Baby Mountain

So I don't really consider my belly to be much of a "baby bump" anymore, it feels more like a baby mountain! I am 38 weeks today, so just 14 days until my due date! WOOO! I told Caiden today in Sacrament meeting that I understand it's probably really hard to leave Heaven, so I'll be patient, but to know that his mommy and daddy are anxious to hold him and that there's a lot of love waiting for him down here on earth. I can't wait for him to get here. Miles and I were talking while eating lunch today and he said "You could go in to labor this week. Are you ready?" I really started to think about it, and I have no idea if I'm ready. I started to tear up a bit because I'm so ready to not be pregnant, but it scares me to think that at the end of that I'll be a mom! I'm not sure if I'm really really ready, but I sure am excited. Here are pictures of the baby mountain from weeks 37 and 38. I'm not really one for the bare belly pictures, but I had an idea for a picture that couldn't be done any other way than to have a bare belly.. so please don't be grossed out. I'm going to take another picture with the same backdrop and in the same shirt but instead of holding my belly I'll be cradling Caiden in the same place, and I'm going to pair them side by side. I hope you can get a mental picture of what I'm describing..

Looking at these pictures, and looking at all the pictures I've taken during this pregnancy side by side I'm still in shock that this is my body. 

Pregnancy Update

Here's my 37.5 week update: I went to the doctor's on Wednesday. After repeatedly telling me that I probably wouldn't go in to labor until after my due date the doctor did my check up. Turns out I'm already dilated 2.5 cm and 75% effaced! Though that doesn't really mean that I'm going in to labor any time soon, the doctor changed his prognosis, he said he would bet I go in to labor before my due date, which is in 16 days, just over two weeks left!

I can't wait for Caiden to get here. I can't wait for my appointment on Wednesday to see if I've progressed at all. I've been going for walks and eating spicey foods and having very painful, yet irregular, contractions. Sometimes those contractions stop me dead in my tracks, can't move, can't breath for a good 30 seconds, but they aren't getting any closer together. I can hang in there, but it's getting extremely uncomfortable. I just keep telling myself to soak up the last Miles and Chelsey moments before the baby gets here.

I'm sure Miles is getting reaaaaaaally ready for me to not be pregnant, poor guy has been dealing with extreme pregnant emotions lately. Sometimes I turn in to the incredible hulk and I can feel it coming but I'm powerless to stop it, and then when it's over I start to cry because of the things I just said or did and then Miles hugs me and tells me he understands and kisses my forehead and I'm happy. It's a full round of emotions in a 5 minute span. I'm just lucky to have a great and understand husband. Sorry for no pictures, I'm feeling too huge today to document, although I really should.

Maybe I'll go do that now...

Sweethearts Day

Every year Miles and I take turns planning out our Valentine's activities. This year it was Miles turn, and I must say he did a fabulous job! He realized that being nine months pregnant on Valentine's Day that I probably wasn't going to be up for a big romantic evening. He also has been paying attention to how frumpy and huge I've been feeling, and the fact that I stare at my closet for a good 20 minutes trying to figure out what to wear. So his first gesture of sweetness was to give me money to go buy myself a Valentine's outfit that would make me feel pretty! How sweet is that? And understanding. The Saturday and Sunday before Valentine's Day I made him breakfast in bed, pancakes and eggs on Saturday, then heart shaped french toast with bread from Great Harvest, eggs, bacon, and hash browns on Sunday. Even though it wasn't my year to plan, I wanted to do something sweet to show my man that I love him. On Saturday I picked up Miles gift and couldn't wait to give it to him. I crochet'd a little cell phone cozy and wrapped it up with a contract attached to it. The contract stated that I he absolutely had to keep his gift. There were some clauses and stipulations, but that was the gist of the contract. I made him sign it before he opened his present. So he opens his gift and finds the cozy. He had a mildly confused look on his face, when I pulled his new iPhone out from behind my back! He upgraded me for my birthday and had been envious of how awesome my phone was ever since, so I wanted to upgrade him for Valentine's day. He was like a little school girl with giddy! We went over to AT&T to activate it and he has not put it down since, which makes me feel great! 

On actual Valentine's day Miles told me I needed to be ready to go by 12:20pm. I got showered and ready in my new Valentine's outfit, first time I've been ready to leave the house before 12:00 basically my entire third trimester. (Oh the joys of being a college graduate and not having a job!) He got home from class, told me I looked beautiful in my new outfit, and handed me a cute little handmade card and a present. His card had a cute little poem inside it about how much he loved me and wanted me to relax, so he had booked us couples massages at Massage Envy and we were going to sushi afterwards. It was exactly what I needed! He had also bought me the newest Mark Mabry photography book, "Another Testament" which I love! I have the "Reflections of Christ" book and have wanted the Testament book since it came out. His photographs are beautiful, and I love the model he chose for Christ. 

We got our lovely massages, oh my goodness how much I needed that, and headed over to Blue Hashi for a nice Valentine's lunch. We both love sushi and sampled three rolls! I was pleasantly stuffed and we didn't have to wait in long lines to be seated. I'm glad Miles chose to do an afternoon Valentine's rather than an evening one. After lunch we walked around the mall for a while and gave each other $10 to buy something for the other. There were some pretty good sales going on, and we both ended up getting each other a shirt. Seeing as I don't have a whole lot of time left being pregnant, Miles bought me a shirt that will fit perfectly once this baby bundle of joy comes. I appreciate that! It makes me feel like the end is near! After the mall we went home and spent the rest of the day eating Cocoa Bean cupcakes, watching lovey dovey movies, and spending time with Nixon. 

It was the most perfect, relaxing Valentine's Day that a pregnant lady could wish for! I'm so grateful for a sweet and understanding husband that always knows exactly what I need. I love him so much! I brought my camera along to take pictures, but forgot the memory card at home. I felt so silly when I realized it, so all the pictures from our day are from my phone. They aren't the greatest quality, but they aren't bad either!

And there I am at 36 weeks. We got to park in the expectant mother's spot at the mall. It was exciting and closer than the handicap spots! I hope I haven't gotten much bigger in the last week, only 19 days to go! My face, feet, hands, and thighs are starting to swell and retain water, which is really uncomfortable and I feel pretty gross. I put my hands on anything cold throughout the day because they always feel like they're on fire and are swollen little sausages. Miles has to put on and take off my shoes for me now, and I think that I'm definitely waddling instead of walking. He says he can't tell, but let's be serious, I'm a duck. 

Shukrani Beads

Miles IBC company is up and running! For those that don't go to BYU-Idaho, IBC is the Integrated Business Core program in which a group of students create a company for the semester. They formulate an idea, propose their idea to the professors and other students, write the business plan, market and sell their product, and probably tons of other things that go in to the process that people don't see. Their business is called Shukrani Beads.
In Uganda Shukrani means thanks, gratitude, and appreciation. But in a country ravished by war and poverty many people try to survive on less than $1 a day, life in Uganda doesn't always leave much to be grateful for. They live in extreme conditions of poverty, finding work where they can. But the Uganda women have a special talent for turning recycled paper into beautiful beads. Shukrani Beads purchases their beads from a company called Beads for Life. Shukrani assembles special hand crafted jewelry that is making a difference for all that are involved. Each product is unique and offers a special opportunity for both the bead maker and the consumer.
You can check out their stuff on their facebook page: www.facebook.com/Shukranibeads But here are some of my favorite pictures. I especially LOVE the first necklace. I'll probably own 3 or 4 by the end of the semester because they are so cute! And I love the second picture because those are my hands! I feel a special part of the project, and they used that picture on their booth!

And here's a video clip on Beads for Life, their bead supplier.

They are selling their product in the MC and the Clark during the week, but if you see something you're interested in and don't live in the area let me know and we can work something out!

Getting things ready!

Yesterday was family day. Miles and I started a little tradition last September to have family day every other Saturday. Basically every day is a family day, but every other Saturday is set aside and each member of our little family gets to pick an activity to do (even Nixon, although his is always go to the park). My activity for family day was painting the nursery. Miles did the whole thing while I offered him water and gatorade and kept Nixon engaged elsewhere. But I did buy myself a lovely face mask so that I could go in the room and just be with him in 10 minute intervals. We mixed the color all by ourselves! I have a set 6 color palette for every thing that goes in his room, so we mixed paint we found in the basement with a clearance $2 bucket of grey paint until we got the tan color we wanted. It looks fabulous! It is the best painted room in our house.

(gotta love that face mask! Just trying to keep baby boy healthy! And I know, I've allowed my bangs to grow out of control. Don't worry, I cut them minutes after seeing the above left picture.) 

 (Nixon was very intrigued by the mask, he wanted to lick it, and after a few minutes he really wanted me to take it off. I think it scared him a little.)

(This is the tan color on the walls in the nursery. We touched up the white trim too.)

I am 35 weeks pregnant and I only have 35 days until my due date! I feel absolutely ginormous. I can't wait for this little guy to "drop" so I can breath easier. Here are the 6 documented stages of my pregnancy. I wish I had been better about taking pictures. I can't believe the difference. I'm wearing the same dress in my 22 and 35 week picture. This boy is growing! He should be about 5.25lbs by now. I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday and will start going every week from here on out. I'm counting down the minutes until baby boy gets here, and not just because I'm becoming miserable (which I am. Is it too early to becoming miserably uncomfortable?) but because I can't wait to hold my little man in my arms for the first time. It's amazing that I can love someone so much that I've never really met. I can feel him moving around inside me and I get little glimpses of him when I have ultrasounds, but I can't really say I've met him. I can't wait to look in to his eyes and tell him I love him. It's going to be the greatest moment!

Coupon Lady?

So I got a coupon in the mail from Amazon.com for 20% off diapers. I'm in need of diapers pretty soon.. so I started doing my research. The sizes of diapers vary from brand to brand, and every child I've ever nannied/babysat that is a boy the mom raved about Pampers Swaddlers. Every child I nannied/babysat that was a girl the mom raved about Huggies Snug & Dry. Funny how different diapers work better for different genders. I'm talking across the board those are the reviews I received for boys and girls. So since I'm having a boy, I decided that I would do my research on Pampers Swaddlers. Every baby is different and grows at a different rate, so it can be hard to stock up. But since I only have 2 coupons I can only buy 2 sets of diapers so it made things a little easier, newborn and size 1. For some reason my brain can't quite wrap around the concept of how many diapers a baby would use and how many we would go through in each size (it still can't). But anyway, back to my couponing... I went to Amazon.com and found 216 size 1 diapers for $40. That's about standard price between Target and Walmart. But if you sign up for Amazon Mom (www.amazon.com/mom) you get 15% off and there are no fees for signing up! If you sign up for Amazon Subscribe and Save you get another 15% off (and again it doesn't charge you anything and you can cancel your subscriptions at any time, plus you get free shipping!) I found a manufacturers coupon for $1.50 off Pampers Swaddlers and had my 20% off from Amazon.com so I just purchased 216 diapers for $18. Yeah.. I'm feeling pretty good about that! If you're a mom/future mom and want to buy some diapers before Tuesday from Amazon here's the 20% off code: YTR7-BX4NKF-T5UXGL. It expires on 1/31/11 and I have another one that expires in February, you can ask me for that one too if you want, it's just not in front of me right now. You have to purchase the diapers that are sold by Amazon.com which seems more expensive at first, but with all the % off's it really is a lot cheaper! Now I'm off to find good deals on newborn diapers...

NYC & Boston

Over the Christmas break Miles and I took trips in to NYC and Boston. We brought our nephew Matthew along with us into the city. It was a nice little precursor to being real parents. I have to say maneuvering a stroller through crowded New York streets was rough, and being 8.5 months pregnant and fitting in to a jam packed subway was unpleasant, but we had a lot of fun! There was one point on the subway when it was so jam packed that there was no way you weren't touching at least 8 other bodies at the same time and it smelled horrible, and I was holding Matthew so we wouldn't lose him and I had this huge ole belly which made holding him even harder and this guy shoves me in the back and says "Um excuse me can you please move out of my way" but not in a pleasant tone, he was mean.  And my pregnancy hormones just snapped.. to the point where Miles was scared and the man backed off. Crazy Pregnant lady: 1 Horrible New Yorker: 0. We walked past Rockafeller Center to see the Christmas tree, went to St. Patricks Cathedral, took a walk passed BlackRock (a company Miles would love to work for someday), went to visit my friend Ryan from high school that is living in the city, and headed to FAO Schwartz because Matthew was such a trooper all day and he wanted to go to a "big toy store". It was a short but great trip. (Please excuse how ginorm my belly looks in the last picture, that jacket is not very flattering with a big ole belly)

For my dad's birthday Miles and I got him (and us) tickets to the Celtics game on January 3rd. We left when my dad got off of work, so unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot of time to get out of the car and allow Miles to take in a new city, but we did a drive-by tour and I promised him that we would make our way back for a weekend this summer. Ahhh I love the East Coast, every thing is just so nice and compact and close together. I can't wait to move back. Anyway, the Celtics were playing the Timberwolves so we assumed it would be a blow out, and I assumed I would be bored after the first quarter. But the game was tense to the very last second, literally. It was a lot of fun to watch!