Pink stuff and rattles and blankets, oh my!

Do you ever get to feeling like you are an island? Like in the movie About a Boy, sometimes you get so wrapped up in what is going on in YOUR life, you loose sight of others, and then, assume they've lost site of you?

Pregnancy has been like that for me. More content to stay at home because I could sit on the couch sans pants (EVERYTHING is tight, don't judge me) than be social, I've missed countless nights out with girlfriends, holiday parties, happy hours, dog park trips, etc. Besides spending my days at work, sometimes I feel like the only way I've been connected these past months has been thanks to the all-mighty Internet and Facebook, Twitter, email and this blog.

I kept telling Ben how I probably wouldn't have any baby showers. That as the first of my friends to really have a child, it might not be something that they think about. That was my excuse. Really, I just felt that I'd been too far removed from the day-to-day to be bothered with.

I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong, and the amount of love and support that I've received from friends, family and family friends has been a little overwhelming and a lot humbling.

Last weekend I went to Tulsa for a shower that my mom's friends were hosting for me. It was beautiful, and nearly moved me to tears at the amount of obvious affection and friendship these women had for my mom, and by extension, for me! Not to be outdone, my extended family came over that night for a dinner, and surprised me with ANOTHER shower. I think that if Baby E were born today, she would be beyond set, with beautiful blankets, clothes and all the necessities.

How lucky are Ben and I that we have this kind of support system in our lives? They say that babies are incredibly expensive, and we've been given such an amazing gift by all these people, a head start. And we aren't done yet!

My friends are hosting a Dallas shower for me in a few weeks, and my colleagues have asked if they could host a work shower as well. And THEN, to top all of the celebrations off, another group of friends are hosting a "sip and see" for Ben and I after Baby E is born so that everyone can get together and OOOO and AWWW over her cuteness.

Just the thought of all of this makes me want to stand up and yell "You like me, you really like me!" And not because I'm a big loser (which obviously, I am) but because I'm overwhelmed with the good will and wishes that this baby is bringing to our little family.

A few pictures from this weekend. More to come once I can get all the shower photos off my parent's camera!

The hostesses with the mostest -- My mom (far left in red) with the hostesses of the lovely Tulsa shower.

Luckily, I have no shame so I shared my story of eating cookies with icing out of the trashcan. This lead to the most fabulous cookies with icing for dessert at my shower.My adorable cousin CJ helped me open gifts at my family shower. He was better at it than I was, but that was because I couldn't bend over my stomach to reach anything sitting on the ground.
My mom and I look like twins. Same color hair, same short cut, same color shirt... only I look part human, part tanker. Wide Load! Carrying a baby!

Music to her ears

I have a slightly obsessive personality. It rears its head in odd ways, and one of those are my propensity to listen, on repeat, to a certain song until I (or someone else) wants to attack the music player with a hammer.

The song changes regularly. Beginning about a month ago was Jason Mraz's song, "I'm Yours." Every time it would come on (the radio, my iPod, etc.) I would turn it up and sing with gusto. Then, if luck would have it and I was near my computer or the iPod, I would listen and sing a few more times before I felt I could go on with my day.

This week I've found a new obsession, and am now on the fifth play of it this morning (and not getting tired of it in the slightest), The Fray's "You Found Me." It was a song I liked immediately when I heard it, and after hearing an interview with the band about the song and the meanings behind it, I was hooked.

The funny part of all of this is that I may be passing my musical obsessions on to Baby E. Once babies can hear in utero, they begin to identify things that they will recognize after they are born. That is why they will recognize and soothe at the sound of their mom or dad's voice. Likewise, books that are read to the baby in utero often have a calming affect when read after birth, and OF COURSE, familiar music from before birth is also comforting.

So, my obsessive song playing is really just going to make these songs very familiar to Baby E. Hell, with the amount of times she's heard them already, she may even come out with the words memorized.

If YOU have favorite songs Baby E and I need to discover, I'd love to hear about them. I need a bigger playlist for the two of us to enjoy.

Check out the video for "You Found Me" -- hope you like the song as much as Baby E and I do!

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My Baby the Drunk Ox

Today marks the first official day of the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Ox, which means I'm having a baby Ox. I looked it up to see what that meant, and apparently, Baby E is going to be bright, patient and inspiring to others. She can be happy by herself and will make an outstanding parent.

This is all excellent news, but somehow I have to guess there is an "Ox" dark side that they aren't quite sharing. Similar to my conversation with a co-worker last week where I learned my baby is also destined to be a drunk.

Every Friday, we have breakfast brought in so everyone in the office, from intern to senior vice president, can hang out for a few minutes and relax. Well, last Friday, conversation turned to my pregnancy (likely b/c I was moaning around a mouthful of apple butter and who can ignore that kind of behavior?) and the head DUDE of one of our practices starts chatting me up about my due date. When I mention that our little bundle of joy is due on March 22, he very matter-of-factly says, "Oh, a Pisces -- did you know that, like, 80% of the world's alcoholics are Pisces?"

Well, no ass-face, I didn't know that. But thanks for the good tidings of joy and booziness.

I laughed it off with him, made a few jokes about how apparently Ben and I timed our baby perfectly so she could share the family genes and moved on.

But later I started to dwell. Because while I put practically ZERO weight on astrological hocus-pocus, there is something slightly... irksome... to be told you might as well start saving for a good recovery program instead of a good college. And besides that, SERIOUSLY?!? Just a note for all of you out there. The last thing a pregnant woman wants to hear is the serious illnesses or personality flaws that she has to worry about with her unborn child. Know some random stat about when the most psychopaths are born and want to share? BITE YOUR TONGUE. Write it down. Share it with a stranger. Hire a plane to sky-write the fact for the world to see, but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you tell the mother-to-be.

Anyways, I'm over it (or as over it as a pregnant woman can be until pregnancy brain makes me forget this ever happened and then I'll REALLY be over it). Besides, I looked it up and the guy was wrong... if Baby E IS in fact born on her due date of March 22 she will be an Aries and the worst thing I could find there was that she would be selfish, and I'm all like "duh".

But, if she is born early, and happens to be a Pisces, I will love my little drunk Ox. I just might buy a padlock for our liqueur cabinet. Mommy isn't ready to share just yet.

*Cute Ox onesie by Fauborg St Denis, and a brilliant find by Cool Mom Picks. The onesies feature a funky red Ox and one of them says "We are the kings of 2009!" in French.

Third trimester blahs

So I'm feeling it... the third trimester blahs. It isn't the bone crunching sleepiness or the "if I smell one more person wearing perfume I'm going to lose lunch" feeling of the first trimester, but rather a slowing down of all bodily functions. My brain is becoming sluggish, I've started waddling rather than walking, and getting up and down out of anything (a chair, the car, the bathtub) has become a miracle if I can do it on the first try. I just feel big and... well... blah.

I feel so blah in fact, I'm not sure what to share with everyone. I'm fairly certain my stories of waking up in the middle of the night because Baby E is performing Riverdance on my bladder is the sort of thing you tune in to read about. Or the fact that 9 p.m. is getting to be my GOAL for how late I stay awake on a week night, or that I have to stare at documents I'm reviewing for a good 30 minutes before being able to take action and I'm fairly certain I'm forgetting something for at least one of my four clients, but I'm just NOT ABLE TO REMEMBER WHAT THAT IS.

I think (from what I've heard/read) that this is fairly typical, but then I have this weird feeling that I shouldn't be feeling this way just yet -- that if I'm this tired and fuzzy headed now, in about a month I should probably have my drivers license taken away and when the baby is due a month after THAT I may just be barely functioning.

Last night I had a dream about Baby E. I dreamt that the birth was really easy and I had TWO baby BOYS (so much wrong with this dream already -- right?) But the thing was, when I had the babies, the nurse told me that they had gotten it all wrong, that they were actually a month overdue because I was much further in my pregnancy than they thought. My interpretation of this dream is that I'm worried about another two full months of pregnancy and my subconscious is telling me to suck it up. My subconscious is great at giving pep-talks.

I also owe everyone a third trimester photo, so I'm making a promise that I'll try to get one taken and posted this week. If I don't, I'll post a cute picture of our dogs so you get distracted and don't remember I haven't posted a photo of myself. Tricky, eh?

Pillow Talk

Last night in bed, Ben and I discovered we have very different reasons (besides being excited about BabyE) to look forward to me no longer being pregnant:

Liz: Feel this, feel how much she is moving. This is the only part of pregnancy I like.

Ben: You know, I don't mind your being pregnant so much. Except for the pillows. I hate the F-ing pillows.

Liz: I take that back, I also like being able to eat anything I want. That part of pregnancy is good too.

Ben: Lizzy, THAT part of pregnancy doesn't exist. You made that part up.

Liz: Oh, yeah. Well, it works for me so can it or I may feel the need to add one more pillow to the five I'm currently using.

Ben: (something muttered, not sure what but fairly certain it was unflattering and directed towards where I could put my pillows).

Week 30 -- My newest obsession

Not a lot to report for Week 30, except that my doctor appointment was routine and very short. Which means that the baby and I are both doing well, I gained a NORMAL amount of weight (although I did insist the nurse weigh me on both office scales before I would accept that I had indeed only gained one pound a week) and I didn't have a lot of questions. Which is kind of a lie, because I have MANY questions that I just don't ask, because it is just easier for me to go with the flow. Truly, not knowing is sometimes a little bit of bliss in my life.

The real news for week 30 is that I've developed a new craving that is odd, but that personally I find delightful. And that craving is for apple butter.

I've never truly appreciated apple butter until this week. It is quite possible that it is the most delicious food on the planet.

If you've never tried it, I strongly suggest you go out and buy some. You will thank me later.

The big easy (chair)

When I was four weeks and one day pregnant, we found out we were having a baby. On the day that I was four weeks and THREE days pregnant, we went baby shopping for the first time and Ben and I spent hours looking at nursery furniture and rockers. And since that day, approximately 26 weeks ago, we have been shopping for the perfect chair for the nursery. I have never in my life had a more stressful purchasing decision.

Nursery furniture? Piece of cake. Bedding? Found it like THAT. Toys, clothes, etc.? It is just all so adorable, I'll take it all. But rocker.... oh, the elusive rocker.

You see, Ben and I had a shared vision of what a rocker/glider should be. It should be big, comfortable, overstuffed and one of those chairs that you can actually sleep in. It should have a foot stool so you actually can lay out while rocking the baby, and it should be cute (obviously) so it makes the nursery cuter.

We tried chair after chair. We narrowed it down to the perfect chair (agreed upon by the both of us) and literally had our credit cards out to buy it when a warning bell went off in my head. It was an AWFULLY big chair. And our nursery is AWFULLY small. We went home to measure, and sure enough... if we bought the chair, we could give up walking around the nursery because it would consume all the extra floor space. Awesome.

So back to the drawing board. We tried more chairs. They failed us miserably. We tried wooden rockers with cushions and Ben whined. We tried recliners, and my 6'6" husband wouldn't fit in them. We probably went to the same two stores every other weekend for 10 weeks, trying the same chairs over and over, like something would have changed in that time. Nothing.

Then, a Christmas miracle (well, closer to New Year's, but I'm not sure if there are New Year's miracles, so maybe it was a holdover from Christmas) -- we FOUND THE CHAIR. It was a new model, and although we'd tried it previously, we hadn't given it much of a chance because we were so disillusioned by the whole search. But it was perfect. Ben fit in it, I loved it, it was in our price range (thanks to a generous gift from Ben's family) and it was, well, pretty adorable. Throw a few pillows on it and taa-daa, the perfect chair for our nursery.

We snapped it up, as well as a cute little side table we found the same weekend and now have a little more of our nursery put together. Check it out -- the perfect (for us) nursery chair from Best Chairs.

More pics of the nursery to come as we get it put together. This weekend our big purchase was a mattress, so get excited for that one!