4 weeks to go!!!

I can't believe we only have four more weeks...it is so crazy!  Hopefully if Little buddy is a tiny bit cooperative it will be less than four weeks, but we shall see :)  I had another doctor's appointment today, and other than being about 3,000 degrees in the office (why do they do that in an office that predominantly sees pregnant ladies?!?!) things went really well.  Still no dilation (boo) but the doctor indicated that Little buddy had dropped quite a bit and was very low, which was exciting.  It also explains why every time I stand up, I totally feel like I am going to pee my pants!  Our little guy had a good strong heartbeat (about 150 bpm), and the doctor said everything was looking good!  Now if we could just get on with the dilation and effacement!!! :)

This weekend Justin and I took advantage of having absolutely nothing to do (it was the first weekend since the last weekend of AUGUST that we've had nothing going on) to get some baby stuff done and do some yard work.  We raked (yuck!) and Justin mowed for hopefully the last time.  Doing yard work really depresses me, because our yard is a piece of crap.  When we bought our house, the yard was one of my favorite things about it.  The grass was so green and thick, and it was so beautifully landscaped.  It seemed as though we'd have to try to mess it up...

It's hard to tell from this picture, but there were beautiful lillies, clematis, coreopsis, and a lot of hostas.  Fast-forward two summers later, and the grass is dead; the flowers are still there somewhat, but they have very little color.  To be fair to ourselves, Justin doesn't get much help from me in the domestic department (I can't cook, I am not real handy in the yard, etc.) and we've had a lot of help from some little, and not-so-little critters.  We had a huge mole problem, which completely destroyed our front and most of our backyard.  We have a large family of shrews that have made our landscaped area their home for the past year, and we have a ton of deer that enjoy eating our hostas.  In our backyard, we had four or five giant hostas (I am sure there is some official plant name for them - we just call them "the big giant hostas") that no longer exist because the deer have eaten them all!  

I am too embarrassed to show a "now" picture (yes, I will show you a bare-bellied, 31-weeks pregnant picture, but no yard picture!), but Justin and I made it our goal next year to bring our yard back to its glory days!  We are really just hoping to make our front yard presentable again, and we want to get the back yard in swing-set condition for this little guy that is about to grace us with his presence.  :) 

The Final Countdown (Da Na Na Na)

The countdown is officially on - only FIVE more weeks to go (hopefully a little less if our little guy is anything like his cousin Jonah!) I had my first weekly doctor's appointment today, which also began the "internal" exams. I will spare you all the details, and just let you know the results :)

Unfortunately, my cervix hasn't done anything "fun" - I am not dilated or effaced at all. However, Little buddy has flipped around! In our 4-D ultrasound (at week 28), he was completely breech. Now, he is head-down, so he is ready to go! He weighs between 5 to 5 1/2 pounds, but the doctor said he will probably start packing on the pounds in the next few weeks (like mother like son!).

Up until this last week, I have been loving being pregnant. Little buddy has been moving around quite a bit, and it's so fun to watch my belly contort into all sorts of weird shapes. For the most part, he hangs out over on the right side of my belly, but sometimes he will venture over to the left and give my right side a break! I have had a lot more energy in the beginning of the third trimester than I had during any other time. I had always read the second trimester would be my energetic time, but I had NO energy at all throughout my entire first and second trimester. I definitely made up for it, though! The nursery is almost put together (I am saving pics for when it is all done - sorry!), the bassinet is set up in our bedroom, he has clean clothes that have been put away; we have really been busy these last few weeks!

Then, week 34 hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been bragging about being able to sleep - not so much anymore. I now wake up pretty consistently at about 3:30 and toss and turn until about 7:30. I have heartburn like you wouldn't believe - it basically feels like a flaming ball of vomit lives in my throat about 10 hours a day. I have Tums stashed in every corner of the house and both of our cars. I have never been so excited in my life for the weather to get cold! When it is hot outside, my feet swell to the point where I can't even bend my ankles to walk. (Luckily, I have only experienced this twice - I don't see how pregnant people survive in the summer!) I am so thankful to be pregnant in the fall! I have had to stop wearing my engagement ring...I do manage to still squeeze into my wedding band (on most days), so I feel like I avoid the stink eye from the old ladies at the grocery store.

I don't think I would be able to make it through all of this without Justin. He has been amazing throughout everything. He gives me nightly foot and/or back rubs. He doesn't make fun of me (too much, at least) when I have to grunt to tie my shoes or grunt to get off the couch or grunt to get into bed :). He lets us eat where and what I want to eat for dinner, even though it may be something he doesn't like. He has made this whole experience infinitely easier on me!!

Oh, Bloomington...how I miss you!

This past weekend, Justin and I made the trek back to IU for a football game. There are so many things I love about going back to Bloomington. First of all - it's in Indiana! I love coming home to Indiana. There is just something so comfortable to me about being in Indiana. I also love going back to Bloomington because it brings back so many great memories.  I spent the last two years of college at IU, and it was such an amazing time. We had so many great friends and so many great times! It was such a pivotal time in my life, and I definitely would not be who I am today without my time at IU. It was also such an important time in my relationship with Justin. I did not meet Justin at IU, but it was definitely where our relationship was able to grow and mature. Another thing I love about Bloomington (and perhaps the most important to an 8-month pregant lady)...the FOOD!! There are so many places we used to eat quite frequently, and just don't have the opportunity. Unfortunately, one of our favorite places, Macri's, is no longer open (WTH?!?!), but we were able to go to plenty of places to satisfy our IU food cravings...Irish Lion, The Village Deli, Yogi's, PIZZA EXPRESS (I love this place so much, we have even ordered it carry-out and eaten it in the car on the way from Bloomington to Columbus).

Super excited about some Pizza Express

The father of my child :)

The main reason for our trip was to see our friends Jori and Meg, and to go to the football game. 

Jori and Meg at the football game

The one picture I took of the game.  Crazy enough - this was also the play IU scored their one touchdown.  Maybe I should have taken more pictures!

We thought maybe, just maybe, we would see a win, since they were playing Iowa, a team that wasn't great, but we were sadly mistaken. The game was ugly! IU ended up losing 45-9. The unfortunate highlight of the game for me was when I won a bet the four of us had. The bet was how many plays it would take for Iowa to score a touchdown from roughly the 30-yard line. I choose 4 plays, and when the running-back ran the ball in from the 9-yard line on the fourth play, and I stood up and started cheering, we decided it was probably time to go ahead and leave! :)

This game has posed a very difficult parenting question for Justin and me. We have come to the conclusion that Justin (and probably me, but only a little bit :) is a jinx. Every team he roots for is awful. The Bengals, the Reds, IU football, IU basketball has had a rough go of it lately, even reality show competitors...once Justin starts rooting for them, they are done for. So...here is the parenting dilemma...will it be easier to explain to our son why every team he ever plays for always loses, or will it just be easier to explain why his daddy is rooting for the other team?? Hmmm....

What the Beck(ham)?!?!

Alright, I will admit it.  I am slightly obsessed with David Beckham.  Do I sigh or let out a slight "Mmmm" every time I see his picture in People magazine?  Yes. :) Do I gently caress my finger down his abs in the magazine page when there is a picture of him shirtless?  Sometimes - but only to annoy Justin :).  But, that is where my obssession stops.  I don't know every single detail about his life; I don't have any posters of him; I don't buy things specifically with him on it or anything (I already have a subscription to People).  I'm not that pathetic :)  

This weekend, Justin and I had the opportunity to go see the LA Galaxy (Beckham's team) play the Columbus Crew, and it was awesome!!  Tickets were pretty difficult to get, unless you wanted to scalp or buy like a three game package.  But, my Uncle Michael had a hookup and was able to get us tickets for just that game (Thanks, Uncle Michael!!).  We went in thinking we weren't going to have very good seats, but, we sat in the THIRD row, BEHIND THE GALAXY BENCH.  David Beckham didn't even come close to the bench, but that's okay, because we got to see a lot of him anyway.  The first half he was on the other side of the field, but throughout the second half, he was really close to us, and I was in heaven! :)  

Our camera totally sucked.  Which I was pissed about, until Justin finally admitted he thought we were ready for a new camera, too.  Our camera has served us well, but we've had it for almost four years, and I want a really nice one for when Little buddy comes.  I think he finally realized our camera needed to be laid to rest when our cell phones took better pictures than our actual camera.  Needless to say, here are some of the pictures we were able to get - the subject matter still looks good :)

The highlight of the game for me was about midway through the first half when Beckham reaches up through the bottom of his shorts to pick a wedge - with his butt facing our side.  I think I saw almost half his left butt cheek.  It was a miracle!!!  :)

Justin and I actually both really enjoyed the game.  It was amazing watching Landon Donovan play (he was freaking awesome) and it was fun seeing some fellow former Hoosiers on the field!  It was also fun, because Little buddy seemed to enjoy the game as well :)  He was a lot more active than usual.  Maybe he could sense the excitement of the stadium or something.  This weekend we are going to Bloomington to watch IU play Iowa - it will be interesting to see if he gets excited there too! :)

It's been a while!

It's been quite a while since my last update (unfortunately there's not a whole lot to update!).  Although, there has been good reason for my absence.  I spent last week in Indiana with this little guy...the world's cutest nephew (it's official).

Jonah and Katie were in town last week visiting and hosting a shower for Little buddy and me.  Aunt Katie sure knows how to throw a kick-butt shower!  It was great getting family and friends together to help celebrate the soon-to-be arrival of Little buddy!  Big surprise - I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures of the shower (lame, I know), but my aunt did pass along this picture she took of Justin and me afterwards and I was able to scan it.  It's one of the most recent pictures I have of "Pregnant Cassie", and it definitely shows the McDonald's is catching up :(  

(No, we didn't match on purpose)

The rest of the week we basically just played and hung out.  It is amazing how fast Jonah is growing up!  He is smiling a lot now and laughing.  He is getting so close to holding his head up.

 I think the one of the best parts of being around Katie and Jonah, though, is seeing what a wonderful mom Katie is becoming.  She is such an inspiration to me, and I am so thankful I have her to lean on when I embark on this crazy think they call mommyhood in a few short weeks!  

One more thing that I really loved about last week (and I am about to do something I don't often do - get all sappy), is see how much of an interest Justin took in Jonah.  I consider myself literally one of the luckiest women in the world to have snagged a guy like Justin.  There are many, MANY times I wonder what exactly it is he sees in me.  There are so many amazing things he does, but seeing how he acts with Jonah makes me so excited to how he will be with our own child.  There were so many times last week Justin mentioned how excited he was for Little buddy to get here, and it just warms my heart so much!  I think Justin is going to be such a fantastic dad, and I can't wait!!!

I think Jonah likes Uncle Justin, too!!

Here are some more pictures from the week:

Jonah's big toothless smile :)

Jonah's first Halloween costume.  Isn't he the cutest turtle ever?!?!

Jonah and Aunt Cassie.  I think he's scared of me or something!