank you to Nick for taking them (http://nickcardonaphotography.com/) and I love my hair that Casi did, etc.

With that being said, I had my 36 week appointment yesterday. The doctor said at this point I can deliver whenever as they consider the baby full term. I think he was a little surprised when he checked and I am dilated to 3 cm already. I don't think he expected that since it's my first. He kept telling me before he checked that I may not be dilated and that's ok and most first time moms go anywhere from the week before to a week after their due date, etc. and who knows I still might! But I'm also taking into consideration I had some pretty intense contractions at work for a few hours the other day and the way I am feeling and I don't think I will make my due date. So I guess that means it's almost time or he could come at any time. So I spent yesterday afternoon picking up a last few items and getting that hospital bag packed. It's really hard to pack for something you don't know when it will happen or really what you'll need. Oh well, John will get really good at driving from the house to the hospital I'm sure.

With good authority

Alright, so I have to eat my words ....a little. I said I would not do pregnancy pictures. And I almost stuck to it. After several different people told me I just needed to do it so I don't regret it later I decided to ask Nick to take a few pictures. I seriously was thinking like 3 pictures and done. It managed to work out where I got my hair done right before we decided to do the pictures so that was nice because then I had someone else to do my  hair! That's a step up right there. Let's face it the whole photo situation was a recipe for disaster. I didn't really want to do it, I don't like pictures of myself anyways, I'm 36 weeks pregnant, and so on.

I got home from the salon and literally had 20 minutes to get dressed and do my makeup which probably only lasted 3 minutes because it was so hot outside!! I'm sure I sweat it all off in no time. But I should have known better once Stephanie said she and Bart would come for support. It helps to have extra sets of eyes and extra conversation to keep it fun.

Originally I wasn't going to tell anyone I was doing this or had done this. That way if the pictures didn't turn out or something no one would ever know.... but Nick and I were flipping through the pictures really quick last night and I think there are some good ones; so I'm pretty excited about that. I have no idea what I'll do with these pictures except probably make a picture book for the baby at some point, but at least I will have them since I was told on good authority I will regret it if I don't.

Photo credit to Bart - good job!!

Since my last post I guess there have been  just one or two items of note. Last weekend was John's work staycation. We stayed at the Arizona Grand Friday and Saturday night. We went to Aunt Chilada's Friday night for the manager dinner and then Rustler's Roost Saturday for the employee dinner. We spent all day Saturday at the water park and they'd gotten us a cabana with a prepaid tab which was nice. It was hot, but I liked hanging out in the lazy river and being poolside with the cabana that had shade and a fan, etc. It was a nice diversion and good to get some sun.

Monday night after that John decided to get sick; really sick. He was up throwing up every hour all night long. I kept waiting for his stomach to be empty and to dry heave but crap just kept coming. I was afraid it was something viral and I was going to get it, but so far nothing. Not sure if it was food related or sun or what. I made him stay home from work Tuesday and it probably wasn't until Friday that he started to feel normal again.

I think it was Tuesday night Shar came over. She brought me a 'last month survival basket'. It has a movie in it, some candy, bubble bath, gift cards for Frost, Kneaders, my pedicure place, and probably some other stuff I can't remember. I was surprised and thought it was really nice. Not that I need the candy but I've been eating it... happily..... every day.

We had our hospital tour yesterday morning. It was good, but not quite what I expected. It was really more of go here then here then here. Very logistical versus anything about what to expect. Oh well. I guess I know what door to go in now and they said to just scream from there and they will help the rest of the way. Really it will be up to John to remember how to get from triage to labor and delivery to recovery and how to get everyone else there too. So good luck with that! 

After the pictures last night we went to dinner with Stephanie and Bart because we were all on the verge of hangry. Since Steph and Bart just got back from California and they were getting the Halloween stuff out I'd given her the job of finding my Nightmare Before Christmas onesies in a 3 mos. but she couldn't find it. I think maybe it was last years style or something. She did find this super cute one though! And luckily I had tried to buy it online and gave up because I couldn't remember my username and password! I love it.

Then we finished off the night over at Frost. On our way over there I was on my phone and John yells out did you see those owls? I was like...no.... owls? Why are there owls at the mall? So he had to turn around and show me and sure enough two little owls were hanging out by the Dick's sporting goods. We pulled up and I told him to stop so I could take a picture. I couldn't get my phone to focus very well, but you can definitely tell they are owls. One of them was still there when we left.

That's about it for the past two weeks. We're down to just over 4 weeks till my due date. So maybe longer maybe shorter than that. No, I haven't packed a bag yet....makes it too real? I am ready to be done but not ready at the same time. Sleeping is what I most want to do and most hate doing. I can't sleep and pretty much everything hurts when I try. I'm losing my patience with work so hopefully I can survive that for the 4 weeks or so. Otherwise, I think I'm ready. In my mind the 36 week doctor appointment is sort of a milestone and that is this coming Friday so we'll see what they say then. Stephanie really wants them to tell me what size they think he is, but they haven't yet. I saw a coworkers picture of her 8 lb 15 oz baby and I don't want a baby that big. Nope, too big. No way. It was giant. Nothing that big coming out of you know what. So I'm still hoping for a baby in the 6 lb range. That's my deal with the baby. I also let my doctor know this is not an October baby to which he laughed. So we can't go a week over and then schedule an induction because that puts us into October. He's meant to be a September baby. The fact that my wedding ring has sapphires and that is September's birthstone is proof. He's a September baby.

Here's just a random picture of the cutest baby dog ever!!!

FOREVER

I had a bunch of ideas of things to say but of course I didn't write any of them down and I can't really remember any of them now. I really thought I'd skipped the pregnancy brain and the clumsiness but nope! The last week or so you may as well plan on telling me everything twice. I was packing my desk to move at work and just tried to move something 6 inches over and dumped the whole thing. So I guess I didn't escape either of those things.

I'm trying to enjoy the last part of pregnancy and tell myself not to rush it, and so on and so on, but ... in reality..... I'm ready to be done. I'm tired, uncomfortable, can't sleep, can't breathe. I want to have more than 2 pairs of pants to wear and I want to lay on my back and stomach to sleep. I want to sit on the couch and not have a stomach in my bladder and ribs. I want to not be burning up 24/7 and not have giant swollen feet. I want this pregnancy carpal tunnel to go away. I want my back to not hurt....or my hips and I want everything to stop going numb. Ok, I think that is all my complaints.

I am surprised we're almost 1/2 through August already. We haven't done a whole lot since the reunion. We did a very small friends lunch so some old coworkers/friends could give me presents, I guess. It's always fun to get together with them so I was fine with it. John, Stephanie, Bart, and I went to Jersey Boys. We'd splurged on lower level seats and I liked it except that all the seats in Gammage are so squished together.

We have some fun stuff coming up in the weekends before my due date so hopefully I'll feel ok for all of them. That is something new.... I've been coming home several days nauseous and not feeling well. I think some of it is just exhaustion and some must be something else. I can tell that I've been a little moody/grouchy too which I think I've done okay avoiding for the most part, but again I'm going to blame not sleeping at nights and being hot.

I got these photos from Jena from the shower. Thanks Jena!!

Just a few of the other items that have shown up in the mail or from other people. It's a little like Christmas sometimes coming home to unexpected presents.

Coming out of the movie the other night into a haboob

John trying to put together one of the presents

Jersey Boys

I got the book of these from the shower. It was fun to read them all.

50 days left

I'm sure it will go by faster than I can imagine but right now it seems like I've been pregnant forever! But I'll just take it one day at a time.

Part 2

I decided to break the post down because I've had it lose all my pictures or all my text before so better safe than sorry!

So we got to Pocatello Wednesday night. It was a little late already so we didn't do anything except settle in for the night.

One inconvenient little fact was the minute I went on vacation I began having insomnia. I would be surprised if I slept more than 2 hours in a chunk Tuesday night. Wednesday night wasn't much better.

Thursday was the start of the reunion. I had to wait for Jaden to get out of summer school so we didn't make it to Aberdeen till about 1-2. It was good to see pretty much all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and more. There was something like 70 people there and that can get a little dicey with bathrooms, but I think it worked out well. Stephanie and I ended up staying at my Aunt Irene's so we were at the mercy of someone telling us when things were happening to get over there. However, it was nice to a dedicated bed and bathroom in their cool basement. I also got to visit with my Aunt Irene and Uncle Larry who I also haven't seen in a LONG time and that was really nice.

I don't think a whole lot happened Thursday except we went out on the boat that night with Mark, Chad, Tara, Stephanie, and 4 kids I think. We got out there because the kids wanted to and then they wouldn't even get in! I was so proud of Chad and Tara when they threw them in or allowed their child to be thrown in. That's the way it was when we were kids! Paige handled that the best BTW. Stephanie got to witness a redneck shower at the boat and we got to see this beautiful sunset (at probably 10 PM. It's seriously like Alaska up there and stays light all night long).

Friday I know we had Kira's treasure hunt. I think she was a little worried about people participating but once they got the teams divided and drivers set the competitive side came out of EVERYONE. There were 7 teams I believe and however many you could shove in your car, trunk, etc. Kira had done an amazing job at having each team going for a different clue in a different order so it didn't do a lot of good to follow someone. My Uncle Larry said later that there were Wallaces' all over the place! It's true you'd look down main street and there were cars zipping all over the place. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun.

Cheating at its finest

Friday night was my mom's and Mark's family dinner. I helped with the garlic bread but heard that grandma needed to be relieved of baby duty so I got a few minutes with Boss. I'm not a big baby holder, etc. for other people's babies. I just respect their space and their mom's space to not be all over them. Thankfully my family isn't super touchy feely so I didn't have to deal with stomach touching which I am not ok with. Anyways, I didn't even force Stephanie to take Boss, but she did which meant that I stole a picture.

After dinner was my baby shower thrown by Tara, Jena, Corinne, and Patty. I felt a little guilty, like, you're coming to the reunion so bring a present you have to come to my shower. But it was super cute and I so appreciate them putting it together. There were a ton of presents and I was trying to open them quickly so everyone wasn't sitting there forever! I had so much family there and then friends too. John's mom, sister, stepsister, niece all came. Jamie and Mel, my college roomies were there. Sabrina my little sister, Grandma Connie, Aunt Irene, etc. It was a good turnout and we only duplicated one present!!! I honestly needed everything I got and am super grateful for it. My next project will be working on thank you cards and that may take me a while!!! I even played along and let them tie a ribbon around me. Thankfully I haven't seen any of those pictures. But assuming at least Tara and Jena will read this at some point; it was perfect and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it!

Saturday for me was sort of another lazy day visiting and hanging out. I know there were some games/activities for the kids we watched and then some more time out on the water. Since I couldn't ski I at least wanted a boat ride. We were finally able to kick enough kids out to get Stephanie, my dad, and I in a boat. We went out and found Mark's boat (we were in Rudy's boat) and got to watch Alex try and drop a ski a few times. That was about it for our ride. We trailed them to catch her ski and then headed back after transferring people between boats.

Hanging out Saturday morning

New best friends

Alex getting ready to drop a ski

Chris ready to go out to the boatdock

Dallas at breakfast

Paige and Connor minute to win it

Lexie after the kids scavenger hunt

We went back to Pocatello Saturday night. Again we didn't do anything, just went home to mom's. Insomnia came back and I slept in 3 different places that night. Sunday went by way to fast. I was headed to John's mom's house to unload presents when my Grandma Connie and Grandpa Len showed up; so we visited with them for a bit and it was good to see them. Then we ran to drop off the presents and got back in time to head to Idaho Falls. We went to lunch at Olive Garden and then the airport. The flight home seemed really long and I was ready to be off the plane. As I get older I think I am becoming more of a home body as I was happy to be home with John and my puppies. But the reunion was so much fun and I really enjoyed seeing everyone. I think we could have had a week long reunion.

In baby news I'm to the point where I go in every 2 weeks. We've got our hospital tour scheduled. I have a few more things I'm supposed to be doing and haven't yet, but I'll get to it. The dr was still happy with my weight and measurements and again brought up my swollen feet. John and I have started going to the pool at his mom's community a few times a week. It's a nice pool and not too far away so it works. It does seem to help. I think I have most of what I need and little bit of stuff that I want before baby comes. Here's a few pictures of some of the loot.

Thank you Jena, Tara, Corinne, Patty, and mom!!!

Wow, just wow.

I love this. Absolutely love it.

John wanted a diaper genie so he was very excited when he opened this.

Basically, I'm just hanging out for the next 9 weeks or so. I tell myself to enjoy the nice parts of pregnancy as this will be my only time, but there is also a part of me that is ready to be done with it and have him here.