A Happy Heart [36 weeks]

I just had a WONDERFUL weekend with my handsome husband!  He had a few days off from his clinicals so he was able to come home and meet me here on Friday evening.  Here's a quick recap of my weekend and all the reasons I loved it:

Friday
After school, I went to get a pedicure since we were having pictures taken Saturday morning (the fact that my toes didn't even show b/c I was wearing heels is beside the point).  Everything about this month-- the weather, the fact that there are 3 weeks left of school, the fact that the pool is open-- is screaming SUMMER!  I opted for a bright pink with teal polka dots.  For now, my summer is living on my toes.  :)


THE HUSBAND:  As if this even needs an explanation... every time I see his sweet smiley face and feel his arms around me, my heart melts and all is right in the world.  He gave me my first Mother's Day present!!!  Since he won't be here next weekend, he made sure it happened early.  It consisted of a really precious card and then a Willow People figurine of a couple with their new baby.  The title of it is Our Gift.  My mom had gotten us one with a man and his pregnant wife, so this that he got me for Mother's Day was PERFECT!  I know our Audra isn't quite here yet, but it's not too much longer!  I cried happy tears and we sat in love until we were too hungry to sit any longer.  :-D  We ate at Cancun then watched TV in bed while I fell asleep (we were both pretty tired as he had just worked a night shift and... well... I'm about 9 months pregnant).
I felt like a giddy little school girl with my husband's presence near me for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday
The same lady that's taking Audra's newborn pics (Lynette Reeves with Only Imagine Photography) also took our maternity pictures.  It was great to meet her, and I cannot WAIT to see what she did!  We took them in two locations: 1) at the Veteran's Memorial where my dad swore Nic in as an AF officer, and then 2) at a local park where there are lots of trees and a pretty playa lake with a fountain.  I'm thinking they'll look pretty sweet!

The rest of Saturday was spent doing CrossFit, finally eating Chipotle again (for some reason the thought of it made me nauseous for months), having dinner with his parents and taking home the baby clothes his mom washed.  (She's pretty awesome, btw.)

Sunday
Sunday was our day of relaxation.  We slept WAY in, watched a podcast from church, lounged some more then did a bit of shopping.  I was able to get some foam paper to use as separators for Audra's clothes, a maternity swimsuit, and Nic got some classic children's stories he'd seen at Barnes & Noble (we got The Secret Garden and A Little Princess).  I'm in love with the fact that he wants to read to her SO BADLY.  I simply cannot wait to witness this!  Almost too much cuteness for one heart to handle.

Nic helped me fine sort the baby clothes (his mom had pretty much already done this) and we got the separators in their spots.  Looks good, don't you think?

After that, the only bad things about this weekend happened... and within minutes of each other:  Nic left, then the garage door broke.  Boo and boo again.  I said my goodbyes and then shut the garage as I went inside and heard a huge loud noise as soon as I was in the house.  I looked and saw that one of the springs had snapped.  Well, crap.  We knew it needed to be looked at b/c the springs were loose and it was making weird noises, and finally the thing fell apart.  So it's out of commission for a while... hopefully our landlord will have it looked at in the near future.

And before I leave, here's the update:

How far along: 36 weeks tomorrow!  4 weeks till our due date!!!

How big is baby: Weighs about 5 lbs. now! And holy moly can I tell! ;)

Maternity clothes:  Just bought a maternity swimsuit today.  I don't care if those cute skinny college girls stare at my huge belly... it's HOT outside and I WANT TO SWIM!  :)  And plus my friend Kristine goes and she's pretty pregnant too, so it'll just be a little preggo party out there for us.

Sleep:  Not good.  I did make a new arrangement in which I sleep inclined and also with a pillow between my knees.  This helps keep my hips from falling asleep, but it's a hassle to turn over since you have to move the pillow, move your belly, etc.  I don't think I go more than 1 sleep cycle (about 1.5 hrs) without waking up.  Yuck.

Movement:  She's our little mover!  I love it!  Actually, yesterday was kind of a milestone in her movement:  she actually hurt me!  Her head is down and her feet are up, slanted to my right.  She stretched and kicked my right rib right in the bone.  I've heard of this happening, but her strength and sneakiness was startling.  And we still have a whole month left.
When she's fully stretched out, which she does every now and then, I feel like her head is down past my hip bones and her feet are all the way up by my ribs.  It amazes me how BIG she is!  She's been pressing out more lately and I can actually feel her little feet if I put my hand under my ribs.  If she curls her legs up extra, I can tell where they are.  Sometimes when she stretches, her head (or hand) goes right into my bladder area and it's the most sudden insane urge to use the bathroom I've ever experienced to this point.  Usually she'll stay that stretched out for only a few seconds, then she'll move back to where she was and the feeling will go away.  I guess it's getting pretty cramped in there! 
She gets the hiccups multiple times a day.  It's fun for me to feel her rhythmic movements.  It's fun to let other people feel those, too, since I know she can't stop them.  :)  Last night when I was sleeping she had them SO HARD that it was jolting my whole body.  I was dreaming while this was happening, and I was telling someone in my dream that Audra was hiccuping and having them feel my stomach.  Then I woke up and realized it was happening for real.  It was kind of funny.  She got them again later in the morning and again after we ate lunch.  3 times a day isn't uncommon for the hiccups; for us anyway.

Belly-button:  An innie that is sticking out.  You'll get to see it when the maternity pics are up. 

Exercise:  4 times this past week.  Woot woot!  Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday.  So easy & so quick, but it's something.

What I'm loving:  The countdown!  I've always been told + or - 2 weeks from the due date... so realistically, she could come in only 2 weeks!  I can't believe how fast it's going by!

What I'm NOT loving:  Not having a nursery.  I had another little pity party moment there earlier in the month because so many of my friends are posting pics of their cute nurseries as they prepare for their babies.  And they're due AFTER me.  I've got a guest room with a bunch of baby stuff not at all in its place (except for the clothes).  The crib isn't set up (and won't be until after we move), we've got no bedding and no decorations for the walls.  I know all of this will fall into place VERY quickly after we get to Virginia... I just wish I could do it now.  I'm ready to nest her room into perfection but I can't.  My mom keeps telling me to keep my head up, that she'll help me get it all settled once we get to Virginia, and I fully believe her.  So for now, I just stare at everything while I blow dry my hair in the mornings.  I can't wait for her to have her own space.

What I miss:  My husband, of course.  Being able to bend over.  Rolling over without using my hands and feet to propel me.  Breathing like normal.  Running errands without feeling like I ran a marathon (not that I ever have, but I can imagine).


That's all, and according to Nic, it's past my bedtime.  Haha.  Goodnight!