34 WEEKS!

Yes, that is right, we are 34 weeks and 2 days today. That brings us to 40 days left and counting! I cannot believe it!

I had my 34 week appointment on Thursday. All is well and I am measuring pretty much on target or just a few days ahead. I am feeling the baby all the time now which is wonderful compared to the last few months when I barely felt a kick. It is an amazing feeling that I am first now getting to enjoy.

My next appointment is in two weeks when I reach 36 weeks! At this appointment they are going to do an ultrasound to check the baby's size and his position. If he is still breech, we may be looking at scheduling our c-section because we have been told it is very unlikely he will turn that late in the pregnancy. It's not completely impossible but the chances are a lot slimmer. It's weird to think he will be here so soon! After 36 weeks, we will head to the doctors every week to be checked until we welcome our little guy!

Bill is a trooper these days. He has really picked up the slack around the house and helps me with whatever I need. Some days that means he even ties my shoes ;-) I could not ask for a better husband and I am lucky to have him. He is going to be a great Daddy!

As for me, I am a mess. I will list my latest ailments:

1. My back hurts

2. My wrists hurt

3. My ankles are the size of TX

4. My stomach is growing bigger by the minute

5. My headaches have come back in full force

6. I am tired

7. I am really, really tired!

8. I have mastered the waddle as I feel like I can barely walk anymore

9. I can't remember what a good night sleep feels like

10. I am tired :-)

I keep telling myself that all these ailments will pass and I will have the best gift of all. That is what keeps me going.

I am trying to stay moving despite how I feel. I actually had to miss my H2O aerobics class this past week because I was feeling under the weather but I hope to be back at it this week. Work is getting harder and harder by the day. My last day is scheduled for Feb. 26th but neither Bill nor I feel I will make it that far. We are just playing it by ear.

3 weeks until we are considered "full-term" and 6 weeks until this first part of this journey is over! I know I say it every post but I am so excited! I just cannot wait!

Catching up on the Last 10 days- Part 2- "Showered" in Atlanta

Last Saturday, January 23rd, I had my Atlanta baby shower hosted by one of my dearest friends Laura Beth! I was so lucky to be able to celebrate with my friends and family back home in December at a shower my sister hosted and then, a month later "showered" again here in Atlanta!

It was a perfect morning with some of my closest friends and family here in Atlanta! Laura Beth thought it would be nice to host the shower at our new house which I of course was very excited about. Considering everything we have had going on in the past few months, we never got to have an official "house-warming" party so this was the perfect occasion and like I mentioned in my earlier post, I had the nursery almost ready to go so everyone could see it!

From the flowers to the food, Laura Beth hosted a wonderful shower. I don't have pics to share yet because I did not take any with my camera (woops), but I will be sure to share once I get them because it was truly a lovely day.

The theme of this shower was to start Baby Gordon's library. So, with that said, everyone was asked to bring a book as their gift or in addition to. I was so excited to find this out the day of because we definitely needed books for our little man.

Bill and I were overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone both in Maryland and here in Atlanta! We cannot thank all of our friends and family enough for loving us and our soon to be new addition. We feel very grateful to have received such thoughtful gifts and look forward to seeing our baby boy grow with each of them.

We LOVE everything but I did take a few pics of the things we have assembled already! Who new how many D batteries you use in these things :-)

From top to bottom: Bouncy Seat from the Magills, Snug ride travel system (careseat is already in the Acadia) from Bill's Aunt and Uncles, Pack n Play from "US," Mommy and Daddy, handmade blanket from Nana, a fully stocked closet with so many fun clothes and toys, and a diaper cake made by one of my friends Angela!

Although we still need some essentials, I think we are getting closer every day! We did one big babies r us shop last weekend to get some odds and ends and we just received our completion certificate in the mail. It gives us 10 percent off any remaining items on our registry. We are going to save this until the baby arrives and get the last of our goodies then.

It's really coming together which is scary! I could not be more excited and again thank you to everyone for your kindness and generosity.

Catching Up on the Last 10 Days- Part 1- Nursery Meltdown

Well, it's been a busy, yet exciting two weeks but I am first getting the chance to sit down and reflect on everything that has happened. Although I love to share this blog with my friends and family ( especially those of you that I don't get to talk to often), I hope to also use it someday to look back on it and remember this time. I swear this pregnancy has gone by so fast and often I feel if I don't write it all down, I will not remember some of the best parts! So, even though I am behind, I am still posting! Hopefully I do not bore you too much ;-)

So, to begin, we had nursery meltdown about a week ago in the Gordon household. I can somewhat laugh about this now, but not last Thursday. As you might have read, I had been working on getting Baby Gordon's room together for quite some time now. First we had paint, then furniture, then the accessories and bedding. With my Atlanta baby shower last Saturday, I really (did I say really) wanted to have the nursery put together so everyone could see it. I was already kind of bummed because the crib sheet we had made to go with our bedding was not going to be ready in time so it's hard to get the full feel of the bedding. BUT that's okay. I just bought a cheap brown one that will do the trick for now. We would need a extra crib sheet anyway. I so wish I can say the story ended there.

My sister and mom had been working on some finishing touches for the room; a valance that matches the crib bedding and some canvas artwork designed by Hope. I know they both had much on their plates but I begged them to try and get their projects done so I could have them in time for the Saturday shower. I even went as far as to have them overnight the package so we could hang everything.

Well, we got the packages! The valance looked amazing. The canvases are too cute for words. What could be the problem to cause such a meltdown then?

I will tell you! So, our problems began when we started hanging what we thought would be an easy curtain rod to hang the valance on. Bill measured, checked his work and then began to drill. I am in the other room trying not to "bother" him but of course, always asking if help is needed. I am told NO! As I here the drill go on and off and on and off, I begin to get slightly concerned about this simple project we have started at 9:30 at night!

I go into the nursery only to see a larger then normal screw hole and no curtain rod hardware in the wall. I remain calm :-)

Bill, do you need help? NO, I am told....****BIG SIGH**** So, as I am walking away I notice that some of the screw drivers and other tools are placed on the top of the hutch of our baby's BRAND NEW dresser/changing table. Uneasy about the placement of these tools, I calmly walk away but nervous that we will get a scratch if one of the tools was to scrape the furniture. A few minutes later I walk back in to put away some blankets that I folded and I here a crash onto the dresser!!!! Yes, my friends, that is when I lost it and had what is called "nesting mothers nursery meltdown" and when Bill wanted to send me to a land far far away :-) A screw driver fell from the hutch ( it what seemed like slow motion) and landed on the dresser taking a nice chunk of the surface with it! OMG!!

So here we have this brand new furniture with a divot in it, a hole in the wall from where the curtain rod cannot be hung, and no pictures on the wall! Awesome. Let's just say, I went to bed hoping we would get this solved the next day.

We did. Bill spackled the hole and repainted and my dad came over to help Bill hang the curtain rod. By the time I got home from work, the rod and valance were hung and I could not have been happier. Big thanks to both Bill and Dad for getting that done!

The furniture got repaired too. Although it is not perfect, the divot is smooth, and stained so it is barely noticeable!

Last on the list was the artwork that my sister made for Baby Gordon. We hung that on Friday night and we were all set!

The nursery still needs some finishing touches but I am loving the progress. Once we decide on name, we will order letters for the baby's name for above the crib! Here are some photos:

Thank You Summerfields!

We have to send a big THANK YOU out to our dear friends Laura Beth and Danny Summerfield. We cannot forget Jake and Marin too! We stopped by for a short visit yesterday and came home with a car full of baby goodies! The Acadia is now fully equipped with our new car seat thanks to LB's expert help. Yes, I know, you may think it is early but it is one less thing we have to worry about as we get closer. We figured we would not attempt this very important install ourselves and recruited the help of a mommy of 2 under 2 1/2 years old! Now, I am just scared to ever take it out because I am not sure I will get it back in :-)

We also got a ton of baby boy clothes and shoes from Jake! Jake is 2 1/2 years old now so how lucky am I to get some awesome hand-me-downs! I started to go through everything last night and it's just so surreal. I cannot believe we will be bringing home a baby in 7 weeks or less!

With Marin growing up so quickly, we also got to borrow a swing for baby Gordon to use because she is not using it anymore! We promise to take good care of it!!!

THANK YOU again LB, Danny, Jake and Marin!

Relaxation...I never said it would be easy!

So, if you know me, and know me well, you can agree that I can have what I like to call minor issues relaxing :-) And, as I prepare to have my own bouncing baby boy, I can trace my urgency to get things done on my own schedule back to my very own birth. I was born 2 1/2 months early and have been determined ever since. What can I say, I was ready to come out and I made it known. So call it what you will, impatience, urgency, eagerness, or stress; I have very little ability to just relax at times. Yes, I can fully admit it, and compounded with being in the final trimester of pregnancy and nesting in full effect, watch out everyone, I am not slowing down. Well, at least not yet.

So I bring up this not always favorable characteristic of mine for 2 reasons.

1. We just had our Childbirth class yesterday from 9-5 and...

2. I cannot stop the madness I am calling nesting!

So, the Mother's First classes at Northside have really surprised me! I have found them to be informative and very useful and I would say the same about our most recent childbirth class. All of our instructors have been passionate about what they teach and certainly this was no different. As much as they don't really say it, they want you to embrace the experience of natural childbirth. Yes, I mean no drug intervention. Now, for us, our birth plan is unknown at this time and in the next 4 weeks, as we find out if baby Gordon will turn out of the breech position, we will be able to determine just what we want. I can tell you now, as I sit here, there will be drugs involved :-) But, nonetheless, we spent the day learning about early signs of labor, when to go to the hospital, the different stages of labor, breathing patterns, and oh wait, probably the most important, RELAXATION techniques to help you get through labor.

HMMMM there is that word again that I don't seem to relate to much, especially in life changing experiences! I tried really hard to practice these relaxation techniques while in class and I will admit, it was not that bad, but as Bill and I left the class, we laughed in the car ride home at the fact, that relaxation, ME and the childbirth process have no correlation and as much practice as I do, I will still be a ridiculous mess :-)

So, again I take what I can from the class and promise to work on the techniques they taught me to get through this experience and if there is one thing I can say is that at the very least, I will make this as stress free as possible for my standards.

Which, brings me to #2. My nesting!

So, in order for me meet the above promises, I need to get things done now! Not tomorrow, not next week, but NOW! Yes, see this is how my mind works. Even the things that don't need to be done immediately, I want done NOW because I in some way feel that if I am prepared early, my ability to relax and be in control of my emotions when it is time to have this baby will be easy to manage. Who am I kidding? But, it sounds reasonable right?

Well, anyway I look at it, I still feel like I have so much to do for this baby's arrival. So with 50 days left to go, I plow forward with the hopes of relaxation in the near future.

Home Sweet Home! Or not???

Well, we made it home safe and sound but it can't all go smoothly I guess.........We unfortunately came home to frozen pipes on the outside of our house!!! We had left the heat on inside so no pipe bursts and no damage inside, thank goodness but, NO water!

The plumber just left and $165 later, we have water! Now, a few more hours to relax before work tomorrow and my first water aerobics class!

This week I also have my 32 week appointment and my first breastfeeding class. These last few weeks are going to fly! Unbelievable but, oh so exciting!

Disney 2010! Brrr it's cold out there!

So, our last trip before Baby Gordon arrives has come and gone! It's crazy to think he will be here in about 8 weeks or less! We had a blast on our trip to Disney with the Magill's and Pelaez's! We even agreed we may just have to do this again next year! In fact, registration opens this weeks so we will be signing up for another half marathon! This is by far my favorite half to run and I look at it as an awesome way to get motivated to loose all the baby weight!

Despite the record low temps in at Disney on our trip we made the best of it. We broke out the scarfs, winter hats, jackets, gloves and I must not forget ponchos :-( Yes, not only did we have frigid temps we had sleet and rain!

We started our first full day of the trip with a visit to the runners expo to get our race packets and shirts. I obviously was not running but I needed to pick up my info to pass it on to Corey who ran under my name and bib number. From there our goal was to go to Universal for the remainder of the day but with the rain steadily coming down and time passing so quickly we bought passes to use there the next day and decided to grab lunch and see Avatar in 3D imax at City Walk! Boy that was an amazing movie! With the race the next day, Corey cooked a pasta dinner at the condo and we all dined in and got to sleep early. I mean we were only waking up at 3AM for the race!!!!

We had high hopes for the weather for race day but unfortunately, it was just as predicted....cold and sleeting rain. Jill and I were spectating so we had layers upon layers of clothing on to keep us warm as we watched from different points throughout the race. We did our best to see everyone but it was near impossible with the amount of runners in this race. We did learn some tricks for spectators coming to watch us next year :-) ( Hint Hint)

Bill, Rich, Corey and Dave all finished with amazing times and I am so proud of them. I am especially proud of Bill for not only completing his 2nd half marathon ever but also for beating his previous time! Everyone loved the race and I was so happy because I kept telling them how much I loved it from 3 years prior when I ran it with Bill! I did not want anyone to be disappointed :-)

We were all able to thaw out and get showered up and head back out to Universal for the day! I was already beat from being up so early and spectating on the course so we rented a wheel chair for Bill to push me in so I did not slow down the rest of the crew but also so I could also enjoy my time at the park. Unfortunately, there were not too many outside coasters open due to the rain but everyone got to experience the indoor rides and I even got to partake in a few things here and there! And, I of course could not leave without something for our little boy!

I could not resist :-)



Look at all that sun :-)









We pretended it was warm :-)

With Rich and Jill leaving the next day, we all had a celebratory dinner out and called it night. On our last day Bill, Corey, Dave, and I slept in, did some outlet mall shopping, and watched some DVDs. It was a great way to wind down after a jammed pack few days!

This trip was so wonderful and I am thankful to have great friends to create these special memories with! Now that I am home, I am looking forward to getting the last of what I need to do DONE! Wishful thinking never hurt anyone :-)