You know you're getting big when...

Spring has arrived here in Virginia. The forsythia are blooming and there are all sorts of daffodils & other spring flowers popping up. Friday was a beautiful day and my friend Kristen brought Savannah over for a walk and a quick shopping trip. We went for a walk around my new neighborhood and then headed over to Target & Carters. Once our shopping was done, we got back in the car to head home. As I was sitting down in the car, my pants decided that they had had enough. RRRIIIIIPPPPPPPPPP! They split right down the front of the left leg. I'm not talking a small rip either. I'm talking from the hip to the knees! I've never had a pair of pants do that before! Now, in all fairness to the pants, they have been getting a pretty tough workout. I've had them since about 24 weeks and they've been my only pants so they've been worn every day (except for the days that they are allowed to rest because I'm too lazy to get dressed and instead wear my sleep pants around the house all day). I had been hoping that I could get through the end of my pregnancy without buying another pair of pants and thanks to my sister in law, Carly, I can! She brought me down some clothes when they were here last weekend and one pair of jeans actually fits me quite well. Carly, I've never been more thankful for your generosity than on Friday afternoon. :)

Today, we came home from being out and about and found a package at our door. Don't you love getting packages?! Packages that are too big to put in your mailbox so they have to leave them by the door are the best. They make you happy even though you don't know who they're from! This one happened to be from a dear friend of the family, Jean Giordano. She and her husband, Sam, were close friends of my nana and papa and are basically family. We opened up the package to find the most beautiful, hand knit blanket that Jean had made for Joshua. It's soft, and blue, and will be perfect to wrap him up in when he comes home from the hospital. He loves it already...see?

Now that I can....I don't want to!

We are all moved in to our new place thanks to my wonderful, supportive, willing to drive 8 hours to help us move heavy furniture in-laws. Randy, Stephanie, Brian, Carly, we could not have done it without you...thank you again and again!!!! We can't forget Timothy's contribution either. He provided smiles and giggles and cuddles when they were needed most. So now that we're all moved in, I can finally get organized and nest. The thing is, now that I can...I don't want to. That time has passed for me. Now, I want to sleep & rest & relax because we all know that won't happen anymore in a few weeks! I'm waiting on that final burst of energy everyone says comes at the end, but it's nowhere in sight. So for now, we'll be living among the boxes & chaos that comes with a new move.

On a baby note, Joshua is considered full term this week. Yay! At my last appointment, the doctor estimated he's about six pounds and she says that he won't be too big as long as he doesn't go too far past his due date. That was music to my ears! He seems to be perfectly content where he is has made no effort to move to the outside world. My doctor says that my due date is most likely quite accurate, so we've given up hope that he might be early. I'm not upset that he probably won't be early. I'm still sleeping through the night and I'm treasuring those long, sleep filled nights. I won't rush giving them up! Plus, it gives Ben & I a little more 'just the two of us' time. Not to mention...who wants to rush labor & delivery?! Not me! :)

Definition

Full (adj): containing or seeming to contain the greatest quantity or number possible
Synonyms: brimming, bursting, chock-full (or chockful), crammed, crowded, filled, jammed, jam-packed, loaded, packed, stuffed

While I know that Merriam & Webster were not thinking of how a woman 35 weeks into pregnancy feels when they defined the word 'full', it really is an accurate description! :) To see how accurate, check out this website - http://www.pennhealth.com/health_info/pregnancy/000088.htm. It's a cross section drawing of the body that shows the changes that a body goes through to accomodate pregnancy. It's incredible and frightening at the same time. I should note that it's obviously a woman and she's not wearing a top. It's nothing more than you'd see during a 'wardrobe malfunction' during a superbowl halftime show, but I figured I should warn you all the same. :) I don't even notice that part really...my attention goes directly to the poor lungs & stomach. Yikes!

Tomorrow, I will be 35 weeks pregnant and although I'm sure that there's no possible way Josh can get any bigger than he is now (there's just NO MORE ROOM!), I've been told repeatedly that oh yes, hahaha, I will get bigger. I have no complaints (other than the few really, unbelievably, incredibly painful kicks & punches that take my breath away...those really hurt!) about being pregnant. This pregnancy has been so smooth & uneventful...both Ben & I are so thankful. Joshua's arrival in 5 weeks (or so) seems so far away and so close at the same time and while I'm excited to meet him & share him with all of you, I am feeling a bit sad that he won't be all mine anymore. Right now, I know he's safe and warm and is getting everything he needs. I don't have to worry that much about him. In a few weeks, he'll be in a world that is cold and loud and bright and strange and mean, and the worrying will never stop. This being a mother thing is rough! Of course, all the worrying about worrying is really tempered by the fact that I get to see my husband become a father. He's so excited! I can't wait to see him hold his son. :)

The celebration cannoli

Tonight, we signed our new lease! Who would've thought we both would've been so happy to move?! We're both really excited to move into our new place for many, many reasons. The full size washer & dryer, the two fireplaces and the huge bedrooms are only a few of the perks. Personally, the thing I'm most excited about is the fact that there is a bathroom on EVERY FLOOR!!! A little thing for some, a very important thing to pregnant women. Back to business...after leaving our new place, Ben suggested that we celebrate. Since champagne isn't an option, we dropped by Don Corleones Brick Oven Pizza to pick up one of our favorite treats....cannoli! Unfortunately, they were all out of the traditional ricotta filled ones, but they had something even better. CHOCOLATE ricotta filled cannoli!!!! Can you hear the angels singing? I sure did as I was eating mine!!!Joshua definitely enjoyed the cannoli too. He's a big fan of anything sweet though. :) No question about it. He is his father's son!

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands...

If there were sound on this blog, you'd be hearing constant applause! We are so, so, so happy...we found a new place to live!!!!! It is a beautiful townhome only a few miles from where we are now. We both fell in love with it as soon as we walked in. The first floor is the garage, powder room, laundry room, den with a fireplace & sliding glass door leading to a fenced in patio. The second floor is another powder room, living room, kitchen & dining room (with another fireplace) and a breakfast nook/sunroom with a sliding glass door leading to a deck overlooking the fenced patio. Third floor is the master bedroom with two walk in closets and a jacuzzi bath & standing shower in the bathroom and a second bedroom with a full bath. So we will now have two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two half baths! Holy moly! There are hardwood floors throughout, new carpet & granite countertops. The best part? We'll be paying significantly less in rent each month! We are so thankful!! We're going to sign our new lease (a 24 month lease!) tonight. I'll post pictures as soon as I can and we'll be sending out an email with our new address as well. We'll be moving in on March 8...yippee!!!!!!!!!!

Another baby brain moment...

Sunday at church I went with Savannah's mommy, Kristen, to pick up Savannah from the nursery. The ladies in the nursery were just falling all over themselves to let Kristen know how wonderful Savannah was and how beautiful she was. Then I heard one of them ask, "so when are you due?". I actually looked around trying to figure out who she was talking to. Then I realized she was addressing me! I had completely forgotten I was pregnant. How I could possibly forget I am pregnant is totally beyond me...I can't even see my feet anymore because of how big my belly is! Of course, this is coming from a woman who shuts the refrigerator door on her belly. On a daily basis. Multiple times. Honestly, sometimes I worry about myself.

Meant to be...

At the baby shower two weeks ago, my sister Jodi had made up a collage of photos of Ben & me as babies. Two things were evident in looking at the pictures.

First, as my sister in law Carly stated, there really isn't any question on what Joshua will look like. He'll have dark hair, big, round eyes, and he'll rival the Michelin Man as far as fat rolls go. I'm personally of the opinion that if he looks anything like his daddy, he'll be unbearably cute.

The second thing that was plain to see is that Ben and I were destined to be together. Look at this picture...

I realize it's not the best picture...it was taken with my phone. Sorry! Anyway, these two pictures were taken when we were about the same age, 2500 miles apart...and yet we're wearing the same overalls. In the same walker. And the floor is almost the same even though you can't see it in my picture. Coincidence? I think not. :) There's no doubt we were meant to be.

The OPPOSITE of nesting...

Ben has been waiting for the "nesting instinct" to kick in. Frankly, I have too! It's not that I haven't wanted to nest or have things ready for the baby, it's just that I get so overwhelmed with it all that I haven't done anything to speak of. After our baby shower two weekends ago, I finally motivated myself enough to wash all his clothes & things, start organizing a little bit and really getting ready. We figured out where to hang pictures & things in his room & started to buy things we really needed but hadn't gotten yet. Then we got the email.

Sunday night, I opened my email to find a letter from our landlord. She told us that they have decided not to renew our lease as we had wanted and that they were planning on downsizing and moving into this townhouse. We were completely stunned. And while we completely understand and sympathize with our landlord's situation, the news was still devastating. We need to be out of our house by April 30. Great timing, huh? Either we have to pack & move now while I'm mostly useless (I have developed carpal tunnel in both wrists and can't grip anything and I'm pretty clumsy with this ever growing belly) or wait until we have a newborn who needs our constant attention and we're sleep deprived. We've started looking for a new home, and are confident that God will provide someplace even better than what we have now. Our goal is to move at the end of February/first of March so that we are somewhat settled before Joshua arrives. So now I'm going against everything I feel like I should be doing. Instead of hanging things in Joshua's room and putting away all his little clothes, we are going to be packing up our house. This is definitely the opposite of nesting.

That's what's going on in our life...what's new with you? :)

"Our car is filled with baby crap!"

First off, sorry for saying 'crap' mom, but it was a quote! That's what Ben said as we drove home from Babies'R'Us & Target today. The back seat was filled with a huge carseat box and a bag from Target with clearance baby items (cute socks, jammies, etc). In the trunk was the snap'n'go stroller frame that wouldn't fit in the back seat. Seriously though, the carseat looks like something you'd find in the front seat of a race car! It's a bright orange-red and looks so comfy that I'd like to sit in it. :) See?

This past weekend was our baby shower at home in New York. I was totally overwhelmed by all the generosity! So if you were there, thank you so much. Up until this point, I've been a little panicked. I felt like time is running out to get all those little things we need (or at least all those little things that Babies'R'Us tells us we need!). I'd wake up in the morning thinking, "oh my gosh...Joshua doesn't have any socks! We are so not ready for this baby!" So now we have socks and a bunch of other things that I've been worried about, so Joshua can come anytime he likes. As long as when he likes is in another 7-9 weeks. But no later. If it's more than 10 weeks, he's evicted. Mommy has spoken.

Let's end on a high note. :) Here are two of my favorite pictures that I've taken recently. Just because I like them. And because it'll be another 9 weeks or so until these posts are filled with Josh. :) Talk to you soon...

This is Ben testing the Baby Bjorn with our 7 week old neighbor, Savannah. We watch her once a week while her parents are at bible study. Ben's in love with her. :) She's pretty comfortable with him too.

Our nephew, Timothy!! Isn't he handsome?! I love those cheeks!!!

The thing I miss the most...

I miss my brain. I used to be somewhat intelligent. I could form and finish a sentance without uttering "um, what whas I just saying?". I could remember words like 'remote control'. I could do math. Now that I'm pregnant and my blood is no longer flowing north, I'm having trouble with just about all of that. I thought I'd share three of my favorite "pregnancy brain" moments with you so you can have a laugh at my expense. :)

1. I pre-registered with the hospital this past week so that *hopefully* when I'm in labor I don't have to fill out all sorts of paperwork before they can give me the happy drugs. I received a postcard from them telling me that they had received my registration and that there were a few things we needed to make sure we did prior to arriving. Bring our insurance card, know who our pediatrician would be, blah, blah, blah. We also have to have our carseat installed and inspected. Here's how the conversation went:

Ben: "Where do we get the carseat inspected?"
Me: "At the...uh...the...I can't remember the word! You know, it's the place with the trucks and the pole?"
Ben: "A fire department?"
Me: "Yep. That's the word I was looking for. That's the place."

2. I was making cookies and trying to cut the recipe in half. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what half of two-thirds was. I finally gave in and asked Ben if he could help me. After pausing to try to figure out if I was joking, he said, "Well, half of two thirds is one third, J". Then he laughed. Hard.

3. This one is my personal favorite. I was at the bank trying to cash a check for $75. The cashier asked me how I wanted my money and I started to reply that I wanted my money in twenty-fives. I quickly realized that couldn't be right and shut my mouth. Then I tried to figure out how else to split up $75. I then decided to ask for quarters. Quarters? Nope, that wouldn't work either. I finally just sat in my car, waiting for him to figure it out. The voice came over the speaker, "Are twenties ok, ma'am?". My first thought was that there was no way he was going to get $75 out of twenties but I just told him that would be fine. I mean, if he wanted to give me four twenties, I'd take it! Of course, when I got my envelope and saw the three twenties, a ten and a five, I laughed the whole way home.

I have high hopes that my brain will come back to me someday. Of course, after nine months of blood not flowing to that particular organ, I don't have a whole lot of hope. I mean, if you were given a nine month vacation would you willingly go back to work?! I didn't think so. :)