2012 is Almost Gone...

It is so crazy that 2012 is almost over! Last year, my family was in Tallahassee to ring in the new year with us. They were celebrating in our new house, Ellie was still puppy-sized, and the thought of having a baby was just an unfulfilled wish. This year we'll be ringing in the new year as a family of three (well, seven if you count the animals). We have lived in our house for over a year, Ellie is a full-grown lady, and we have a five week old baby. Crazy what a difference a year can make! So, I'm going to take a trip down memory lane and reminisce about an amazing year :)

The family last year around this time!

Champagne to help ring in 2012!

January || Josh's dad visited and we went to an Antique Car Museum in Tallahassee. My dad NEEDS to visit that place!

Elvis Rocking Out at the Car Museum!

February || We celebrated Valentines Day with some delicious takeout Thai food and split a bottle of wine. My last glass of wine until after I gave birth to Miss Caroline!

Valentine's Day Dinner!

March || We conquered our first painting project in the house, adding an accent wall to the living room. We still LOVE it. || We found out I was pregnant on St. Patrick's Day. I made the decision to wait to tell anyone until I could tell my parents in person! Hardest secret to keep EVER! || I got an amazing new camera, which was my early "push" gift from Joshua!

LOVE my camera!

This is me the day we found out we were pregnant!

Painting the accent wall. I suck at painting!

April || We had an amazing Easter Brunch at Chez Pierre. I had to order orange juice in lieu of a mimosa because, unknown to anyone but me and Josh, I was pregnant! || We went to Atlantic Beach to spend some quality time with my parents. This is when we told them that they were going to be grandparents. They were quite happy about this :)

Ready to go to Easter Brunch at Chez Pierre!

With my parents in Atlantic Beach!

May || I traveled back up north to Allison's UVA graduation! It was so much fun, as trips back home to see the family always are!

On The Lawn at UVA!

June || We finally announced the pregnancy to the world (as in, made the Facebook announcement!) || Later in the month we discovered we were having a baby girl! We were thrilled! || We took on our second painting project in the house: The Nursery!!

Gifts we bought Caroline after finding out she was a girl!

Paint for the Nursery!

July || We spent a week in St. Petersburg helping Josh's parents clean his grandparents' condo. We're going to miss the view in the picture below.

St. Petersburg, Florida!

August || We spent a weekend hanging out with Holly and Justin who were in town for a football game. Always good to see people from back home! || Josh spent a week in California and Las Vegas visiting his friend Doug. Meanwhile, I went crazy at home by myself for a week! || We celebrated our two year wedding anniversary! Soo crazy to think it has been that long. I like my husband :)

After lunch with Justin and Holly!

Souvenir from California!

September || We traveled to the Outerbanks to spend time with my parents and Josh's parents. It was so nice to get away from the "real world" for a while and see family! ||

30 Weeks Pregnant at the Beach!

October || Allison, Jessica, and Holly hosted an AMAZING baby shower for me in Virginia! It was perfect and I had SO much fun spending time with everyone. || We went to a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins, and then did some awesome carvings, all while drinking sparkling pumpkin cider. || We went to a Halloween party thrown by one of Josh's coworkers. Josh won best costume with his Office Space themed getup! 

Princesses at My Baby Shower!

Pumpkin Carving Fun!

Hybrid Halloween Costume!

November || I celebrated my twenty seventh (that's a big number) birthday. My awesome Joshua surprised me with an iPad!! || We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner! I cooked it while nearly 40 weeks pregnant; pretty impressive if I do say so myself! || My beautiful Caroline Quinn entered the world on November 25th. She is PERFECT!! || My mom came to Florida to help Josh and I around the house while we were introduced to the world of parenthood!!

Amazing Birthday Surprise!!

Thanksgiving Dinner!!

Only Minutes Old... My Little Caroline!

December || Josh's parents visited after my mom left and helped more with Miss Caroline! || We celebrated Caroline's first Christmas and it was so much fun! She had no clue what was going on, but it was still very special.

My Lady's First Christmas!

So, it was a wonderful year! The whole year seemed to lead up to the "grand finale": our baby Caroline! And she was well worth the wait :) I hope everyone else had an AMAZING year!! Have an awesome New Years, everyone!

Little Miss Healthy!

Miss Caroline had a doctor's visit today and she is very healthy :) She is gaining weight just like she should, which makes me very happy!! We just need to start making sure she lays with her head pointed to the left sometimes; she only likes laying with it pointed to the right and that side of her head is getting a wee bit flat. Silly baby.

This was the first appointment Josh had been able to come to, and I think he really enjoyed it. He was carrying her around with such pride; he loves showing off his little baby girl!

YAY for having a healthy baby - that's what every parent wants :) Ours just happens to be super cute, too!

Caroline's First Christmas!

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! Ours was awesome and very special, even if the little lady that made it special was super high maintenance and hungry all day long ;)

My Christmas started with me trying to get Caroline to go back to sleep after her 11pm feeding. The last time I looked at the clock it was around midnight, so that's how my holiday started ;) She then woke me again at 2:30am for another feeding, and again at 5:30am for yet another! Silly, hungry lady! I woke up around 8am and stuffed Josh's stocking, started the coffee, got the Christmas tunes going on my iPhone, and waited for my two sleepy heads in the back bedroom to wake up!

 

Opening gifts was delayed since she was yet again hungry (she truly is my daughter). We all sat on the floor to open gifts together (on the comfy rug from my mom; so much nicer than sitting on the wood floors!). Miss Caroline decided sitting in her high chair on the floor was lame, that sitting in her swing was lame, and that her dad's lap was the ideal location. This meant he held her almost the entire time, so I had to open all of the gifts. This means opening gifts took about twice as long as it should have. Silly Caroline :) We got some great stuff this Christmas - very spoiled!! Caroline got some great gifts, too. Such a loved baby <3 We finally got to eat the breakfast casserole after gifts were opened and diapers were changed. And, most importantly, I got to drink champagne! My first drink of champagne in a year and it was wonderful. I didn't even mix the orange juice in because I wanted the real thing!

After breakfast, we video chatted with my family in Virginia! My grandma got to meet her newest great grandchild - her fourth one!! :) After we talked to my family, we got on webcam with Josh's family. Technology makes Florida holidays so much better! Traveling with a one-month-old wasn't really an option this year!

We spent the day taking care of a needy baby, relaxing around the house (unfortunately, it was raining, so a walk wasn't an option), and playing with our gifts! I kind of didn't realize how late it had gotten and how long dinner would take, so we didn't eat dinner until about 8pm! It was delicious, though. Ham (from my office), sweet potatoes (my Aunt Linda's recipe that Josh LOVES), green bean casserole, and rolls. I also made cherry cheesecake for dessert, which was delicious! We just kind of collapsed on the couch for the rest of the night and enjoyed the silence since Caroline had FINALLY decided she wanted to take a nap :)

We miss everyone so so much and hope you all had a great holiday. Thank you everyone for the gifts and the Christmas cards; it helps us not feel quite so far away :) Love y'all! Now I'm excited for Allison to visit us next week!!! WOOHOO!

A Rare Outing.

We are trying to avoid taking miss Caroline out in public as much as we can (flu season is the culprit), but sometimes the outings are inevitable. This week's necessary outing: the post office. Josh is so busy at work that he doesn't have time to go to the post office, so it was an outing Caroline and I had to take on. Oh, dear.

The task was simple. Mail two boxes: one to my parents and one to his parents. We couldn't afford to get them much this year, but we did get them a little something. This task took three attempts.

Attempt One: Caroline and I show up at the post office at 1:31pm. Apparently they close from 1:30pm-2:30pm for lunch. Lovely. There's a line of people inside but we are locked out. We went home.

Attempt Two: Caroline and I show up again at 3:00pm. The line is outside the door. I drop most of my packages trying to balance them in her (lesson learned: use stroller next time). The second we walk in she starts screaming bloody murder and everyone stares at us. I then see my packages don't fit in any flat rate boxes and I'm too cheap to buy their boxes. Nope, nope, we went home. 

Attempt Three: We show up around 9:30am. We use the stroller. Line is nearly outside the door but we squeeze in. My boxes (reused Amazon boxes from my house) are already packed. We're in line for nearly an hour, but we got them mailed... SUCCESS! And every old lady in the place (it was mostly old ladies) loved Caroline because she had the hiccups which echoed through the quiet post office. They didn't try to peak at her, thankfully. She was shielded from everyone's germs. Attempt three was a success, YAY!

So, lessons learned:

Stroller is your friend.

Pacifier is your friend.

Preparedness is your friend.

Making sure baby has full belly is key!

Now we are back home safe from the obnoxious, germy outside world. And, hopefully, our family's packages will get to them by Christmas!

Random Thoughts Blog.

Random thoughts blog on this lovely Sunday morning!

• Last night Josh and I experienced our first baby blowout. I think he described it best on his Facebook:

"It finally happened, that thing every parent gets at some point-- a blow out. It's that moment when your baby, who has been constipated for days, finally lets her bowels go. The entire front of the diaper and back of the diaper is consumed by the foul matter before it starts exploding out of the top of the diaper and all around the legs.  

Nothing was safe. The onesie and pants were absolutely covered. I should have been a surgeon. The skills I used to get all of the clothing off of Caroline without making her more uncomfortable was mind-blowing.  

On the bright side, I found out that Caroline likes semi-bath showers."

• I have truly enjoyed having my non-pregnant body back. This morning, Josh went to the store and brought back donuts and I could successfully do my "Kaitlin happy dance," which consists of twisting my body around... something that was impossible with a baby in the belly! It feels good that my shirts are once again long enough and my pants once again fully button. Some pants I couldn't get up past my expanding thighs now fit with no problem - score! I have lost 25 pounds since she was born, but still have more to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm not stressing over it; what's the rush? At least I'm no longer craving donuts. That should help the cause ;) I would like my wedding rings to fit again, please. Shrink, fingers, shrink!

• I think she has outgrown her first outfit. The one pictured below. It's newborn size and her little legs are now too long for it. Either it shrank or she grew, but it will be the first outfit to be removed from her closet and placed in a tub to be packed away (I'm planning to save all of her clothes in case future baby #2 is also a lady (or a boy who's very fond of pink)).

First outfit to be outgrown!

• Wine is just as amazing as I remembered it to be. I'm not exactly chugging it, since I'm breastfeeding. But, the small glass I can have every night is amazing! I have to drink it right after I feed her so the booze can leave my system; don't want a drunken baby! Beer hasn't really struck my fancy, but wine... amazing!

• We're still trying to figure out who she looks like. It's pretty hard to tell at 3 weeks old. She definitely got Josh's dark brown eyes. Apparently her eyes were blue when she was born, but quickly turned color. We think she got her nose, but it's hard to tell because she still has "baby nose." Her hair on her head is brown in some lighting and blonde in other lighting (just like mine), but her eyelashes are super light colored and her eyebrows are ridiculously blonde - she may have gotten the Rose blondness :) She got her dad's toes, as I knew she would. And she is a lanky little thing, just like both of us. I was never a chubby baby, and I don't think she will be either. 

• She has finally reached her birthweight! I have been supplementing her with formula to get her there, and she gained about half a pound in two days because of it! I don't mind supplementing with the formula, as long as she's getting some of the good stuff from me, as well! It's nice because Josh can help feed her with the formula after I feed her. She has her next doctor's visit on December 27th, so we'll see how much more weight she has gained soon!

• Buying Christmas gifts for a newborn is difficult. I want to fill her stocking, but everyone has been so generous and given us so many things, I don't even know what to put in there! Josh and I aren't really giving each other gifts this year since I'm on unpaid maternity leave (come on Christmas bonus! We need you!) so I'm not sure how eventful Christmas morning will be. We haven't taken her to see Santa Claus this year because flu season is so bad and she's so tiny and fragile, it's just not worth the risk. Next year we'll start taking her to see Santa, going to see Christmas lights, and filling her stocking with amazing things. This year, I don't think she really has a clue what's going on :)

• It was so nice having our families here to help us out! They also helped make our home feel more like a home :) My mom bought us an amazing area rug for the living room, bought us two new awesome pans, and helped us get our Christmas tree! Josh's parents got us some great lamps for the living room, set up a dimmer light for the living room because ours was SO bright, and fixed the wiring for our TV so we didn't have to get an electrician. They also all fixed us some great meals, which provided us with leftovers until Thursday! I guess I'll actually have to start cooking now ;) Next visitor is my sister, Allison, YAY!!! She's visiting in January and then going to Disney World for the first time - wish we could go with her, but a newborn in Disney World sounds a wee bit stressful.

• The dogs and cats have been great with Caroline! Ellie is by far the most interested in her; she makes a great big sister :) She loves to rest her head on Caroline while she's in her swing and just watch her. It's absolutely adorable. The rest of the pets sort of observe her from afar, but Ellie is a hands, er, paws-on friend to her.

I can't think of any more random things at the moment! Caroline is in her swing right now and it sounds like she may be pooping - LOVELY! :) Oh well, as long as it's not a blowout like last night, we're happy!

Miss Caroline Quinn

Well, my last entry was three weeks ago and titled "39 Weeks." Two weeks ago would have been "40 Weeks" but, as most readers know, I didn't make it that far. Miss Caroline made her arrival one day before her due date... at 1:59pm on November 25, 2012.

Josh and I joked that I had to wait until after the FSU v UF game to go into labor. The game was on Saturday, November 24th. I went into labor about 3 hours after the game ended. Such a good wife :) I had felt odd all night, so when we went to bed around 10:30pm, we put a towel down and opened the shower curtain just in case my water broke. After only about 5 minutes in bed I had a strange feeling, leapt out of bed, ran into the bathtub, and immediately my water broke. I am as blind as a bat without my glasses on, so I had to ask Josh what was happening, haha. He said, "we're having a baby!" We got everything ready to go and were out the door and headed to the hospital by 11:30pm. 

We were in triage for.so.long. Apparently there were two girls ahead of me: one with twins and another that was only 30 weeks along. Both had emergency c-sections, so I was not a priority. We finally got a delivery room early in the morning on Sunday. Miss Caroline was facing the wrong position, so I was having back labor, which was horrific. I felt like my back was going to explode. Once they took my vitals, I went straight into the jacuzzi tub for some slight relief. Then, it was just surviving the contractions until it was time for the epidural. Josh was a great coach and helped me through each contraction.

The epidural was rough considering my back was in so much pain and they had to find my spine. This wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have scoliosis. The lady said she had done hundreds of epidurals on women with scoliosis and only had issues with one of them. Well, apparently I was lucky number two. The epidural only worked on one side of my body. My right side went completely numb since it was getting tons of medication. My left side was feeling everything. They fixed it somewhat by replacing the needle, but it never fully worked. Lovely!

Josh and I waited and waited and waited until the time to push. We "napped" (he actually slept; I didn't since I was still feeling contractions). The epidural pretty much stopped my contractions and they had to use Pitocin to start them up again. Sunday afternoon arrived and it was finally time to push! The pushing was super easy; not a scream fest like in the movies. Unfortunately, little Caroline was stuck and her heart rate was changing, so they suctioned the poor baby out. For the past two weeks she has had a battle scar in the form of an enormous lump on her head; yesterday, it disappeared!

The feeling of having them put that little baby (well, 8 pounds 4 ounce baby) on my chest was surreal. I couldn't believe that tiny human had just come out of me, that she was the little thing that had been wiggling and hiccuping inside of me, and that I was holding a baby for the first time and that baby was mine. I was so distracted and probably in shock that I have no clue what was going on "downstairs" as the doctor fixed me up.

We were in the hospital for two days following her birth. She did amazing and did great on every test  - healthy baby!! We had no privacy in the hospital and I learned there's no room for modesty there. They just look at whatever body part they want whenever they want, haha! It was... interesting :) I didn't sleep at all for those three days - nursing her and all the visitors kept me from sleeping. 

Our parents have been helping us over the past two weeks. My mom helped us the first week and Josh's parents were here for the second week. They were all so helpful. Not only did they help with Caroline, but they helped fix up our house and it feels so much more like a home now - it looks amazing :) We loved having them all here to help. Next helper: ALLISON! Hurry up, January!

So, Miss Caroline. She's amazing! She's beautiful and is seriously so sweet. She just wants love all the time (which can be exhausting, but it's super sweet). She is healthy but not gaining weight as quickly as they want, so we're having to supplement her with formula after I feed her. She's going to fatten up a bit, I hope :) But she is absolutely perfect. All I wanted was a healthy baby, and I got one. She just happens to be pretty awesome, as well!!

I will update this blog more, of course! The past two weeks have just been very busy for obvious reasons :) Right now I am having "Kaitlin Time" - a bath and a glass of wine! I waited nine long months for this moment!

Perfect baby <3

39 Weeks!

How far along: 39 weeks!

Size of Baby: Watermelon!

Neat facts about baby: Her brain is still developing rapidly, and her skin has taken on a paler shade thanks to a thicker layer of fat around the blood vessels. She's now able to flex her limbs, and her nails might extend past his fingertips.

Total weight gain: I have hit 35 pounds gained, oh dear. But I don't feel enormous, so I'm not worried about it.

What I miss: Red, red wine, it makes me feel so fine!

Sleep: I have actually been sleeping slightly better, oddly enough. Two labradors who somehow sneak up on the bed throughout the night don't really help, but they do keep me warm :)

Symptoms: I feel great, yet awkward! Sitting up has become super hard; apparently abdominal muscles just give up this late in pregnancy and I have to think of creative ways to go from laying down to sitting up to standing up. Getting out of the car is also a challenge, especially now that I'm driving Josh's super-low-to-the-ground car. Sooo, I'm just awkward, but I feel awesome :)

Cravings/Aversions: None really, just white hot chocolate because it is amazing.

Movement: She's still wiggling and one of her feet keeps poking out of the side of my belly. During our appointment on Friday, as they were checking everything out and my belly was up in the air, she was wiggling like crazy and you could see where her little foot kept poking out. It was hilarious!

Maternity clothes: None! :)

Best moments this week: Knowing that my body is preparing itself for labor and that I'm right on track - that was pretty darn awesome. And we checked the final items off of our to-do list this weekend - we are ready!!!

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting her!!!! :)

The Final Countdown!

One week before my due date: HOLY CRAP. The possibility of this being my last Monday at work for a while is quite realistic. I plan to keep working as long as I can, though. No, not because I love my job (that's hilarious). I am using 12 weeks of maternity leave, and I'd rather use it at home with a pretty baby than at home waiting for the pretty baby to show up. So, I will be here until the very last minute. Gotta make that money :)

Friday, I had a doctor's appointment. It was the first appointment where they checked to see if I'm dilated. Without going into any horrific details, it was one of the most horrific feelings ever getting checked for that. I don't know what in the world was going on down there, but it was terrible. The doctor said that on Friday I was: 1 cm dilated, 80% effaced, and the baby is super low. When asked what all that means, he said it means we're right on track to have a baby around my due date. Could be before, could be after, but the time frame is right!

After the doctor's appointment, we headed to get my Jeep from the shop... once again. They keep not fixing everything, ugh. We still have to bring it back at some other point to get the ball joints replaced, but that will be free since it was a recall. Josh is driving the Jeep around for the time being in case it somehow catches fire again, ugh. So, I get to ride around in the Altima with the heated seats and XM radio, muhahahaha!!! Josh grilled us some steaks for dinner and it was magnificent!

Saturday, we set off to get some baby stuff done. We had a non-exciting cereal breakfast and I got some baby stuff done around the house. We then went to Newk's for lunch (home of my favorite steak salad). Then we were off to Best Buy to buy a case for my fancy pants iPad :) It ended up with a cute, blue, leather case, which I should have take a photo of but forgot. I love it! We then headed home to watch the FSU football game only to discover it wasn't on TV, whomp whomp. We checked things off the "to-do before baby" list for the afternoon and just relaxed. We watched "Magic Mike" together, bwhahahaha!! I don't think Josh was a fan of all the male nudity, but I didn't mind it so much. Except I think I saw more of Matthew McConaughey at the end than I ever, ever wanted to see. We ended up being lazy and having grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner, and it was wonderful :)

Sunday, we had cereal again and then hung out around the house getting more baby stuff done. We did a quick Target run to get a trashcan for the guest bathroom (our bathrooms are so itty bitty it's hard to find trash cans that fit, ugh) and lunch. We had buffalo chicken bites and potato skins for lunch and then I headed out for some errands. I got a pack n' play for her at Babies R' Us (with a giftcard and coupon it only cost me $10, yay!), got some coffee at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and got diapers, wipes, etc. at the grocery store - that felt crazy! We then relaxed around the house for a while (most of my "relaxing around the house" this weekend was watching Freaks and Geeks on Netfix; I love that show) and once again had lazy grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner - it's just so tasty! We watched some bad TV and some of the American Music Awards, which were so boring I went to bed early and it was wonderful :)

Who knows what next Monday's blog will bring; I could have a baby, I could be in labor, or I could still be waiting around - Only time will tell! :)

38 Weeks!

How far along: 38 weeks!

Size of Baby: Pumpkin. (I do not understand this size because pumpkins don't have a set size... silliness I tell you)

Neat facts about baby: Her organs are ready for life outside the womb! She's pretty much just hanging out in there now; she's a fully developed little baby :)

Total weight gain: Let's just say I have definitely made it past 30 pounds gained. I don't feel enormous, though, so I'm not too worried about it. The doctor says it's mostly fluid. Although the number on the scale at my doctor's appointment was a wee bit shocking (I blame the shoes I was wearing).

What I miss: I cannot wait to have my first glass of wine... I miss it!

Sleep: Oh, it is still terrible. Josh even offered to sleep with the dogs in the office on an air mattress so I could get the bed to myself to help me sleep better, but I passed (the dogs would destroy the air mattress and I would feel bad kicking my husband off the bed, haha).

Symptoms: I feel great and I'm not really having any symptons - no signs of labor yet or anything. I just have this big belly I'm carrying around with me. It keeps running into things and I can't lean over the table to eat so I spill everywhere, but I did paint my own toenails last night and I feel like that's quite the accomplishment for a 38 week pregnant lady. I would pat myself on the back if I wasn't so awkward at the moment.

Cravings/Aversions: Sweets, as usual.... again!

Movement: She is still wiggling around in there and I think she keeps poking her butt out. She's practicing her dance moves, I'm sure.

Maternity clothes: None! :)

Best moments this week: Nesting, nesting, nesting! Having a good doctor's appointment. Getting an iPad for my birthday! Crossing lots of things off my "to do" or "to get" lists!

What I'm looking forward to: Getting everything else done and being completely ready for her arrival! Too bad I'm stuck at the office where I can get absolutely nothing accomplished - gotta keep making that money before my 12 week vacation, though!

Getting so, so close...

Happy Monday, everyone! My Monday is sad because I am at work and Josh is not. I'd say this is unfair, but the fact is I'm about to have a 12 week "vacation" so I cannot whine too much. And he is taking me to lunch like a good husband. He was a great husband this week as he bought me a beautiful iPad for my birthday... good Joshua.

Beautiful.

So, let's see what I did this weekend!

Friday night, we had lazy dinner (AKA budget dinner). Josh ate leftover pizza and I ate some spinach/artichoke thingies from Target. It was wonderful. We then watched "Not Another Teen Movie" on Netflix (I will use any excuse to watch Chris Evans). All and all, it was a very uneventful Friday night, which was amazing!

Saturday, we started off our morning with waffles, yum yum yum!!! We then set out on an air mattress mission. We're about to have a lot of guests, and they need to have somewhere to sleep. Considering our guest room is itty bitty, and also doubles as an office and TV room, the idea of a futon or a bed kind of lost its appeal. We ended up getting a queen sized air mattress that sits almost two feet off the ground from Academy Sports - should be great! After this mission we were soooooo hungry (waffles don't really keep us full for very long) so it was time for some Chikfila! nom nom nom. We then headed back home. Joshua relaxed while I headed back out for a random shopping mission. I ended up coming back with a small pillow from Hobby Lobby (for the sham that matches the crib set) and two pairs of comfy pants from Target (for the hospital and also for my 12 weeks of lazing around the house and walks around the block). I also packed Miss Caroline's bag for the hospital. I bought her an adorable coming home outfit on Friday that I loveeeeee. It feels so comfy and has Roses, since she is a Rose girl :)

I LOVE IT!

Baby stuff packed and ready to go!

It's crazy to think the little lady currently wiggling around in my belly (she has the hiccups as I'm typing this) is big enough for that newborn outfit... whoa!!! Moving on, I kind of just straightened up around the house for the rest of the day. Getting everything ready for her arrival!! We had lazy leftover dinner again (pizza for Josh and Carabba's lasagna for me!). I "made" us some cookies (stuck premade dough in the oven) and watched Sons of Anarchy with Josh until bed time. Every night this weekend I went to bed around 10pm (don't judge, I'm getting all my sleep in before the baby arrives!) and Josh watched his show until about 12:30am. This has been amaziiiiing because he keeps the dogs in the office with him and I get two and a half hours of wonderful, uninterrupted sleep. Josh offered to sleep on the new air mattress with the dogs so I could get some good nights of sleep (something I haven't experienced in a while) butttt, I don't want the dogs with their claws anywhere near that mattress, haha!

Sunday, we settled for cereal for breakfast. Not very exciting, nope, but tasty! I nested some more all morning and then we headed out for more nesting adventures! Walmart first for the tools to hang some more stuff on the walls. Then, we were hungry (we are always hungry) so we went to Newk's where I got my steak and bleu salad and Josh got pimiento grilled cheese and tomato soup, nom nom nom!! We then had our final movie date before the baby's arrival. We saw Skyfall (the new James Bond movie) and it was awesome!! I got super uncomfortable considering it was two and a half hours long, but I made it the entire movie without getting up or having to use the bathroom - pretty impressive for a nearly 38 week pregnant chick, if I do say so myself! We then headed home where we hung everything up and then relaxed. We had some deeelicious crock pot pork chops and potatoes for dinner. I then watched Once Upon a Time and Revenge, and slept :D

Now, I'm at work, awaiting Josh's arrival for our lunch date. I'm hoping we get the call that my Jeep is ready to be picked up today - I miss my beep beep jeep jeep :(

37 Weeks!

How far along: 37 weeks! (FULL TERM!)

Size of Baby: Winter Melon.

Neat facts about baby: She's full term, meaning she has developed her most crucial functions and basically she can come at any freaking time now! She's practicing some skills: inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping and blinking.And she's getting her first sticky poop ready for the diaper (ew, Caroline, that's gross).

Total weight gain: I didn't weigh myself, oops. Doctor's appointment on Thursday for a new official weight.

What I miss: Same old, same old. I also miss being "graceful" when getting in and out of cars, seats, bed, etc. (graceful in quotation marks because, let's face it, I'm never graceful). Especially driving Josh's car so much this week, which is very low to the ground, it's awful getting in and out of there.

Sleep: Same as the past few weeks, and I have been having weird dreams. Last night I had a dream where Caroline was born and was already a toddler (please note, she had brown hair and brown eyes, uh oh) when she was born. I gave birth and she was talking to me and we were discussing how much she liked the car seat. Josh also had a dream last night where I gave birth. I know what's on our minds!

Symptoms: None, really! I'm feeling really awesome.

Cravings/Aversions: Sweets, as usual.

Movement: She's still wiggling and I'm trying to pay close attention, because if she slows down it could mean labor time... keep wiggling a bit longer, please!!

Maternity clothes: Still none!!! I'm going to make it!

Best moments this week: Installing the car seat, getting her stocking in the mail, packing her hospital bag, and I'm sure more things that my mind is blanking on right now!

What I'm looking forward to: My next doctor's visit (hopefully the husband can join me; his work keeps getting in the way)!

My Jeep-less weekend :(

Well, hello! I am blogging late today, because I have actually been very busy. Monday has sucked, as always, but at least it has gone by quickly.

So, Friday was an interesting day in the life of the Brians. We got word that my Jeep was ready to be picked up at the shop (Jeep dealership) after getting my starter replaced. I went to get Josh at his office, we go to pick up the Jeep, pay them the $400, leave, go to Chipotle, and run into Best Buy to take a quick peak at the iPad Mini's and then kiss goodbye. Josh takes the Jeep to listen to the engine, and I take the Altima back to my office. I'm nearly back when I get a call from Josh frantic that the Jeep's engine caught on fire, the fire department was there, and I the dealership ruined my car. Here's Josh's account of what happened:

"Yesterday was an interesting day. I had the starter replaced in the Jeep at the Jeep Dealership. I picked up the Jeep, went to Chipotle, and then started driving back to my office. While crossing Monroe Street, the Jeep's engine and electrical shut down. I maneuvered the Jeep into a valet parking area for a hotel. I noticed smoke and immediately opened up the hood only to find that half of the engine was on fire. I ran into the hotel and found a fire extinguisher. As I ran back to the Jeep, the fuel line melts and gas catches fire. The Jeep started spraying flames like a flamethrower at least five feet into the air. Luckily, I was able to use a full fire extinguisher to put the engine fire out. Towed the Jeep back to the Jeep Dealership and they admitted they wired the starter wrong and the only thing that kept the entire Jeep from going up in flames was the aLoft Hotel fire extinguisher. Ridiculous."

We are just thankful that he was driving the Jeep and not me, because not only was I not conveniently downtown like him, but I am eight months pregnant, cannot exactly jump out of cars like I usually do, and stress like that could have easily jump-started labor. SCARY. Anyway, it's all figured out now. The dealership took the blame, although the a-holes are still charging us $400 (rude), and will be fixing the Jeep "free of charge" (give me back my $400!). We are going to pick up a rental car for me after work - can't wait to see what I get to drive!

After all of this drama on Friday, Josh went back to work and I went straight home and just relaxed the best way possible without the aide of wine (so. soon.). This included a hot shower and a nap. I then had to go get Josh from the office and we ate chick-fil-a for lazy dinner.

Saturday, I had cereal for breakfast (oh my gosh, no waffles and sausage!). Josh and I cleaned the house like crazies all morning - we need to have it straightened out and clean before the baby gets here and the moms visit! We then got some Five Guys for lunch and headed back to the Jeep dealership to look at cars, just in case the Jeep was unfixable (thankfully, we know now that we won't have to get a new car). We test drove a four door Wrangler and it was super fun, and then looked around at other places. We ran some random errands, went to the grocery store, and then collapsed at home. I got the crockpot ready with some buffalo chicken dip for the VT v. FSU game only to discover the game isn't until Thursday. Oh well, the dip was still delicious! We ate, watched Dogma, and were lazy bums for the rest of the night. I fell asleep early while he stayed up until 1:30am watching Sons of Anarchy (he is addicted).

Sunday, I woke up super early thanks to the time change confusing my internal alarm clock. I had some chocolate chip waffles (chosen by Josh at the grocery store due to my new love of chocolate everything). He also had chocolate chip waffles when he woke up and covered (I mean covered them) in chocolate syrup... who's the pregnant one, again? :) He then had to leave to visit kids at the detention center, leaving me at home without a car for three hours. I was soooo bored. I did laundry and played in the nursery. When he got back, we had lunch and then I headed out to do some shopping. I got nothing but coffee; totally unsuccessful. We then installed the car seat in his car (we are officially grownups), lazed around on the couch, and had some steaks for dinner. I watched Once Upon a Time (I swear it's getting cheesier) and Revenge and then went to bed!

All in all it was a good weekend, although I just want my Jeep back!

PS: My birthday is on Wednesday, yaaaaaaay!