14 days and counting....

So today officially marks 2 weeks until the estimated due date. Of course, he technically could come at any time now. I am getting increasingly more uncomfortable, but not quite at miserable yet. My back pain is definitely increasing, probably because I am completely front-heavy now. Add to that my incredibly attractive swollen feet and ankles, and I have definitely moved into uncomfortable mode. John laughs at my fat old lady "cankles". A few weeks ago, we saw a very large woman in the Walmart parking lot and I said to John "Look at her ankles. Mine look just like hers!" It was quite horrifying to say the least. Even my doctors seem mystified at my swelling, but since my blood pressure is so good and I already drink a ton of water, they say that there is nothing medically wrong with me and I will just be uncomfortable. Not really a comforting thought...

Last week we had the carseat installed in my car by some very nice firemen. We had a couple of people ask why we didn't just do it ourselves, but I have heard from multiple sources that approximately 80% of all carseats are installed incorrectly, so I figured why bother trying to do it ourselves when the fire department will do it correctly for free? We didn't have the base for John's car yet, so I am taking that in next weekend to be installed. Yes, even John's precious Lexus will become baby friendly!

John had a long discussion with Cole last night about how he should arrive no earlier than October 9th due to the World Series schedule. If the Cubbies can make it that far, John wants to be able to go to at least one game (not at Wrigley, due to extreme costs) and will already be off of work for two weeks for "paternity leave". You can only imagine my high levels of pride for my husband during this discussion. (sarcasm intended) Apparently John feels that Cole's arrival is even remotely within my control as he also recently informed me that it would be more convenient for him if I could go into labor during the day rather than at night. Sure thing, I'll see what I can do!

Well, that's it for now. I will keep you posted as Cole's arrival is just around the corner!

Poem for our son

I'd like to say that I wrote this myself with my fantastic creativity. However, it was actually a wonderful gift that I received from a semi-retired gentleman, Gary, that works part-time at my company. He brought me this framed poem that he actually wrote himself. When I opened it and read it, I actually had to try not to cry, it was so touching. Seriously, this guy should write greeting cards! So here it is:

To Cole,
From Mom and Dad with Our Love

How precious are you, our first born child.
How fortunate are we, to call you our son.

You are the one we hoped for, the son we dreamed of.
The love of your mother and father has formed you.
From this day forward you are bonded to us.

We promise to watch over you, promise to protect you and show patience from toddler through your teens and beyond. We will guide you always, but will need your help.

We have nothing of value to compare to your worth; a priceless child of ours for safe keeping.

As you grow older, so also will we, but with each passing year our love for you will only increase... neither time nor distance apart shall weight upon that love.

Whatever you do, wherever you go...
Go also our hearts with you.

On your sunlit days our shadows will entwine with yours and when stormy times come upon you, we will shield you as the Lord allows.

How precious are you, our first born child.

How fortunate are we, to call you our son.

Baby Shower

Last week, the lovely ladies at work put on a baby shower for me. The little munchkin got all sorts of wonderful goodies. I did put up a fuss about having a shower ahead of time, but my manager, Audrey, basically told me to be quiet because we were having one whether I liked it or not. I still felt silly having people buy presents for me, but it was a lot of fun. There was a beautiful and delicious cake and my co-worker, Sonya, made me a diaper cake, which was adorable. It's so great to work with such nice people! I will definitely miss them all when I am out on leave, although my co-worker Sue has insisted that I bring in the baby as much as possible during that time.

Today is our anniversary!

Yay, today is our third anniversary! It's hard to believe that we have been married already for three years, since it has gone by so fast. Since John works until 7 on Wednesdays, we actually celebrated our anniversary last Sunday by going to the Melting Pot. I have always wanted to go there and finally John relented and we went. Plus, we figured it was probably going to be our last chance to get out an enjoy a nice, quiet meal with just the two of us. From here on out, it will be family friendly restaurants like Red Robin. It was quite tasty, especially the chocolate fondue, which was to die for! I could have made meal out of just that.

Coincidentally, today also marks the 30 day countdown to the "official" due date. However, he could come either earlier or later. According to the online baby pool, people are guessing anywhere from September 27th (only 17 days from now!!) to October 15th! My at work baby pool has a similiar range as well, so I guess we will see! My co-worker, Sue is certain that he is coming on September 30th and refuses to even think that he could come any other time. She has even threated to make me pull weeds outside of our building and walk laps around the huge building next door on the 28th and 29th to make me go into labor!! However, since Cole will be half of John's genes there is a 50% chance of him being late, since John has a tough time getting anywhere on time.

Pregnancy photos

John and I are lucky that our friend Lindsey is an amazingly talented photographer. Last weekend, she took some beautiful photos of John and I and some of me and my belly. Looking at these pictures, I can see how really huge I have become. Apparently, the camera doesn't lie, but the bathroom mirror does! I was worried that John would fuss about having his picture taken, since he isn't really crazy about posing for pictures. The beer drinking in the pool earlier that day seemed to help!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dreamlenzphotos/JohnLaura?authkey=HhPShQZCZtw#

The Baby's room

The room is finally coming together. After much begging and pleading on my part, John finally finished painting the room yesterday with Steven. They also moved the dresser into the room and later John and I put together the crib and glider. There was some cursing from John during the assembly of the crib and at one point, I was instructed to bring him a beer. For those of you who know John, you will know that his patience level is not high with things that don't work quite right. Luckily, the crib was put together with only a minor meltdown and the glider was put together very quickly with no issues. We don't really have any decorative stuff up yet and the walls are still bare. Hopefully, the decorating part should be easy now. However, I did make him a little name decoration. It doesn't look perfect, but it was made with love by his mother, so that is all that matters! Also pictured in the top photo is a handmade blanket on the back of the glider that I received from my manager's mother. She specially made it for our little munchkin! I was so touched that some that that I have only met a couple of times actually took the time to make a beautiful blanket for our son.

Apparently, putting the room together finally made John realize that our little guy will be here before we know it. This morning, I was instructed that we must install the carseat and get it inspected very soon. I am glad to see that John is finally realizing that we dont' have that much time left!