So technically the little guy hasn't arrived yet so this can't really be his first Christmas... or can it? He got more presents than anyone else! His closet is really filling up fast- with books, toys, clothes and blankets.  Here's a rundown of what he received recently:

From his Grandma Zenn: a blue fleece blanket with little yellow ducks all over (which I love!), his first piggy bank, a little stuffed animal "bath" duck wearing a bathrobe (in the pockets are another toy duck, a sailboat, a mirror and bar of fake soap), two little beanie hats (one of them from the U of Michigan), and finally the cutest thing- a little yellow Michigan polo shirt that perfectly matches the one his dad already has  . I can't wait to take both my guys to church in their matching outfits, it will be great!

From his Grandma Miller he got what Justin dubbed "the Hummer of all baby strollers," and you can see pictures of it in the photo album here.

From his Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jordan he got the softest little wool blanket. Carrie's really into knitting (she and her twin sister made all the knitted calla lillies for her wedding back in June) and when she found out we were expecting she set right to work making the perfect snuggly blanket for us. It's dark/denim blue and dark khaki blocks with a really cool pattern (my Nana would be proud!) weave thing (I know nothing about knitting so excuse my technological language here)- and she made it from alpaca wool so it's soooooo soft. She even threw in some special wool washer detergent. Her exact words were: "I'm hoping that my including the special detergent will somewhat counteract the chances of him constantly throwing up on it." Haha!

From his mommy and daddy he got furniture... well not yet but we're working on that! The plan is to wait until after my shower on February 2nd so we can maybe use some gift cards towards it or something. We'll see. He also got another blanket- this one is white satin on one side with white microfiber on the other side and a little yellow duck embroidered on one corner. Over Thanksgiving I also found the tiniest little pair of black velcro dress shoes, so he has almost a complete outfit for church now (needs pants still). And lastly, while registering at Babies R Us I found a little tshirt on the clearance rack that's blue with PALM TREES (I was thrilled, if you can imagine) that says "Surfer Dude" on the front. It's way cute.

Justin and I got some very nice things for Christmas as well. From my parents I got a nice leather jacket (that is just now barely zipping over my belly) and some clothes, and Justin got a bright red Craftsman toolchest set (bottom and top parts) for our garage so his tools aren't scattered all over the house. From his parents he got a replica Star Wars light saber (Luke Skywalker's, the blue one) that's pretty cool, and I got a really pretty blue topaz eternity pendant necklace, along with a few other things. We're also taking our 2nd annual Christmas trip sometime in May probably, this time a 4 day weekend since there will be two children along. Gives me some motivation to get my butt in gear and get back in shape after Baby comes! Speaking of which, this past week I have started doing 20-30 minutes a DAY on our ellyptical machine so I'm feeling a lot more in shape, though still not sleeping very well on account of Baby's newfound Karate skills...

LLSLB

1. Pregnancy makes one very prone to nightmares. I think it's a combination of hormones, rising body temperature, and general stress and discomfort. I never get "hurt" in any of these dreams but wake up terrified halfway through the night drenched in sweat. Everyone says it's normal, but I can't wait till it's over.

2. Meijer sells Neutrogena spa lotion! I thought it only existed in hotels so I've been hoarding my last mini bottle, but I found a huge pump container of it at Meijer so now I'm happy. (it's the light sesame spa lotion, white in a clear bottle)

3. Around 6 1/2 to 7 months you'll get to a point where one day you can bend over to pick up something you dropped (pregnancy will give you a case of the "dropsies"), and then the next day you go to do the same thing and your body just stops bending halfway down. All of a sudden Baby and belly are in the way! It's weird. Now I'm into the glorious graceful stage of bending over halfway and then squatting and twisting the rest of the way down, occasionally giving up and just sitting on the floor to retreive whatever it is.

I finally did it! With the help of my good (and patient) friend Kristen, we are registered at Babies R Us. I'll never forget when we walked in the door-- She said "Okay, now what do you have in the way of feeding stuff- you will need lots of bottles." I said: "I have nothing, I have a stroller." She said: "Okaaay... what about bedding or blankets?" I said: "I have a stroller." She gave me a look that was somewhere between panic and disbelief, then took me by the hand and said, "Let's just start over here by the diaper bags."

I guess I need to backtrack a little bit. You all know that though I'm very excited about this Baby, there's also a lot of apprehension on my part. I feel like I'm in a huge time crunch and there's just not enough time in the next 12 weeks to get EVERYthing done before he arrives. So I've simply avoided the problem, making wide circles every time I come across a baby store. Now that we've set a date for my baby shower (February 2nd- invitations will come!) I felt the pressure even more to make my baby item choices sooner rather than later.

But the problem is, every time I walk into Babies R Us I feel like I'm in sensory overload: There are millions of aisles of bottles, bibs, and bedding, and twice as many of clothes and toys.... On top of that there are hundreds of anxious new or expecting parents pushing and shoving their way through the aforementioned aisles to make sure they have every last detail nailed down, AND some of them even have KIDS with them- only half of which are well-behaved enough to actually be cute. Shocker. There was just too much "baby" going on in one place and I couldn't handle it, simply because I didn't know where to start. I would gravitate towards the cute little shoes and cuddly creeper sets. And really, aren't 1 bottle, 1 blanket, and 1 outfit going to be enough??? Um, no. You need bottles, bottle inserts, bottle warmers, nipples, nukkies, washcloths, sheets, baby spoons, rattles, and my favorite- a "sheet saver" (basically an expensive half-blanket that you put over the sheet- which goes over the mattress pad that's over the waterproof liner which covers the mattress) in case of spit up, which seems pointless to me.

Armed with the registry booklet containing the checklist and "delete button" (in case I scanned something by mistake that I wanted to take off) we spent an hour mulling over feeding supplies, bath sponges, and which bibs were cutest before realizing that if this was going to continue we both needed some re-fueling. 45 minutes later we were exiting the Cheesecake Factory (really, what better fuel is there???), doggy bags in hand, and back to Babies R Us to pick up where we left off. Once I got into actually doing it, I kinda liked it! We went up and down each aisle and Kristen would point out certain things that I needed and make recommendations based on what worked for her 2 year old when she was an infant (who knew there were 10 different diaper genie-type things???). After a little while it was even FUN! It was like shopping for all kinds of goodies without pushing a cart or spending money. And since we went on a Tuesday afternoon, we basically had the run of the store to ourselves (read: no toddler tantrums!). At 6pm it was time to put the gun down. I was told to take a seat and then a kind lady started handing me all kinds of samples of magazines, formula, and diapers. Then she printed out my registry- only 12 pages... But on the top was the best part: A list of everything from their recommended checklist that I hadn't scanned, and it was only 8 items long! Most of those were furniture and the stroller that we already have, and the remaining items I will zap at Target I think. All in all, it was a good day.

So that's one huge load lifted off of me. Now all I need to do is update our registry online or in-store if I think of something instead of having the entire process looming over me. I even got to pick out some super cute little baby clothes - that was the best part. I still can't believe that I'm going to be a mom in 3 months!!! I've been really blessed that life has been pretty much "normal" up to this point in the pregnancy; meaning I haven't had any major issues to deal with so it's kind of surreal that a baby will be here shortly.

So there's my registry saga.

LLSLB

1. Always take a friend (or mom would work too) to register or you'll definitely feel overwhelmed.

2. You can't get a vitamin C overdose from oranges (per my doctor)- even if you eat 7 (yes I'm not lying) in one day. *phew* And green tea in moderation is okay too.

3. Lastly, apparently I'm a fatty.  At this last doctor's appointment my doctor told me I've gained 27 pounds (!!!) which is "a little generous." I guess I hide it well! I'm only wearing ONE size larger than pre-pregnancy (which is quite the accomplishment) and people keep telling me that my belly is still "small" for how far along I am. Oh well, I don't think I will be worried until I hit the 40 pound weight gain, and she said that would be ok as long as I am staying healthy, and she also mentioned that I DO look healthy and fit, so everyone is a bit puzzled.

You've probably all seen the newest picture of me- if not, take a second and skip over to the photo gallery. My 27 week photo was taken at Justin's company's Christmas party last Friday but I haven't gotten a copy of it yet. When I have it, you'll see it .

I had a fun conversation with my best friend on the phone last night- well, as much fun as two stressed-out blondes can have!!!! It started out with us texting each other to get snail mail addresses for Christmas letters and respective shower invitations. After about 5 more text conversations I decided enough was enough and dialed her number for a direct voice connection. Turns out that 650 miles isn't nearly enough to keep two kindred spirits apart after all!  She is super stressed about work, Christmas, and her upcoming bridal shower and wedding. Add onto that the fact that she has no heat in her Philly house and her fiance is working 2 jobs and going to school fulltime... I, on the other hand, am stressing about work (add on a few more hours for a different manager and WHAM things can get complicated!), Christmas (letters STILL aren't written and therefore not mailed, though the envelopes have been addressed for some time now), and my upcoming baby shower (STILL not planned eek!) and the birth of our first child (STILL don't have any furniture because quite frankly the excess money just isn't around yet, which adds another stress of its own...). But hey at least I have heat!!! See previous entries for that saga. So anyway, after 45 minutes of back and forth venting, her cat knocking over her tea kettle, and me accidentally pouring water on a hot stove burner, we both agreed that we felt much better after having let off some steam (sometimes that's all ya need) and having talked to each other for the first time in months. Oh, did I mention that I'm going to be a bridesmaid in her wedding 2 weeks after Baby's due date??? Now if that's not kinship, I don't know what is. At least she loves me enough to pick a dress that's post-baby-body friendly! (See picture here if you want http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_detail.jsp?stid=2817&prodgroup=110&sid=17485)

Nothing really new has been going on with the pregnancy itself, just growing and gettng bigger and bigger every day. It's actually been a little painful- I can feel the muscles and skin around my abdomen growing and stretching and all parties involved agree that it's just a little too fast! It hurts!!! At night I can't sleep sometimes because there's such a strong pulling sensation. Imagine this: You know when you stand straight and then bend at the waist to touch your feet and you can feel your hamstrings protesting? It's like that, but 5 times worse and in your stomach area. I haven't had any balance problems yet, not even on last week's snow day, which quickly turned into "ice day." We'll see how long that keeps up.

We have a doctor's appointment on Monday, and at the last appointment she handed me the write-up for the 3rd trimester Gestational Diabetes test. I've never really thought about it much, but apparently it's a big deal. So of course I put it off for 4 weeks and just went in today to have the blood drawn- cutting it close considering it takes 24 hours to process and we're coming up on a weekend... The test went like this: You go to the lab, they give you this "special" drink of some glucolic something-or-other, and then you sit around for an hour until they take 5 vials of blood from your arm. It wasn't too bad- the drink itself tasted exactly like Sprite (fizzy and everything, hmmmmm...), and I was even allowed to get a drink of water and use the bathroom while I waited. I just couldn't leave the building once they started the timer and even had to hold onto a little device (a tiny version of the restaurant waitlist beepers if you ask me) that would light up and make noise if I got close to the sensors on the doors. I didn't try it, so I'm just telling you what they told me.  Then when the time was up my usual nurse was on break so I had to spend another 5 minutes convincing this new guy that even though I'm right handed he can't stick me in the left elbow because I have rolling veins. Seriously, do I LOOK like I'm 10 and don't know the difference??? I finally got him to take the blood from my right arm (so I wouldn't get stuck 5 times in an effort to find the elusive vein), only to sit and listen to him talk about how squeamish he had become since working as a medic on an Indian reservation. A few minutes later I walked out the door by my own power and with all appendages still intact- miraculously he was not too squeamish, apparently, to do the job right, as far as I could tell. We'll find out the results on Monday hopefully.

LLSLB

1. Life seems a little lonely for some reason when you don't have a church you "belong" to yet- it sounds strange but I'm so used to being involved in work AND church that I feel like something is missing... that and I miss all my Lafayette church friends like crazy now that it's the holidays and I haven't seen any of them for 2 months now.

2. I need to register for baby stuff- like now. Luckily my friend Kristen is coming next week to help me do it.

3. The third trimester should be called the Emotional Trimester.

4, And finally, our house is so much cleaner thanks to the Rainbow. We are slightly obsessed with it.

Well I have 2 days left in my 2nd trimester. It's hard to believe! On one hand I feel like the last 6 months has absolutely FLOWN by, but on the other hand it feels like it's been forever and that this baby is never going to hurry up and get here already! On Saturday December 1st I will officially be 6 months or 26 weeks pregnant, which marks the official start of the dreaded 3rd trimester. I keep hearing from everyone how this is the worst (especially since my 1st T morning sickness wasn't so terrible a time for me) because all of a sudden my body will balloon into an unknown entity and my emotions will fall completely out of whack (like they haven't already). This is also the time when the panic starts to set in upon the realization that we haven't yet purchased any baby furniture (except for the stroller that Mom bought me, which is parked in the corner of Baby's room, and the cradle I slept in as an infant), nor registered for any baby items. I still have to tour our birthing hospital (Clarian North, for those of you in the area) and sign up for Baby classes! Yikes! On top of this I'm working and trying to keep house and figure out what to do for the holidays.

A fun thing happened yesterday though- I got my hair cut!!!  I woke up a little late for work and ended up doing the half-ponytail thing, and realized my hair felt like straw (as in what horses sleep on) at the ends and looked really ragged. My memory has pretty much decided it will come and go as it pleases, but somehow I recalled that the last time a pair of scissors touched my hair was back in July when I got 4 inches chopped off and the red highlights put in. So in 4 months my hair has grown about 4 inches (hooray for prenatal vitamins!) and about 2 of those are worthless dead ends. On a whim after work I stopped in at the salon where I got all my wedding beauty treatments done and a really nice girl named Corinne was available for me right away-- let me just say she was AMAZING. She trimmed a little off the back and then evened out the nastiness around the front, and even gave me some really awesome sweeping long bangs! I highly recommend her, she works at the Dream Weaver Salon here in Fishers, check it out.

On my way out the door, I got hit by a bomb- I scheduled another haircut with her for 8 weeks out- which happens to be the Wednesday before my baby shower! (This shower is still in the planning stages, see future entries for concrete dates/times/places/etc.). And the shower is only like 5 weeks before my due date! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I walked out to my car in a daze, thinking that this is all happening just a little too fast for me. Think about it: Christmas is like 3 & 1/2 weeks away, then New Year's is a week later, then the shower about 3 weeks after that, then Justin's birthday is a week or two after that, then Valentine's Day 2 weeks later (when I'll probably stop working and just cash in vacation days), and then 2 or 3 weeks later comes BABY!!!! So really when you look at it that way, I have practically no time to get anything done.

Oh and I've added a picture to the photo album- I had a coworker take it with my camera phone today at work so it's not the best quality, but it gives a good idea. You can tell I've grown a little bit since my last picture 3 weeks ago! I'm going to start taking one per week now to see how drastic the changes are and share them with you all.

LLSLB:

1. I can sleep 8 hours a night and still take a long afternoon nap, as long as the TV is on and the dogs are cuddled up against me.

2. Jellied cranberry sauce can be added to the list of cravings.

3. I'm getting back into the tired phase of the pregnancy. You may recall my worst 1st Trimester symptom was exhaustion, which disappeared somewhere around the start of the 2nd Trimester, and has now returned in full force. I'm glad I only signed up to work half days instead of full days!

4. I don't have any swimsuits that fit. Maybe it's a good thing we didn't end up going to Florida this month after all...

5. It's getting harder to bend over for longer than 5 seconds- I get to a point where my belly just stops my torso from going any further. It's weird.

6. Finally, I have officially grown out of all regular clothes- even bigger sizes can't accomodate. The Friday after Thanksgiving I got to stock up on some wonderful maternity pants and tops- I absolutely LOVE not having to deal with buttons or zippers in my pants anymore; it's like wearing dressy sweatpants to work!