I still maintain I am not nesting...I am lacking the spurt of energy that is supposed to accompany this phenomenon! However, we have mostly put the nursery together, and I thought it would be fun to show you pictures! I doubt Ben will actually sleep in this room for a while after he is born, but it makes me feel better to be semi-organized instead of having baby stuff piled everywhere!!
One of my coworkers gave me this super cute jungle animal bedding set! We weren't going to buy a bedding set, but this one is adorable...and was free!

 The crib was from Craigslist...it's pretty basic, but that's all we need, right? One nice thing is that it has a drawer underneath...the better to store sheets and blankets!

Yeahhh...I am too cheap to buy a baby dresser. I know, I know....but the closet is huge, and this dual set of Tupperware storage drawers works perfectly! Clothes on the left, diapers on the right! I tried to make it a little cute, at least!

 We do have an adult bed in the baby room...which may at times double as a guest room...or maybe Mom/Dad will take a nap on this bed while Ben sleeps too! I'm sure diapers will get changed here as well. At the moment, it is occupied by our mostly-packed hospital bag.

Here is our teeny-tiny baby potty! We're planning on trying to EC (the fewer poopy diapers to wash, we hope! I'm certain I will be keeping you posted on that!

 We have been so blessed to have so many generous friends who showered us with gifts! Combine that with a couple of really good consignment sales around here, and you get most of your baby necessities and many of the baby wants with very little money out of pocket. This is such a huge blessing for us-baby stuff is expensive! Right now, things are mostly stored in the closet. The major projects we still need to complete are: put our glider together, put the carseat in the car, and set up the pack and play (which doubles as a bassinet) in our bedroom. We even have 2 little drawers filled with toys and board books! (we have non-board books as well, which are currently stored in the closet-my plan is to get a tiny bookshelf and put them on there at some point. For now, we only have books out that will survive being chewed!)

And here is the room as a whole, as seen from the doorway. I'm sure we will do some adjusting to it, but it is nice to have the "big stuff" done, especially as I have become increasingly tired and less mobile over the last few days. I'm trying to find the fine line between resting and being overly lazy. I have been having pretty regular contractions for about the last week, more so for the last few days. It's a bit early for that (I'm 35 weeks today), but an exam last night was reassuring that it doesn't look like Ben is going to make his arrival in the next few days at least (though I was warned that could change, so still keep an eye on things!). It's crazy that I could be holding my son anytime from a few days from now to over a month from now! Part of me is beyond ready...more of me wants him to stay in there until he's done cooking. However, regardless of how I feel, I think most likely he will just come whenever he wants!!

An interesting weekend

My brother graduated from high school this weekend-this is so crazy to me as he is the oldest of what I often think of as the "young family" (we have 7 kids in our family...the oldest 3 are close in age, then there is a gap between numbers 3 and 4...he is number 4). Combine that with my little sister being old enough to have a driver's license and...wow. Is this how parents feel when their kids get older? I don't know whether to be amused, terrified, or just plain feel ancient, especially when I think back to changing their diapers, playing "airplane" to get them to eat their food, and chasing them in circles around the park.
Anyway, we spent most of Saturday helping with food preparation for the post-graduation party, cleaning for said party, and then going to the graduation and attending the post graduation party. It was a really fun day and we got to spend a lot of time with family, but man were we tired after! I don't know how my mom does this type of event planning on a regular basis...and she was going to an afterparty lock in type thing from 10-midnight (as a chaperone) after the regular party!
The graduation was nice-though it was a huge graduating class! Over 600...I've never been to a high school graduation that large. The ceremony took about 2 hours...it was in the college basketball arena (and they did legitimately need that much space). Thankfully, we were "assigned" to the side of the arena with cushioned seats-I am quite sure my pregnant self would not have enjoyed sitting on a typical bleacher-type seat for that length of time! And I was uncomfortable enough as it was-I was having fairly uncomfortable contractions every 5 minutes for most of the ceremony. I was debating what to do-they could have just been really uncomfortable Braxton-Hicks for all I know, since I've never had contractions before. We didn't have our car there, and I didn't really want to climb over tons of people, then climb a bunch of steps, so I elected to just wait and see what happened. Thankfully, they stopped after about an hour and a half. I kind of hope they weren't just Braxton-Hicks...they were strong enough to make me feel nauseous and Josh said my face was turning gray (under makeup! Awesome...) and my thought is, good grief, if those were just B-H contractions, will I be able to handle the real thing? This is the second time I've had pretty regular contractions (or what I'm assuming to be contractions...strong menstrual-like cramping accompanied by tightening of my entire uterus) for a prolonged period of time. The first time was last Thursday and was accompanied by a little spotting-it had us concerned enough to call the after hours number (of course it happened at night) and then be phone triaged by labor and delivery. Both times, they have stopped on their own, but it does have me a little concerned for several reasons. First, I'm only 34 weeks, and while Ben would not be a micro-preemie if he came now, it would really be good for him to cook for at least a few more weeks. Secondly, I'm not sure how to judge right now when to be concerned/call someone for input and when I'm just having normal symptoms. Do I just wait to see what happens (which is what we've done so far)? What happens if I wait too long? How long is too long? I don't want to be a "frequent flyer" who's always calling the doctor's office or running in for emergency checks, but I also don't want to wait too long if there is something wrong that needs to be addressed. Ah, the conundrums of parenthood...
Any input from any of you who have had babies (or work/have worked in the baby-birthing industry) would be much appreciated!
Anyway, that's about all the excitement around here for now. I've started having some foot swelling and other typical 3rd trimester symptoms, and I have several coworkers who exclaim, "You're still here!" every time they see me. I'm not sure if they are just sympathizing with my rotund state, or if they think I look a lot bigger/further along than I actually am. I'm carrying this kid pretty low (and I think he's dropping more), so it could easily be either I suppose. So there you have it...sorry those of you who don't want to read about pregnancy stuff all the time-but that's the biggest thing (haha) that's going on with us right now!

The crazy third trimester!

 Well, the third trimester is here, and I totally understand comments like "I feel like a beached whale!" We went to my doctor's appointment last week, and for the first time this pregnancy, I weighed more than when I started (by 10 lbs). The part of me that is a rational person knows that gaining weight is part of pregnancy and cannot be avoided. The part of me that is a woman who has struggled with weight related issues all her life has a hard time not letting this spin me into a self-deprecating funk. I try to tell myself that it's all going to the baby, since I haven't really noticed a big difference in my face (which is usually where I first see weight loss/gain), legs, etc...and my hips, while wider, do not seem to have extra bulk. But this could be wishful thinking!
 I could have up to 9 weeks left in this pregnancy, or as few as 4, just depending on when the little guy decides he wants to come. I just hope I don't gain too much more between now and then. Let's face it...we've come a long way from the picture in black (16 weeks, and this was probably my thinnest since I lost a bunch of weight in the first tri from morning sickness) to the picture  in gray (taken this morning)!

 I have begun working on baby preparations. I don't think I am nesting, per se, because I do not have a surge of energy (at least, if this is a surge of energy, I want my money back!!!). I just have a realization that this kid could be here terrifyingly soon, and I probably should do as much as possible before I become even less mobile and more exhausted. Already, simple things are becoming not-so-simple (who knew getting up from a chair or the floor was so complicated!). Also, we have wonderful, generous friends and family, so there is actually stuff to organize! Additionally, I think there will be more people coming through our home in the near future than there have been to date, and I don't want to be embarrassed when they do!

 

Baby diapers!! I think we now will have enough-thanks everyone who contributed!

 

Top: Ben has a library started already!!! Bottom: Beautiful homemade gifts: a blanket spun, designed, and knitted by Granna, a crocheted elephant from Aunt Rebecca, and an adorable corduroy bunny from Aunt Lydia!

We have had two showers now! This was a huge, unexpected blessing...because of the timing of our move from Austin to Columbia, I figured we might not have a shower at all...we moved before I was "pregnant enough" from Austin, and I didn't figure anyone would know us well enough here before the baby came. I was sad, mostly because I had always looked forward to celebrating this time with friends and family. Later, it hit me that gifts are also useful-for being so tiny, baby stuff is sure expensive!

 Then, an opportunity came up for us to go to Austin for a weekend, and our wonderful church family there contacted me to say they wanted to throw us a shower! It was such a wonderful thing-we were able to see so many more of our closest friends and family than we could have if we were trying to visit each one individually during such a short visit! They did a storybook theme-how perfect for us! Everything was so beautifully and tastefully done-from a story-oriented game to food themed after various books...and we have a really good start on a library for Ben which includes many of the books that I remember my siblings loving when they were young! Truly one of the highlights of our trip, and we felt so loved even though we don't live there any more!

Our small group here in Columbia also requested to throw us a shower, despite having only known us for 3 weeks at the time! We were so grateful and honored that they would do that after only having known us for a short time! This shower was much more intimate-our small group and my family, as well as a friend from college (who ended up just a few hours away even though both of us went to school in Alabama! How crazy is that?). It was also a really fun time with friends and family, and beautifully planned. That will show me to doubt God, or be sad about something I think I'm losing because of doing something He leads us to...now, I'm not saying He will always give 2 showers when you thought you would have none, but it was so sweet that He chose to this time!

All right, this is becoming a book, so I'll close for the moment. Sorry for the lack of posting...we have been busy, but not necessarily with exciting things lately. Soon there will be lots of cute pictures to share, though-we hope!