Just a few quick updates..

Before I get back to the massive amounts of clean clothes that need to be folded or hung up, I thought I'd take a quite break to give a few updates. 

1. We got our glider in!! WOOHOO! My mom didn't even tell me it had arrived, instead she went and picked up by herself and schemed with my husband to get it in the house and set up while I was at a friend's baby shower. :) My sister texted me as I was pulling into my driveway to ask if I was home yet.. I called her to say I just pulled up and hadn't even walked in yet. She told me to call her in a few minutes and I asked her why she called.. in a very odd tone she said "I think I may have dropped something in Camryn's room". I had NO idea what she was talking about and was actually a bit afraid of what I might find (ya never know with that girl!!). About that time I walked into the house and peeked around the corner into the nursery, and caught a glimpse of the chair!!! I was so excited!! I love it even more sitting in Camy's room than I did when we saw it in the store. And it fits in the corner! YAY! I wish the room was a little bigger, but thats ok. Everything fits nice and cozy, and we have a separate playroom for Camy once she needs more room to move around and get into trouble. :)

2. With the chair in place, we were able to situate all the other furniture into their official places. And ya know what that means? We were finally able to hang the shelves above the dresser! Andy got right to work hanging the shelves, and I love that the room is finally looking complete. We moved the name blocks up to one of the shelves and hung the bird print as well. Now we just need photos of our sweet girl to go on the second shelf and complete the look. :) 

I love just sitting in her room and rocking in that chair... imagining how wonderful it will be to have her in my arms, in that very spot, very soon. ::sigh::

3. Things are a-happenin'.  TMI Alert!

For the last, oh, 36 hours I have noticed what I can only imagine is my MP making its way out. Not pleasant, but exciting none-the-less that we are that much closer to her arrival. Just like early dilation, losing the MP could mean absolutely nothing about when baby will arrive.. but like Andy keeps saying "some progress is better than no progress". Right-O, my oh so simple-minded husband. :) Something is better than nothing. 

Also, as of 2ish am last night, Righty is leaking. Joy. I think I jinxed myself yesterday by opening up the box of breast pads to pack a few for the hospital just in case, even though my older sister told me I probably wouldn't need them until a few days post-partum. Righty disagreed I guess. Hopefully this will just be an isolated day of leakage. I do not want to deal with this for the next who knows how long BEFORE baby gets here. I was ready for this to happen once I am actually nursing, but hello.. girls, there is no outside baby yet! Let's not get ahead of ourselves here!

And lastly, Camryn is looooow. I mean, I can't sit up straight today without feeling like I am sitting on something -- that kinda low. I can't stand up from the couch without feeling like there is a (much-heavier than yesterday!) bowling ball sitting on my cervix. There is a lot of lower pressure today, and many more cervix-punches (or head butts maybe?). 

4. Camryn's bag for the hospital is packed. 

Mine is half-packed, with the remaining items currently in the dryer. 

Andy's bag is out, but empty. He's always a very last minute packer though, and really, all he needs is some pants to sleep in, a change of clothes, his toothbrush and deodorant. If he doesn't get it done soon, I may throw some stuff together for him myself.. I do NOT want to say "Uh honey, I think its time for us to go" and then hear him say "MY BAG!? Hold on a sec..". That would not make for a happy laboring-mama. No way. 

And, Camryn's car seat is installed, complete with a mirror on the head rest above her seat so I can peek at her sweet face. :)

There are only 2 more things we are waiting on: the monitor (which should arrive any day now), and the diapers (again, any day now). But we can certainly get by the first few days without either of those things. 

The monitor really won't be necessary until she is sleeping in her own room at night (not for the first couple months) or napping in her room (again, not right away). And the diapers have a little wiggle room with their arrival. Even though I would love to start cloth diapering as soon as we come home, I do have some NB diapers on hand just in case. So we're good to go. 

I know chances are she will not arrive for a few more weeks yet, but I just have to put this out into the universe: as long as she makes it past this Tuesday (when we hit 'full term' and have our breast feeding class) I will be a happy camper. Anytime after the 11th, I'm game.  

I've got my money on Aug 25th, her great grandmother is pulling for the 26th (that was my Grand-Dad's bday), and Andy is pulling for the 27th. We'll see if any of us even come close! ;)

And now, guess I better get back to the laundry. 

What a day we've had!!!

A wonderful, wonderful day!!

We started off the day by getting an email from our awesome maternity photographer, Lisa Woods, saying she posted a sneak peek of our session to her blog. We had SO MUCH fun with her last night, and had been anxiously waiting to see some of the pics.. but we never could have imagined how INCREDIBLE the pictures would turn out. She is a friggin' ROCK. STAR. The pictures are phenomenal. Thanks to our wonderful friend Katie for helping set up this shoot with Lisa, and for making me pretty with the makeup and hair! And a HUGE thanks to Lisa for taking time out of her day to make our day (our week, our pregnancy) so wonderful. Lisa, your kindness and generosity truly touches my heart. We can't thank you enough for what you have done/are doing for the two (er, three) of us. 

Our sneak peek can be found here, and I will post more to the blog once we get the CD. 

After staring at our photos for a while, we headed off to our 36 week OB check. 

I was weighed and SO HAPPY to see that I only gained 2 lbs since the appt 2 weeks ago. Right on par! WOOHOO. 

Did the pee-in-the-cup bit that has become like an acrobatic feat these days.. all was well. 

Great BP, though she didn't tell me this week what it was.. but "great" is enough info for me.

Doc came in and measured my fundal height - perfect 36.

Listened to Camy's heart on the doppler, beautiful 140's.. and he mentioned how much a  mover she is. Uh, yup -- she never stops anymore. 

Then came the fun stuff.. the GBS test and the internal. 

GBS test wasn't what I would call fun, but it wasn't as bad as some have made it sound. 

The internal was terribly uncomfortable but, BUT... good news!!!

We are 1cm dilated, 50% effaced, and while he was in there (sorry), he said "... aaaand there's her head...".

To which Andy and I both responded "Her head? Huh?".

"Yep, I am touching her head. She's veeery low. That's good news."

EEEP!!

Doc-Man reminded us that it could mean absolutely nothing.. we could walk around this way for weeks. But it is still quite a comfort to know that *something* is happening. Something is better than nothing, right? 

Guess we better pack our bags. Who knows what could happen from here... here's to continued progress!

After our appointment we headed down to Babies R Us and got the last of what we think we'll need for Baby Girl. YAY! 

What a wonderful, wonderful day!!!!

Camryn, we are so excited, Sweet Girl. Things are coming together so nicely in our preparations for you.. and we cannot wait to have you home. All we need is you. The nursery is not complete without you. Our home is not complete without you. Our little family.. to be complete, all we need is you. 

Now here's my request, Camy.. stay in there at least a week or two more. Let your little body put on a little bit more baby fat, let your lungs mature more... and let's agree to have your debut fall somewhere after the 18th of August but before September 1st. Preferably on Aug 27th.  Does that work for you? Your daddy thinks you'll be here on the 27th.. I think that sounds like the perfect birth date for a baby as sweet as yourself. :)

We love you, Little One. 

Keep growing. Keep dancing. Keep making us smile. 

Thirty. Six. Weeks.

How far along?: 36 weeks!!!

Total weight gain: I don't weigh myself between appointments anymore. As of the 34 wk appt, I was up 36 lbs. Yikes. We will see tomorrow how much more I've packed on since then... I'm a little afraid. 

How big is baby?: According to babycenter, the average 36 weeker is more than 18 1/2 inches long and almost 6 lbs! I can only imagine baby girl is about that size since we've always been told she was near the 50th Percentile and measuring right on track. Its hard to imagine the Sweet Girl in my belly may already be bigger than both the twins were when they were born!!

Maternity clothes?: At this point, even my maternity clothes are starting to feel a little small, but I refuse to buy any more with less than a month left to go. I will just keep what does fit on a regular rotation, so you will probably see me wearing the same things over and over. 

Stretch marks?: Still just on the girls, not on the belly. WOOHOO!

Sleep?:  Sadly I have been having to take Tylenol PM most nights over the last week to fall asleep. I don't know if the aches and pains are keeping me up, or the anxiety over knowing just how close we are to having our baby. 

Best moment this week?:  I am really, REALLY looking forward to our maternity pictures this evening! Our dear friends K&K arranged for us to have maternity and newborn photos taken by the amazing Lisa Woods! :) 

Movement?: TONS! I have heard/read about several people experiencing a decrease in movement as they near the finish line but that has certainly NOT been the case for us. This Sweet Girl is always on the move.. stretching, rolling, hiccup'ing, dancing.. she's all over the place. Its been entertaining to sit with her Daddy and just watch my belly bounce.. its unreal how big the movements have become! Unfortunately some of the movements are so pronounced they are becoming painful.. she pokes out so far sometimes its pretty uncomfortable!

Food cravings?:  Just craving food. In general. All the time. 

Labor signs?: Continued BH contractions. Lots of pressure down low, so I take that as a good sign that she's getting cozy down there and hopefully won't be turning at the last minute. There have been a few instances where I have had a sudden jolt of discomfort (not really *pain*, but a sudden odd sensation) down around what I can only imagine is my cervix.. I don't have a clue what it is or what it means, but I'm telling myself its a good sign as well. 

Belly button in or out?:  Out. 

What I miss: Sleeping soundly, sleeping on my stomach, bending at the waist.. all the things I take for granted in my non-pregnant state!

What I'm looking forward to: Hitting "full term" in one week. 

Milestone: Every week Baby Girl continues to grow is a big deal to me, but this week seems like a pretty big deal since we can now say Camy will most likely arrive within the next month! Eep. 

We. Are. Set.

I cannot believe we have reached the point in this pregnancy where we can honestly say "We are READY!".

We are ready for our daughter to arrive.

Car Seat, Crib, Cosleeper - check, check, check. 

Cloth Diapers, Covers, Wipes - three more checks. 

Newborn clothes and socks and mittens and hats - checkity check check.

Bottles, Pacifiers, Burp Cloths -  yup yup yup.

Tub and towels, washcloths and soaps - all ready and waiting. 

Plenty of blankets for cuddling.

Boppy for feeding now.. bowls and spoons and bibs for feeding later. 

Monitor for peeking. 

Swing for soothing.

Books for reading. 

Toys and floor mat for playing. 

Bouncy Seat for relaxing. 

Thermometer, Aspirator, Humidifier, Clippers, Brush & Comb, Gripe Water and more for caring. 

What more could the little babe need? 

I mean really, we. are. ready. 

The last load of her clothes (likely the last load before she soils her own!) is in the dryer. 

We have folded and sorted and put everything away. 

We've matched all her tiny socks and melted over her teeny-tiny onesies and dresses. 

We have set up the guest bathroom to now be Camryn's bathroom, with all her towels folded and ready for bath time, all her (billions of!) washcloths at the ready, her shampoo in a basket by the tub. 

There are only 2 more things we are waiting on: her glider should be arriving sometime this week, and her diaper shipment should be here soon as well. 

After that, we're done. 

We just wait. 

I'm wondering if time will seemingly stop at that point. Will these last few weeks drag on and on and on?

The first 35 weeks and 6 days of this pregnancy have gone by in a flash, but now that we are justthisclose to the finish line, will this train slow down?

I woke up this morning and let Andy know that today marks the 8-29 day countdown. 

It got me thinking back to the 8 months we tried to get pregnant. 

Time in those 8 months crawled by in 2 week intervals.. 2 weeks til ovulation, then 2 weeks til testing. 29 days seemed like an eternity back then, and now here we are on the other side of the tracks, with a whole new meaning to the 29 day countdown.

How will my emotions handle the anticipation of this 29 day countdown?

Hopefully much better than how I handled them on the TTC side!

On the TTC train, there was no guarantee at the end of that 29 days. All we could do is hope for great news to be waiting at the end of the month.. 

Now we have so much to look forward to, a lifetime of joy with our daughter is waiting for us at the end of this ride!

We just cannot wait to meet her. 

Will she have brown hair like we both do now, or blond like her daddy did when he was a baby/toddler?

Or will she even have any hair at all?

Will she have brown eyes like mine (and everyone else's in my family), or will that blue-eyed-gene sneak through from her daddy's side of the family? 

Will she have crazy long fingers and toes like her mommy, or cute little chubby fingers and toes (I won't say "like her daddy" because he wouldn't like that very much!)?

Will she get the olive tone skin from my side of the family, or her daddy's Irish fair skin?

Will the freckles from my mother and sisters make an appearance even though they skipped me?

We have so enjoyed speculating about all this.. and knowing that we will have all the answers in less than a month is thrilling.

I can't wait to look into her eyes. 

Or to see her Daddy holding her for the first time.

To kiss her little feet and chubby cheeks, and to see her wrap her tiny finger around her Daddy's. 

I can't wait to introduce her to all the people who have prayed for her and showered us with love and support as we've awaited her arrival. 

I can't wait to drive her home, and tell her all about the things we'll pass on the way - the Starbucks I have come to frequent lately that always gets her dancing. The Walgreen's Daddy went to several times a week in the beginning to refill the HG meds for me. The park we can't wait to take her to. 

I can't wait to carry her into her first home.. show her all the things we've done to prepare for her.. take her into her nursery we have obsessed over, rock with her in the glider.

Oh how I hope these 8-29 days fly by. 

I want my baby here with us. 

I want her in my arms.

35/35

EEP!

You know what today is?

35 weeks pregnant. 

35 days to go. 

I love the symmetry of this weekly milestone.

I love that we have made it this far with our baby girl growing and kicking in my belly and all the while making my heart swell with an overwhelming love for her already.

I love that we are about.this.close to meeting our sweet daughter.

We got her bedding in the mail yesterday (huge thanks to my sister, Camy's Aunt V for getting it for us!) and of course, it went straight into the laundry so I could put her crib all together before I went to bed. :) I love the way it turned out! And I love the bedding even more in person than I did online. 

I will post the weekly survey tomorrow, but for now.. here are a few pictures. 

This bear was made by my grandma, Camy's Great Grandma. It says "My heart belongs to Camryn". So cute.

Shortly after taking these pictures, I switched the bumper around so the scalloped detail side is facing inward - the crib slats obstructed the pretty view. 

The vinyl wall words are a lyric from one of our favorite songs: "I love to watch you laugh and smile, I love to watch you dream."

We have 2 floating shelves to hang above the dresser, but we are waiting until the glider arrives and finds it official home in the corner (where the stroller is currently living). We can then center all other furniture accordingly and know exactly where the shelves should go. 

Once the shelves are hung, her name blocks will be moved, and the bird print will be hung. 

And.. the 35 week belly. 

WOW! 

And the bare belly...

And the (I can't believe I'm posting this!) frontal bare belly, ugh. 

Only 5 weeks to go, folks. 

5 weeks.

5.

Surrounded by Love!

Yesterday was our first of two baby showers. 

This one was hosted by my older sister, Camy's Aunt V and our dear friend, Katie at my mother's home.

We had a wonderful turn-out of friends and family, many of whom I don't get to see often enough.

We had amazing food.. my favorite Tortellini Salad made by Katie, an adorable baby carriage carved out of watermelon  (by my brother in law) and filled with fresh fruit, veggies, dips, etc. 

We had a precious cake that read "Welcome Camryn Louise" and was made by the same baker that did our wedding cake! It was delicious, and I was so touched that Katie did so much investigative work to find the right baker and have the same flavor/filling made for our Baby Girl. 

The games we played were both fun and hilarious. Not your typical "sniff the diaper" or "how big is Mom's belly?" games. One game was a sort of fill-in-the-blank/word association game where Andy gave his answers the night before and the guests were to try and guess what Andy said. It was HILARIOUS. A few gems: "Nursing ____", Andy said "home". Um, baby related, hon!? "Bubble ____", Andy said "butt". Bwahaha. Good times. 

And oh the gifts.. we are truly blessed to be surrounded by such generous friends and family.. everyone happy to shower us with love and support as our family grows. We could never have imagined how much we would receive, and just cannot thank everyone enough. We got our crib mattress and bedding, our car seat and stroller, our cradle swing, exersaucer, and bouncy chair, our bath tub and nearly all necessary bath items, lots of clothes, blankets, and best of all - each guest brought their favorite childhood book to start Camryn's library! We got an adorable diaper bag, hangers, baby-proofing items, some baskets for organizing, a precious picture frame, some toys/rattles.. it was truly incredible. I was just in awe of all the loot we had to bring home, and stayed up until about midnight sorting through all the fun stuff!

Even with all Andy and I have had to go through with this pregnancy and our ever-changing financial situation, when I sit back and think about all we have.. our health and the health of our daughter, our home, our families, our friends... we are so so blessed. I am so grateful to God for all that we have, and for all the love and support we are surrounded by on a daily basis. 

It warms my heart to sit in Camy's room and just look around.. seeing all the ways our lives have already been enriched by her and all the ways our lives will change after she makes her arrival. 

Charting New Territory

Well, it happened. 

At 34 weeks and 1 day, Baby Girl finally found my ribs. 

Joy.

I had been getting this numb/tingling sensation in one particular spot near the bottom of my ribs, and asked the doctor what that was. He said Camryn has probably found a nerve she can hit just right to give me that tingly feeling. What a darling she is. She likes to hit that nerve at least a few times a day, but I told the doctor I was just glad she doesn't dig her feet up into my ribs like I've heard so many other women complain about. 

Jinx. Jinx. Jinx. 

Last night, just before getting ready for bed, Camryn found my ribs and promptly made herself at home. 

I remembered a suggestion I'd read somewhere to put an ice pack at the top of your bump and sometimes that will make your baby move down lower, out of your ribs. 

Yeah, she didn't care about the ice. 

I tried rolling a certain way, shifting and turning to sit in different positions that might encourage her to re-situate... but no such luck. 

It started to get rather painful after a while and difficult to breathe normally, so just as I was getting really uncomfortable and emotional about it (seriously, she was really shoving everything way up into my ribs and it started freaking me out!) Andy suggested I take a Tylenol PM and try to get to sleep. 

I thought about it a while and didn't want to at first.. but it was getting late and I needed sleep, so I caved and took half a dose and was finally able to fall asleep with Andy helping me by rubbing my back and playing with my hair. 

Luckily I woke up today and Camryn had balled herself back up lower in my belly. 

Thank! Goodness!

As mentioned before, yesterday was our 34 week OB check.

Everything is still progressing really well.. no protein spillage, great BP, perfect fundal height measurement, beautiful heartbeat, and minimal swelling! 

I made it through another week without peeing on my hand while trying to give a sample in a tiny freakin' paper cup.. seriously, I think they get their kicks from asking women toting watermelons in their abdomen to pee in a cup with a diameter of about 2 inches. Just how in the heck do they expect us to see what we are doing and actually make it into the cup?? Come on now! I am dreading the day I miss the cup.... 

During the heartbeat check, the doctor took a little longer to hold the wand in one place. He usually finds her heartbeat right away and will hold the wand steady to listen for a minute or two.. but this time I thought he found it just as quick, but he kept moving the wand around, waiting a second, moving it a little more. I asked him if everything was okay and he said (unconvincingly), "Yeah, it sounds good." That wasn't the reaction I was looking for or the way he normally responds... so I asked if he was sure. He said "Well, her heartbeat has slowed down just a little, but that's nothing to worry about. It slows down just a bit at the end." I still wasn't convinced that everything was fine.. and I think he could tell that I was getting worried. He assured me that her heart sounds very healthy and if he was concerned at all he would set us up in the NST room for a while. I'm trying to believe him and trust him, he has taken very good care of us all along.. but I walked out of there a little concerned. However, all her crazy movements today have me pretty confident the doctor was right again - all is well. 

And as for the swelling, my hands are getting a little puffy and I've given up on wearing my rings, but my feet/ankles still look great. The doc even commented on how beautiful my ankles are! He said he's impressed I haven't had any swelling in my feet at all yet.. especially given the triple digit heat! Yay for my ankles! :)

So there's our 34 week update. 

We are just 19 days shy of hitting "full term" and 40 days from our due date. 

Nesting, Day 3

What did Mama get accomplished today? Let's talk about that... 

• Made a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy more drawer dividers for Camryn's Nursery.
  
• Folded and put away the last 2 loads of Camryn's clothes.. well, the last until after Saturday's Baby Shower.
  
• Made a trip to Target to buy a bucket and scrub brush. [Can you tell I'm not the "deep clean" type since we owned neither a bucket or a scrub brush before today? I'm more a Lysol Wipes kinda gal in my normal state of being.]
  
• Stood on the dining room table with the vacuum so I could clean the chandelier. Never done that before.
• Changed the 3 bulbs in the chandelier that I would bet money have been out since the day we moved in.. 18 months ago.
• Scrubbed the wood blinds and window sill in the dining room.
• Scrubbed the walls of the dining room. Never noticed how icky they were before!
• Scrubbed the baseboards in the dining room and kitchen.
• Dragged the step stool into the kitchen so I could vacuum the kitchen fan and light.
• Scrubbed the kitchen cabinets.
• Scrubbed the blinds on the kitchen window.
• Scrubbed the inside of the front door and the walls of the entry way.
• Applied Camryn's vinyl wall letters. Finally. And hated every minute of it. It was NOT easy. I would scrub baseboards all day long before I volunteered to apply more vinyl wall letters.  It was beyond frustrating and resulted in a wee bit of shouting (from me to Andy). Ugh.

How's that for productivity? I've never cleaned so much in my life. And I am still dissatisfied with the state this house is in. How is that even possible???

Ya know what today is?

34 weeks. 

Ya know what that means?

Our OB won't stop labor.

Oh. My. Word.

Is that crazy, or what?? 

While Andy and I were fighting with the vinyl wall letters, I had a braxton hicks contraction and just nonchalantly said "Aaannd, that's a contraction". 

I think Andy remembered what today's milestone was because his immediate, slightly frantic response was "What? A real one?" (picture his eyes bugging out of his head at about the moment "real" passed the plane of his lips!). 

I quickly clarified that it was just a BH and informed him that I would take on a tone of much more urgency when the "real" contractions make an appearance. 

He kindly asked me to always preface "contraction" with either "real" or "fake" unless I want him to (and I quote) "throw me in the car and haul ass to the hospital". 

I asked him for clarification this time..  "define 'throw me in the car', please". 

And clarify he did. Looks like when I'm in labor I will be treated like a sack-o-potatoes and just tossed into the closest vehicle. 

Awesome.

We have our 34 week OB check tomorrow. 

It's my last pants-on appointment, and I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. 

I am glad I get to keep my pants on tomorrow, that's not what I mean... 

But to think that every appt after tomorrow will involve a labor progress check scares the bajeebus outta me!

I am not ready for labor checks. 

*Seriously, eyes tearing up now just thinking about it*

We have wanted to start our family for as long as I can remember.

We tried for 8 cycles to get pregnant before being successful.

We have endured a roller coaster pregnancy since finding out on Christmas Day that we are expecting. 

We cannot wait to meet our sweet girl and bring her home to this cozy little place we have prepared for her. 

But, I just cannot wrap my mind around the reality of the situation. 

Tomorrow is my last pants-on appointment because we have only 21-42 days before our daughter is born.

Are we really ready for this?

Oh my Lord. I just can't imagine being on the other side of this adventure. 

I remember my sister laughing when I told her I was 3 weeks and 4 days pregnant. Being pregnant wasn't even on her radar when she was 3 wks 4 days (she wasn't an OCD charter like I was!). 

I remember looking at how much time we had left from that day, Dec 25 - 3 wks 4 days, and feeling like the big day would never come. 

But there it is... in sight... just over the horizon.

Quickly approaching. 

Ready or not, here she comes. 

Instead of seeing "3 weeks pregnant" we are seeing "3 weeks til Full Term". 

:::Deep Breath:::

As Andy keeps saying, "We got this". 

Changing gears before I hit the hay - 

This week is full of excitement!

I get to visit with a dear friend of mine tomorrow morning before she heads back to H-Town!

Our carpets are being steam cleaned on Thursday!

I have a Frozen Yogurt date with some of my favorite ladies Friday afternoon.

My Sister, BIL, and sweet nephew arrive Friday as well.. and Sister, Mom, and I are going for pedi's. 

Then Saturday is my first Baby Shower! 

YAY!

Oh oh, and Andy will have the tile in the bathrooms done by Thursday (so he says). 

Its a good week. 

A really good 34th-35th week of growing my Baby Girl. 

Our Fan is Clean.

While Andy attended our neighborhood HOA meeting tonight, I took it upon myself to keep this whole "nesting" thing going. 

On my radar tonight was our bedroom fan, our master closet, moving the wireless router from the old-office-now-playroom to our bedroom, and cleaning the baseboards in the master. 

Closet was easy. 

Baseboards weren't bad. 

Moving the router took 4.3 minutes.

The fan kicked my Nesting Mama Bum!

We just changed our sheets on the bed a few days ago, and had yet to wash that load of laundry.. so I took the dirty sheet out and draped it over the bed in case we had a dust storm (yes, our fans were b-a-d! GROSS!). I then dragged the vacuum into our room and contemplated whether or not I should use the step ladder to reach the fan, or stand on the bed. 

Neither option seemed super safe to me, and I know had Andy been home he would have objected to both options -- but he wasn't home, I just couldn't bear the thought of letting the dust collect on that fan another day, and I really didn't want to waddle to the garage to haul the step ladder inside... so I opted for the standing-on-the-bad plan. 

I have never cleaned/dusted a fan before [that task usually falls on Andy's shoulders] and I may never clean/dust a fan again. It was not easy. I had to reach with one arm way up over my head to hold the blade steady, reach with my other arm way up over my head to try and vacuum the dust up, and do everything in my power to keep my watermelon-toting-body steady on the bed. I  bet I was quite the sight wobbling there on the bed in my ill-fitting white tank top and Andy's old pajama pants. Whew. I'm exhausted just reliving it here. 

But, I am happy to say... our fan is CLEAN!

And my arms are sore.

And my back is killing me. 

But the fan is CLEAN.

Now, I can turn my attention to how disgusting our carpet is. 

Why is everything in the house so appalling to me all of the sudden? Is that a part of this *nesting phenomenon* too? Nothing ever being clean enough? If so, we're in trouble. 

And We're Nesting!

Preparations for Camryn are in *almost* in full swing.. and I don't foresee things slowing down in the coming days or weeks! We've got our first shower this Saturday, and our second shower the following weekend. After that, we'll be able to complete her nursery and breathe a little easier!

It seems a lightbulb finally went off above our heads this morning, its about time we get down to business! 

Andy spent the day ripping out the old tile in our bathroom and got more than half of the new tile laid. He will finish laying the rest and then grout tomorrow. Woohoo! I was really worried we wouldn't get this done before Camy's arrival, then we'd be stuck with the old tile for several months more (the noise and dust are not things I'd like to deal with when we've got a newborn in the house!). Once he finishes our bathroom, he'll do the guest bath - which shouldn't take but a day. 

As for me, I've spent hours today sitting on Camryn's nursery floor, surrounded by stacks of baby clothes. I spent the majority of my time just looking around trying to figure out what to do with all her stuff! Organizing her room should NOT be this difficult, but I've been totally overwhelmed.  The hard part about making the organizational decisions today was not knowing just how much we will end up with by the time she arrives. We already have quite the stash of clothing, but between the showers in the next couple weeks and whatever last-minute shopping we may need to do -- who knows how much these stacks of clothing and blankets and things will grow!! I just can't decide what to put where.. we have a cubby shelf with drawers, the dresser/cabinet, the shelves in the closet.. good grief! 

Diapers, Burp Cloths, Blankets and Sheets and Mattress Pads, Onesies, Pants, Skirts -- some single, some a part of a coordinating outfit, Dresses with Bloomers, Pajamas with Pants, Pajama Gowns, Sleep Sacks, Swaddle Blankets, Receiving Blankets, Socks, Hats, Towels, Wash Cloths... Seriously, this girl has (or will have) SO MUCH STUFF! 

So what did I do about this little dilemma? 

Started making another "OCD List", of course! 

I already have a list of tasks around the house that need to be completed before Camryn is born.

I already have a list of the important things we need to be sure to have on hand before Camryn is born. 

I already have a list of questions I keep handy for my OB and Camy's Pediatrician.

I already have a list of easy-fix meals for the weeks after she's born as well as meals I'd like to make ahead of time to freeze. 

I already have a list of what I need to pack for the hospital. 

And now I have a list of ways I can organize her room.

I think I must be a lazy nester. 

A lazy, list-making nester, as opposed to a productive go-get-em nester.

Oh, but do you want to know the best (read: worst) part about what little progress was made today?

After sorting through all the clothes we have been given and separating them based on size, style, and purpose.. I realized they all need to be washed. Awesome. All my sorting was done for nothing... its all been tossed in a laundry basket and added to the queue for the washing machine, just to be sorted and separated again when it's fresh and clean. 

I get to do it all over again in a couple days (when we get around to washing the baby stuff). 

But thats okay, at least I have some concept of how I'd like things to be put away now. And I guess I better get used to folding and sorting baby clothes, as I will be folding and sorting Camryn's laundry for the next who-knows-how-many years! Which begs the question? When will she be old enough to do her own laundry? ;)