I was taking my Sunday nap and just couldn’t get motivated to pretty myself up for the mandatory photos, so I rolled out of bed in my PJ’s and fluffy blue socks, and went straight into photo shoot mode so I could go back to bed as quickly as possible.  Sleep trumps trying to look good!

OK, so maybe I was trying to look even worse than I had to – lol.

So I got my first weird craving.  We’ve all heard of pickles and ice cream (does anyone ever really crave that combo?), but since I don’t really like ice cream and haven’t liked sweet stuff, period, for most of my pregnancy, that never happened.  But last week I suddenly had to have slices of cheddar cheese dipped in salsa.  It was so good! lol  OK, I guess another weird thing I really like is potato chunks boiled in salted water, then tossed with some vinegar (I discovered this from making American Potato Salad – the first and second time I made it I could hardly resist eating all the potato chunks before finishing the recipe).  Oh man.

Last week we toured Wesley’s birthing center, which is separate from the hospital, and also the birthing floor inside the hospital since I’m high risk and will likely be delivering there instead.  A slow anxiety has been growing in me about the upcoming D-day (delivery day, lol), but touring the place I will be delivering helped a lot.  Being familiar with my surroundings will help put me at ease more than going into this with everything being new.  They also do everything they can to accommodate your wishes during the birthing experience, and it was relieving to know that, despite not really knowing what I want yet.

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Remember the cards we get from our “son” each month?  I don’t want to say who really sends them because she reads this blog and I’m playing along, but I just got month 7 and get choked up every time I read it.  Favorite so far, though others have made me cry too. :)  I just can’t believe after so many years of waiting, we only have two more months to go before we can hold our baby.  It’s getting so real now.  I’m excited, nervous, anxious, terrified.  I don’t want D-day to come too soon, but man it’s going to be awesome when it does. :)

We started outside for this week’s pics, but even in the shade I couldn’t help squinting (this is as close to not squinting as I could get – lol) so this effort didn’t last long.

No, I didn’t just suddenly grow an ego the size of my belly.  I’m literally hot, and have been my entire pregnancy. I sweat while people around me seem fine.  I can’t imagine how much worse it would be if I was 9 months pregnant during the summer – props to the women who have to go through that.  I just hope the cooler fall weather isn’t delayed this year because I’m really just done with all the sweating.

This banner was given to me by some friends at church so I had to show it off. It’s hand made and so cute!

In addition to being hotter than all y’all, I’m also having twins.  Or so everyone seems to think.  I kid you not, three people asked me in the last week if I’m sure I’m not having twins.  Really?  I actually don’t personally take offense to this question because I know and admit that I’m huge and have no problem with it (right now, anyway), but what sane person would ask a hormonal pregnant woman a question that reminds her how enormous she is?  I haven’t had much problem with being emotional, but if I were prone to it like many pregnant women are, I think I’d probably start slapping people when they asked me this to knock some sense into them.  I think pregnant women aren’t the only ones who have side effects from their pregnancies – it seems to make people around them stupid too! LOL!  A friend just sent me a link to 28 things you should never say to a pregnant woman, and it has suggestions for what to say instead. Very helpful and a quick read if you want to check it out.

Jessie joined us in the nursery and I decided we needed a pic with Joshua’s big sister in it! :)

Not much new to report, except that I think Joshua might share his Dad’s fondness for martial arts because I swear he has taken to doing Tai Chi in my belly.  Sometimes he’ll move soooooo slooooooow, but with a lot of pressure, and it feels totally weird, and not really in a good way.  I’m already to that point where I need to stretch to give him more room sometimes because it’s uncomfortable.  Scary to think how cramped his quarters will be near the end if I’m already stretching out to give him room!  My Mom said she was so big she couldn’t reach the front of her belly and I’m hoping that’s because she has stumpy arms (she’s even shorter than  me, probably just over 5′) and not because her belly was really that huge.  I mean I’d have to be carrying a baby whale to be so big that I couldn’t reach the front of my belly! lol.

And the swelling/water retention continues.  I can see it in my hand in the above pic – my fingers aren’t usually so plump, and I’ve had to switch to a ring I used to wear on my middle finger for my wedding ring because it’s too tight.  And before you ask, my blood pressure is still OK, thankfully.  Last week it was 116/68, which is higher than the last visit, but about what it was at my very first visit.  Brace yourself or scroll quickly downward with your eyes closed because I’m going to show you how bad my feet can get and it ain’t pretty (the indentations are from sandals I wore all day that are usually really loose on me).

Sorry.  Hope you don’t mind me keepin’ it real.  It doesn’t cause any pain, just ugly to look at.  My feet do tire easily, but I have a wonderful man that will rub them any time I ask, and that helps so much.  God bless him!  <3  And just to leave you with something cute, here’s a random picture I took of a smiling Jessie girl, which was photo bombed by my belly.

One last thing – I just want to give some love to my friend, Stacy, who was diagnosed with Lyme disease a few months ago, along with her youngest son (though the other two also show symptoms as well).  She has apparently lived with it most her life and just thought that the migraines and pain were her normal, only to find out much later that there’s a reason for her and her son’s multiple problems.  The treatment, however, has been tricky, and a lot of trial and error has gone into finding things that work without taking away her ability to function as a human being.  She has a blog, DoingLifeWithLyme, where you can follow her journey to recovery if you have a personal interest in Lyme disease and treatments for it.  She is currently using both antibiotics and essential oils and getting really good results with the oils, so if you or anyone you know suffers from this disease, you might want to check it out!

Well I’ve made it to the third trimester! I’m so glad I still have three months left with Joshua in my belly – I want it to last forever.  For now.  :)  I’m sure I’ll want every stage of his life to last forever!  I remember when my little sister was a baby, I wished she would just stay that way and never grow up.  I was already a Mom at 6 and she was my little baby I wanted to keep that way. lol

This is Dad introducing us to our little sister in the delivery room (we actually got to see the birth and took classes beforehand to prepare for it). I’m on the right, Danielle on the left.

I was totally in awe of this little baby!  This could have been the exact moment that I realized I wanted to be a Mom. By contrast, Danielle decided she would never be a Mom, and still holds to that decision. I think Mom being in labor scarred her for life-lol.

So I’m doing much better now, despite a rough weekend.  I stayed up until 5 in the morning after I got home Thursday night because I had to bake my chocolate cake twice (the first time I underbaked it).  I went to bed and two hours later, got up to get ready to take my cake to the fair.  We got showered and dressed, and when I retrieved my cake from the refrigerator, I said, “Well, I guess I’m not entering the chocolate cake contest after all.”

I’d had trouble getting the cakes out of the pan and the top one cracked a little bit so it became a weak link that couldn’t hold up to the weight of the frosting and that cracked piece just fell off while I slept.  It was so upsetting, I couldn’t even get upset.  I was in shock, and also I was grateful in a way that I could go back to sleep since I now had no reason to go to the fair so early.  So we got a couple more hours sleep and headed to Hutchinson.  Because we took the day off for the fair and we weren’t going to waste it.  Besides, we had tickets to see Kansas in concert that night! :)

I had a great, sweaty, and exhausting time at the fair, and hardly regretted my caketastrophy.  There’s always next year! :)  The concert was so, so good.  I only knew three songs they played because I’ve never been familiar with their music (I know, for shame living in KS, right?), but wow.  They are incredible musicians, and why doesn’t every band have a violinist?  It adds so much to the sound.  I put together a short video of clips from their concert, which  you can see here if you like.

The next day we got up bright and early, and completely exhausted, for our sonogram.  And got to see baby Joshua in 3D!  This made the weekend fantastic.

Here he is in 2D with his legs curled up so his feet are almost to his head!  So cute.

And here he is in 3D:

Look at that huge nose!  Remind you of anyone?

Like father like son.  Same birthday, big noses. lol  OK, maybe he’s like mama, too.

Maybe a lot like mama.  But I think most like Aunt Danielle.

Between us, the kid didn’t have a chance.  But he’ll probably grow into his nose and wear it just as well as the rest of us.  :)

I may have helped him out with a fat nose, but at least he didn’t get my skinny lips! Love those fat lips!

He slept through the sonogram and was imperturbable when the sonographer tried to jostle him awake by pushing on my belly with the wand and wiggling it around four different times.  He would just stretch or readjust and never moved more than that.  I told everyone that means he’s going to be a calm baby. :)  I really think he will be, and hopefully the same mother’s intuition that told me he was a boy will hold out for the calm baby thing as well.  I really feel he will be!  I hope I don’t have to eat my words.  lol

I had to go to work after the sonogram, and got so sick while I was there.  Another stomach bug!  I got sick Thursday but was better Friday so I thought it was the goat cheese I’d forced myself to eat (I deplore goat cheese but am trying to make myself like it).  But the sickness came back in full force on Saturday and I barely made it through the work day.  By Sunday morning, I finally figured out it wasn’t anything I ate and it was time for another potato cure.  Dennis bought me some yogurt and a few hours later, I was all better and taking pictures for you guys. :)

I’m sure you’ve noticed my environment and have been waiting for me to say something about the nursery, which I’m obviously standing/sitting in.  Well too bad! I’ll have that for you tomorrow. Pinky swear. :)