31 Weeks

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have entered into the single digit countdown!  Where have the last 30 some weeks gone?!?

 I seem to be sporting more of a watermelon shape these days... 


So when I left you last, I had just celebrated my 28th birthday by building our Crib!  (I know I JUST wrote the post, but play along!)

This week Ben and I had time booked off that we remembered, and only worked Mon-Wed before taking off for a 5 day weekend!  Not only that, but we left town too - meaning we didn't work on the room the whole weekend either!  Woo! 

On Thursday we got up and did a little work in the Nursery (paint touch ups and the like) and Ben finished making a little access panel for our tub to fit into our wall:

(I've been avoiding posting any shots of the paint color to leave it as a surprise for the finished product, but Ben was so pleased with his handy work, he put this up anyway, so I guess it won't hurt to share it)

Cute huh?  I said "It looks like a little picture frame!  Our little girl is totally going to draw in there one day"  Ben said he was aware, but in the mean time, it's drawing free, so I suppose a picture was in order!

On thursday I also went to see my hairdresser for a much needed trim (the last time I had my hair cut, I was about 7 weeks pregnant, so it has been a long time coming!)  And then Erik and Athena totally surprised me by taking Ben and I out for dinner to Naanolicious on Whyte Ave for my birthday (awesome if you haven't been yet!).  That Erik, I tell you!  He really caught me off guard with this one!  I had no idea!!!

...actually...  On Monday on my birthday, Erik posted this to my facebook wall:

With the comment: "Birthday greetings from me and Ryan Gosling. More so from Ryan Gosling. ... in fact I'd actually like to distance myself from his remark, if I may. See you Thursday. :)"

And since I'm typically the one in our marriage who manages the schedule and I wasn't aware of anything happening Thursday, I called Ben and the conversation went a little something like this:

Me: Hey what's going on Thursday?
Ben: What?
Me: Are we doing something Thursday?
Ben: Ah, what do you mean?
Me:  Erik just posted on my wall and said "See you Thursday" did you make plans?
Ben:  *Sigh*  Erik and Athena are taking you out for your birthday, but Erik said to keep it a surprise, he didn't tell me he was going to tell you
Me:  Oh!  Bahahahahaha, he's awesome at surprises!

Dinner was awesome, and we always have a great time with Erik and Athena regardless of when we make the plans!  Thanks so much for taking us out guys!  That was super sweet of you!  <3

On Friday, as a result of our "lack of play" this summer, I requested that we head down to Calgary earlier in the day, and spend a couple hours on the beach at Sikome Lake before heading to my mom's place - Ben agreed, and we hit the road at 9am.  We both had a great nap in the sun, and even ended up with a bit of a sun burn (that's the price you pay when your skin hasn't been soaking up the sun all season!)  Then we headed to my mom's place and treated her to dinner before curling up on the couch and watching a movie together (while my mom gave me a pedicure!  It was wonderful!  My poor feet have been so neglected this summer due to the fact that I can't reach them comfortably!)

On Saturday we slept in as much as we could, and then got ready for the day, and I dropped Ben off at my brother's place to help him with some work around the house (okay, so we didn't relax the whole weekend, but my Brother has been doing his house renovations by himself for what seems like the whole year, so Ben had no problems going to give him a hand and spending some time with him in the process).  Meanwhile I met up with an old dear friend for lunch!  Lisa and I met at church when we were little, and have been best friends for our entire lives until drifting apart a little when I moved to Edmonton.  It was so great to see her and catch up, I didn't realize how much I had been missed her until I saw her and gave her a big hug!

Before leaving for lunch I felt like my belly was especially large in the morning, so I grabbed my mom's measureing tape, and discovered that I was now sporting a 45 1/2" belly!  Meaning I have grown an inch and a half in 4 days!!  Which could probably explain why I have been feeling so uncomfortable the last couple days - the pain I had been feeling around my belly button could be the result of some serious stretching going on!

Sunday I had the pleasure of giving my 13 year old cousin Shannon her first makeup lesson, and a big goodie bag full of customized makeup for her!  Shannon and I share a birthday, and she wasn't allowed to wear makeup until she turned 13 (a rule that I too had when I was growing up) so to help get her there, I made her a promise that if she obeyed the rule and waited, then not only would I come down and give her a proper makeup lesson, but I would buy her a custom pallet and all the necessary tools too!  Needless to say, she followed the rules!

I can't believe that girl is 13 already!  We had a lot of fun at the lesson, and I hope she really enjoys her Birthday Gift!

At the same time, Shannon, her brother Richard, and my Auntie Liz gave me the gift of a spa pedicure for my birthday, and I'm so excited to get my toes painted!  I have had bare toes all summer, and it saddens me every time I look at them (which is a lot, since I wear flip flops every day!)  I'm the kind of girl who rarely has color on my finger nails, but never is without on my toes!  I was also informed that if I go into labour with color on my toes the nurses will take it off, since they need to check the nail beds while I'm delivering - I didn't know that before!  My aunt is a nurse though, so she's a pretty good source of information in that respect :p

Also on Sunday night, I got a great email around 8pm when Melissa sent me my Maternity Photo Gallery!  I am just in awe, I can't believe that it's me in the pictures - there is so much beauty and elegance in every photo, and Ben looks so handsome!  We clean up pretty well on our own, but Melissa just has such a talent for bringing out the love and beauty into each picture!!  I think I've looked through the Gallery 40 times already, and I can't stop clicking through each picture!  Each time I land on a new picture I say "I love this one" only to click to the next photo, and say the exact same thing!  Ben and I couldn't be happier with the photos!  I can't wait to get the disc from Melissa so I can share some!! In the meantime, here's a couple that she posted on her photography page:

On Monday very very early in the morning I woke up at 4am with a very large air bubble trapped in my ribs and causing me a great deal of pain, and after rolling around to every position I could think of to release the offending air, I ended up wide awake with no hope of sleep in sight.  After lying in bed for about an hour, I finally turned to my phone and went on facebook to lament about my situation.  Within 2 minutes I get a text from Ben who was in the basement apparently dealing with a similar situation!  He got up to go to the bathroom and also found himself wide awake and unable to go back to sleep at 5am, and also reached for his phone and saw my post!

He had been sleeping in the basement at my mom's place because back at home we share a King sized bed together with my body pillow and our fat black cat, but at my mom's place there just isn't enough room in the double or even the queen for all 4 of us (yes, the body pillow is a must!), so he graciously gave me the whole Queen bed, and slept in the double in the basement.  So the chances that we would wake up at the same time in two different ends of the house are pretty bizarre!

After Ben joined me to cuddle and chat for a few hours, we resolved just to get up and drive back to Edmoton then, rather than waiting for 9am- so we very quietly packed up our things, and then woke my mom at 7am to say goodbye.  We arrived back in Edmonton at 10am which was when our lack of sleep hit us, and we crawled back into bed for a much needed 3 hour nap.  Then after running errands, and watching a very horrible movie (Escape to LA) we started putting the dresser together before falling into bed around midnight.

Phew!  All caught up!  Time for the baby recap!!

 

How far along? 31 Weeks

Total weight gain: 22 Pounds  - Up one
Inches gained in the waist: 10” up an inch and a half (I’m sporting a 45 1/2” waist!) 

Maternity clothes? Yes!!

Stretch marks?  None!

Sleep:  It completely depends on what I’ve done during the day!  On days that I work myself to the bone I sleep like a rock, but on those days where I have taken it easy and relaxed a little, I seem to toss and turn the whole night!  It’s really not fair! 

Best moment this week:   Getting to see the Maternity photos!  These are keepsakes that I am going to treasure forever!   

Miss Anything?  Moving with ease?  Ben teases me about my grunting and gasping, but it’s just a given as I try to get around these days, there is so much more pressure on my lungs and just in general on my organs – everything is very compact, and moving these days is some what reminiscent of a struggling beached whale.   
Movement:  Not only is she rolling around in there, but she’s doing so with such force that my belly jiggles in response like a shock wave just went through it!  I swear she’s moshing!

Food cravings:  I really wanted fruit and chocolate the other day – but that’s still a Heather-ism, so I don’t think I can count that.   

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not really no. 

Gender: GIRL!     

Labor Signs: Still just BH contractions

Symptoms:   Pretty well all the typical one’s except for any sort of nausea, or heart burn (still avoiding that one!)

Belly Button in or out? Still in!  But on the weekend my belly button was really hurting, and it looks so stretched out, perhaps it will pop after all?
Wedding rings on or off? Off, but I’m wearing my school ring again as the weather is a little cooler these days. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Very Happy!

Looking forward to:  Baby Shower!