Weekend Project

We woke up Friday morning hoping for a baby to come and join us but apparently that wasn't in the cards for us this weekend. Instead we ended up making a trip to Lowes for a good weekend project to keep us busy.   When we first moved into our house last year, we bought the cheapest mailbox ever knowing we would replace it with a much cooler one down the line.  We didn't want to spend much at the time, knowing we would replace it so it's the most basic, wobbly and smallest mailbox ever.  Not to mention the postman probably hates it because he can't fit anything inside of it.  Although he tries, and it drives me crazy because I always have half stuck out packages in my mailbox.

We wanted the mailbox to match the stone pillars on the front of the house so we made a drawing, picked out a mailbox and did lots of scribbling on a piece of paper to figure out measurements and went to town.

Our plan was to make the pillar, cover it with wood and then attach the stone on the outside.  Come to find out, wood probably isn't the best thing to attach stone to since it warps over time.  Even though we had made the whole base, we decided to take it mostly apart and attach cement board on the outside instead.  A better was for the stone to attach to the pillar.  A little trial and error but I think it was probably for the best.   And that's as far as we've gotten as of now.  I can't say I was much help since this was mostly a one person job but Noah and I were outside all weekend enjoying the heat wave cheering on daddy. Depending on when this baby makes his arrival we may or may not have time to finish up attaching the stone to the outside, putting the topper on the mailbox and then attaching the mailbox to the pillar.  Maybe next weekend.  Hopefully before winter.

38 Weeks

Ok, so I kind of said I would keep this updated with random weekly updates of this baby bump but not to my surprise here we are ten weeks later finally making an update...and quite honestly I hope it's the last update anyway since I'm way ready to get this kid out.  Really this pregnancy has been much more tough; I've gained more weight, I feel more uncomfortable, I puked so much more.... Really the only good thing is I feel like I've slept better which is still a great accomplishment, but still.  I'm ready and really done with this pregnancy.  We are 38 weeks and 1 day as of today.  With Noah I started laboring tomorrow and had him the day after.  Cross your fingers, right?  Honestly though, I'm not feeling like that's going to happen.  I feel like the new baby is very content where he's at and will make it to his due date no problem. *eye roll*  Lucky for me I still have about half of Orange is the New Black to finish up at work before baby comes... maybe catch up on a couple other things.  The weather really hasn't bothered me too much since I'm inside all day anyway.  Gotta look at the bright side of things, right?

• How far along?:38
• Baby is the size of a: Winter Melon - The Bump says 19.6in and 6.61 lbs average.  I swear this kid will be over eight though... so we'll see.
• Total weight gain/loss: 30. Geez, get this child out!
• Symptoms: Lots of movement from the little guy and a terrible feeling of being overstretched at night but otherwise we're making it through.  I ya, and I'm exhausted.
• Sleep: Sleeping pretty good but with constant pee breaks.
• Anything Making Me Queasy or Sick: Nope.
• What I miss: I could use a beer or two, maybe a nice relaxing non pregnant day at the beach.... or the mall.
• Weddings Rings On or Off: Off
• Any Names Picked Out Yet: Well we do have two.  One I like, one Jeff does.  It'll be a discussion at the hospital.
• Movement: This kid is stronger and crazier than the last.  I'm sure this guy will be a beast and he pretty much hurts my body all day long.
• Maternity Clothes: Like since week 6.  There is no reason to try and squeeze into anything pre pregnancy.  Although I feel like my body in general has stayed smaller all around my belly is much bigger.  Blame it on the lack of stomach muscles or whatever but the only place I seem to be gaining any weight are my belly and my boobs.  So ya, can't fit into anything not maternity.
• Labor Signs: Nothing? Maybe a couple braxton hicks... no, nothing really.
• What I’m excited about/looking forward to: The obvious but really just getting this kid out.  Naming him and holding him and really I could just use a break from work even though I know the shit show I'll be getting into at home. I'm ready to start losing this weight and stop waddling around.  You know, all the preggo stuff that's not fun .

 Guys.... less than two weeks!  But who's counting anyway.

Cherry Picking - Summer Activities

During the week, Jeff and Noah always go out in the mornings and do fun stuff before I get  home from work.  They've gone to see the airplanes at the airport, run errands together, grocery shop, strawberry picking, checking out new parks, and the list goes on.  By the time I get home from work most days though I have just enough time to do some cleaning and then it's time to start making dinner.  Then there is bath and bedtime, so really there's just not a ton of "fun" time left in the evening.  It was nice this weekend to partake on some family adventures trying things we haven't done yet.  The cherries are just about done and this was a perfect cool morning to pick some.  Also very perfect for someone nine months pregnant since I didn't do much walking, and I didn't have to bend over like other berries.

We picked So.Many.Cherries!  Three buckets full and honestly we did it so fast I can't believe what an easy fun activity this was.  Not to mention I really got a reality check as to what our cherry tree might look like in the future.  Like so big and so many cherries I may not know what to do with them.

When we got home we had lunch and both Noah and I were pretty exhausted so we both took a lengthy nap.  When I woke up I found Jeff pitting most of the cherries so we could make some cherry recipes.  First one on the list was dessert for that evening.  Chocolate Chip and Cherry Blondies.  They were amazing and I really recommend them.  We even doubled the recipe and made it in a 13x9 pan so we could use even more cherries. We ended up freezing about half of what we got and we've been eating them non stop the whole weekend.  We probably only have one more weekend together as just a family of three so it was nice to get out there and make some memories!

Our Fourth Of July

As always, better later than never. We had a wonderful time in Tawas at Jeffs' parents as we always do but let me tell you, being nine months pregnant and driving four hours each way and sleeping at someone elses house is not always the best thing for relaxation. We started out the night before we were supposed to leave with Noah being up all night and all three of us getting about three hours of sleep total.  After hours of being awake we realized Noahs eardrums has popped and he was in lots of pain.  We debated going to the Dr. on Saturday but figured since we had all the medicine we needed from last time we would just skip it and figure it out on our own.  We still ended up going on our trip.

The first night of sleep was rough with Noah waking up every two hours and therefore waking us up too.  He would go back down, but still annoying when you're trying to catch up from the night before. Not to mention I also kept having to get up to use the bathroom except I had to wait 'till he was back asleep before I even left the room in case I woke him up all the way.  After the first night in Tawas though, Noah did great.  Slept the next two nights all the way until six and partied all day eating way too much candy, swimming in the lake and wearing his necklaces from morning to night.  Not to mention all the fun play time he got with family.

We finally made it back home on Tuesday with just enough time to unpack, clean up and do most of the laundry.  We put Noah to bed early and relaxed before starting the rest of our short week. I'm so thankful we only worked a couple of days this week because I'm pretty sure I'm still exhausted from the weekend.  We're looking forward to this coming weekend so we can get one last date before the baby comes and hopefully lots and lots of naps.  Preggo life at it's finest.