36 Weeks

Labor Updates: (Skip this part if you don't want to know anything about dilating or other womanly parts). We are going to the doctor every week now which means we are checking the heart beat, measuring my belly and now checking to see if I'm dilated or effaced. So far I am 0" dilated and 0% effaced. This isn't a huge shock as I was only 35 weeks at my last appointment. Tomorrow will be my 36 week appointment and I'll update this post then :).

*Update* - Yesterday was our 36 week appointment and everything is the same. I'm not dilated or effaced at all. The head is down and resting like a dagger in my pelvis. And she checked the amniotic fluid on the ultrasound machine and said it looks great! We are also measuring average so we're not expecting a giant baby which I have to say is awesome! ;)

Please ignore my fat swollen face. Sorry you have to see that.

How far along: 36 weeks
Total weight gain: 43 lbs. - Thanks water retention swelling weight. Awesome.
Sleep: I dread going to sleep. My whole body swells and it hurts. I seriously consider if I have to go to the bathroom that bad or if I can wait it out a little bit because my feet hurt so bad and walking to the bathroom is just too far.
Sickness: Nope
Cravings: sandwiches.
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind
General Symptoms: OMG THE SWELLING! I am so tired of feeling enormous. I hate feeling like my face looks like I was stung by thousands of bees. And having my throat feel like there is something constantly stuck in it. It makes it hard to eat. I also broke down and bought compression socks...I'm officially 165 years old.
Miss anything: SANDWICHES - roast beef, salami, meat in general
Maternity Clothes: Same ole' same ole'.
Movement: All the time! Though it seems to be different every day. I just keep telling myself that as long as it's moving strong I don't care when it moves. We are so close now!
Gender Prediction: Boy. Can't wait to find out!

Names I like at the moment:
I think we've decided! Middle names are next, we kinda forgot about those ;)
       Girl: Claire
       Boy: Jack

The baby is now the size of a Honeydew, the less delicious cousin of Cantaloupe. It's skin is getting softer and it's gums are hardening. 

Our 3 Year Anniversary

Now that our anniversary has passed (that sounds so depressing) I can share what Max and I got each other.

For our leather anniversary I got max custom made leather luggage tags from the True Heart Style Etsy shop and Max got me a custom leather camera strap from the RSVP Handcrafted Etsy shop.

"That's the last time we take directions from a squirrel"

Both of these Etsy shops were fantastic and I HIGHLY recommend them. The luggage tags arrived in 3 days from ordering and the camera strap Max ordered arrived in a few days as well. The packaging was well done on both and the custom touches we added came out exactly how we wanted them which can sometimes be a crapshoot.

Now back to the anniversary festivities. The quote I put on Max's tags was again from Emperor's New Groove. I tried to pick another favorite movie or book of his but I kept coming back to this one since the only time someone will read it will be when it's lost :).

I also have to give Max some major kudos for his present. This is my first really nice camera and I always get nervous that I might drop it, especially when we're out hiking. So he got me a nice camera strap and even added custom touches. He picked the yellow and teal colors because those are my favorite and added my name. He really put some thought into it and it came out so nice!

On the way home from work I decided to pick up an extra surprise. Max's favorite desert of all time is ice cream cake. This is not an exaggeration. If it were socially acceptable and didn't make you enormous I am pretty sure he would eat a small ice cream cake every night. So before I left work I googled the closest Baskin Robins and set out on a mission. It was too late to custom make a cake since they need at least 24hrs. but I thought they might have some pre-made ones and that would be good enough.

Once I got to the store they had a whole case full of cakes! I was so surprised at the pre-made selection and so happy because I knew I could get exactly what I wanted. The guy behind the counter (I struggle not to say young man as he was probably only 17 but I'm certainly too young to be using that language already?!) asked me if I needed any help. I told him no and that I would just take a pre-made cake. Once I had chosen the oreo and white cake one he asked if he could write anything on it for me. I told him it was too small and that it was a last minute thing so not to worry. He said it wouldn't cost anything and that he'd be more than happy to do it. Again my amazement at this Baskin Robins continued. I told him it was for our 3rd wedding anniversary so whatever he could fit on it would be fine. He managed to write "Happy 3rd Anniversary" I was so impressed it fit!

Luckily I got home before Max so I could sneak the cake into the freezer before he knew. We went out to dinner at one of our new favorite pizza/burger places and had a great time. We tried their March Madness pizza's with 4 different kinds of cheeses including goat cheese and it was AMAZING!

After dinner we went back home and watched some TV together and then right before we decided to go to bed I remembered the cake! Stupid pregnancy brain. But since it's his favorite we stayed up a little late to share some slices together.

All in all it was a simple but amazing anniversary. I can't wait to spend more anniversaries together.

3 Year Wedding Anniversary - Leather

Today is Max and I's 3rd year wedding anniversary!!

Since we got married right out of college and didn't have (and still don't have) any money to speak of I decided that instead of doing the awkward, stressful, expensive dinner date we would use the traditional year gifts and come up with some funny, goofy, and meaningful gifts on the cheap.

So with a few years behind us now I thought I would share what I did for Max and some other ideas to help inspire all of the other poor nerdy married couples out there.

Now, Max was skeptical the first couple of years so he didn't participate and went with an expensive dinner the first year and lingerie the second. He must have thought I was trying to trap him and thought I meant "Give me nice things" when I said "Let's do fun cheap presents!" I guess it's better than him completely forgetting :).


1. Year one was paper. I gave Max a bouquet of paper flowers. It was a little awkward to hand him a bouquet of paper flowers with cute messages on them as I was dressed for a super fancy dinner; but to be fair I did tell him.

 Some other ideas for paper are: a card or notebook, these are simple but thoughtful. Or for the creative cupcake liners or paper lanterns, and for the funny or goofy you could always do toilet paper, paper towels or napkins. Maybe write a message on the toilet paper for them to find in the morning.

2. Year two was cotton. I gave him a custom t-shirt from Zazzle with a quote from his favorite Disney movie Emperor's New Grove (see amazing t-shirt below). Leading up to this year I decided to prepare him for what I was getting him. I warned him that it might be a bouquet of cotton balls, an adult onesie with a monogrammed butt flap , a pillow case, socks, a robe, etc.

I thought with hints like those he would definately know I wasn't kidding this time. Well he heard this and must of thought, "It's ok if she get's me those things but I can't get her that kind of a gift, she'll kill me. No I better do something else." On our anniversary he opened his box which had, and let's be honest here, an AWESOME t-shirt inside and his face was priceless. He read the shirt and giggled and then looked at me with a goofy smile and said, "Well...I went in a different direction." I opened my box to find beautiful sexy lingerie. It was quite a different direction and not the funny cotton present we discussed. But it was cotton and it was beautiful, so I couldn't fault him too much. And besides we get use out of both items ;).

3. This year is leather. I haven't given him his gift yet so I won't say what I got him (nice try Max), but I will give you some ideas. Etsy is a great place to find cheaper versions of your favorite leather items. Or make your own; craft stores and fabric stores sell leather. Buy a small piece and staple some paper in the middle to make a custom notebook. Or if you sew grab some pieces and make your own wallet or bag. If your looking for something a little funnier try to find a cow hide pillow or something. There are so many options.

I can't believe I have already been married for 3 years! Max is a wonderful husband and truly my best friend :). I can't wait to spend many more years together.

Work Outing

Last week my boss took the whole accounting team out for a bonding event. We have recently gone through a software conversion and it has been a little rough on all of us so it was a great way to get out of the office and pat us on the back a little for surviving.

We decided to bond over painting. There is this great spot in Scottsdale called Brush Bar where everyone gets instructed on how to paint a certain painting and can have a drink from the bar. I was really nervous at first because well I'm not a painter and I thought it would just be embarrassing but it turned out to be a ton of fun.

We got to choose the one we wanted in advance since we were a private party. We chose one called "love birds" it was pretty and seemed easy :). We got our paint colors and a drink from the bar (Shirley temple for me) and sat down awaiting instructions. The girl that led the class was really fun and encouraging. She told us what colors to mix and showed us how to do certain parts and was generally really helpful and most importantly not judgmental :).

Once we got to the end we had two love birds sitting on a branch looking off into the distance. I was amazed that mine came out not too terribly. I was so pumped about my skills that I decided to add a little something extra ;-). I added a baby bird to my branch. Of course this got the instant approval and "awww's" from my co-workers. And I think it actually turned out really nice. After seeing my obvious talent (hahaha right) everyone decided to add baby birds for their kids as well. It turned out to be a "love birds and family" painting and it was really cute.

When Max saw the final product later that night he said it was super cute and that we should hang it in the nursery! I'm so glad he didn't think it was awful :). I told him how much fun I had and that we should totally do it for a date night sometime even though he's not the artist type. After telling him the whole story he agreed and actually wants to go now! I can't wait until next time.

34 Weeks

How far along: 34 weeks
Total weight gain: 33 lbs.
Sleep: I dread going to sleep. My hips start hurting as soon as I lay down, my hands swell because I lay on them, my feet tingle because they're swelling. And randomly my face will start to swell so much my throat almost feels cut off. So in the middle of the night I have to prop myself up to get the swelling to go down. One day I'll be able to flop on the bed in any position and it will be glorious!
Sickness: Nope
Cravings:BREADS! Nice soft, doughy, buttery, breads.
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind
General Symptoms: OMG THE SWELLING! I am so tired of feeling enormous. One day I won't be a giant puff ball.
Miss anything: SANDWICHES - roast beef, salami, meat in general
Maternity Clothes: The same maternity jeans and I bought a few new tops from Macy's. But that's it. I can't afford to buy too many and with just under 6 weeks left it doesn't make much sense.
Movement: All the time! Though it has decided to change up the times. It used to move a lot around 3-5PM and then from like 7PM through the night. Now it moves at night only if I sit up and seems to move a lot in the morning during my drive into work. Needless to say they time change really freaked me out but I'm getting used to it's new pattern.
Gender Prediction:I think it's a boy now. While I think Max and I would love a little girl, the more I look at my belly and how I'm carrying and the more I think about it, I think it's a boy. Obviously we will be happy with either.

Names I like at the moment:
I think we've decided!

       Girl: Claire
       Boy: Jack

The baby is now the size of a squash. From here on out nothing really exciting is happening. It's putting on weight and bulking up for birth. It's brain is still developing and will continue to until birth (and hopefully after ;-))

Sierra Anchas

Ok this is a little behind but a few weekends ago Max and I woke up and decided that we didn't just want to sit around the house like bumps on a log so Max came up with the great idea of having a picnic beside a creek in the Sierra Anchas (a mountain range in Eastern Arizona). Max always brags that its one of his favorite places in the state and it was a great chance to get out and try my new camera.

He told me there was going to be a nice creek, cool weather (sorry rest of the US), and a beautiful water fall.

 Don't judge my photos too harshly. I'm a newb. I also got the camera without a view finder and the screen was hard to see in the sun light. Again sorry rest of the US :)

We packed up the dogs, made some sandwiches and headed out. It was about a 2 hr. drive and of course we had to stop several times to let me go to the bathroom but we weren't in any rush and Max was very nice about it. I have never seen that part of the state so it was cool to get to see something new.

The creek was so gorgeous and the weather was amazing. I even got to bust out a hoodie to cut the breeze. We enjoyed some PB&J's beside the creek while the dogs attempted to drink it dry :).
 
We were then going to drive to the top of the waterfall but the road was still closed from "winter". I told Max that if we took it slow we could walk to the top. It was a nice road so it wasn't difficult just uphill and baby's head seemed to love to rub up against my pelvic bone every time I took a step. While it was more difficult than it would have been 8 months ago; it wasn't bad. Max was great with letting me stop and rest when I need to during this pathetically short hike and Honey's herding skills kept me going and in line. It was a team effort :).

Just a man and his dogs...

But baby and mom made it to the top!

Before I was pregnant Max and I used to take long drives around the state to see and do different things and I have missed that. It was such a great way to spend a Saturday. And who doesn't love a little adventure time ;).

Arizona Baby Shower

Over the weekend two of my friends and mother-in-law threw me a wonderful baby shower! It was so nice to get to see everyone.

We played some really fun games which included a baby version of the Price is Right and somehow I ended up with all the stuff they were guessing the price of. Which was amazing! Of course they got a prize for guessing correctly too.

I had asked everyone to show up in either blue or pink to represent their thought of what baby Wilson will be and of course I forgot to take a picture. But just so I have some documentation: only 3 out of 13 people think it's a girl, everyone else showed up in blue and I was neutral in green :)

Everyone got us way more than they needed to but it's so great to have so many things checked off our list.

Thank you to all those involved in the planning, everyone who came, and of course for everything we received.

I guess it really does take a village :)