WBU: 33 Weeks

For those who are interested, it is pronouced "Wuboo", not "Double U Bee You".

E continues to dominate this pregnancy.  Not sure it is possible to carry the child better.  Or look prettier.  I'd say hotter, but that's just creepy.  Unfortunately, this pregnancy is dominating our bed.  We have always had a Queen sized bed, all the way back to the days of college when E would accidentally fall asleep in a bed not at the DG house that also happened to be at my house, in my bedroom, with me in it, often for as many as 11 consecutive days.  At hotels, we actually would talk about how we didn't like all the space a King sized bed provides.

We now have a caveat for that statement.  When I inevitably begin to look like this guy

it is probably okay that we mix in a King.  Or keep the Queen but not the body pillow.

Point of clarity: I do not have the body pillow.

Googling for that picture of our heftiest President also revealed this image:

1908 was awesome.

The Beginning of the End...

to restful, uninterrupted sleep and hugging my husband.

Matthew kicked me for an entire 7 hours last night and had me in the bathroom 3 times before 3am. Essentially, I got no sleep.

And he's so big these days, being able to hug Mike is virtually impossible. I try to put my belly to the side, but Mike's not such a fan of that.

I have a feeling our son is going to be getting in the way of a lot of things.

WBU: 32 Weeks, 1 Day

And a little about our weekend...

We went to Barnes and Noble and bought a book called Baby 411.  Highly recommend it.  It was suggested to us by our birthing instructor.  It goes through the major things parents are concerned about (feeding, sleep, vaccines, what to expect post-delivery in the hospital) and gives valuable information. 

We then stopped by my parents house to pick up a dresser for Matthew's room and when emptying it we came across a box labeled "Letters Home From John" which was filled with my dad's report cards and letters that he wrote while in college.  Have you ever wondered what your parents were doing when President Kennedy was shot?  By opening this box and picking up the letter that was on top, we found out that my dad was in the midst of writing a letter to his parents about wanting and hoping to participate on Oberlin's basketball team, when he interrupted himself to say "Oh my gosh!  President Kennedy is dead!"  Everything was dated November 22, 1963.  Needless to say, we found discovering this piece of history as awesome.

Ended the evening going swimming.  Swimming is God's way of allowing pregnant women to not feel pregnant for like 5 minutes.  Amazing.

Head Down, Thumbs Up!

Loved the game Heads Up 7UP as a kid.  But that's not what this post is supposed to be about.

I went to the doctor again this morning and everything is right on par (weight, size of my uterus, oops, maybe just gave too much information there).  But the most fun news to hear was that the baby's head is down and he is facing my back which is the ideal position for delivery.  His biggest movements have now been reduced to shifting from being on my right side to my left, which is why it sometimes appears as though he is trying to escape via my belly button.  Legitimately frightening to see a human being trying to escape from your stomach butt first.

Is the Baby's Room Painted?

Yes it is!


First, Mike needed to be taught and supervised.



The room has gone from eggshell to light blue thanks to long, laborous hours put in by my mom and Mike.  More pictures will be posted when the room is put back together, for now, just enjoying observing these two working.  

A Great Birthday Weekend

And the last one without the official "Mom" status at that.

Yesterday my exceptional husband took me on an architectural tour, something I have been wanting to do for about 2 or 3 years now.  When I went to Spain after high school I was in awe of the architectur (that someone could design and build something so spectacular when I was STILL struggling greatly to understand the lincoln log set I received as a 2 year old).  And then after reading The Devil in the White City I gained an appreciation for what architecture can mean to a city and country.

So that's where my interest peaked and where the purpose formed for this birthday extravaganza.  Of course it was the only cool day all summer and it appeared in the morning as if it might storm.  Mike insisted that we go anyway (instead of rescheduling) to see what the weather was like downtown later in the day and offered to "figure something else out" if it were rainy and we were downtown.  This made me question if there were going to be other people present for our little day.  (An annoying trait about myself is that I am always trying to figure out a surprise.  I will take responsibility for this personal weakness.)  Mike said no, but I was sure that he was up to something, particularly after my mom (who had no idea) asked if other people were joining us downtown.

I completely forgot about a potential surprise when on the tour boat.  The weather was wonderful and our guide was humorous and informative.  Interestingly, there was no mention of Navy Pier's ferris wheel or its architect (the central story to the book mentioned earlier).  I learned today that there is a special tour just for this. 

Here are some pictures from our tour:



Check out the amazing reflections!



Mike and I have been talking about the importance of knowing stories of "failure" or "change" because we are all too stuffed with "feel good" success stories.  (How many sports movies have you seen where the underdog works really hard and its still not good enough?)  This building is 1/4 of its hoped for size due to not doing well.  There is a parking lot and solid cement wall where they had hoped would be additional buildings identical to what you see here.



This was another not-as-successful as one had hoped story.  The white building is the tallest building in the world without a name.  No one would/has purchased naming rights.



This I call "Cool Angle to See a Building"



After the tour, Mike and walked to a restaurant called Emeral Loop.  Mike said "Look to your left."  My first thought was "Ugh, really?  Running into people I know from high school that I have no desire to be friendly with but of course will be?"  I then followed Mike's direction and saw four very good friends.  So grateful that they came into the city to have dinner with us!

And the party continued into today where I enjoyed a delicious meal with my family (thank you Mom!) and dessert.  Boy do I love Baskin Robbins' mint chocolate chip ice cream cake!  Oh and now I am the owner of a castle ice tray, perfume, a cute puppy outfit for baby, and a car seat.

Only down side to the day, Mike's still at work and its 10pm. 

WBU: 7 Months Completed--Check!

Into month 8 we go!  Our son will arrive in just 6-10 weeks.  Whoa.

Crib

You would think that I would respond with an irresponsible, emotionally jarring retort to my wife's most recent post but to tell you the truth, I am so appreciative that preggerbrain hasn't completely bankrupted her ability to remember three non-consecutive events, I don't even care that she humiliated me on a global forum.

Speaking of bursting with pride, I built a crib this week.  I felled two trees, whittled the timber and coated my creation in a natural homemade stain.

Or, I dropped a bunch of money on wood that somebody else felled, whittled and stained and spent a Wednesday night screwing everything together with an impossibly small Allen wrench.  I mean, honestly, how is it that you spend a small fortune on the best, safest, most highly-rated crib around, yet the screws they give you to build it are taped to a piece of cardboard and everything is to be put together with a tool that is too small for even an average-size handed man, let alone one with my near-feminine paws?  It boggles the mind.

Regardless of the hotspot blisters that resulted, I thoroughly enjoyed building my child's first sleeping arrangements.  Here is visual proof:

  

That would be the Allen wrench that I am displaying triumphantly.

What's crazy about building the crib is that it is the physical representation of a now indisputable fact:

LIFE'S.  GETTING.  REAL.

Tomorrow is day 1 of month 8.  Week 32.  We have a crib.  And a changing table.  And a can of light blue paint for the nursery.  Which contains a closet and dresser full of impossibly cute yet tiny clothing.  And the only reason I have for not getting the painting done immediately is because of all the work I am doing to get up to speed at my new job.  Which I need to succeed at so that I can feed my kid.  Who will live in a house.  In the suburbs.  With a garage.  Which contains a lawnmower.  That I purchased.  And use.  Every weekend.

REALLY.  REAL.

Wouldn't have it any other way.  Just two more months until we get to meet the little guy.  Smile emoticon.

Three Times! Really?!?!?

So today marks the day that Mike has been at Sara Lee for one month. Yey for employment!!!

The following will come as no surprise to those of you that know what kind of driver Mike is...Mike has missed his or gotten off at the wrong exit 3 times. You might be tempted to give him sympathy, saying to yourself everyone has the potential to get lost when starting a new job in a new location, there is a learning curve here. Folks, he has his MBA from one of the top business schools in the country and one of those times that he drove past his exit was this week.

Productivity

In the summer months, my job is almost intolerably slow.  This week, I have off on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Yesterday I did nothing with my day.  Today, well, I've blogged.  See ya tomorrow.

A Happy Anniversary Indeed

This last Saturday, Mike and I went to Milwaukee and celebrated our wedding anniversary.  It's been six adventurous and wonderfully loving years.  We started the evening by going to our favorite restaurant Coquette Cafe:

Coquette is a French restaurant, who's chef is ranked 13 in the country.  We enjoyed: French onion soup, spinach and pear salad, eggplant casserole, bacon wrapped meatloaf, and divine chocolate molton cake.

We then went to our hotel, The Pfister, and had a drink (well, Mike did) at the lounge Blu, which is on the top floor, overlooking the city.  The decor of the place can take you back in time; it looks like an old lounge where men used to come to drink scotch and have a cigar.  We started the part of the evening by talking to some Purdue grads, who we begrudgingly have to admit were nice people.  We then spent the next hour talking about the highlights of this last year.

We then went back to our room and practiced our double chin faces.

We were asleep by like 10:30.  Awesome.  We woke up to a beautiful view of Milwaukee and enjoyed breakfast in bed (mmmm French toast and a veggie omelette) and a movie (Bridesmaids--hilarious!)

WBU: 30 Weeks, 1 Day

Week 29, Day 3 WBU

Went to the doctor again yesterday and found out I was slightly anemic.  Doctor's orders: a steak.  I think I can handle that.