Thirty-four weeks

P.S. I'm posting this very late - technically I was 34 weeks as of May 2, but I was behind on picture-taking!

Dear Mel

I'm sorry that I never had the chance to meet you; attending your funeral was the closest I ever got. I have heard such fun stories about you - your laughter and loving spirit. I know that you were an amazing uncle to Joe and you would have been an amazing great uncle for our son or daughter.

Thank you so much for the person that you were. Thank you for your smile, your humor, and your creativity. We are so blessed to be able to use the crib you made for baby Joe and be reminded of you every time we put our baby down to sleep.

Love,
Jen

Installation

Baby's grandparents went together on a gift and got us a wonderful travel system. It includes a large stroller, car seat, and car seat base. We've got the stroller set up in our apartment as soon as we got here - it's just such a nice reminder of what (or really, who) is soon to come!

The weather has been beautiful for the past couple of days, so we decided to install the car seat base today. (Our hunch was that if we waited until closer to the due date it would be raining the day we wanted to do it.) Plus, the car seat base was taking up valuable apartment space!

I like getting these baby prep things done. It's comforting to feel like we're finally getting a place ready for our little one. We also (well, I shouldn't say we... it was Joe and Tyler, not me) got our couches moved into our apartment today. It's feeling more and more like home!

Ever closer to d-day

Joe's expression sums up our Monday

Today, overall, wasn't the best of days for us. ...Let's just say we had to give a ton of money to the state of Ohio via registering the car and paying a local school tax. Unexpected expenses are never fun.

 Before the day started going downhill, though, we got to have a tour of the OB unit at the hospital where I plan to deliver. We really liked the nurse that gave the tour, and we're very pleased with not only the facility but also their standard of care for obstetric patients.

We're planning on a natural birth... and yes, that does mean I will not be using any pain medications. We're also opting for the baby to "room in," which is a good thing because that is the standard at the hospital we've chosen.

Joe and I are getting really excited for the big day! First things first, though.... we still have an apartment to get moved in to! Tomorrow, Joe and our soon-to-be brother-in-law, Tyler, are going to get to work rearranging furniture. I can't wait!

Joe's Pic[k]: Chapstick

Christmas 2009

Santa loves to fill our family's stockings with fun little knick-knacks every Christmas. He usually includes chapstick - we wouldn't want to have chapped lips over the holidays!

I was in Babies-R-Us the other day with Joe and this woman came up to me and was asking about my pregnancy and where we plan to deliver. She gave us our first bit of unsolicited advice - be sure Joe packs chapstick for me to use while I'm in labor at the hospital.

It's funny how pregnancy is outside of the realm of "not your business." Anyone and everyone seems to feel the need to say something about my protruding belly, labor & delivery, feeding, diapering, and how to raise my child.

One of my most recent favorites? A shop clerk: "So you're about to pop, huh?"