Lately...

It has been awhile since I've posted an update on my life, so here in random order, is what's been happening with me lately...

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I have 44 days left until due date. I'm not anymore prepared to bring this baby home than I was a month ago, unless you count having hung empty picture frames on the wall of the nursery, but I don't think that's one of the necessary baby-prep items. If we have to stop and buy diapers on the way home from the hospital, so be it!

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My parents are coming tomorrow to spend 4 1/2 days hanging out around Providence and doing any random job that needs to get done around the house. It'll be nice to have them around, and even nicer to take a few days off work. I don't think they've been to RI since May 2008. My mom will be impressed with what I've done to all of her plants (or not!). They suggested we contact some basement waterproofing specialists and have them meet us on Friday to get an estimate on what it would cost to prevent our basement from flooding again. Then we might be able to do something useful with the space someday. I also have my next ultrasound scheduled for Friday. I'm hoping my parents get to come along and see their grand-daughter for the very first time.

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I'm throwing my first baby shower for a church friend on Sunday. I've never thrown a baby shower and I've only been to a handful in my whole life. I'm a pro at bridal showers, but a complete newbie to the baby shower scene. I guess this means myself and friends are moving on from the bridal stage to the baby stage in life. Baby showers open up a whole new realm of adorable cupcakes that are begging to be baked. I have already started on my design for Sunday's shower. Pictures will be posted.

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Taylor has allergies again. I thought we were going to get by with one hot spot outbreak on his shoulder in August. I was wrong. Now he has a bacterial skin infection and hot spots under his chin. The poor guy is miserable, which makes me miserable watching him. Luckily we have him doped up on enough benadryl at the moment that even if his itching hasn't gone away, at least he's too tired to care.

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I have never had problems sleeping anytime anywhere my whole life. I got the nickname "Sleeping Beauty" in college for a reason. I am also one of those people that need at least 8 hours of sleep a night to function during the day and if I'm going to take a nap it must be at least 2 hours long. This week, something changed. I'm waking up every night around 4:30/5am and feel like I'm ready to get up and start my day. I'll get up and use the bathroom, check on Taylor and put a cold compress on his hot spots, give the kitties some attention, then climb back in bed and lay there for 45 minutes until I finally fall asleep again. Maybe my body is preparing me for the 5am feedings? Somehow, even with this loss of sleep, I can make it through the day and not be completely exhausted by dinner time. I don't know where this extra energy is coming from, but I'll appreciate it while it lasts.

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I tried to battle the weeds in my backyard. I figured that since I'm throwing a baby shower and inviting anyone in the church that wants to come, I should try and make my yard semi-presentable. Rather than pull each weed by hand, I thought I'd take the easy way out and buy some Round-Up. Unfortunately for me, my weeds all seem to be immune to Round-Up. The stuff will kill any of my plants that I so much as get a drop of Round-Up on a single leaf (yes, I know this from experience!), but douse the weeds and a few days later, they're still growing strong. What do you call a green thumb that is only good at growing unwanted plant life?

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I'm seeing pictures of every one's vegetable gardens and bountiful autumn harvests posted on blogs and facebook. I would post a picture of my harvest, except 3 cherry tomatoes aren't very exciting (plus, I already ate them). My dreams of homemade spaghetti sauce have been squashed for the 2nd year in a row. We do have 3 pumpkins and 2 butternut squash still on the vine. Hopefully they'll ripen quick enough to beat the first frost, but I'm not holding my breath.

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This next week is apparently the week of doctor's appointments. I have 1 OB appt, 1 ultrasound, 3 fetal monitoring appts, and 1 nephrology appt. Seriously, it's a full time job just to attend all these appointments! I'm not dying people! My baby is doing just fine! Can you let me go at least 3 days without hooking something up to me or taking some bodily fluid out of me for testing! Thank goodness for AMAZING health insurance coverage.

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Nesting. What exactly is it? Some may say it's the reason I spent 2 hours vacuuming every last piece of dog hair out the back of my car. I think that's more related to the fact that my parents are coming and there is no way they would have climbed in the backseat with all that hair. Who knew my car seats were grey and not tan? Maybe "nesting" is the list I'm starting to make of all those "spring cleaning" chores that you never actually get around to doing once a year. If that's nesting, then yes, I am nesting. I'm not really sure how cleaning out my shower drain is going to help when I bring a baby home, but it is something I'm determined to get done in the next few weeks. Along with cleaning out the dryer vent, scrubbing down the fridge and freezer shelves, washing the front and back glass doors, and organizing the basement. None of these have anything to do with the baby, yet I feel compelled to get them all done. Again, thank goodness for that extra burst of energy I seem to have acquired! Also thank goodness for parents who I'm sure are going to be thrilled to help me knock out my "nesting" list. :)