36 weeks

It seems like the last few days especially my level of comfort has dropped significantly. I am sure it's nothing compared to many people, there's really nothing in particular that's terrible it's just the combination of everything. And at my last few doctors appointments we've been talking about an induction on March 15 if baby does not come on his own before then. That's only 16 days away! So we're going to be busy getting all of his stuff in order before then... car seat installed, clothes washed and put away, etc.

Oh, and as an update on our house - we had a couple say that it's on their top 2 houses, they're still looking but they liked our house. So we decided that it's time to drop the price a bit to see if they will just make us an offer. It would be so great to get that off our minds soon.

photo shoot!

34 and 35

Ok, only 4.5 weeks to go! I know that's a rough estimate, but it certainly is getting close.

Here's me at 34 weeks

Here's me at 35 weeks

I certainly can't believe how big he's gotten over the past few weeks. He's starting to run out of room :) It's been a really fun and busy last few weeks too. My mom visited at the beginning of the month, and we got a lot done as well as had a lot of fun. She happens to be an excellent seamstress, so I put her to work making me some pj's and lounge wear. I figure that I'll be wearing sweats quite a bit for the next few months and it's nice to have some that fit me now too.

After our crafting, we had a little ladies brunch that turned into a family brunch/shower at an amazing restaurant downtown. My sister in law Laura made me a "blessing box" to fill with encouraging notes from friends and family members! I got to open up the notes and read each one as we ate, and I was overwhelmed by the touching notes that I received.

And then just this past weekend my good girlfriends from college drove up from Chicago and even further to spend the weekend with me before Baby Mellema arrives. I was amazed that they'd spend their Valentine's weekend on the road to see me, and loved having them over. My friend Holly also brought up her camera, and took some maternity shots which I'll be posting too! I'm blown away by her abilities, it was a blessing to have some professional shots to document my third trimester :)

32 weeks

Here I am at 32 weeks

Little guy is getting stronger and we are getting closer to picking a name... I think. We also have an open house at our house this weekend, and another in a few weeks. We're praying that it sells quickly.

31 weeks

Here I am at 31 weeks. I had an ultrasound this morning, and also a surprise non stress test. Baby looks great, and BIG. He's in the 77th percentile for overall growth, but his head was measuring 35 weeks :). So he's got a big head and a big belly, but other than that he's average size everything. He also was estimated to be around 4lbs 10oz which shocked me because I just read in my weekly emails that he should be around 3.3lbs this week.

I'm going in weekly from now on, so somehow (maybe in the move) I missed the appointments at every 2 weeks and go straight to every week. So I'm all scheduled for each week until my due date. Makes it really feel like it's coming right up.

Oh, and this was kinda funny, I didn't realize that I'd have a non stress test today so I was kinda thrown off when they strapped me up and gave me a little clicker. Steve made a comment about it being like Jeopardy that just gave me the giggles. Every time he kicked and I clicked the clicker it just cracked me up. I tried to compose myself each time the nurse came in to check on me, but I totally lost it at one point and was laughing and clicking away. And he was kinda quiet for the first half of the test or so, so the nurse put this buzzer up to my belly and he totally started spazzing out and that cracked me up all over again.

We got a couple of pictures that they printed out but I don't have a scanner now, so I can't post them. He was pretty scrunched up anyway so they weren't terribly easy to see, shots of his face hiding behind his hands. He certainly doesn't look like the scrawny little baby that we saw 11 weeks ago.

annual tradition

Do you think that this guy has dementia? He called me again this morning. I answered the phone and he yells, "JUDY!". I say, "no, you have the wrong number" and he mumbles something and then says, "oh". I hang up. He calls back about 10 seconds later. I hang up on him. Very strange. This is the third January in a row that I've talked to him. Maybe next year I should confront him about getting rid of my phone number :)

fun with toys

No, not baby toys. Steve's brother Joe got Steve a toy for Christmas. Here's a few videos of Steve trying it out.

The other night, when I was already in bed and ready to go to sleep, Steve got out the helicopter and I grabbed the camera. But he likes to fly a little too close to my face for comfort, so here's me ducking for cover:


I love the "oh, dangit" at the end when he crashes into something.

Then I moved out of the way and he got a little more control over flying:



Today my camera ran out of batteries, but he's had several really sweet flights all over the house :) Thanks, Joe!