Happy Halloween from Baby November!

I got the neatest shirt about two weeks ago, and I've been wearing it non stop. The woman that cut the vinyl for Baby November's room made this shirt for me, and I have to say, I just love it. I can't believe how many nice and fun comments I've received while wearing it. My doctor had to show me off to her other doctor friends the other day, and I swear, every time I go out, I get so many smiles and fun comments.

So what is this fantastic shirt you ask? E and I went to our favorite Utah cemetery for some Halloweeny photos today so I could show it off.

Happy Halloween from Baby November and I!
Yes! It is a maternity shirt with a skeleton and a baby skeleton in my belly. Since it is very apparent that I am pregnant, this works out perfectly. I think it is so funny!

Also, unrelated side note - E took some pretty amazing photos of a juvenile red tailed hawk last weekend while we were at the farmhouse. Here is the series -

Perched so nicely on a telephone pole.
Soon after we pulled over to see him he took off. Luckily E had his camera facing his direction.
And off he goes. Love his cute fierce eyes.

Nursery is done!

Over the last week I've been working on the nursery pretty much non stop. One day my mom and I hung all the custom cut vinyl (remember?) and one evening E and I set up the crib. Over the last two days I've been cleaning everything up, making room for blankets and diapers in the closet, and finishing all the last touches. Now that I'm done, I'm feeling very at peace that I'm 37 weeks along; if Baby November were to arrive, at least he'll have a place to sleep.

So, since I've already described my vision of the nursery here, I won't bore you with typing it again. Instead, get ready for photo overload. Enjoy!

37 weeks, my god, I'm full term!

37 weeks means that if I were to give birth, my baby is considered full term, not a preemie. That is really really scary. Although my due date is still three weeks out, lots of woman deliver early (but keep in mind, lots deliver late too). E and I are getting so excited to meet this little man. The fear comes and goes, but I know right now I'm feeling mostly excitement.

Do you remember this photo taken at the farmhouse, where I felt huge? Well I took another one in the same place, I think I'm huge-er.

E took this photo of me last Sunday at 36 weeks 4 days.
Here's my weekly quiz-

How far along? 37 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Haven't been to the doc yet this week, so don't have an updated tally. I feel heavier, and my feet are more swollen. Yuck.
Maternity clothes? Heck yes.
Sleep: hurts.
Movement: Yesterday Baby November went crazy. First he had a tumbling class, then soon after Rumba class started. And the night before when we were watching The Office he was doing karate. Even as I type this I'm feeling kicks.
Labor Signs: Lots of Braxton Hicks, not fun. Also, some crampiness started this week (feels like I'm going to start my period), again, not fun.
Pregnancy Symptoms: Everything. I stopped drinking a carton of OJ every two days so the heartburn is less, but now I have a harder time sleeping, walking and bending due to the fact that I'm still quite pregnant.
Food Cravings: The OJ calls to me. All. the. time. I must resist.
Belly Button in or out? I popped, just like a turkey timer.
What I miss: Being able to turn over in my sleep while still asleep. This honestly sounds like heaven. If I want to turn over in bed, I have to wake up, sit up, roll over, adjust pillows, usually get up to pee, get a drink, adjust again, think about the horrible pains radiating down my back and lower abdomen, and wish that my tummy didn't feel so heavy.
What I am looking forward to: Really looking forward to the holidays with our new baby. I'm imagining all the time snuggling with him and E in front of the Christmas tree and all the sweet newborn photos I want to take of him.
Weekly Wisdom: Getting the nursery mostly done helps with peace of mind. (I haven't forgotten about photos!)
Best moment this week: Setting up the crib last night and getting lots and lots of comments on my Halloween shirt. I'll post a photo come Halloween!
Milestones: Today I'm full term. Wow!

Day trip to the farmhouse

On Sunday morning E and I woke up to another beautiful autumn day and hopped in the car and headed to the farmhouse. Due to the fact that I can barely get comfortable in my own bed, we decided to just do a day trip on Sunday, and not spend the night.

We arrived around 1:00 to beautiful skies, colors and temperatures. The breeze was a little on the cool side, but dressing in sweaters and crunching through the leaves was just fantastic. The first thing we decided to do was take a walk around towards Mabel Pierceson's home and visit the horses. E and Connie agreed to walk super duper slowly with me, and we enjoyed every moment. The air was crisp and clear and wonderful. All the trees were bursting with color and the sky was so blue it almost looked fake.

After our walk we all decided to take a little nap. Afternoon naps at the farmhouse are a tradition as strong as gifts at Christmas time, so who are we to question it? Luckily I was able to sleep with E's snuggles, I swear, when I'm alone, I can't seem to sleep during the day.

An hour or so later we woke up refreshed and decided to go on a drive. Due to the fact that I still am craving fruit like a monkey, I first picked a homegrown pear and sliced it up before we headed out again. We drove to Spring City and spotted beautiful hawks, leaves and views. Once in Spring City E slowed the car to a crawl so we could all enjoy the wonderful little town. Along one of the side streets I spotted what I was so desperately hoping to see! A great horned owl! On the way into Spring City I pointed out all the reasons we "should" see the owl, including the fact that Halloween was less than a week away, and owls are Halloween-y, and do to the fact that I've already decided the baby's favorite animal will be an owl. ;)

I was soooo thrilled to see one! We watched him for awhile, took lots of photos, and just soaked in one of the last beautiful days of the year before the weather turns. We even drove down Highway 117, which we refer to as "Goat Road" and I got a cute video of E visiting with a half dozen very friendly goats. I just adore this time of year.

Isn't this leaf interesting? Looks like a watercolor painting.
The owl! He is perched on a beautiful old home, one of my favorites. Isn't he awesome?
Look at his coloring and his talons!
Old barn with yellow maple. Just divine.
And the video-


Not so fun side note: E has been really really concerned about the H1N1 flu, since all research shows it is really scary if a pregnant woman gets it. We've been watching the Utah Department of Health website waiting for the vaccine to arrive in Utah. It finally did, on Saturday. The state decided to give it out, to at risk groups, for free, as long as they had it in stock. Four clinics opened at 7:00am on Saturday morning with 2000 doses each. I arrived alone (E didn't qualify for the shot yet) at 6:45 am and was blown away by how many people were already in line! Easily over 1000! I don't know what I was thinking, I thought there might be 50 ahead of me. So I stood, and stood and stood in an outdoor line for four and a half hours. I finally got my shot, but was totally exhausted by the end. I arrived home at close to noon hungry, thirsty and very very tired and cold. Yuck.

Chelsea's Halloween lingerie shower

My sister-in-law Chelsea is getting married next June and decided it would be fun to have a Halloween bridal shower. Connie and Chelsea have always loved Halloween, and as the date moved closer they decided a lingerie shower would be quite fun.

On Friday night E and I headed over to his family's house. He was asked to come along as the bar tender, and was very embarrassed by the fact that his little sister would be receiving lingerie, but agreed to bar tend. The house looked fantastic, all decorated and spooky for the party, and the food and treats looked divine as well. E made guests "Slime Rickies" and Black Cats, which were raspberry vodka and cranberry juice.

The house looked awesome, and quite spooky!
The party got started with some silly Halloween games, chatting, eating, and then ended with presents and tarot card readings! Everyone got Chelsea really really cute items. Bras and panties, and tons of silly and embarrassing things. The night was a huge success, and Chelsea headed home with all sorts of fun goodies that she claims will be saved for the honeymoon.

Bride-to-be, Chelsea, aka Rainbow Brite had an awesome time.
Only a few presents make Chelsea blush. Glad I caught it on camera!
The amazing food. Notice the witch's hats and brooms. Yum!

Week 36, almost there, kind of...

For the last 4-6 weeks of pregnancy I'm going to post this little questionnaire once a week. It is so easy to forget how things quickly change over the weeks, so here we go:

How far along? 36 weeks, 1 day
Total weight gain/loss: Just got weighed. Gained 0.02 lbs since my last appointment. Up 25 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Heck yes.
Sleep: Sucks. Sleep pretty well at night other than two things that continue to wake me: being thirsty or having to pee. And this morning I woke because my heartburn was killing me!
Movement: Yes. Seems like whenever I talk about him he gives me a especially hard kick.
Labor Signs: Saw the doc and she said I am 1cm dilated and 40% effaced. This is all totally normal at 36 weeks, but it means that my body is moving towards giving birth. Yikes!
Pregnancy Symptoms: This week its all about heartburn heartburn heartburn. And not wanting to move, at all.
Food Cravings: The OJ is now giving me heartburn, as is the fruit. :( So now I'm just longing for those items and eating crackers.
Belly Button in or out? Yep, I think I popped. My belly button is saying this turkey is done, just like those weird turkey temperature things, when they pop, turkey comes out of the oven. Too bad I still have a four week bake.
What I miss: Sleep, alcohol, and feeling like I can move.
What I am looking forward to: The crib arrives next week! Can't wait to see the nursery in all its finished glory!
Weekly Wisdom: Tums can only do so much.
Best moment this week: Getting the tree on the wall in the nursery. I honestly go in there three to ten times a day just to admire how cute it is.
Milestones: This is the last week of my pregnancy I'm considered pre-term. Next week I'll be full term, which is really really scary!

Baby November's nursery - post 1

My mom and I have been working, really hard, most of the day.

It all started about six months ago when I found an image online of a very whimsical tree that I just loved. The idea of using it as a centerpiece as a nursery image came to life. Even before I knew if I was having a boy or a girl, I knew I wanted to have this tree beside the crib. Around the rest of the room I wanted silhouettes of woodland animals, giving the room a very gender neutral and whimsical feeling. For the crib bedding I'm going to just get some soft sage green, blue, and brown bedding. Nothing, other than the woodland animals, and the tree will give this room a 'theme'.

After I had my idea, I started hunting for animal silhouettes. I wanted friendly animals, nothing scary, but nothing cartoony either, and I wanted all the animals to be ones you might actually find in the woods. I wanted all the silhouettes to look real, but get the whimsical feeling from the colors I chose. I thought about painting the tree and animals but decided on getting professional grade vinyl cut and placing the huge stickers myself.

So today my mom and I worked. We first weeded (took off the backing of the custom-cut stickers), then taped, then placed. Luckily my mom knew how to do this process, because I would have been lost without her.

Everything turned out way way cuter than I could have hoped, but that said, I'm only going to post a sneak peek here. I want to wait until the crib arrives, and the bedding is purchased to show off the entire effect. So, I hope this satisfies some curiosity for at least a week or two.

Weeding is when you take off the waste sticker. Here I am pulling off the extra from around the grass blades.
My mom weeding the leaves.
The hare is weeded and ready to be taped!
My mom using a huge roll of tape on a portion of the tree. Yikes, this was scary.
Preview photos to get you excited to see the finished project. Enjoy!

Autumn weekend with my love-a-bug

Finally E is home from a month of crazy travels. After two trips to Japan, a trip to Las Vegas, and to Colorado with me, E was ready to be home and have a chance to relax. He decided to take Thursday and Friday off as comp days, and he couldn't have chosen better days, weather wise. The long weekend was wonderful, warm and clear and just beautiful.

We did quite a few things including buying a car seat for Baby November (stressful!), cleaning up the house, watching quite a few episodes of The Office, and going to both Red Butte Garden and the Temple Quarry Trail. The leaves were amazing! I live for autumn days like Friday and Saturday. They were glorious.

On Saturday at the Temple Quarry trail E was looking so handsome. He was even dressed like the changing season, in his brown pants and rusty red sweater. I kept taking photos of him, he's just too good looking. I hope you don't mind.

Also, E and I cooked some awesome meals this weekend. It is amazing how fun it is to cook with someone you love. This weekend we barbecued some herbs, garlic, onions and tomatoes and made a killer homemade tomato soup and then we also did an espresso chili rubbed rib eye steak. Fantastic! Both recipes came from this cookbook, which is hands down the best cookbook we've ever owned.

E and I are in love with ornamental grasses. We have three types growing in our yard, but whenever we visit Red Butte Garden we look carefully at all the varieties they have. I love this one with the white feathery seedpods.
I just love the Temple Quarry trail, the views up Little Cottonwood Canyon are amazing, and the colors were vivid.
My Ethan.
We kept talking about how crazy it was that in a month our little family of two will be a family of three. Never again will it only be the two of us.
Aren't the colors fanatstic?

And here is dinner on Saturday night, espresso chili rubbed steak, baked potato, and grilled fennel bulb. It was specatular.

35 weeks down, 35 DAYS to go!

Oh my gosh, I'm going to be a mother, in a little over a month... I'm scared, nervous, excited, scared, and really really scared.

Here is an update:

How far along? 35 weeks.
Total weight gain/loss: Not sure. I don't ever seem to remember, Maybe up 26 lbs?
Maternity clothes? Oh yea. There is no hope fitting in regular stuff anymore.
Sleep: Not that fun. Rolling over is really really tough and I can no longer sleep on my back. I need to position a pillow under my tummy too, so it is quite tricky. This is all in addition to getting up four + times a night to pee and or drink a huge glass of water (which leads to more peeing).
Movement: Yes. This man likes to jiggle, kick, stretches and cause general discomfort for his Mama-to-be
Labor Signs: Lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, but that is not real labor, right?
Pregnancy Symptoms: Pretty much everything you can think of. If it is related to pregnancy, I've got it. However, I'm still lucky enough to not have much moodiness! This makes me very very happy because I hate feeling weepy. It is just not me.
Food Cravings: Oh yes! Fruit fruit and more fruit. Also, OJ, which I guess is kinda a fruit too. I can go through a carton of OJ every two days.
Belly Button in or out? Almost out. One day it is just going to pop. But not yet.
What I miss: Sleeping like a normal person. Not eating like a gorilla at all times (in the last three days I've gone through five pounds of grapes!), being able to bend over, and being able to put my socks on.
What I am looking forward to: Finishing the nursery soon. And not being pregnant anymore. And finally being a mom. :)
Weekly Wisdom: Cold weather feels good. I'm in my groove when the house is in the low 60s. If you come to visit me, bring a sweater.
Best moment this week: Having E return home from his trip to Japan (again!) and having him home for awhile now. Also, having all my travels behind me. Although I love to travel, traveling 8 months pregnant isn't that fun.
Milestones: 35 weeks down, 35 days to go...

Week after the wedding in Colorado

The day after Allison's wedding, E headed back to Japan on business, and I headed to a Rebecca's house in Colorado. Rebecca is a friend I met on a doll message board, and although are friendship started with one similar interest, it has grown and changed to a wonderful friendship. Caroline, another doll friend that lives in Utah flew to Colorado to meet us, and the week of kid talk, husband talk, and life talk started. (Remember we did this same type of trip earlier in the year?)

Rebecca planned some fantastic activities for us, including a tour of Celestial Seasonings factory, high tea at The Brown Palace, and lots of time to just talk and relax at her beautiful house. The week was perfect, just what I needed. Instead of sitting home and missing E so much my teeth hurt, I was with friends chatting, enjoying her children, working on doll crafts, and relaxing in her awesome living room, due to the fact I'm quite pregnant.

Caroline, unfortunately had to fly home a couple days early due to her son being sick, but Rebecca and I kept on having a fantastic time. I can't wait for her to visit Utah again.

This is the view from Rebecca's living room. It was amazingly beautiful.
One morning I woke up to find a donut party! Rebecca and her daughter had purchased donuts and even set up the dolls with their own donuts.
We also worked on baking clay projects. We purchased a special type of clay at the craft store, and once you are finished with the project you bake it and it turns hard, almost like hard plastic! Really fun way to make fake doll food (notice the doll donuts!).
Caroline missed going to The Brown, which is too bad. It was an amazingly beautiful hotel in downtown Denver that had a fantastic high tea. Rebecca and I had a wonderful time sipping and chatting. (We also did high tea when Rebecca visited us in Utah, here's the link.)
The Brown's Crown Jewel tea was divine. And aren't the silver teapots fun?
Me at The Brown. I loved every minute.