One Last Post

Happy New Year! Unfortunately, this is the only baby you'll be seeing around these parts tonight. I'm  99.9% sure I'm going to cap off 2011 still pregnant and just 6 days shy of my due date. I'm not grossly uncomfortable, but I have resorted to a sloth-like state. E has a snowboarding trip at school this week, and he has promised me a trip to the Cheesecake Factory if we make it to my due date on Thursday.

I am not opposed to bribery. I can only hope my offspring feels the same. 

Plus it's not too bad doing nothing all day! And making plans for no farther than 24 hours in advance. So far today I've slept in, re-discovered Minesweeper on my iPhone (a horrible, horrible game), watched How I Met Your Mother and an episode of One Born Every Minute (there are some screaming crazy pregnant ladies on that show) and spent some quality time with my new toy:

Yup, I bought myself a Kindle Touch last week. It only took three days of indecision. I've got leftover Amazon gift card money to buy books with it, so expect those in about three more indecisive weeks.

I also ate some sandwiches. The urge to cook has left me. As has the urge to wear real-people jeans and put on makeup. It's a shame I don't go out more actually.

Some highlights of this year:

- A promotion - yay!

- Going on my first real business trip and not dying.

- Trips to New York.

- Expanding my watch collection with no shame.

- A long and leisurely vacation to Alaska. I miss the waffles. 

- A great Thanksgiving spent with family and friends.

- And of course, baking a baby.

I can only imagine the craziness next year will bring. Or perhaps next week?

Merry Christmas

Here's hoping everyone has a warm and cozy Christmas.

Kicked off the day with a great online sale at the Children's Place. Junior got his winter coat for next year for 50 dollars off!

It's been a very low-key weekend for us. I no longer have overtime from work to do, and Friday was my last day in-office. With less than two weeks until my due date, we're sticking close to home for the first time in my 26 years of existence. It feels bittersweet. I think we'll have double the joy/traveling craziness next year though (note to self: do not have another late December/January baby).

On Christmas Eve I spent some time cleaning the house and prepping for dinner tonight. We had an 8 lb ham (the smallest one I could find), E's mom's famous sausage stuffing, taters, green beans, and soon we shall devour some chocolate lava cake for dessert. Can you guess what part excites me the most? Chocolate baby! We also spent a good amount of time watching How I Met Your Mother episodes on Netflix today and saw the latest Mission Impossible movie. It's so weird to think it'll be our last time in a movie theater for a long time. I am appreciative that the baby let us see Tom Cruise do his famous running-man scene.

E woke me up at 7:30 this morning and we gave each other our presents. He got a nice iPhone speaker dock for me and I got him a couple of sweaters from Macy's, a Detroit Lions lunchbox, and a Burton iPhone case, which he promptly put to use. Tomorrow we have an oil change for my car and then I'm hoping to snag a trip to the mall. Got to stock up on shampoo for next year!

Black Friday Deals

Whoops I forgot to post about my Black Friday finds! One of my favorite days of the year. My advice? Check sites like bfads.net ahead of time and buy the stuff you really want online. That way, you can take it easy and browse the good-but-not-incredibly-crucial sales on the actual day. We squeezed in a good breakfast with friends at 5:30 AM and went shopping from 6:30-8:30. Most of the crazies were gone by then but the sales were still plentiful. Then I hit up the mall later and got rear-ended by a big truck...but all turned out well in the end!

Small, but substantial haul this year:

 A coat for less than 60 dollars that I can wear now and when I return to normal-people size? Sign me up. It looks even cuter in person.

Finally caved and bought a Keurig machine for 125 dollars. My future soon-to-be-sleep-deprived self already thanks me.

All the seasons of Gilmore Girls on Amazon for less than 10 dollars a piece! E was quite thrilled with this one. (Side note: Am I the only person who found this show horribly annoying at first, and then became obsessed with it?).

Christmas Gift Idea

E, in a reverent and passionate whisper, "I need this. Get me a banana stand and I'll put my headphones on it!"

In a Nutshell

It's hard to believe I've gone from here:

 10 weeks. Uh, I never thought of myself as skinny then but I sure do now!

To here:

Taken a couple weeks ago at 33 weeks. The bump has dropped a little since then!

In 5 months! I've gained around 21 pounds, and thankfully not too much of the dreaded face fat *knock on wood. My wedding rings still fit too. This whole pregnancy has been pretty darn easy considering the horror stories I've heard and I hope I never stop feeling blessed for that. Lately I think I've shifted into the "I'll be pregnant forever" mindset. The thought that this baby is going to be making an appearance in just about a month sounds foreign to me. I've even made peace with the pregnant lady waddle.

Jamie, last night - "You're starting to waddle a little I see!"
Me, assuredly - "Yup!"


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at home (minus the uncomfortable 14-hour car ride) with family and friends. We also had a gorgeous baby shower where I got to see Anthony attempt to go pro at the drinking-apple-juice-from-a-baby-bottle game. The people in our lives have been way too generous to us. Last Friday I had a surprise baby shower at work and it was so flattering to see how much people cared. I also ate a whole cupcake (note the pride). It's all happening so fast though! I've been nesting all weekend and racing to get the last of the nursery stuff washed and put away. The little room is full to the brim but it surprisingly doesn't look too bad.

I'm going to start on my overnight bag tonight and am planning on doing some freezer meals next weekend. If we make it to our due date in January, I've decided we should go out for a carb-busting Italian dinner in Providence (they make great Italian food there on account of all the mobsters). I also even managed to squeeze in some Christmas shopping and work over the weekend. My hips are sore and I've started waking up at 3 in the morning again for the bathroom, but it's not too bad (I'll be pregnant forever, remember?).

I think there's ice cream calling my name...