The nursery

The nursery is baby-ready! Brian put the finishing touches to the room by hanging the curtain today. The theme - if there is one - is jungle animals with lots of pastel greens, blues, and yellows. The train is missing the final car because I painted Boomer's (real) name on it, and that will have to wait until after he's born. I wonder how many times I'll rewash all his sheets, towels, blankets and clothes before he arrives.

34 weeks

My apologies, but it's summer vacation so I didn't really fix myself up for this photo op. This photo reminds me of a video I made for French class with my friend Rene. We were imitating the 2 fat ladies cooking show, and I stuffed a pillow under my shirt for the role. I don't have the video, but I'm pretty sure today's picture is a pretty accurate reenactment.

33 weeks and baby class

33 weeks and I'm on summer vacation. Whoo hoo!!! Now it's time to clean, wash and get ready for baby. Brian and I went to our "After Baby Comes" class to get ready. The question of the day from a girl sitting next to me..."If I am breastfeeding, how often do I have to wash my nipples?" I fear she was going to boil some water in an effort to sterilize her nipples after every feeding. Either way it gave Brian and I a good laugh. We did learn a lot with little PB (Plastic Baby). No more baby powder or baby oil and lotion is on the questionable side. The lady tried to prepare us for the horrors we may see right after birth...a baby covered in disgusting white vernix, the first diaper changes, breastfed diaper changes, a cone shaped head...I can see why the lady said we may be shocked at first. YIKES!!! We learned several different holds for burping, for colic, for night sleeping, etc. I was practicing one particular sitting on the lap burp hold and Brian just says, "You're strangling PB!" Sure enough I had my hand wrapped around his neck instead of supporting his chin. My bad.

32 weeks

At 32 weeks I'm officially too big for the garage. Brian and I tried to run some errands, and he offered to drive my car which was parked in my garage. This was never a challenging thing...until now. My first task was getting past the side view mirror. It took a few twists until finally my strategy was to bend down so my belly was below the mirror. Success. The second task was actually getting into the car. It sure looked like the door was open wide enough, but it wasn't even close. I didn't even attempt to suck in. I just continued walking out of the garage and waited for Brian to pick me up outside. We're almost finished the nursery and getting all Boomer's things ready. One more week of school and then I can focus on cleaning up and waiting for his arrival.

Check up

Today was my 32 week check up. I got a pretty clean bill of health...still dealing with the anemia and low blood pressure, but nothing to be overly concerned about. My baby boy's heartbeat was in the 160's and very strong. My doctor asked if I would be having this child naturally. After getting one crazy look from both Brian and I, we asked for two epidurals - one for me and one for Brian. The doctor got a kick out of that one. There's still no estimate on how big Boomer is. In two visits, I'll have my last ultrasound, which should provide some insight. Until then, I'll just keep expanding.

31 weeks

It's getting to be kind of a tight squeeze in there for Boomer. Instead of feeling lots of little kicks, I feel him rolling around. He likes to poke his back out as far as possible because he knows I'll start stratching it. (Brian is getting jealous!)

Some assembly required

Brian has been a huge help with everything so far. My favorite day was the Sunday after the baby shower. He spent the better part of the day in his pajamas assembling anything and everything he could. He even installed batteries in everything! Boomer didn't hear too many curse words that day, and he got to see his dad the Handy Man. Everytime I tried to take his picture he pretended to read the directions.
The finished product! Yes, we already put stuffed animals in there as well as the the blanket Aunt Kiki made for Boomer.
How cute is the highchair? It looks great in the dining room. The stroller/car seat combination is from Brian's mom and dad.

I laughed out loud when he opened this box. Look at all the pieces!!! We're going to have so much fun playing Santa Claus one day.
Boomer's activity stations.

More Shower Pictures

Baby Shower

Boomer has some stuff!!!! It's amazing how much love and support we received from family and friends this weekend at my baby shower. They once again went above and beyond and outdid themselves with gifts for baby Boomer. Here are a few pictures from the day. I am so grateful to my mom, Mrs. Anne, Brian's nanny and my sister in laws for organizing this special day for me and my son.

My sister-in-laws offer tons of support and advice. They've been through it and have convinced me that I can survive it too.

My mom and Mrs. Anne (Brian's mom) - MeMes to be! This is a priceless moment. Kaleb practically inhaled a chicken wing. He was too cute scarfing that thing down!

Addie and Jacob were my helpers for the day. They brought the presents to me and unwrapped them. That's what I call service!!!

Me with my cousins Kristy and Leslie. The 909 reunion! These are my college roommates. I can always count on these girls to make me laugh, to listen and to keep me grounded. Boomer is so fortunate to have them in his life as am I.
Here's Brian. He has absolutely no idea what he is about to have to assemble.

30 weeks

Thirty weeks is here! My shirts have now turned into midriff tops, which is so strange. The top of the shirt is still flapping in the wind, but my belly is causing those overstretched cotton fibers to hang on for dear life. I actually made it through an entire day not realizing my shirt wasn't covering my entire belly. Thank God for stretchy pants and the giant piece of elastic that holds me in because otherwise the public would have been exposed to a dramatic sight I call my belly. From all the wiggling around, Boomer is trying desperately to make more room. Either that or he's trying to make an exit by busting through my stomach. Ten more weeks and we'll be more than happy for him to find an escape route, but until then I'll just keep watching my boy move.