Snowed In

Let me start off by saying i really like this weather. The snow is so beautiful, it makes everything look fresh out of the wash clean and silences the entire city. The down side is that I haven't left the house since Wednesday and I'm starting to LOSE IT! I believe Seattle's DOT has given up on plowing West Seattle roads as they are still mounds of snow and ice and therefore i am not driving in it. I think I'm a pretty good driver in the snow really but it's the fear of someone else who is not hitting me that keeps me in the house.

So I've been working from home, being extremely productive getting everything done and trying to stay busy. But all this time in one place has given me way too much time to think about things and worry. When is he going to come? Is it going to be today? So i find myself acutely aware of what my body is doing and wondering "is this it" at every single pinch and throb? Who knows but here is what we've been up to in these last few days...

We prepared for Christmas by hanging our stockings and baking cookies

and we played in the snow

Snow Day!

I know most people post pictures of their kids dressed in 10 layers playing in the snow but i figured for our last year sans child we would let our exclusively indoor cats venture outside so we could take cute pictures of them. Cortez was curious although not very happy about the coldness of the snow...

Mavis only made it about 3 steps out the door before heading back in. I don't blame her...it's freezing outside!

Nursery Complete...Almost

Many of you are aware that we have been working on this nursery since about the week after we found out we were pregnant. The main problem being that we were actually sleeping in the room that was to become our nursery and we needed to create another room for us to move into. So the master suite project began. We converted the former man cave (sorry Pat!) into what will one day be a full master suite complete with a second bathroom and a closed in walk in closet...oh i can picture it now! For now it's a room with an open walk in closet and no bath.

Here is the process...

Step one: remove the horrible paneling and ceiling tiles which were both hung incorrectly.

Step Two: install more outlets and better electrical.

Step Three: Put up new (mildew/mold resistant) drywall

Step Four: Add trim and Paint

Who would have thought that this process would take almost 9 months to complete? But we made it we moved out just before Thanksgiving which put us (and by us I mean Pat as I am too big to be lifting/moving/painting) into high gear to get the nursery done. So i am happy to say that the nursery is complete...minus a few touch ups on the paint (note the can of paint in the picture below as a reminder). Here it is...

And a close up of my favorite part...the crib
I would like to thank everyone who made this room possible. The fine people of craigslist that helped make my espresso baby furniture dream come true, Michael Clingman and Crew for helping Pat when he got in way over his head on the construction piece, Emily for generously loaning me her baby neccessities, my mom for helping me organize, reorganize and organize again. But most of all Pat for putting up with month and months of me pushing him to get this project done so that i could finally get to my maternal rite to nest.

Best Baby Shower Ever Part II

Sorry no posts lately...it's been a busy week! I had my work shower on Wednesday, hosted by my coworkers Julie and Rachelle. We played shower games including the dreaded "measure the belly with string" game. Fortunately, everyone cut theirs way too big proving my point that i look bigger then i really am...is this a good thing? We also had the very best cake ever, it was coconut creme and is my new favorite thing. Picture included here...

The picture above was taken at the shower and therefore is my most recent pic (35 weeks exactly here).

Also this week was my doctors appointment (although i will be going every week from now on) and she said i am already dilating and he is very very low. This isn't a huge shock to me as i have been having contractions for the last 2 weeks or so and would actually be pretty disappointed if they hadn't progressed to SOMETHING! My doctor said she didn't think i would make it the entire 40 weeks and that he could be coming this month. This Wednesday (December 17) I will be full term so i am happy to go anytime after that. So stay glued to the blog as i will be updating it with all the latest happenings.

I Figured it Out!

Here is the picture from yesterday's ultraound. It's not the best quality but you get the idea!

Ultrasound Report

Today Pat and I were able to take a rare look into our little man's world with our 3rd trimester ultrasound. The last time we saw him was almost 3 months ago at 19 weeks. As soon as we got settled and all jellied up I had them verify that he was still a boy. This was just to ease my paranoid sense that as soon as i wash all these blue baby clothes that we will find out that oops, it's a girl! The technician was quickly able to identify all the bits and pieces that make a boy...phew!
Then we took a look at his profile. At the last ultrasound he was being a bit shy and hiding his face behind my hip bone. But he really came out of his shell today and let us watch him open and close his mouth, blink and then kick himself in the head. He has hair already and big chubby cheeks. They didn't give me much info about his size as they will leave that to my doctor to talk to me about but i can already tell that he has daddy's features including his head circumference. He was super cute though and being quite playful, kicking and smacking the ultrasound wand whenever it got close. If i can figure out how to get a clear picture of him i will post it soon. But in the meantime he told me to tell everyone Hi!

Best Shower Ever!

So my lovely sisters Emily and Bettilyn threw me my very first baby shower last weekend and I had such a great time. There were lots of family and friends over to celebrate the impending birth of this little guy and eat a sampling of my favorite things. There was Swedish meat balls, cheese platters, plenty of fruit and 2 kinds of cheesecake...truly a pregnant woman's heaven. Here is the spread:

Thank you everyone that was able to come up/down/over for the best shower ever! If you missed out, sorry there is no more cheesecake.

Poor Jason!

So let me start off by saying no one was hurt in this accident! Pat got into a little fender bender this week on his way to work. He ran into a Volvo which suffered very little damage, unfortunately our poor Jason took the brunt of it! Pat bought this car when we first met, over 7 years ago and in that time has suffered many times: 8 break ins, 3 acts of vandalism and many do it yourself car repair projects. Through it all he was nothing but reliable, never giving up and always ready to go on the next road trip. We aren't sure if he is salvageable but we are going to try, hopefully this incident will be just another bump in the road for our dear Jason.

PS- We have a tendency to name our belongings and Jason received his name after his first break in. Think of all the Jason's you know, they are great friends, adventurous and always ready to go out on a Friday night but attracts way too much trouble that usually takes you down too...don't lie to yourself, you know it's true!

In The Beginning

It was a goal of mine to start a blog to chronicle this pregnancy and beyond so I could share the progress with friends and family. Now that I am in the third trimester I figured I have procrastinated long enough. So here is my very first blog post, complete with a belly shot (taken almost a month ago so just imagine the belly a little bigger) and family pictures. Here are a few of my favorite family pictures.

Pat with baby Mavis. Every so often she tries to get into this position again but being fully grown and almost 15 pounds it has become mush more difficult. Mostly for us, she seems very content to make us suffer.

Cortez, climbing the curtains. Although he has never climbed them since this day, he still has a strange fascination with being up high and into everything! But when he is sleepy he is the best cuddler so i can't stay mad at him for long.