The final countdown

When I woke up this morning I realized the date was July 27 - one month before my due date. I absolutely cannot believe I am going to be a mommy so soon! Where has the time gone?!? There is so much we still have to do - finish the nursery (I have been kind of immobile due to a minor surgery on my leg the past week - that's another story for another time), figure out child care, take care of the heating and a/c situation upstairs. Possibly get me a new car (I'm thinking this isn't going to happen in the next month). Oh, and did I mention I'm hosting bridal showers for my sister and soon to be SIL on back-to-back weekends? Yeah, I'm crazy like that.

We finished our birthing classes last week and I was able to get the last few items we needed for the nursery with my Target completion coupon and gift cards. Yesterday our crib mattress, swing, baby book and changing pad covers arrived. I also spent an afternoon at Target picking up things like nursing bras, lounge pants for the hospital, etc. I would like to get my hospital bag packed soon just in case. I think I've been putting that off because it makes it awfully real when you're all set to go to the hospital, but I am not one for chaos so I'd probably better get on that lest I want to leave it up to my husband to pack for me - yikes!

I promise to post more as we finish the nursery, etc. For now, here is my 35 week bump shot for your viewing pleasure. Oh, and I got a new cell phone this week so I should have better quality cell pics from now on :o)

These things I'll never say

5 bonus points if you recognize the post title as Avril Lavigne lyrics.

This weekend I drove three hours north to go to my best friend's baby shower. I first mentioned her here when I found out we were going to be pregnant "together". (Quotes because we really only see each other once a year now.) I love her more than just about anyone in the world (she is close in ranking to my husband...maybe even above him some days!). There is absolutely nothing we can't and haven't talked about, from love to family to ovulation and everything in between. We "get" each other like no one else.

But the one thing we've never discussed is money. Because you see, she has it and I don't. Let me say that I get that she worked her ass off in college - completing a 7-year doctorate program in 6 years, never getting summer or Christmas breaks off - and I don't begrudge her the rewards of that hard work. But she makes more than C and I combined, and that's not even with her husband's salary which I don't think is anything to scoff at either. It's even tougher because we are really struggling financially right now (yes, good timing with a baby on the way). So when I went to her house this weekend (her house that cost more than double what ours cost... and yes, I'm a horrible friend because I looked up the sale price on the auditor's website), it was like rubbing salt in the "we need a money tree" wound. Things I couldn't say to her this weekend:

"I wouldn't have missed your shower but it took a full tank of gas for me to get here and back and now I'm afraid we can't afford groceries this week."

"Of course I want to go to dinner with you...but can we please go somewhere I can eat for under $10?"

"An iPad 2 and a new cell phone, huh? Yeah...I still have this refurbished Blackberry and C's using my old phone that is the same one you had three phones ago."

"I'm glad you guys have nice cars. I still have the same one I drove in college and I'm trying to figure out how to get a new one so I can even fit a carseat in it."

So yeah. It was great to see her but I did come home a little depressed about being one of the have nots.

On a happier note, here's a pic of us and our bumps - me at 33 weeks, and her at 30-ish weeks.

Long time no post!

Sorry I have been kind of MIA lately, but really we've just been coasting through summer without anything too exciting going on. I had my second baby shower last Saturday and am thrilled that between all we've gotten as gifts and remaining gift cards, there should be very little we have to buy ourselves. I started washing and organizing clothes last weekend, and the nursery is starting to look like a real room. We still need our crib mattress (getting it with a gift card once we get the Target completion coupon), a lamp, rug, and some other odds and ends. Pics when it's done, I promise!

Last night we started birthing classes. They have this plastic thing that shows you how big each centimeter of dilation is and um...wow. Ten centimeters is a little frightening! We have two more classes, and then I guess we're supposed to be ready to have a baby - ha! When we practiced relaxation breathing I kept thinking, "Phhssshh, how hard can this be?" I have a feeling I'm going to change my tune when the contractions hit...

I also had a regular OB appointment today with an ultrasound to check my placenta. I'm happy to report that it is no longer low (yay!), and that baby girl is curled up right where I thought she was - head down, curled around my right side with her little butt in my ribs. They're estimating her at 4lbs 9oz which seems crazy big to me but apparently she is just right. Since she was smushed up against my belly I didn't get very good pics.

For your viewing pleasure, my bump shot from last weekend at 32 weeks, before the shower:

And a little old school Amy Grant for your appreciation:
"Baby, baby, I'm taken with the notion/To love you with the sweetest of devotion/Baby, baby, my tender love will flow from/The bluest sky to the deepest ocean..."