34 weeks.

I'm a little late with this post because I had my first baby shower on Saturday, and yesterday was spent in pajamas with a pajama fall drive to look at colorful leaves up the canyon. 

This last week, I've been sooo thirsty. Last Monday, I drank almost 4 liters of water. I just can't seem tog get enough! Sleeping is getting a little more uncomfortable, and using my stomach muscles officially hurts. I'm starting to wake up a little bit in the middle of the night, but it's not too bad yet. I'm mostly surprised that I can still sleep comfortably with only one pillow. Also, I think I'll be one of those girls who first pees her pants after she's had the baby, because it still hasn't happened yet. 

Things are getting real now. We ordered all of our big ticket items the other day, like the car seat, pack 'n' play, and bouncer. I'm going to start packing my hospital bag tonight. What?! And soon, there will be a baby in my arms instead of in my belly. That blows my mind, and I still don't think I realize what I've got myself into, but gosh, I'm so excited. All my questions of what it'll look like, be like, and feel like are going to be answered in a few short weeks!

I'm still craving sweets of all kinds. I'm scared to step on the scale, and haven't for a few weeks--mostly because we need to replace the batteries, but, ya know. I still can't believe how much this baby wiggles inside me. It loves the sound of Zac's voice when he gets really close and talks to it. It's the cutest. I'm so excited to see that relationship after the baby's born, when Zac turns into a papa.

My shower was such a good one. My mom and sister-in-law, Stephanie, put so much work into it, and it was lovely! I got so much good stuff that I can't wait to use! It made me so grateful for the good people in my life. There are a lot of them, and I love them so much!

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themlord goes to georgia.

I have a friend. We call her Themlord or RAYCHAL!!! but her name is really Rachel. She is a very kind person, with a giant heart. She loves people, and gives the most thoughtful Christmas gifts. She is a half the reason I go to the Mexican Fiestaurant as often as I do. She is silly and funny and imaginative all wrapped into one, and she's going on a mission to Georgia.

Rachel and I met in the summer of 2010 while working at Rise. She was just starting, and we happened to work with the same little girl; she in the morning, and me in the afternoon. One day, we got to talking, and I found out she was to attend UVU that coming fall, and was looking for a place to live. I mentioned that I was living at a good apartment complex with my friend, Erica, come fall, and she should try to move in there, too. And move in she did! She lived 4 buildings down from me and Erica, and I think we spent more time with her that school year than her roommates did.

In November of that year, after I had met Zac, we all made a video for one of Erica's homework assignments, and called it RAYCHAL! And wouldn't you know, our dear Rachel was the star.

We formed a posse that year that includes Rachel, Ryan, Erica, Wes, me, and Zac, and we still hang out from time to time. But since Rachel has found better things to do, we'll put our posse on hold and, in the meantime, plan a huge party for when she returns, that includes beards and trash bags and possibly jenga.

I'll miss you, Rachel. Go enjoy them there peaches in Georgia!

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33 weeks.

My baby has the hiccups all the time. It's the cutest thing ever. I can't wait to hear them on the outside. We've also got a leg stretcher over here. All day long those little feet slide up and down the right side of my belly. Sometimes you can even feel them through my skin. It's so creepy, but so adorable. Lately this babe has been hanging out on my right side, so I've had quite the lopsided belly.

This week at my midwife appointment, we were trying to find the heartbeat. My midwife felt around to see how the baby was positioned, and put the doppler where she thought the body was. No heartbeat. After feeling around for a while, she decided to try the other side, and sure enough, that little heartbeat rang through. This baby's got tricks. We also found out that the baby is roughly 4 pounds!

I've been so anxious to know who the baby will look like more: me, Zac, or a mix of both of us. Will it have hair? How big will it be? And, oh my gosh, is it a boy or a girl?! I keep going back and forth with that one, and now I think it's a boy, which kind of excites me, because I really like our boy name (I also really like our girl name, too, for the record).

I got my TDaP vaccine this week, and Zac will get his today. I also found out a few weeks ago that I passed my glucose test with "a perfect score," says my midwife. Yay! I'm now into my 2-week appointments, and soon I'll be having them once a week! 

Zac asked me if I was nervous to have the baby last night. I said no, which surprised even me. I thought by now I would be freaking out at least a little bit. I'm too excited to meet this little person, I guess. I'm excited for the whole experience: arriving at the hospital, watching movies and playing card games with my lover in the hospital room, and especially that one second that will turn me into a mother, seeing what it really feels like, and knowing that my baby is finally here. That's the one moment I'm looking forward to the most.

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little peeks of autumn this week.

This week has been a crazy one. On Monday, it felt like it should be Friday, and on Wednesday, I actually thought it was Friday, and I took a sick day on Tuesday, which completely threw my whole week off. I feel like this week my pregnancy brain has taken full effect, because I lose my thoughts more often than not. And now I'm wondering when this nesting thing is going to start (I had it for a short time a few weeks ago, but it's long gone now), because I had to force myself to clean out just about every nook and cranny of my apartment this week to get things organized for when the baby comes.

And now it's dark when we wake up for work in the morning, and the temperatures in the mornings have been as low as 45 degrees! Hello, fall! It's so nice to see you! And the leaves around here are just barely starting to change colors and fall off their trees, and my hands are drying up and cracking like they always do when the colder weather comes around.

In honor of my favorite season, we went out and bought some new fall decorations and fall soap (as is tradition) last week to put in our apartment, and now our home is ready for fall with pumpkins and orange leaves and a bowl of caramel apple taffy sitting on the desk. I love looking at everything set out and thinking, These decorations will be up when we bring our baby home. At the mall the other night, I told Zac "I've got 7 1/2 weeks left, and I'm 7 1/2 months along!" It's going by so quickly, and it blows my mind that I'll have a baby in my arms in about 7 or so weeks! We got a black and white striped blanket from Ikea last week, too, and Zac has claimed it as his, and says "it's like sleeping with a sweater covering your whole body!" So it's perfect. This season is perfect. 

So here are some peeks of autumn around our apartment. We're so ready for pumpkin donuts, Halloween movies, and that crisp, Autumn air during walks around the neighborhood. Ah, bring it on!



And happy 51st birthday to my mom, and happy 3 year anniversary of mine and Zac's very first kiss that took place on the front porch of my college apartment in building L! :)

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32 weeks.

The highlight of this week for me was when Zac asked the baby to give him some "sliders," because this little baby of ours slides across my belly more than it kicks now. And those pants? The last time I wore than was when I was 19 weeks along (look how tiny my bump was back then!). I practically had to squeeze myself into them. Laundry day...

Today I've had the hardest time catching my breath. I'm losing it a lot these days. I think I'm almost in the habit of eating tiny portions of food, and more often, like I did before I was pregnant. I think pregnancy has messed up all my good eating habits. In the first and second trimesters, I didn't care about eating real portion sizes, or what I actually ate. I was just hungry all the time, and liked feeling full. Now I'm trying to train myself to get back into those good habits, and eat less, but more often. And I think my sugar cravings are toning it down a bit, so that's nice.

So far I've gained about 26 pounds, and I've stayed at that weight for a few weeks now. I'm hoping to gain no more than 35 pounds by the time I'm 40 weeks along. So far, I'm looking good. And can you believe that this babe is about 3 1/2 pounds, and maybe even slightly more? It just needs to double its weight, grow just a few more inches, and then it'll be here! 

It's starting the sink in now, the fact that I'll be a mama soon. I've been having so many dreams about this little baby, and they seem so real to me. The other night, I had a dream that the baby was born on November 11th in the 9:00 pm hour. And now I'm curious to see if that's when it happens, because, hello! No dream is that specific! We'll see... :)

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over the weekend.

Over the weekend, we had a few friends over for a pie party, something we started four years ago, except for at the very first pie party, there was vegetarian pizza (which started my obsession with meatless pizza) in addition to all the pies, and Dream Phone. I took a few pictures to begin with, and then got caught up in all the pie-eating, board-game-playing, youtube-video-watching madness, I completely forgot about my camera after about 20 minutes. But believe you me, there was fun to be had, and the pies (apple, chocolate, key lime, and Reese's pudding) were SO good!

Earlier that day, a huge storm hit Utah County while I was baking pies at home and waiting for Zac to get home from his study group. A thick, dark cloud that was the span of the whole sky moved from the west and covered Orem in about 2 or 3 minutes flat, and brought pounding rain, flash flood warnings, and such strong wind with it. Luckily, Zac got home a few minutes later, and I had him safe with me at home. We watched from our windows as tree branches blew up and down and side to side like a mad man, and saw something that looked like the start of a tornado a few miles away. In the back of my mind, I was putting together my escape plan: where I would go, what I would bring with me. I really thought a tornado was coming, guys. And from our second-story windows leaking from that pounding rain, to the power going out in the middle of the day that made it look like nighttime (because remember the big, dark cloud?), it was quite the afternoon. But there were funny things that came from it, like how the power went out just when there was one minute left on our pizza cooking in the oven, and how it came back on the minute we dialed up the power company. 

And let's not forget about my cooking/baking spree I had on Sunday, when I made pumpkin cookies, slow cooker beef stew, and homemade bread (not to mention the apple and chocolate pies I made the day earlier). I was on to something this weekend. And it felt good. I love to make food, almost as much as I love eating it. 

And now it's Monday. Happy Monday!

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31 weeks.

Only 9 more weeks to go! We're in single digits now, and the countdown has begun!

This whole week, up until this morning, I felt pretty small, and like I could maneuver around really well, but this morning, I think the baby changed positions because now my belly feels like it sticks out more, and it's harder, too. And I've been semi-waddling around the apartment all day. This baby is squished in there!

Not to mention, the babe is about 3 1/2 pounds, and almost 17 inches long, and its eyes can now react to light. It pushes up against my belly all the time now, in place of its kicks (but I still get little kicks here and there). And when I go on walks, I get winded and my belly starts cramping up. Welcome to my life, Braxton Hicks.

I've had a little more desire to eat healthier this week, as in I eat more produce than I did before, but this baby still loves sweets! It'll be weird to see if that goes away after I have the baby. I used to be a health freak, guys, but now all I eat is junk food. That's been weird to go through.

The next few weeks are going to be crazy as I get ready for this baby to come home with us. All that's on my mind lately is, "We've gotta put all the freezer meals together" and "When should I pack my hospital bag and wash all these cute little baby clothes?!" and "I need to get a stock pile of pads, man!" Time to prepare.

I was talking to Zac the other night about how crazy it is that I haven't experienced that many pregnancy discomforts yet. The last time I woke up to pee in the middle of the night was in my first trimester, and as of right now, I'm still sleeping through the night. My muscles and joints don't get achy very often, and my hormones are just like, "meh." This pregnancy has been so nice (knock on wood); I'm just hoping the birth won't be a disaster.

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sara's mission call.

^^^Sara was rubbing my belly, so I did what any good sister would do and grabbed her privates. You know how it is.

My baby sister, Sara, got her mission call this week. We had a house full of family and friends, and we ate burgers and Italian sodas and watched Sara open her call. No one knew it then, but Sara had opened it right when it came in the mail (notice the already-opened envelope), and that's why she wasn't super anxious to open it. 

My favorite part is when she says where she's going, and everyone cheers, and then you can hear my siblings laughing at her. She'll be so good there, though, and I'm sure that once she's finished her mission, she'll have a hard time leaving. Sara's really personable, and I think she'll make a really good impression on the people she meets in a small-town area like Kansas. She's so good at relating to people. She leaves in less than 8 weeks, so she won't even get to meet my baby! But I'm so excited for her! She'll do such good things.

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over the weekend.

We spent the weekend at the cabin with Zac's parents. With all the good food, cricket catching, side by side rides to the stream, the rainy mountain weather, archery and BB gun shooting, and the cabin naps, I'd say it was a good weekend. Here are a few pictures! Happy Labor Day!

^^^This Malt Shop had the best raspberry shake! The bacon burger was pretty good, too!

^^^Oh hi there, baby Swenson!

^^^Getting our Katniss Everdeen on.

^^^This ride brought on the Braxton Hicks, but it was so much fun riding through the mountains with my love!

See last year's cabin trip here.

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