37 weeks

• How far along: 37 weeks
• Weight gain: Ha! We’re not going to talk about this!
• Maternity clothes: Yep
• Belly button in or out: Still hasn't "popped"
• Sleep: I’m up several times a night but I have been feeling refreshed in the mornings. Too bad it only lasts till lunch time!
• Stretch marks: I think I might have one. I found a dark spot on my side… I’m not really sure if it’s a stretch mark or not
• Food cravings: Cookies- any kind
• Movement: I knew he was pretty active but the doctor started me on kick counts last week and I have at least 60 per day! I was shocked.
• Labor signs: As of today I am a finger tip dilated and 65% effaced.
• What I'm looking forward to: Not being pregnant any more!!!
• What I miss most: sleeping on my tummy, having a drink, tanning, my shoes fitting, clothes with out elastic… Can you tell I’m OVER it?!
• Miles stones: I’m “full term” today! Brock’s lungs should now be fully developed and it’s considered safe for him to come when he wants now! Yay I’m almost done!!!

Non-baby news:

Our new living room furniture will be delivered tomorrow! I'm so excited!!! Even though we haven't moved yet it will at least feel like a whole new house!

We got word that the owners "people" finally got in contact with someone at Freddie Mac and they are willing to help "rush approval." now we are going on 5 months and we're just now getting this so I'm not sure they know what rush means but hey I'll take what we can get!

36 Weeks

We started our weekly appointments Friday and had a growth ultra sound. We didn't really get any good pictures because he's so big he's all squished up in there, but I'll post the ones we got... He is very healthy and measuring right on track. He weighs 5 lbs 10 ozs right now and they said he should gain 1/2 lb every week until he's born so we're looking at a 7 pounder! I haven't made any progress yet, which the doctors says is good but doesn't really matter because things can change pretty much instantly. As of this coming Friday Brock will be considered full term and they won't do anything to stall labor if I should go early. We finished the little guys nursery this weekend & we are just super excited to meet him! I can't believe how fast this has gone by! I will be a Mommy in less than a month!!!

Happy Anniversary to us!!!

Our 1st wedding anniversary is Saturday! I can't believe we have been married for a year already.... Where had the time gone?! Aaron and I are taking tomorrow off work to sleep in, go to our doctor's appointments and then start celebrating our anniversary. I'm so excited for some quality time and a long weekend! I have the best boss ever! Here are a few of my favorite wedding pictures in honor of the big day!

1 month to go!

I'm so excited!!! I have exactly 1 month to my EDD! This is such a great week. We made a lot of progress on the nursery this weekend. All we have left to do is hang the decorations on the walls, and I need to get some more hangers so I can finish putting away this child's massive wardrobe. One more BRU trip and we will be ready for Brock to arrive. I obviously want him baking till he's ready to come, I'm just hoping he's as ready as I am! I can't wait till this weekend! I have a doctors appointment Friday and we'll get to see Brock again and get a better idea of how big he is and when he might come. I can't believe this will be the last time we see him before we meet him... we're sooo close!!!!

35/35

Can you believe it?! 35 weeks down... 35 days to go! We will officially be parents sometime in the next month or so! I'm so ready to meet little Brock and so ready to be a mommy and so ready see what an awesome dad Aaron is going be. I'm stoked to say the least. We have finished our Lamaze classes, our Breastfeeding class, our Infant Care class and apparently we are now ready to be parents. Ha! Aaron put our nursery furniture together last weekend and I'm going to get crafty this weekend and try to get everything set up. I have so much stuff to wash a put away... I swear the amount of stuff this kid already has is ridiculous! Well here are my stats...

• How far along: 35 weeks
• Weight gain: Hopefully the same as last week. But I've probably gained a pound in each ankle and about 1/2 a pound in each hand. Gross!
• Maternity clothes: Yep
• Belly button in or out: Still hasn't "popped"
• Sleep: I'm back to being really uncomfortable and I've been tossing and turning all night. Last night I had the weirdest dream that I went in for our growth ultrasound (which is next week) and they discovered that Brock actually has a twin sister. The dream was so real & all I can remember was being so excited that I wasn't going to have to convince Aaron that we should try again for a girl and I was running around every where buying cute little dresses, bloomers and bows and I was suddenly decorating 2 nursery's not just one. Whoa Blair! One at a time here!
• Stretch marks: Still none yet!!!
• Food cravings: Food cravings suck. I HATE that all I want is Mexican food and I now have heart burn like you would not believe. From what I hear this means the baby's hair is growing. I sure hope so, I was a bald baby & I'm really hoping that Brock comes out with some blond hair that I can spike up!
• Movement: It's more like multiple failed escape attempts. Aaron gets so crepped out when he sees a body part move across my stomach!
• Labor signs: I've had some mild cramping but I'm sure that's just part of being pregnant!
• What I'm looking forward to: Seeing Brock next week. This will be the last time we "see" him before we meet him!!!
• What I miss most: My pre-pregnancy body. I used to complain about it then & now all I want is to be back to my normal self.
  
• Miles stones: 35/35!!!!!!!!
  

The Price of Children

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and cam up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! And that doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140.00 isn't so bad when you break it down.

It translates into:
$8,896.66 a year
$741.38 a month
$171.08 a week
A mere $24.24 a day
Just over a dollar an hour

Still you might think the best financial advice is: Don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it's just the opposite.
What do you get for $160,140.00?
Naming rights. First, Middle, and Last
Glimpses of God every day
Giggles under the covers every night
More love than your heart can hold
Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs
Endless wonder over rock, clouds, ants, and warm cookies
A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate
A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites
Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what your boss had to say or how your stock performed that day.

For $160,400.00 you never have to grow up. You get to:
Finger Paint
Carve pumpkins
Play hide-and-seek
Catch lightning bugs
Never stop believing in Santa Clause

You have an excuse to:
Keep reading The Adventures of Piglet and Pooh
Watch Saturday morning cartoons
Go to Disney movies
And wish on Stars

You get to frame rainbows, hearts and flowers under refrigerator magnets, and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backwards letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day there's no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero for just:

Retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof
Taking the training wheels off a bike
Removing a splinter
Filling a wadding pool
Coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
Coaching a baseball team that never wins, but always get treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:

First step,
First word,
First bra,
First date,
First time behind the wheel

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits. So one day, like you, they will love without counting the costs. That is quite a deal for the price!!!

34 Weeks

• How far along: 34 weeks
• Weight gain: 30 lbs- Time to cut back on the cookies
• Maternity clothes: Can't live with out them
• Belly Button In or Out: What belly button?!
• Sleep: I've been sleeping really well this week & waking up felling refreshed. I hear this is a sign that the end is near!!!
• Stretch Marks: Still holding strong!
• Food Cravings: Cookies are my weakness
• Movement: Tons! He's so active right now & moving like crazy.
• Labor Signs: None
• What I'm looking forward to: I have my last shower tonight. I'm really excited about it. It's a co-ed shower with Aaron's co-workers & it should be a lot of fun. We're also going to set up our nursery this weekend. I've been putting it off & trying to wait to hear something on the house but I can't take it anymore. I'm kind of hoping that this will trigger Murphy's Law & that as soon as we set up Brock's nursery we will get the short sale approval. We shall see!
• What I miss most: I'm really over being pregnant. I just want to be back to my normal, non-hormonal self. I can't wait to get rid of my pasty skin, Miss. Piggy feet, sausage toes, and most of all I can't wait to meet Brock. We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel & we are so close to being a family of 3 I can taste it!
• Milestones: The count down has started. Only about 43 days till we meet our Brock-Star! We're so close!!!

Brock is now about the size of a honeydew. Crazy right!

Maternity Pictures!

Last weekend our friend Abby took maternity pictures for us. She did an unbelievably amazing job! I was truly blown away with how they came out. She even put a slide show to music together for us and she had me in tears! We are so grateful to have such great friends! Here are a few of my favorites. Well several... it's hard to pick!

32 weeks/8 weeks to go/ OMG I have to push this baby out?!?!?!

::Sigh:: Where to start?...

Well first of all we started Lamaze class last week. We were so excited and thought it was going to be all cute like in the movies but I guess nothing can prepare you for a 1980's VHS on child birth. You can show me all the charts in the world with cute little circles that show dilation and even the huge 10cm circle doesn't seem so bad, but when you see a very vocal woman moaning and groaning looking completely miserable, followed by a fully dilated vagina, followed by a baby being pulled from that mangled mess that used to be lady parts.... well there is just no coming back from that. Aaron and I sat there watching this movie terrified and disgusted at the same time. What the hell did I get myself into?! I can't do that! Who does that?! OMG this baby is in there and it has to come out somehow! God help me! Oh by the way... I call BS on every woman that says it goes back to normal. It's like a secret society of women who have given birth that swear to not tell anyone that their parts will never look the same again. How is it possible that something can stretch soooo much and just go back to the way it was before pushing a human being through it! So to all of you who say it does go back to normal... I'm calling BS & I'll believe it when I see it.

Moving on... We have till today at 5:00 to get the short sale approval or we will have to start the loan process with our bank all over again. This whole process has been the biggest pain in the ass and the most stressful thing I have ever gone through. I HATE being at the mercy of people who have no concept of time! Seriously 4 months later.... we are sill waiting. This is ridiculous! So please say a little prayer that we get the approval today and are able to actually move before we have Brock.

Aaron started piano lessons. I got them for him for his birthday last year & he finally set up the classes. It's something that he has always wanted to learn how to do but would never do for himself. He had his 2nd lesson yesterday and he loves it. I'm so glad he has a new hobby and something that he truly enjoys doing. I love that he thinks I can't hear him practicing when I'm in the shower... but I can & I love listening to him! Oh & I can't upload any of my pictures b/c Aaron tried stealing sheet music and our computer crashed!

Okay, baby updates... I had my bi-weekly appointment yesterday and everything looks good. Brock is extremely active and has managed to bruise my ribs. I guess he never got the I'm your Mom not your punching bag Memo. Anyway, his heart rate is perfect, I'm measuring and weighing in right on track and everything is looking pretty text book so far.

• How far along:? 32 weeks
• Weight gain: 26 lbs
• Maternity clothes: Yes
• Belly button in or out: Neither! It's pretty much even with the rest of my belly
• Sleep: I guess I have gotten used to getting up a few times a night to pee so I wake up feeling more rested. Training for when the baby arrives I suppose!
• Stretch marks: No
• Food cravings: This week I've been pretty big on Oreo's and milk
• Movement: He's moving more times than not. I just wish he would la off the ribs.
• Labor signs: None
• What I'm looking forward to: Moving so I can set up his nursery. His bedding came in and we're picking up his furniture tomorrow. It's killing me to not be able to do anything with it. AND.... I'm doing maternity pictures this weekend!!!
• What I 'miss most: I could have really used a margarita this week. Oh it sounds so glorious in it's salty, boozy goodness!
• Milestones: this is my last week in month 7!

30 Weeks

Oh my God...30 weeks?! But that means there are only about 10 to go! I still have so much to get done! I'm not ready at all for this baby to be here but I am so over being pregnant right now. Where do I start? My back hurts, my ribs hurt, my feet are swollen, I have cankles, my hands are swollen, other parts that we won't mention are swollen... I know TMI but I wont judge you when you feel like a raging bitch and are completely grossed out by yourself. I'm sure it's only going to get worse over the next 2 months. You can tell me all you want that it will be so worth it in the end and I know you're right but this sucks! Oh, and I need to be grounded from google. Nothing good can come from watching you tube videos of epidurals and reading stories about child birth and burning rings of fire! What the hell did I get myself into?!

In other news- My shower last weekend was awesome. I got tons of cute little clothes, more blankets than any baby will ever need (or at least that's what I think- do they throw up on all of those too?), even some really cute argyle burp cloths with his name embroidered on them. I just can't bring myself to use those for burping him- they are just too darn cute! We also got a play mat, a bath tub, some picture frames, stuffed animals, pacies, ect. It was a great time!

On the home front- We are expecting to get the short sale approval letter by the end of business today. If we can get this and get it sent to our bank before the end of the day there is still a chance that we can close by the end of next week. I'm so anxious to get moved and start getting ready for Brock's grand entrance! Keep your fingers crossed!

• How far along?: 30 weeks
• Weight gain: +22 lbs
• Sleep: Haha- I'm not sure that I will ever sleep through the night again. I guess this is what they were referring to when you hear that being pregnant is just training for the real thing.
• Best moment this week: My shower
• Labor Signs: No
• Belly button in or out: Still in
• Stretch marks: No
• What I'm looking forward to: Moving and being able to hang up all of his clothes and set up his nursery.
• Milestones: I'm 75% done!

*** I pinkie promise I will post pictures this weekend! No, really- I will!