35 weeks!

Only 5 weeks left! I go to the doctor on Tuesday to check her positioning and to see if doctor thinks we'll need a c-section...fingers crossed that she'll turn down.

Last week was a crazy week after having the Centre baby shower last weekend. It was at the Rec building at the Nursing Home and it went great! It was more set up like a tea, all presents opened as they arrived and displayed on tables so that people could look at all the stuff. I was relieved not to sit there and open each present infront of everyone. I was able to mingle and hang out. The food and drinks were good. There was an advice book that people wrote in and a craft table where people got to paint/personalize bibs, burp cloths, and onesies...it was so cute! It was so good to see lots of friends and some family too! I have officially been through everything we have gotten so far and updated the registeries to reflect what we still need. People have been so generous so far...and we still have our couples' Nashville Baby Shower this weekend at our house! Kari, Leah, Mallory, and Julie have been planning it and are keeping it mostly secret from me, but I know it will be fun! Jon and April and maybe my brother are cominng up next weekend for the shower! Excited!

Dave is home this weekend (yay!), it was so nice to wake up together without the alarm today and be able to work together (without being exhausted after work) to get everything done. Almost ready to clean Marlee's carpet and put everything in her room. Right now Dave is putting down new flooring in the kitchen and laundry room! It's going to look so good. I still have some cleaning and organizing to do as well. Have made my checklist for what to pack in hospital bags (labor and stay), so still getting those prepared. Docs want me to have bags packed and carseat installed by next week...just in case! We are officially 2 weeks away from getting to the point of "you could go at anytime". Wow! My fingers are now too swollen to get my rings off and my toes look like little sausages by the end of the day w/ hard to detect ankle bones! Back pain isn't too bad, and those nasty H's that I was getting for a while have gone away for now and I can use the bathroom normally again. The most painful part of my body these days are the heels of my feet. It's getting hard to sit on the floor to work with my kids. But I still feel pretty good overall!

Transition at work has begun, so my work is starting to taper off, but I'm going to try to work til about the 20th of August. But things are taken care of so that if she comes early, my kids are taken care of, and things are left a little open if I want to come back to working but doing it privately.

So right now I am focusing on practicing my breathing/relaxation techniques (in case I get to do labor naturally), exercising, eating well, writing thank you notes, making and freezing food, getting things ready for hospital, and getting house ready for our baby girl!
Not much longer!!!!

33 weeks!

Well, less than 7 weeks left...it feels like it's flying by so fast, but I'm sure the last few weeks will be tough.

I interviewed a couple of pediatricians today and think I found one we'll like. Dr. Jon Betts at Old Harding Pediatrics. The practice comes highly recommended and so did that doctor. We make an appt when discharged from the hospital for 2-3 days afterward. Can't believe I'm gonna be taking my baby to the doctor in less than 2 months!

Mom was in town all last week to help us get stuff in order around the house. She started painting Marlee's room, went shopping with me to look at shelving/storage for her closet and room. I am so glad that she was able to come...and hopefully she will be back again before Marlee arrives to put finishing touches on everything.

Uncle Matt Matt is looking for pictures of things in nature/architecture/etc that look like the letters in Marlee's name to frame to go over her bed. The Centre baby shower/tea is this weekend! Ashley (my sis) will be in town Thursday night. I'm looking forward to the event, and hopefully will get to see lots of old friends. Ashley is coming back to Nashville with me Sunday night and flying out Tuesday. Glad we will have time to spend together before baby time. We are kinda bummed that we won't be able to go to Florida with the parents though. Dave can't get off work, and I'm just a little too far along to travel that far away.

I've made my hospital bags checklist andthe birth plan. Gonna pack my bags next week! (Many recommend to be ready ahead of time. I get to meet another doctor in the practice tomorrow and find out in 2 weeks if Marlee has moved head down...I hope she has! I am really leaning towards natural childbirth also! We have 2 more childbirth classes left. And the pediatrics office offers free newborn classes.

Dave is finishing painting the room this week, and we can move on to steam cleaning the carpet, then installing/setting up the furniture and shelving, and making the curtains for the window and closet.

So excited!!!

Almost 32 weeks

Can't believe we are already into July! Dave had the Monday after the 4th off, so we were able to go to Centre for the 4th of July weekend on Friday and stayed til Monday. We had great weather and had lots of fun hanging out with family and some friends. Saturday we were at the lake all day, grilled out, swam, rode the jet ski (I only did for a minute, so that I wouldn't hurt myself), horseshoes, and watched fireworks from the boat that night followed by shooting some of our own. It was a good day...and no sunburn. ;)
On Sunday the 4th, we did some more swimming, visited Jenni at her mom's since it was her b'day, then we celebrated Dave's b'day early with a homemade ice cream party (using kazoos to sing happy b'day), and all went to my parents' house to eat ribs and shrimp boil complete with brownie cake. We went back and finished shooting the rest of the fireworks.
My brother was in town, so we got to hang out. He showed us all about 500 of the almost 4000 pics he took in Italy will there for a mini-mester studying abroad. Dave and I also hung out with Joseph and Kelly Cox some throughout the weekend, since they live beside the Stimpson cabin.
We brought back my baby crib, a changing table that matches that my mom found, tons of baby clothes from the Gilberts, shelving for our dvds, and leftover food. I've cleaned off the furniture, cleaned the baby room, and now it's ready to paint. I plan on making curtains, and we've gotta put more shelving in her closet too. As of now each wall is gonna be a different color (my idea of green walls w/ purple curtains was shot down by the daddy). Even if we try to sale our house in the near future, we can always repaint the room to be more neutral if it doesn't sell quickly. Dave wants her room to be as colorful as possible...I think it's cute. My mom is probably coming up this week to help getting the painting started and help out getting other things set up.
We've had a breastfeeding class and 2 childbirth classes so far, 3 classes to go. We only have 8 weeks left before we get to hold Marlee in our arms!