38 weeks. Wow. Half of me can't believe we're already here, and the other half is like GET THIS BABY OUT OF ME. So typical, I know. Nothing fits me. And I mean that. This dress ^ and maybe four other dresses. I'm afraid they've probably already caught on at work that I have no clothes, but I just can't make myself care quite enough to buy anything else. With any luck, this sweet baby girl will be here in the next two weeks and I won't have to worry about maternity clothes ever again!
Lindsay's older brother passed away this last week after a long, hard-fought battle with brain cancer. Though it was under the very worst of circumstances, I have to admit it was so good to see her back here in Texas. Alaska is really, really far away, after all. So Drew and I were pretty much going to do whatever it took to make it to the funeral this past Friday morning. Even if it meant at 5:30 a.m. wakeup call, an eight hour round trip road trip, and some VERY swollen pregnant ankles...
Yeah, I can't make this stuff up, people. That's real. No excess of salt, DEFINITELY no lack of hydration (I drink water CONSTANTLY)—simply my body reacting to sitting for a very long time without my feet propped up. This is maybe my most miserable pregnancy symptom—because on top of being really uncomfortable, it's just plain embarrassing.
Last weekend was the fourth of July and we THRIVED. We hung out at the pool for a while, we saw fireworks, AND we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Nothing more American than that.
Homegirl's first funnel cake...
This was Arden's first experience with fireworks, and we were ver nervous that she wouldn't like them and make a scene. After all, all of Arden's fears have one thing in common—they are loud. So it was looking pretty dicey for us. BUT she liked them! I won't say loved them, considering about ten minutes into the show she was ready to pull her beloved bubbles back out of her backpack and play, but she DID like them.
You know, I keep joking that I'm ready to have a baby—but I am NOT ready to have a baby. There is still so much to be done—in our house, at work, in life...literally everywhere. It's a little bit scary considering without a single doubt in my mind that by this point in my pregnancy with Arden, we were longgg ready. The nursery was in ship shape, I'd completed all my major work projects, the house was in order—all of it. And just today, for example, I had a full on breakdown in the nursery because not only was it a complete wreck (see photo) but it is the SAME as Arden's nursery. I hadn't updated anything or switched anything out.
Thank goodness for Drew. He swiftly cleaned the whole thing up and suggested that with a new rug and maybe some new curtains, it would be different enough to not look exactly like Arden's nursery. He was right. I ordered some fresh crib sheets tonight and already felt better. Drew and I even spent some time finishing Arden's big girl room while she was at my Dad's tonight, so that we don't have to do that after baby comes. But truly, the real victory was the hot mess in the nursery.
This room was basically the manifestation of "It has to get worse before it can get better." This mess was the product of two or three weekend attempts at organizing Arden's baby clothes, washing all of the newborn clothes and swaddles, closet organizing, pulling EVERYTHING out to see what all we still have, writing down what we still need and also a good old fashioned storage shortage in our house.
Arden's big girl room was really a guest room/storage space before she moved in. We don't often have out of town guests, so a lot of random junk accumulated over the years in there before we converted it. All of which we simply relocated to the nursery until we could get around to finding permanent homes for it. SO that storage shortage combined with this total nursery reorg meant this room has been a mess for MONTHS. So when Drew got in there today and reworked it all, I was immediately relieved. One big thing checked off the list! He knows the way to my heart. So now, not only is it clean, but the baby clothes are neatly organized into size bins, the newborn clothes are freshly laundered and everything is neatly tucked away. I'll post updated nursery pictures once baby is here. Her name is (finally, as of today) hanging over her crib now, so we can't post anything just yet!
Now that that's checked off the list, I'll probably go into labor tonight.
The other week Drew needed to sit next to me at work (the desk next to mine is empty, so he took up residence for the day because of a big meeting happening in his area) so this is just a pic of him working. Because I like him. And I like working at the same place as he does. It's pretty fun.
Life has been flying by at a million miles an hour and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. I'm trying to soak up every last moment of Arden being our only babe and remember that I'll miss this big ole belly and this crazy season of potty training—while also being nine months pregnant—while ALSO living life in the heat of July. It's been such a unique and crazy and FUN few months for so many reasons. But I think this next part is gonna be pretty great, too.
