Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Weeks 23-24: April 20-May 3

Oh man! I just got this all finished, and when I went to post it my silly internet connection had dropped. This is a good reason to use Mozilla instead of IE- my whole post is gone and I have to retype it. Grr!

Anyhow. These were 2 very busy, fun, productive weeks!

Week 23, AKA Grammy and Papa James are coming and we have lots to do:
Phew, what an insane week! With the help of my fantastic husband we managed to get everything done that I wanted.
It was a long week of early days getting up before the heat set in to weed and prune both yards. They don't look perfect but they look pretty nice, and I'm actually hopeful that even the sparse groundcover might come back in. I really do love our back yard!
The big project was organizing, purging, and rearranging the furniture in our 3 extra bedrooms. Originally they were a guest room, my craft room, and Brian's office. Now they are a nursery, a guest room, and a combo office respectively. This entailed a ton of work that I've been doing a tiny bit at a time, but on Monday I finally buckled down and boxed/shelved a bunch of stuff in the office, making room for the final transition. It still needs to be gone through, but it's in the closet so Brian can go through it at his leisure. I moved some furniture around and set up my craft table and neat new organizing cubes (which I built from a kit!) and got all my craft stuff moved over. When my parents came my dad helped move the bed, so now the guest room and office are all put together and the nursery is empty of anything not baby related. What a load off! I can't believe how quickly it all came together when I finally had a little energy and the drive to just get it done.
We also cleaned the house, and we did manage to get that fan up! It's gorgeous and the remote is really cool, and Brian is the best for doing it basically on his own. That ladder really is precarious for me :).

Due to all of the activity, the Pea was pretty quiet most of the week. He still had his active spurts, but as is pretty normal for the little squirts, the more I do the more he sleeps. I had a few days of worse heartburn due to stress/activity but nothing too bad. I am also continuing to gain 1-2 pounds a week, putting me at about +16.

Week 24:
Six months! Holy smokes. We are officially at the point where they start saying there's a good chance the baby would survive if born now, and it increases exponentially with each week from now on.

Of course the big news was my parents visiting. It was a terrific week of food, shopping, swimming and generally just hanging out. They laughed at my belly when they arrived because apparently it is "tiny and cute" and I whine about it way too much! Well, compared to what it was, it's big to me. Hee.

They spent way too much money, but it is their right as grandparents and of course we're totally thankful. Mom picked out a ton of tiny baby clothes, wipes, lotion/baby wash, the baby bath I wanted, receiving blankets and more! She's only had girls so she tended towards Winnie the Pooh, cute cartoon dinos and turtles and teddy bears. Oh, and we musn't forget a newborn sized Harley dewrag, a set of Harley bibs and a genuine leather vest with patches that will fit him when he's about 2. It's SO CUTE though. Grandma Becky (my husband's mom) sent a package of clothes as well, but she had two boys, so her items are much more rough and tumble. The themes are far more 'boyish' too, planes and tools and sports! And where my mom bought tiny baby beanies, Becky bought little baseball caps. Of course all of it is totally cute and I had to buy Dreft so I can wash and hang it all up.

Speaking of putting clothes away, we also got our nursery furniture! Oh my gosh, what a load off. It won't actually be here until later this summer, but it's just beautiful and exactly what I wanted. For anyone shopping for slightly higher end but still reasonable furniture. www.usababy.com is a great chain of stores. The customer service was phenomenal and the furniture we bought is solid wood. Thank you Papa James for the crib and mattress! It's the Baby's Dream Infinity stationary crib in Amber finish. We also got the tall 5-drawer dreser and the combo changer/dresser (we didn't get the hutch but we might someday). http://www.babysdream.com/Service/OnlineBroch/pdf/Infinity.pdf

On Thursday I had my first set of Braxton Hicks contractions which was sort of exciting. They felt like mild menstrual cramps and came and went a few times throughout the day. I haven't had any more, but my body is clearly getting ready for the inevitable end (or should I say new beginning) of this crazy journey!

PeaBaby was also much more his usual rambunctious self, and he's getting so strong! Strong enough that when he really pushes it can be uncomfortable and an unexpected kick is quite surprising. Grammy Tina and Papa James had a great time playing with him, talking to him, and reading him his new books. While it was amazing and fun and I'm so grateful that they were here, I can't help but be really heartsick at the fact that visits are all we will have, and too brief and infrequent at that. I really wish we could live near them during this pregnancy but more importantly after he's born. I can't believe he won't get to spend the weekend at grammy's whenever he wants. Being far from home is hard for me, but having my baby be far from home is much, much worse. We'll just have to take tons of pictures and make the most of every precious moment we have together, and that's what we'll do!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is right!! We will make the most of each and every visit!!! Time to invest in a video camera! Our visit was amazing and trying to describe seeing your baby pregnant with her baby is beyond words. THe visit was a blast. By the way, Pappa James and Tiffany both started crying in the furniture store when James said he wanted to buy the baby his first bed. Tif left that part out!!!! Love being an almost grammy!