It is hard to believe, but I am only 3 and a half weeks away from my due date. When in the world did that happen and where did the time go? It seems so long ago that we first found out I was pregnant, but at some point, life seemed to move in fast forward and we are now quickly approaching the time when our family of 2 will be a family of 3 (+Bentley, of course).
As I am sure you'd guess from my absense on our blog these days, we've been keeping VERY busy. The Annual Meeting for my work took place just after Thanksgiving, so there were 2 weeks where I awoke very early, worked 12 hour days on average, ate whatever we had on hand (although we had planned ahead well), and went to bed. Jack made sure to take care of me, just as he has all the way along this pregnancy, but particularly those two weeks. I always have a bit of a melt-down after the Meeting is over; it is an adjustment back to "normal" life, but this year, normal seems very up in the air.
I am happy to report that all of my doctors appointments are going well
and I am going every week now until the baby arrives. The docs aren't
concerned about anything, so it is just a matter of waiting now.
We were fortunate to have two baby showers, which took place on the weekends on either end of the Meeting. The first was hosted by my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law at a restaurant in Westmont the Sunday before move-in started. The women from Jack's side of the family were invited, along with the close friends of my mom-in-law and all of my girlfriends. It was so nice of her to include my friends in this one and I had a great time. Both parties were smaller groups which was nice because it made it possible to talk to just about everyone. And for me, it was nice to see girlfriends from various parts of my life all socialize together. The second was hosted by my mom at my parents' house the Sunday after the Meeting. Once again it was a smaller crowd of just the ladies from our family, but it was nice to talk with everyone and feel how excited they all are for us. We are so very fortunate to have such amazing family and friends with whom we can celebrate this upcoming milestone and the gifts we received were very much appreciated!
The Meeting always puts a bit of a crimp on the time we have for the holidays, so Jack and I have been doing what we can to enjoy the Christmas season, as he knows I LOVE this time of year, while still making sure to work at our other priorities, such as making sure we are as set as we can be before Baby Minster arrives. We bought our Christmas tree and put it up right away, but it still has yet to be decorated. It's a task that I plan to get to this week as there isn't much time left! We did put up the other Christmas decorations in our condo though for this year right away, so our place feels festive. And Jack made sure to put up the Christmas lights on our balcony and in our windows during the Meeting, which made home feel very festive each night when I came home. I made sure to watch "White Christmas" once already and we've had Christmas carols playing in the condo as we work through our many "to do" items.
We've been working in the baby's room and going through boxes of papers and random things that were being stored in there, and I am happy to say it is looking more like a baby's room these days! The crib, bookcase and drawers that we'll use for a dresser and changing table are in their spots and I am pleased with how it looks. Now that doesn't mean that ALL the boxes are gone, but we've made great progress. No decorations are up, but that will come with time, as we haven't hung pictures in the rest of our condo either. We were able to put away just about all the gifts we received from the showers, so we are slowly almost ready.
We also found time to buy a rug for our living room (which I think Bentley thinks is his new big bed) and a picture mantel for above our fireplace. While we've been out, we've also been trying to pick up the items we
still needed for the baby, so we are just about set with all that too. It feels great to check things off our list!
I've also been trying to chip away at the Christmas present shopping as the longer we wait, the harder I know it'll get for me physcially. As it is, I can tell that my pace is slower, I get tired faster than ever, and I am only able to get so much done before Baby tells me I am done for the night. I promised Jack that I would do more online shopping this year, so after hitting a few stores for things I knew I could get easier in person, I plan to finish up the shopping online (hopefully tonight). That leaves us with thank you cards, Christmas cards, and all the wrapping to do done, plus what feels like a hundred other little things still, but I am thrilled with any progress we make these days.
And as if we didn't have enough occupying our time, I asked Jack if we could take a night off and see White Christmas at the Tivoli in Downers Grove tomorrow night. As the loving, wonderful husband he is, he agreed! I can't wait!
