35 weeks. And will we have a cherub?!

How far along? 35 weeks. I'm 8 months pregnant, baby!

Total weight gain: 14-15 pounds

Maternity clothes? Of course.

Stretch marks? Yep.

Best moment of the week? The whole week was pretty great. We finally celebrated Christmas as a family (my sister came in to town the 27th). And she, along with my mom and Brian, got to see Hartley at this week's ultrasound.

Miss anything? Honest answer: I'm fucking jealous of everyone who isn't pregnant now. I want booze, a really hot bath, and to breathe easily. Also, the ability to bend over would be great. 

Movement: yeah, just the normal - feel her a little but nothing crazy

Food cravings: apparently cherry garcia ice cream and my mom's wreath cookies. And apparently I will eat them to the point I feel sick, say I'll never do it agin, and then I do it again. Smart woman over here.

Anything making you sick or queasy? Overeating. See above. But I'm taking Prilosec for the reflux. Fucking Christmas miracle right there.

Have you started to show? See picture above.

Gender: girl!

Belly button in or out? In.

Happy or moody? Both. I wake up happy but after several hours of lugging around this baby, I'm tired and cranky. Brian says I think I'm worse than I actually am. Well trained husband.

Looking forward to: our maternity photo shoot, doing my first diaper wash, and making my own baby wipes. The cleaning service coming!! Nesting much?

I have so much to share, and it might be way too much for one blog so there might be lots of blogging for a bit! 

Life has been busy and wonderful and weird lately. I'm assuming when your baby is 35 days away and just a mere 2 weeks from full term, that things just seem crazier than they are. I have a mix of "am I ready?", "get here soon", and "I'm so going to miss it just being Brian, Winnie and I".

I know in my heart of hearts that I am so ready for this. I couldn't be more ready if I tried. But I'm nervous. This little being has been lots of work already, and I've done a great job getting her in the uterus and baking her, but I just want to be perfect with her when she's on the outside. Even though I know I won't be. No mother is. 

And I will say, I'm having trouble coming to terms with it being "the end of an era" for Brian and I. He and I have had an incredible 4 years of marriage. We completely rock the childless couple thing. And I already see our relationship changing at this tail end. I see us becoming parents, and I won't lie, it does make me a little sad. Lately our errands consist of buying diapers, supplies for homemade baby wipes and nipple cream. And a part of me feels like, "fuck yeah, let's do this parenting thing!" And a part of me feels like, "man, I miss going to Target to buy stupid stuff like fuzzy socks and DVDs and wine."

I am also in a scary nesting stage where my house can be completely tidy and looks like total crap to me. And I catch myself saying to Brian, "it needs to look like the world's most luxurious hotel when she comes through the door." He brings me back down to planet earth though.

I am also uncomfortable now. And it's torture but also hilarious. Torture because this almost 6 pounder is weighing into my lungs making breathing tough. But hilarious because I crawl around on all fours doing cat and cow yoga poses, and Brian asks if I'm presenting myself. Yes, we are going to be parents. 

I called the doctor today to let them know my induction request. It is not a guarantee, and the doctor needs to review my request. But if they are good with it, the latest baby crane will be here is February 14th (15th if she decides I need to labor forever). I am nuts. Especially since we are allowed to induce as early as January 31st. But I want Hartley to have a fighting chance to pick her birthday, while keeping it in healthy range of course. I selfishly would love to evict her earlier (also because she is supposed to be bigger than average) but I feel like I would like to experience something that isn't completely calculated with this pregnancy. I would love to see her pick earlier than her due date. February 1st would be awesome. And I'm also rooting for a date after her due date - the 9th. So she can be a nine like her parents.

I'm nuts. I'm going to be kicking myself for this later!!

But I still having preparing to do. I have baby wipes to make and a hospital bag to pack. I have shower thank you notes to finish, dipes to launder, and all these little nesty projects. I have to get Brian to put the car seat bases in the cars. So she's not allowed to arrive before the 16th, when she's full term, and I'm ready :)

I will post fun picture blogs soon. And we're so lucky that we're getting to do another maternity shoot, so I can't wait to share pictures from that, too! And I'll be posting all about the emotional roller coaster ride of this last month or so before baby. 

And to wrap it up, and go completely unrelated, I'm so happy I've kept this blog. It has been an amazing outlet. It's been absolutely incredible to look back on. I started out 2013 with yet another negative pregnancy test, and I ended it 37 days away from meeting our baby. And I love that each of these entries reflect that it's not just one feeling you carry through the whole year. It's been a beautiful messy mix. And I know that's what it will continue to be :)

Random picture but I love this. My sister was just in town and when I saw this at Target it just screamed "Laura" to me so I had to get it for Hartley. You can't tell in the picture but some cupcakes have gold glitter icing and some have heart toppings: