Okay okay okay- everyone wants to see pictures!!!! Click HERE to see them! I'll be uploading all week long as people send me their shots, so be sure to keep checking back!

Well my mom and Justin's mom have outdone themselves yet again- this was definitely a day to remember! We had about 23 people turn out on a beautiful winter Saturday (sunny and 40 degrees) and I had a blast!

The bathtub that we have for Baby is in the shape of a rubber duck, so we filled it with water and lots of floating rubber duckies. When each lady showed up she got a nametag, then went over to the bathtub to pick out a duck. On the bottom of each duck was a number that corresponded with a place setting for the luncheon. Pretty much everyone showed up on time so we sat down to eat right away (homemade chicken salad croissants and fruit salad) and play some of the fun games. Mom had gotten together 16 small baby items (diaper pins, rattle, baby powder, etc.) and put them in a covered box. Each guest had 1 minute to reach into the box and feel around, then we had the rest of the lunch hour to write down all the items we remembered. The person who remembered the most correct items won a prize! It was so much harder than I thought it would be! Then we had a list of 20 baby animals as a matching game. The adult name was given (example: Cat) and you had to pick out the baby name from the word bank (answer: kitten). There were some really weird ones! Who knew that a baby platypus was called a puggle???? Or a baby otter is a whelp? Haha!

After lunch we cut the cake. We have a duckie theme for the baby's room, so Justin's dad surprised me by baking the cutest cake in the shape of a duck!!! There are a few pictures of it on the link above. It was delicious too! If he ever gets tired of working as a physicist he could make a killing as a baker for sure. I had 2 pieces

After lunch we cleared out of mom's kitchen and moved into the living room for the Baby Food Taste Test! Instead of making the guests suffer, I got the distinct pleasure of tasting baby food. Everyone had to guess how many I would guess right (10 possible answers). I was blindfolded (the color can give it away) and used baby spoons to sample the stuff. Some of it was DISGUSTING!!!! The apricots, papaya, and rice cereal were ok, but I definitely don't recommend the green beans, turkey, or mac n cheese. YUCK!!! I thought I would do really well, but only guessed 6 out of 10 correctly.

Now it's on to the presents!!!! I got to sit in the front of the room on a special chair and almost fell over when I saw how many gifts there were!!! We seriously cleaned up. We got sooooo many wonderful things, and no doubles! Some of the highlights: Highchair, swing, bouncer, baseball onesies, U of Michigan bib, and a Boppy! There are only 3 or 4 more things from our registry that we actually need before Baby arrives, and the rest is just a matter of convenience, Some relatives who weren't able to attend sent money so we should be pretty much taken care of by the end of next week. How exciting!!! My goal this week is to get all the thank-you notes in the mail. My friend Nikki was on hand to record all the gifts and assist me in general, which was an awesome blessing.

The last event was Ducky Idol. American Idol is back in full swing, so someone (who shall remain nameless) came up with the bright idea that we all overdose on helium and sing the Rubber Ducky song! We had a billion helium balloons all over the house, but these were no ordinary balloons. No- someone got the bright idea when they designed these specific balloons to add a little flap at the nozzle so that one can poke a regular straw in and conveniently suck out the helium gas  So we passed around the balloons and straws and all took one big synchronized whoosh of the gas... and then sang the Sesame Street Rubber Ducky song- you know, "Rubber ducky you're the one- You make bathtime so much fun! Rubber Ducky I'm awfully fond of youuuuuu!!!" I think we spent more time laughing than actually singing though.

After everyone had left we had a few people hang around and help clean up, and then Justin came by to help load all the booty into the Jeep. It all fit, but just barely! I left about a half hour after he did, and by the time I got home he had gone around to all our electrical outlets and put the plug covers in, and assembled two things (play gym and bouncer), AND ripped open one of the gift baskets to play with the mini Tee-Ball set (mind you, this is only 4 inches high and the bat is 5 inches long at most). An hour later we had everything else assembled and put away! Fun fun fun. Oh! And this week we also got our changing table and crib, so he's been in heaven assembling all this fun stuff. I offer to help, but he's the engineer so I was getting in the way more than anything.

So... check out the picture page, and check back in a day or two for another "regular" weekly post!

Lately it seems like time is standing still. Every day makes us closer to this child's arrival, but it still seems sooooooo far away. Maybe it's the frustration with the anticipation, or maybe I'm just starting to get super-hormonal, but lately things have REALLY been irritating me!!!! Every time I meet a new employee at work I apologize up front and say, "I'm really a nice person, really I'm not usually like this- it's just that pregnancy makes me so much less tolerant of all the idiots out there!!!" Everyone knows I'm [half] joking.  To keep everyone on the same page, here is a list of current pet peeves. Disclaimer: This list is by no means exhaustive, and it also happens to change every other hour...

1. People who CAN'T DRIVE!!! Whether they're going 10 under the speed limit, turning without using their signal, or just having absolutely no clue--- one of these days I'm going to have a coronary while driving the 5 miles to and/or from work.

2. Dishes in the sink. We have a perfectly good (although terribly designed) dishwasher, and unless it's just run a clean cycle and hasn't been emptied of clean dishes yet, there is NO REASON to leave a plate or glass in the sink. Seriously.

3. The KFC "Sauceless Hotwings" commercial. Cheesy, overplayed, and all around annoying.

4. Funny comedians on comedy central who ruin their act by swearing. Just when you think you found a clean act, they let one fly.

5. My husband's obsession with turning off ALL the lights in the house when we're in the basement. I don't think it's honestly going to break the bank to leave one little light on so that when I have to run upstairs to use the bathroom/let the dogs out/get a snack I don't trip over or run into anything and everything in the hallway at the top of the stairs just to find a light switch. And to make it worse- he will decide he's going to go do something upstairs but leave the TV on, and I'll find it half an hour later with no one watching. RRrrrrRRR!! But whatever.

6. Bangs that just barely won't tuck behind my ear. I'm trying to grow them all the way out again to make things easier for when the baby comes, and even though the rest of my hair is growing like a weed, these few strands around my face get to a certain point and stop.

7. Dogs (read: ours) who go psycho-crazy every time they hear the dang doorbell. One out of 25 times it's actually our doorbell that rings. The other 24 times it's the TV. No matter how many times we scold and spank, they just don't get it and I'm getting plain sick of it. Hopefully Baby is getting used to all the barking now so it won't wake him every time.

8. Dust bunnies and leaf pieces. Both seem to collect in our kitchen area (we have hardwood floors) and I finally went out an bought a handheld dustbuster for quick cleanups so I wouldn't have to haul out the vacuum every 10 minutes.

9. Rude customers. Really, there's no need. Just be nice and we'll be nice back.

Ok now for some happy things!

We finally ordered baby furniture!!! We broke down and bought our crib, changing table, and changing pad from our baby registry. We received the changing pad in 2 days, and the changing table has shipped (but as of press time had not yet arrived)- and the crib hasn't shipped yet. We ordered all 3 on Tuesday of last week and all were in stock, meaning shipment within 5-7 business days. I figure we should have the crib by the middle of next week at the latest. I'm pretty excited about the furniture. The changing table has 3 drawers so it can double as a dresser, then there's an open shelf directly below the baby for handy access to diapers, wipes, etc. Click here for the picture and description.

Our crib is especially cool- it's one of those 4-in-1 things that "grow with your child." Most of the ones in the store that were "transitional" didn't have drop sides, and that was something that was really important to us. Then the ones that did have adjustable sides had 2 releases (one on each end), which didn't seem very parent-friendly. Luckily, I stumbled on this one (even in our price range!) that had a one-handed drop release!!!! It also comes with a trundle drawer where we can keep extra blankets, etc. Very nice. Click here for a picture and description. Now all we need is the mattress and bedding (both on our registry) and we'll be all set! We also have a tiny bookshelf and a floor lamp already. Funny story- we had these horrid custom-built-in bookshelves in our den that we ripped out before we painted. Instead of just dumping the wood we gave it to a craftsman from Justin's parents' church, who then took part of it and made us a little bookshelf for the baby! How sweet!!! And instead of getting a glider rocking chair, we're going to use one of the Lay-Z-Boy recliners that we already have.

Another fun thing: My friend Kristen (the same one who helped me survive the registering process) came down to visit yesterday and of course we had to go shopping! FYI Express is having a great sale- I spent $20 and walked out with 5 great tops. On the way to the food court for Frulatti's (I recommend the blueberry-pineapple, she recommends the strawberry-peach-banana) we passed Gap and (I'm not sure why I never realized this before) discovered the Baby Gap attached to it! We went in and I found THE most cutest shirt EVER!  It's basically a faux-layered shirt, mostly white with blue and white striped sleeves, but it says "Captain Adorable" on the front! Aaaaahhh!!!!! I about died when I saw it! To clue in those of you who are clueless- everything to Justin is "captain this" and "captain that." Examples: Captain Ridiculous, Captain Lazypants, Captain Preggo, etc. (not always in reference to me, of course). And it was 50% off which made it even more attractive. Then they also had just a plain tee with "Baby Gap" written on it that was on one of their manequins so it was $1.99. People keep telling me to wait until after my shower to buy him clothes, but I can't HELP myself!!! There are just too many cute little boy outfits out there.

LLSLB:

1. The "nesting" phase has begun in full force. Our house has never been cleaner or more organized, I'm sure. Every weekend I write out a to-do list and we blow through most of it on Fridays when I don't work, and then spend the rest of the week doing the rest. Things are really starting to shape up!

2. I only have a few more weeks of work (meaning, paycheck) left! Eeek! I'm taking the full 12 FMLA weeks off (starting Feb. 28th), but I'm honestly not sure if I'll go back to work. If I do it's going to be super part time (like 2 days a week). I'm trying to cut back on unnecessary spending to get used to the change in income, but somehow that gets counter-balanced by Justin spending $1000+ on remodeling the basement... he had to do it right now WHY?

3. I'm starting to look very very pregnant. And that means I'm noticing new weight gain in non-belly areas. I didn't mind gaining weight when it meant the "baby area" was getting bigger, but it's so hard to watch my thighs and rear end balloon up like a circus tent, especially when I've been making an extra-special effort lately to eat healthy in preparation for the birth.

4. I think this is part of the nesting instinct kicking in, but I'm not as tired during the day anymore. The second I get home from work I'm busy doing little things around the house. I barely realize I've skipped my naptime until 10pm when I get tired and ready for bed anyway. Once or twice a week I'll take a quick half-hour snooze in the afternoon, but it's nothing like the 3-4 hour sessions of serious unconsciousness I used to experience.

Our shower is this Saturday, and our next doctor's appointment is Monday the 4th, so look for one or two new posts next weekend!

I've had a lot of people ask where we are registered. The answer is: Babies R Us! And to go one step further- below is the link to the online version

Here it is!

Except that this past week the emotional part of pregnancy hasn't exactly been sweet. I've been pretty "normal" these past 33 weeks (per Justin)... except for week 33 itself. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it was like all of a sudden I woke up Monday morning and a switch flipped in my body that made me fall to pieces all week long.

Part of the problem is that I haven't been sleeping very well for the past month or so, ever since I got too big to sleep comfortably on my back (I'm a back sleeper, so this has been really hard). Combine the increasing size of my belly with its pressure on my bladder, plus changing from hot to cold every 10 seconds-- and the result is a pregnant lady who can't sleep more than 2 hours straight at night. On the plus side I guess this is good practice for when Baby arrives and I'll be getting up every two hours for a different reason... Needless to say, I've been working for two different managers (even though it's only 20 hours a week it's more work than it sounds), plus taking care of a new house, PLUS trying to recover from the holidays and get ready for a baby all at the same time. I think I was holding out just a little too long, and then everything came crashing down. Another problem: I didn't realize it, but I was really eating properly for the past week or so because of feeling queasy around dinner time again. Lack of sleep + lack of nutrition = problems.

I even made it almost all week without blowing up! And then Thursday happened. I love my husband more than anyone else in the world, but he made the wrong comment at the wrong time, and apparently I lost it. It all started with him wanting to order a sippy cup online, and I said we should wait a couple months instead of spending the money now (it was a pricey sippy cup in my mind, mind you) since Baby wouldn't be able to use it for a while. He didn't understand that babies can't even grasp things physically with their hands for several months! I think I overreacted- no, I know I overreacted- and things got out of control. I started lamenting about how I was the only one getting things ready for this baby, and doing "research" on what having a baby was like, and I felt like I was the only one of us who cared enough to try and figure out what to expect with this huge life change. Obviously I am NOT the only one in the house who cares (for the record, I think Justin will be an AMAZING father!), but he doesn't realize how much he DOESN'T know. And he, being the more low-key of the two of us, doesn't feel as much need to be mentally prepared as I do.

Long story short, we fought for an hour (me crying most of the time, which only makes things worse, but I couldn't STOP!) until I started sobbing uncontrollably and practically hyperventilating. The weird thing was, the harder I tried to calm myself down (Justin was trying at this point too), the more emotionally unstable I seemed to get. This only frustrated me more, which made me cry even harder. I thought my eyes were going to be permanently swollen shut. When I finally calmed down enough to see straight, Justin had to leave for basketball practice. I got a drink of water and tried to eat some food without gagging, but every 10 seconds I would start tearing up again, for no apparent reason! So I turned on the TV, but every other commercial would spark another cry-fest, and soon I had finished off a box of Kleenex.

The rest of the evening is mostly a blur (mentally and physically- eyes being swollen shut and all), but somehow I got a semi-good night's sleep and woke up Friday morning ready to attack my to-do list for the weekend. Another switch flipped- I went from depressed to manic and cleaned the WHOLE house in 4 hours. Bathrooms were scrubbed, laundry done (washed, folded AND put away!), wood floors swept and mopped, and all carpets vacuumed except for the basement. Even though the house was clean, I was now exhausted all over again, and that night when I tried to make dinner and the ham didn't cook well enough, I burst into tears all over again. Sheesh. Ever feel like you just... can't... win???

The good news: Once I got it all out of my system, things seem to have returned back to normal. It's the weirdest thing- guys just don't get it. Girls can get it to a certain extent since we're more emotional beings anyway, but you can only TRULY understand if you've been pregnant. There is NO control over your emotions sometimes, and then 10 minutes later it can be like nothing happened. I'd read about it in the pregnancy books and magazines, but until you experience it you won't truly understand how hard it can be.

LLSLB

1. Around week 32 is when you start feeling "fat" pregnant. Keeping to an exercise program and healthy diet certainly helps, but there's something about looking in the mirror at the 30+ extra pounds and just feeling yucky.

2. McDonald's sweet tea can be added to the list of cravings. The problem there is that the past few times I've gone, I've tacked on a double cheeseburger to my order so I don't feel so weird about going through the drive-thru for a $1 drink. Fries taste soooooo good after not having them for literally 6 months!!!

3. I've been really disciplined about what I eat this whole pregnancy. A lot of women (think Britney Spears) use pregnancy as an excuse to pig out and cave in to all their junk food cravings. I kind of went off the deep opposite end and really didn't allow myself anything except for healthy fare. When I told my mom that the doctor said I would probably have a small baby, her solution was for me to eat an extra dessert once a week or something to get more sugar in my system. I thought for a minute, then realized I hadn't actually HAD dessert (except for Thanksgiving pie- 1 piece- and a few Christmas cookies) for months! It was weird.

4. Lastly, I'm starting to have dreams about life after the birth. Up until now it's been mostly fantasy about when the baby comes, or the last weeks of pregnancy leading up to the birth, but now I have extremely realistic dreams about having a baby! It's been kind of fun. The only thing is, it's like those dreams where you know who a person is, but never see the face. I know it's my baby in the dreams, but I don't ever actually get a good physical picture of him. I wonder what he'll look like