Longest month ever.

Yes, the 9th month has officially arrived. Apparently the baby is equivalent to some sort of large melon and may be "dropping" soon. Fingers crossed.

I'm only smiling for the picture.

So last week I attended Knit Night over at Max's house and finally got to catch up with some of my favorite people. Baby Benji is adorable... thank god, it would be hard to lie to Max if she had one of those unfortunate infants, but this kid is something special. His little feature move flawlessly through Max, Matt and his big brother Vince and I found myself just staring down at him and ridiculously smiling at each turn. Not only did I get to lust over the baby, but I was finally in the company of some other mom's and my sister-in-law. I had planned to stay an hour, but ended up staying 2.5 and came home tired, but basically refreshed from some awesome "me" time. Clearly I need to be social, so I will be attending again this week.

Plus... Grammie Q made this amazing sailboat quilt for Baby Dean! How perfect is that?!

Jessica stopped by on Thursday afternoon and that too was good for the soul. We had time to catch up while I stayed in the comfort of my yoga pants and own house. Perfecto. It warms my sappy little prego heart when friends are doing well. My general pessimism is put on hold and I truly sigh a happy sigh to know that those I care about are well, happy!

With 2 social engagements complete, the rest of the week/weekend involved napping, errands and stuff around the house.

Harold likes to wedge himself in my lap and the baby likes to kick him... Entertaining, but also a little distracting when I'm trying to rest.

I washed all of the newborn stuff, so everything smelled delicious like a little baby.

Friday was kind of a crappy day... I went to bed Thursday night out of breath and with a funky stomach. The morning was even worse and it seemed like I was getting dizzy every hour, so I called the midwives to see if I should be concerned. Stephanie (the awesome nurse) said to page on-call because she was a little concerned about the shortness of breath. I talked with Susan (a midwife I actually like) and she was very reassuring. She offered advice over the phone, gave me a few things to look for and said to feel free to come in or call back if needed. I took it easy the rest of the night and Saturday was way better. 

Harold's best sympathy face...

Saturday was spent at Target. Eric and I went to Babies-R-Us too, but Target was the real craziness. I completely forgot about move-in weekend, so I shall wait to return the damn Bumbo seat for a few days. I really thought this weekend would be my last trip, but no... Again...

Afterwards, more nursery organizing, including putting all of those clean clothes away and installing the video monitor. I am fully aware things will never look this organized once the baby is actually here, so photo documentation was necessary. 

Harold did not agree...

And finally Sunday... Rainy day called for changing up the living room. In theory I like this room... it is  huge, filled with cool artwork and has the high ceilings that were so appealing when we bought the house. However I never use this room. So, we decided to mix it up a bit and try a new layout.

Basically swapping the love seat and entertainment center...

We'll see if we like it... Not bad for now...

While Eric moved furniture, I moved books. I didn't want another piece of big wooden furniture in the nursery, so baby books have now joined grown-up books in the living room. At least they are cute.

And that's all for now... Another update in a few days, unless I miraculously go into labor early!!! 

Shifts

Every few months things shift a little for everyone it seems and this time of year is no different. I've been noticing a shift in a few of my relationships, due to nothing bad, just life, and even decided to "clean up" my facebook lists this morning too. I've been so lucky to have awesome friends throughout the years, but sometimes when life changes, your friends don't really change with you. Hence my ever growing "Acquaintance" list, haha. I did unfriend a few people because I just don't really know them and/or really don't have any interest in them. For the most part though, people have just shifted.

I can clearly remembering this when I moved back from Michigan. I had a large group of people that I worked with, partied with and basically saw every single day in the months and years leading up to the move north. But during the 2 years I was gone, things changed. I missed out on a lot, but my friends here also missed out on me. We moved back about a year and a half ago and it took a good 3 or 4 months to get back in the swing of things. I was in a different place, I had gotten married and made a whole new life while I was gone and my friends had gone through equally life changing events. Things changed again majorly last year too with the loss of my brother and buying a house for the first time. I really did not encounter any negativity through this, but these instances brought some people way closer and some a little farther apart.

Another shift is taking place right now in my life as well as my friends lives. Some are having/just had babies, changing jobs, moving, and again some are growing apart. I have been annoyed at times, but then I think back to all of the great experiences and friends I've had along the way and it's kinda hard to be upset. If I hadn't had friends move through my life, I wouldn't have had time or energy to meet new ones. And, I gotta say, some of these new friends I couldn't live without!

I am still lucky to have my tight little group of friends from my youth, who remarkably have grown and changed with me and we still have tons in common... My little group from college, my little group from life after college, my amazing Michigan crew and now my renewed friendships that are strengthened as we all move in like directions now. I've had a terrible time adjusting to life since last May, so to have these pods of friends sprinkled through my life really helps bring me back to earth.  

I'm very interested to see how things will shift again once Baby Dean finally comes too. It'll be another adjustment with my single/non-parent friends, but it seems like my bonds with the married/parent friends are just going to get stronger and stronger. I have so much more respect for a few friends that I once considered mere acquaintances now that I know what they've gone through and what awesome people they've turned out to be...  I intend to surround myself with these people as much as possible and I think I'll be just fine!

Winding down

It's been about 10 days since my last post, although it feels like I've jammed about 10 weeks of stuff into that small amount of time. I am literally having to look at my calendar to remember everything that happened. I believe they call this "overwhelmed".
Last week I finished work. Yes, I am officially unemployed. Yes, I know this is "the best job I'll ever have" and all of that, but again, we're in a transition period here and I just don't believe you yet. Ok, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just that it's new and I can't picture it yet. Eternal skeptic, as usual. It's the first time I will not be working since I was 16 and well, it's weird! I even had a job lined up in Michigan before I had even been there! I have been looking forward to finally ending my "career" at the restaurant and I am really happy that I have a few weeks before the due date to just rest, relax and get the few last minute things done.
But before resting could really kick in, we hit the road for the last time.
Thursday I finished work, met Eric at the house and we drove down to Charleston. Baby Shower #3 was Saturday given by my Aunt Teresa at Mom's house.

I wanted to be crafty and puff paint the fake champagne glasses, so Tree helped.

They kinda ended up looking like ghetto pimp cups. And the glitter glue didn't stick, so it all fell off, but it was fun!

The dessert table... Responsible for the 3lbs I gained since my last appointment.

Cute decorations and you can kinda see the top of the massive gift pile from my wonderful aunts, cousins, in-laws and other family members.

Scary awesome alligator.

I parked myself in the living room all day Saturday, still was worn out from the shower (damn heat) but it was so much fun. I was able to catch up with my sweet sweet family and eat delicious snacks all afternoon. It was so nice to hear stories from 2 of my closest cousins about their pregnancy/labors and then to chat with my non-parent girls about non-baby things.  Including freaking Stephanie out when the Baby finally kicked her :) Annie and Brian also made the trip down, so the guys went golfing during the shower, then we all went to dinner Saturday night downtown.

Sunday and all day Monday was spent in the pool. I had not really wanted to float around, but holy god was it awesome. 

Stopped by the Yacht Club Monday

And took a drive to the beach, made mom whip around on Folly to pull into the shaved ice parking lot. I haven't had one of these since high school. It was awesome.

Eric made his final pre-baby trip for work, so Meri took Harold and me back to NC. Harold was uninterested.

Until we started unpacking baby stuff...

And with the final big piece in place, we are pretty much set!

Once again, uninterested.

I met the last mid-wife yesterday, who kinda rubbed me the wrong way, to which I responded with tears. Seriously, this crying shit is getting old.

But, I am either experiencing braxton-hicks contractions or Baby D is grinding down on my cervix, either way, it's unpleasant, but the mid-wife just smiled and said, "oh, you're fine!". Ugh. I swear, it's just all in the delivery/mannerisms and these chicks just can't seem to get it together. She walked in the room, did not introduce herself, plunked down and without eye contact told me to make my next 2 appointments. Excuse me! Pregnant emotional mess over here! How 'bout not making me feel like you don't even have time to look at me!?! Whatever. I vented to Eric when he got home last night... poor guy... I feel like Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up. Why can't I just have a nice caring old doctor that'll act like they know me and take 2 seconds to really give a shit? At least a few of the midwives have pulled through, but I'm sure I'll end up delivering with one of the annoyingly distracted ones. At least the nursing staff is amazing. They remember me, say hi even if they aren't working with me, give me good tips. Yesterday they told me to have a lot of sex. The midwives could learn a thing or two from the lovely nurses in my opinion.

So after a very long 10 days, I am taking it easy. I'd like to run a few errands, but I am also really happy to just be home and chill. I am going to meet Eric's classmates tonight, which should be interesting. 3 wives are all having babies in September, so the class decided to throw us a little party which is super nice. 

More photos and updates soon, until then, I'll be hopping backwards, eating spicy food and whatever other voodoo tricks to get Baby Dean here quick!