...9...

9 More weeks!

I can't believe how quickly the weeks are beginning to fly by! A lot of this has to do with being so busy with work, I'm sure. I'm only 5 more days from being 8 months pregnant! Does that sound crazy to everyone? Or just me? Oddly enough, I still have random moments of, "Wow, I can't believe I'm pregnant..." You would think that the basketball in front of me would have clued me in by now, but I don't think it's possible for that to really hit home with your first baby. I certainly can't imagine taking it for granted.

So, the count down continues. The countdown to Baby. The countdown to a new life for the three of us. (Six of us if you include the "girls," JJ, Lilly, and Dahlila). The count down to life as we know it drastically changing, forever.

...10...

10 more weeks to go!

Assuming, of course, that Monkey decides to greet the world on his due date. Personally, I think he's going to be a little early. I still can't believe Monkey and I are both so big! Even more amazing, there is not a stretch mark one on this belly. Not yet anyway. But I still have a rather long 10 weeks to go! I still feel pretty great too. The heartburn is the worst and most persistent "symptom" I've had. Don't get me wrong, it's no walk in the park. It's pretty unbearable at times (mostly at night), but I figure if that's all I have to go through, it's better than the morning sickness some women have. And so begins the count down :)

Two down, one to go!

It's been a while since I've posted anything new, I know. Sorry! Things are going well. It's early in the last trimester, and I still feel pretty great and Monkey is healthy and active. I feel him kick constantly know, and lemme tell ya, that kid can pack a punch! We have finished the nursery and I will post pictures in the next couple of days :)

Life has been so hectic lately, but it's nice to have the distractions. I am now in charge of coordinating the Weddings and Special Events at the resort, of which there are MANY. We basically have two to three weddings every weekend until November. Good timing, because Monkey already seems rather impatient to make his escape into the world. And Jase has been busy with a couple of games the studio is working on that have upcoming deadlines. Oh! And Vacation Isle is on the shelves! In case you didn't know, I did the voice over for the game. So, if you miss my sweet voice, you can go buy the game. :) Here's a link to the promo video:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/debut-trailer-vacation-isle/62816

Here's lookin' at you kid

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: “That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!” The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: “The driver just insulted me!”

The man says: “You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you.”

Lately, I often daydream about what Monkey will look like. I look at baby pictures of Jason and myself and try to pick out features that might fit in with Monkey's ultrasound profile. I can't wait to meet this kid. ♥

Jason's mom is visiting, and having Monkey is beginning to feel closer than ever. Yesterday, Julie and I went to Babies R Us and bought some ADORABLE bedding and paint for the nursery. She and Jason began painting the walls that night while I was at work, and I'm betting they'll get it done this evening or the next. I'll take pictures soon for your viewing pleasure.

Having "Grandma" here and preparing for the baby shower this Sunday has made us feel like Monkey really is going to be here in a few months. It's so surreal. I bet he'll be as cute as his Daddy.

Just a quick note

I like Monkey. I think he's got a sense of humor. This morning I woke up and had my typical glass of milk with a vitamin and a healthy bowl of Kashi cereal. But... then I was still hungry and Monkey was too, so he convinced me to have a big bowl of pot roast and potatoes. This was about 7 in the morning. He is his Daddy's son ;)

Recently, I was able to catch a bit of Monkey's acrobatics on camera. He's been kicking up a storm lately, so I put a card on my tummy where he was kicking and got a shot of it moving on camera. I will try to see about posting it on the blog.

In the mean time, I hope everyone's making it in that Gulf Coast heat. While it's been beautiful weather here with highs in the upper 70s, it gets pretty hot in the house with no A/C and this big ol' belly. As much as I miss you all, there's no way I would make it in Texas.

Monkey's new diggs

So, if you didn't already know from my panic attack a few days ago, We're moving! It's going to be a bit of work, but we really love the house and the area we're moving into. In fact, I'm downright excited! Everything that is wrong with the house we're renting now is fixed with this new place. We're even within a couple of blocks of most of the people we know well here in Big Bear. And the view off of our gorgeous new back porch? Sprawling acreage, horses, and mountains.

Jason and I both have the sense that we are truly being provided for... in fact, it gives me that much needed peace of mind. ♥

Monkey. Business.

Today was incredibly stressful. It seemed like every good thing had a downside.

We found a GREAT place we're moving into starting this next week. I'm tellin' ya, it's perfect for Monkey. (Yay!) But, we have to actually pack and move all of our things. (Boo.) We weren't exactly planning on finding a new place, but this worked out really well since I would have been signing a new year lease this Thursday. (Yay!) Unfortunately, we still have to give our current rental agency 30 days notice, so we'll have to pay most of the monthly rent on both places. (Boo.) Then, I went to my prenatal appointment and listened to Monkey's strong, healthy heartbeat. (Yay!) But then the midwife and I started talking about cost of delivery and I realized we'll basically be paying most of it out of pocket due to our lame deductible. (Boo.) Monkey's arrival is approximately 4 months from now (Yay!) but, then again, we only have 4 months and I'm feeling so much stress about the coming month that I can't imagine what those other three months will bring, (Boo.) and should I even bring up the next 18 years?

There were several moments today when I felt like lying down on the floor and crying it out. That's partially due to Monkey's influence I'm sure, but in general, today was pretty hectic. Instead, I did a little retail therapy (Yay!) and looked over my registry. Oddly enough, that had me worried too. (Boo.) There are a lot of really fun baby items out there that I would love to have, but I'm most worried about the essentials. A super-cool nursery is one thing, but the peace-of-mind of having a closet full of diapers is something altogether different! Um... and maybe this would be a good time to mention that we're crazy and sadistic enough to have our hearts set on using cloth diapers? (I'm hoping our research into the BumGenius 3.0 diapers will be worth our while.)

Oye vey, diapers or not, that peace-of-mind thing is sounding pretty great right now... can't I just register for that? Come to think of it, if you've got any on hand, we're the hand-me-down kind of folks. :)

House full of Daddies

My Dad came to visit! For those of you who know my dad, you'll know what a big deal this was. He had even mentioned that this may have been the first two days off in a row he had taken in the last five years! From what I understand, Cathy basically bought him the airplane tickets, handed them to him, and said, "Go. They're not refundable." :) The tickets turned out to be an Anniversary/ Father's Day present. Although the visit was short, I'm so thankful I got to see him. Having my family see me in the glow of my first pregnancy was very important to me. While there are many others I would love to see, Dad was at the top of my list.

So, here's how it went down...

Jason had said that I needed to ask off for this past weekend. When we went to have our last ultrasound, I remember walking out to the Jeep afterward and saying, "This has been the best day of my life." Jason looked at me with the same funny smile that I saw a lot of in the next few days, and said, "Next weekend is going rival this one." I thought he was off his rocker. There was almost no way anything was as good as seeing Monkey moving on that screen looking so much like a baby since the last time we'd had a peek. But Jason was right.

This past Saturday, I was still scheduled to work. Jason woke up early and did the dishes and vacuumed and generally cleaned house. Jason's very good about helping with that sort of thing, but he was smiling this big silly smile while doing it. Obviously, something was going on. He told me I was getting "the big surprise", so I started asking questions, Are we going somewhere? Can I take it to work with me? Do I have to unwrap it? He would always answer with something cryptic. We can go somewhere if you want. Yes, you can take it to work and hug it and love it. I hope it's wrapped... All I really got out of him was that our friend Danielle was going to bring it to us. So, we went out to eat lunch at my favorite restaurant, Sweet Basil Bistro, and waited for "Danielle" to bring me the "surprise". I wish you all could have seen Jason during this meal. That big, goofy smile was a permanent fixture. I'm still not entirely sure how he managed to eat his sandwich.

Finally, Jason stepped outside and came back with a bag. He handed it to me and asked me to guess what was inside. I told him it felt like a onesie. He said I could open it. Inside, was a little blue and white onesie that had, "Grandpa's sidekick" printed on it. I just stared. I was thinking at this point about how I had considered Dad coming to visit when Jason first told me that seeing Monkey on the ultrasound would rival this weekend. I had thought about it a few times since, but didn't want to get my hopes up and be disappointed. So, there I sat, staring, unable to look away in case Dad wasn't really there. Then I heard his voice, "What? You don't like it?"

Yes. I cried. That seemed to be everyone's first question. Needless to say, I got out of work that day. (Thank you SO much Lee!) Dad came in on Saturday and left Monday morning, so the time was short, but very sweet. And, yes, it did indeed rival seeing Monkey on that ultrasound.

Our Baby Boy

In case you haven't heard just yet... it's a boy! According to the poll that was here last month, most of you thought it would be; I think the final tally was 14 to 3.

We had such an amazing day Monday. I can't imagine a better anniversary gift than to be able to see our son. I think he must have felt the excitement, because he was moving SO much! I have felt him move before, but being able to see him move on the ultrasound screen made me feel every little twist and turn. In fact, since the ultrasound, I feel him constantly. He was breech at the time, and I think he must usually be in this position because he always kicks pretty low.

After we heard the magic words, "It's a boy!" we spent the rest of the day thinking about what that meant for us. Jason had a couple of interesting thoughts on the matter:

"I would make a great King... I make babies quick, and I make 'em boys."

"Hey! We won't have to pay for the wedding!"

Mostly, I was thinking that I need to learn a few things about sports. I thought of Lilly too, and how great a dog she's going to be for a boy. And I thought of how wonderful

it will be to have a "Momma's Boy" for the first several years (not to mention the fact that we can by pass the teenage-girl thing for a few more years!)

As far as more pictures of Baby go, there aren't many, but I thought you might enjoy seeing a few of these (kissably cute, I'm sure) baby parts.

* Sorry these pictures are so SMALL! I will try to change the scale and repost soon.

It's a... Baby!

It's pretty late here in California, and even later for you Texans, so I'll keep this post brief and catch you up tomorrow. I didn't think it was too fair to hold out on a picture of Baby though, so here it is! We've decided to tell you if it's a girl or a boy, but you'll have to wait a couple of days so we can make sure we're able to tell family first.

I still can't believe what an incredible day we've had! It's a little strange to know Baby's name, we've been using it all day. You'll have to wait on that of course, but we won't make you wait too much longer to start thinking pink or blue for this little Juneau!