Homestretch

Are we really in the last half of July?  Is this really Iowa?  By the excessive heat and no rain for days on end with no promise of respite in the near future (in fact, it's only supposed to get hotter the next several days) you would think we lived in the desert.  Our grass feels like it anyway.  But the desert has an advantage over us. At least there it gets cold at night which is definitely not the case here.  Lows even in the upper 60s are a rarity right now.  All I have to say is thank the good Lord for air conditioning because the nice version of my nickname would be Oscar if I had to deal with this heat in addition to the mounting discomfort of the last half of my third trimester.

Nothing really prepares you for the range of un-pleasantries that are associated with carrying something around in your stomach that is quickly running out of room.  Like how he seems to enjoy planting his feet far enough under my rib cage that I can't just push them out.  Sometimes it almost feels like my ribs are popping, but never fear, that's just him moving his feet across them.  Maybe he's practicing for his days of walking on top of the monkey bars like his mama used to do when she was little.  They also don't tell you that the pressure on your organs or nerves (or both) can cause discomfort you really have no control over.  And when you try to shift positions you just end up feeling like you have to pee even though you went 5 minutes ago.  Pack these joys in with my intermittent heartburn and nausea and you get someone who is fighting hard not to constantly complain and simultaneously praying that he comes on the early side.  Have I mentioned how much I dislike being pregnant?  It's so bad that I keep having dreams that I become pregnant with my second child while I'm still pregnant with this one. That's how bad I want to get the pregnancies over with.

32 weeks.

33 weeks.  Doctor says I'm measuring just a few days bigger - prayers that means he'll come sooner!

On a much more pleasant note, we had our last baby shower last weekend.  It was held at the property Brian's family owns in IL (about 80 acres).  We camp here at least a couple times a year and it's one of my favorite places to be.  The shower itself was held at the house his aunt and uncle built out there about 6 years ago.  The best part about the weekend was that it kind of turned into a big weekend-long family party.  A lot of people came out Friday night and stayed through Sunday, including children and male family members who obviously weren't invited to the actual shower.  We stayed with Brian's parents in their pop-up camper and I LOVED it.  This was probably our only opportunity to camp this year and there's no way we would have been able to do it if we would've had to bring all our supplies and the dog and try and fit the gifts in the car.  Instead we had sleeping arrangements and food provided for us.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family.  

My mom took some "maternity" pictures while we were out there.  This was just an extra shot from her digital camera, the rest are on a non-digital (yes, they still exist).

 This was Callie's first experience with the property.  Holy mongolia did she love it!  Not only were there about 23984762378463287 new things for her to smell, but I think she chewed up like 50 sticks while we were there.  Her first poop at home looked like mulch - great visual for you.  And oh my was she exhausted when we got back.

Asleep in the car on the way home.  So stinking cute.

The shower itself was wonderful.  They had a Mexican theme to it so we had build-your-own taco bowls for lunch plus a plethora of chips and dips and yummy desserts.  Our gift theme from our last shower was definitely books and this one seemed to be clothes.  We got a lot of amazing stuff overall and I had a lot of fun going through everything when we got it all home.  The clothes are still a little baffling to me, they are still laid out in a semi-circle in his room from youngest to oldest so I can decided if we have excessive amounts of anything.  It's not as easy as it sounds.

Taco bowl! Yum!

Now that we are done traveling until after baby comes (WAHOO!!) we are focusing on getting stuff done for his room and around the house.  My parents and brother (and his pup!) are coming down the last weekend in July with the crib. I can't wait.  It will finally feel like it's becoming a nursery and not a place where we hoard baby things. Pictures to come, I am sure.  In the meantime, here are some randoms for you to enjoy:

Long little girl.

Posing?

I love how puppy-ish she still is.

She makes this face all the time, Brian captured a good shot of it.

Our first green pepper from the garden!

Just the start of a CRAP-TON of cherry tomatoes.  If anyone wants some, let us know!

It's still crazy to me that baby could legitimately come anytime in about the next 3-6 weeks.  Three weeks seems so fast but six weeks seems forever!  Either way, we're in the homestretch now and there's no turning back. 

Love,
-K