*Last reminder! Today’s the final day that the sign-up is open for the Postcard Project Cookie Swap.  I’ve been in contact with Cookies For Kids Cancer and found out that Glad will again be matching $1 per cookie we swap, so it’s an added bonus to be able to raise money for kids’ cancer simply by swapping cookies!  Last year we raised over $3500 and I’d love to beat that this year.  Click here for all the details about the swap.

I had my second…well sort of my third (more on that later)…baby shower yesterday!  This one was in Abilene, thrown by Den’s cousins, Andrea, Jessica, and Katerina (with help from their sister, Tessa, from afar – she’s in SE Asia on a mission trip!).  Andrea was the ring leader and you are just going to die when you see the creativity and work she put into it!  I will be blogging my showers soon, but here’s a photo of the beautiful Andrea with her adorable youngest daughter, Reagan.  Joshua will be just a little less than a year younger when he’s born, and it’s so nice that he will have some kiddos his age to play with during the holidays when we visit. :)

We got so much stuff that we really needed, and I feel blessed all over again to have married Dennis because not only did I get him, the best husband of all time according to me, but I got his incredible family too.  I can’t say they’re the best family of all time without betraying my own…but yes I can because they are.  LOL! They are just wonderful!  So loving and generous.  With one shower left to go, I think we now have all the big things covered (well, except for the pricy cloth diapers I want, but we can buy those with help from gift cards we’ve received, and using the 10% coupon Target sent us) and only need some little things before his arrival.  That is a good feeling!

Today I’m going to the social security office to finally, finally, get my last name changed on my social security card.  Yeah, it’s been thirteen years since our wedding and I never did that, even though I’ve gone by Miller and had my name as Miller on my driver’s license since 2000.  I thought I better get it done just to make sure it creates no problems when we turn in Joshua’s birth certificate info and my social security number doesn’t match my name. LOL!  It will be a big relief to finally have that done.  I can be the worst procrastinator.

We have our “Happiest Baby on the Block” class tomorrow evening.  Things are all coming together.  Which is good, because time is running out!   Five weeks or less, people!

Sorry I’m a day late on my update! I think I’m actually going to switch to posting them on Tuesdays because Sundays have become impossible to get pictures done.  I’m so tired, I go to sleep after church, then I have flat hair and puffy eyes.  Dennis is working an earlier shift again so he can take pics after he gets off on Monday (my other day off), though there’s barely any daylight left.  I’ll take low-light grainy photos over ones like this. LOL!

As my belly grows ever bigger, people are anxious to know when Joshua is coming.  Last Wednesday my answer was “6 1/2 weeks.  Not that I’m counting.” :)

I’ve gotten the “gathering nuts for winter” cheeks that Moms get in their last trimester, and it’s not like my cheeks needed any filling in. I already had that look, and now my double chin can not be hidden.  It’s taken on a life of its own and introduces itself before the rest of my face has a chance to.  You can’t tell much of a difference in these photos since Dennis is kind and takes them at an angle that minimizes it, but believe me it’s now an entity in itself! lol

Also, for the last week or so my inner thighs feel like I’m doing 36,000 squeezes with a thigh master every day.  I’m not sure if it’s really sore muscles or my pelvis is all out of whack–all I know is I now look and feel like a cripple every time I get up and try to walk.  As we went through Walmart last night, I told Dennis I need to track down a used wheelchair so he can push me through stores.  ;) During our nightly walk with Jessie, I had to sit down twice, which I’ve never had to do before.  I jokingly told Dennis to just leave me and bring the car back to pick me up, but I thought several times I really wouldn’t make it home.  But I know it’s good for me so I’m trying to keep going.  It just seems like soon it may be impossible.

Everything seems so hard now.  I really wish I had someone to help me put on my socks when I get ready for work.

Last week I didn’t get enough sleep because I was doing so much to prepare for my baby shower every night after work (I know, I brought it on myself by getting involved when I didn’t have to. My sisters were throwing it and my take-charge older sister complex kicked into high gear.).  I had to use three coats of concealer on my under eye circles for my shower, and of course when I finally laid down to sleep Saturday night, I couldn’t. Kill me now!  Thankfully, last night I slept well, so I think it was just the excitement of the day and I couldn’t unwind.  I didn’t take any photos of the shower myself, so I will share some as soon as I get them from the photographer, a girl I used to work with.  It was wonderful, and it deserves a post all to itself.  My sisters and I make a great team, if I do say so myself. :)

I got this dress at Target when I was barely showing because it was on clearance from last winter’s leftovers.  I love it and am so glad it’s cold enough to wear it now. It also works great with my witch hat and cape – easy Halloween costume. :)

For that last photo, I put my cape and hat on Dennis so they wouldn’t get dirty, then told him I had to take a photo.

Love his “why do you torture me?” face! He’s such a good sport.  He has to be with a wife like me!  :)

I was just telling a friend last week that I rarely get sick…then I got sick.  Happens every time!  Mr. Snotty Pants sat next to me at work during the last two hours on Wednesday, blowing his nose the whole time (seriously, he hardly typed at all because he was blowing his nose so often!), and I stubbornly refused to move because I was comfortable and there were only two hours left.  (You choose your own seat where I work, and there are hundreds to choose from, so I was a little miffed he didn’t choose a seat that didn’t have anyone else around…there were plenty.)  But *cringe* I hated hearing that constant blowing into Kleenex’s.  And I felt feverish by the time I left work.

I worked Thursday and I thought I was fine, but woke up Friday feeling feverish again, and with a sore throat and my entire body hurt.  Especially my hips – it was hard to walk.  I called in sick, and didn’t work Saturday either, feeling even weaker and more feverish.  (I don’t know if I had a fever because my thermometer kept saying my temp was only 97 degrees…I think it may be broken).  I didn’t go to church on Sunday and I didn’t want to get out of my PJ’s for my weekly pictures so I apologize for being in them again – I just didn’t feel good enough to try to put on a pretty face for you this week – lol.

I have a lot to do this week in preparation for my baby shower (I know I’m weird, but I couldn’t help getting involved! Control freak, much?) so I’m praying I feel great when I wake up on Monday (I’m writing this Sunday).  I don’t have any more days I can spare to do nothing!

I may be down with the sickness, but my belly button sure is perky! lol

Oh and I have a Daddy update for you – Dennis did Via Christi’s Boot Camp for New Dads. I didn’t get a pic of him with his certificate yet so I’ll share that next week.  I’m so glad he did that – I know it will help him a lot! Three veteran Dads who’ve done the class and now have their babies come to the class with them in tow so the soon-to-be Dads can ask questions and observe how to handle a baby, while the pros teach them how to diffuse stress, help mom, form a family bond, survive a crying baby, etc.  We are both doing the Happiest Baby on the Block class in November to learn how to calm a crying baby.

33 weeks down, 7 to go.