32 weeks... Almost

On Thursday I will be 32 weeks pregnant. Although I was sick at first, I think I am one of the lucky ones who has had a pretty easy pregnancy, so far. Lately I have been getting a bit more uncomfortable:
My stomach cramps all the time (and yes I drink plenty of water)
My back aches after sitting at work all day
It's hard to breathe
My restless leg syndrome is out of control
It's impossible to get a decent night's sleep

Now, I want to make it clear that I am NOT complaining, because I love being pregnant (honestly), and I feel SO incredibly blessed to be having a baby. But I will say I won't miss this paticular part of pregnancy.

I now also realize I should have finished the nursery a month ago. I have been so busy with painting and craigslisting every night, and all I want to do is rest.
I am getting even more nervous about labor.
I am excited for my shower in LA this weekend.
I am excited that Heidi is 38 weeks and will be having little Ryder any day!!
I am so curious to see what little James' face looks like.
I can't wait for my Mom, sister, and grandparents to visit.
I am really looking forward to maternity leave.
I haven't taken any belly shots because Sam is always studying so we never get to do anything anymore :-( so we never take photos...

Lots of random thoughts I know, but I thought you may want an update.

Crib, check!

A month ago Sam and I purchased a really great crib, actually my Mom bought the crib but we picked it out and brought it home.
The crib is so cute, the only issue was the color. It was that almost white wood color and I am not a fan. I couldn't decide what color to paint it and then I found this cute photo of a nursery where the furniture was all grey and I loved it. With the help of Sam and Ambyr, who both have a better eye for color than I, we selected the perfect Grey color I like to refer to as Anony-Mouse which isn't the real name but seemed much more fitting that the actual name,Anonymous, given the grey mouse-like color.
I primed the crib with Gripper a couple of weeks ago (and of course forgot to take before photos darn it) and I painted the crib today. It took me all day to paint, even with the use of my fancy new paint sprayer. Side note, I do not recommend painting a crib. It's was LOT more work than I thought and although I love it now, I wouldn't want to do it again.
Anyway here is the final product:



The nursery is still a work in progress but knowing if the baby came early (which hopefully won't happen) we'd have somewhere for him to sleep makes me feel good. It also makes the birth seem more imminent...
Now the question is, do I paint the walls? If so, what color...

Art project

My sister Ambyr has generously bestowed A LOT of her baby things to me. Some temporary, some for keeps. She was kind enough to give me her "like new" bumpers, crib bedding, valences, rug, and bed skirt. They are all in the Pottery Barn "Farmyard Friends" theme, and very cute. She also gave me things called wallies which match the Farmyard Friends theme; they are cute little woofs, peeps, oinks, and moos that you can paste to your walls. Since I'm not sure I should stick things to the walls I decided to frame them. I found 3 frames, for $3 at Tuesday Morning. They had a whole "Cow Jumped Over the Moon" scene painted on them, so I painted over the scene with white acrylic paint. Then I pasted the wallies on to the frames and voila!

Love him

Baby sling deal

http://dealnews.com/Seven-Slings-Baby-Slings-for-free-12-s-h/390961.html
Go get one, I did.

Resemblance

Is it me or does my muffin:


Resemble this muffin:

(This is our nephew Graham, on Sam's side.)

Don't even get me started on James' lips!
How will I keep the girls away?

Lambert

Remember how I LOVED Alex Lambert from American Idol? Somehow I found a show on Hulu called "If I Can Dream". It's produced by Simon Fuller (Same guy as Idol) and it is about aspiring stars working to get into show biz. Apparently after Alex was prematurely kicked off of Idol some smarty started a petition to get Alex back on Idol (yes I signed it) and it turned into a big deal and all these celebs were involved or something I don't really know but a lot of people were really mad about it. Instead of putting Alex back on Idol Simon Fulled put Alex on this show.

I watch the show and it's an okay show but what I am really excited about is that I think it means Alex is going to be big time some day. Like have a CD and all that. I can't wait.

A little sample of why I think he's such a great singer:

Arizona it is...

You know when something you really really want that is just too good to be true seems like it might just work out?
For Sam's 3rd year of medical school he had an option to rotate for an entire year in California. Oh I was all ready planning the trips to the beach, Burlingame, Fairfield, Fremont... Of course.
Back to the rotation situation. Most students want to stay in Arizona because they don't want to move. Well, there are more students than rotation slots so you have to enter a lottery to see if you get to stay in Arizona. You have about a 70% chance of getting into the rotation. I was hoping against hope that we would be the 30% that "had" to go to CA.
No such luck.
I am stuck in Arizona for at least another year and nine months.
It isn't that bad. But I do miss my family. And my friends. And the beach. And the weather.
Sam is thrilled, the rotations here are more established and supposedly will be better for his career so of course I am all for that. But man I miss California.

This just happened

I was brave enough to wear some regular jeans today as opposed to maternity. They fit fine this morning.
After lunch I got to my desk to sit down and the button was killing me. A bit too much pasta maybe. Naturally I unbuttoned my top button. Who cares? I sit at a desk all day. Until a buyer, Steve, asked me to come to his office to discuss an issue. About 20 minutes into the conversation (I had been standing the entire time, Steve sitting) I realized my top jeans button was still unbuttoned. I was holding a binder which I used to cover myself for the rest of the discussion but I am almost sure it was too late. So embarrasing. I'll stick to elastic waist bands from now on.

Only one way out...

I've been thinking about having a baby lately. Not having one here in the house but the actual act of having a baby. It scares me. A lot. I get that women have been birthing babies forever and the way we do it now is cake compared to our fore-mothers. But it's still scary to think about.
I'm really relieved Sam, Ambyr, and my Mom will be there for me because I'll sure need them. It seems like the closer my due date, the more real it becomes. I was lucky enough to be there for my nephew Luke's birth so I have an idea of what to expect; But I am more than aware that actually being the one in labor, having the baby, will be a completely different experience.
To calm my nerves I am working on a playlist for the big day. Sadly there aren't many mother-son songs but there are plenty of others, namely Justin Bieber's "Baby, Baby, Baby". Don't judge. I am sure there will be plenty of Beatles, Beach Boys, Elton John, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, etc... on there so we'll balance the auto-toned pop music out with real talent.

I am sure I have posted the photo below on my blog before but this photo captures the very moment I realized I wanted to become a mom and it makes me really excited for my little man to be here to kiss and cuddle.

Pain in the Back

Sam and I bought a crib and glider on craigslist this weekend.
I'm so happy about it and I love them both AND we got an amazing deal.
I decided to paint the crib white, so I started yesterday by priming it with Gripper which is this amazing sticky primer that allows you to paint without sanding.
While I was priming the crib I was sitting in a funny position, the necessary way, when painting while sitting on the ground 7.5 months pregnant...
Out of nowhere my back went into spasm and I was stuck on the floor.
Luckily while frozen in position I finished priming the crib but I have been in agony ever since.
I have all kinds of back spasm medications, but again when 7.5 months pregnant, there's really nothing you can take.
I couldn't go in to work today because the only position that is comfortable is laying down.
I called my OB but they said to go to the ER, which it the LAST thing I want to do.
I am sure they would give me shots of muscle relaxers in my back but I don't think I want to have that... Considering baby.
So here I lay, on my couch, unable to move, all alone.
Hopefully I will have a miraculous recovery by tomorrow.

Sam's Blog

So far Sam has refused to contribute to "our" blog. I'm hoping maybe he'll blog when the baby comes but I won't hold my breath. Last night however, he decided to create his own blog. It keeps him laughing all day, and he couldn't believe the domain name wasn't already taken:
http://freeoncraigslist.blogspot.com/

7 months pregnant

I am officially 7 months pregnant today.

Currently:
I crave milk, constantly.
I have restless leg syndrome like never before.
I have gained 13lbs.
My little man wiggles and hiccups and kicks and moves ALL the time.
If I rest my hand on my tummy he will kick my hand, it's how we communicate.
I have to use the bathroom every 10-20 minutes.
I am SO excited for the 3D ultrasound on September 21st.
I am trying to decide what to do with the nursery.
I feel like the luckiest mama in the world because my boy and I are healthy.
I love my husband SO much, and I miss him (recently lost him to the library).
I am already dreading going back to work after the baby comes.
I use Mama Bee each night, and recently found it doesn't work :(
I love Mad Men.
I am obsessed with finding the perfect bathroom decor but can''t find a single shower curtain I love.
I've been listening to the Beatles everyday.
I'm SO excited for our baby shower in 4 weeks.
I'm even more excited that my mom and sister will be here for the birth, and that my grandparents will be here shortly after.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.