Week 35

Greetings from an Autumn wonderland! Washington is in the midst of a freak snow + deep freeze that has people skating around our freeways and roads. Like so (enjoy the bus around minute 3):



The snow hit late in the day and then temps dropped, so people were completely unprepared for how bad the ice was (also, we never get storms like this before Thanksgiving). My brother's poor girlfriend was on the road 7 hours to drive 20 miles home. It was crazy. Weather folks said it was going to be a bad La Nina winter, and most of us were not really believing it because we've had a bunch of sunshine lately and whenever they say it'll be bad, it's not... I think we're rethinking our position. And getting snow tires.

I've been sick all week with a bad cold, so the storm gave me a bonus yesterday: hubby at home who doesn't mind making his pregnant, oh-so-whiny wife chicken noodle soup. :)

According to the little notifier on my phone (yes, there's an app for that), we are 36 days out from my due date (or, 36 days out from New Year's Eve, for those of you who really look forward to it).

Justin and I are getting pretty antsy, of course, and the little guy is reminding me often that he is almost out of room. The kid is all elbows and knees, which, if any of you know my 6'5" husband, is really no surprise. Justin and I were both 8 lbs 7 oz. when we were born, but he was 2 inches longer. Here's hoping for a long, skinny baby (with a Lawlis-size head and not the Rich giganto-cranium my brother and I both have).

The last few months have been a massive blur of work and baby preparation — time's been moving quick, but I've been exhausted. We had 4-hour long birth classes every Saturday morning for a month, 2 baby showers, the requisite doctor visits, and our 4th anniversary — all over the top of the busiest season my little business has ever had. I had that crazy eye-twitch thing happening for a while, but things are starting to quiet down a bit as I get closer to maternity leave, and I'm grateful.

I'm grateful, and I'm laughing at myself for thinking I would work all the way to my due date. I'm wondering how many other first-timers do that. It's amazing how ridiculously tired you get (no one warns you that the sleepless nights start LONG before baby arrives).

The thing is, I'm just ready to quiet things down and wrap my head around all this change that's coming to our little family, to me. I'm ready to organize neglected closets and drawers. Ready to finish the baby shopping. Ready to curl up close to Justin and enjoy the calm before the storm together.

I'm also ready to get this whole labor & delivery thing over with. I'm not real nervous (yet?) — just dreadfully curious as to how it all will go. I've prepared as best I can to do this thing without meds, but I've seen people who were far more hard-core than I am get the epidural, so I'm committed to doing the best I can and feeling good about the outcome... our son.
Here's a pic from our 4th anniversary — Justin took me and my huge belly out for a nice dinner in the city.