31 Weeks (w/ pictures!)

Well another week has gone by! It amazes me how some weeks fly by while others seem to drag on forever! This past week FLEW by for sure. I think it's because I went home for Drew's birthday party. Being out of town always makes the time go by quickly! (Maybe I should go out of town more often...it's a thought! The beach would be lovely! Ha!)

First of all, I have to thank God for the RAIN! We needed it so, so, so, so badly and we got it! I woke up (to pee, obviously) at 3:30am on Tuesday morning and saw one lightening strike after another. When I got back in the bed I told Judd it was storming so he got up and looked out, too. At 5:30am his cellphone rang telling him he needed to head on out there because they needed to start cutting off wells! Yay! The BEST part for ME?? Judd called me at 11:30am and said, "What do you want for lunch?" in a very excited voice... He got off work at lunchtime and we got to spend the entire rest of the day together. It was such a blessing. I miss him so much this time of year, and I really needed that day together. It truly was a blessing!! We ate lunch together, then we went to the hospital and pre-registered. That wasn't so much FUN, but it did make me even more anxious for "the day" to arrive. Then my sweet husband went with me to Clark's. Clark's is a local store downtown where we registered when we got married. Now, I love Clark's, but to say they're a tad overpriced would be a massive understatement. A regular picture frame could run you $100. Well, I'd been waiting for almost 2 years with over $400 in credit with nothing to do with it. It started out as much more and I finished off my fine china, bought Mother's Day gifts, birthday gifts, etc. with it. Well, we decided that I could use the rest of it to get some new luggage as they have Vera Bradley. I spent a while picking out my new pattern and I'm really pleased with it! (Even though it looks black in the picture) It's chocolate brown, with pink, white, yellow, gold, red, and grey flowers and swirls. I LOVE it. Check out what I got!

The pattern. Vera Bradley - Puccini


I got the hangup organizer, the large duffel, round cosmetic travel bag, hangup garment bag, and (not pictured) the weekend bag! I'm so excited!!! I wouldn't say that we travel A LOT, but we do travel a good bit, and it was fun to buy something with that credit that's been sitting there for so long. It felt like I was spending someone else's money! Yay!

After we picked out my stuff at Clark's, we went to Punkin Patch to register! That was really fun, too! It's also a local store, so the clerk just followed me around with my notecard and wrote down things I liked. It basically went like this:

Me: "Any bibs, pacifier clips, bows, blankets are all good."
Me: "I like the Zutano clothes and the Patty's clothes..."
Me: "Any shoes size 12 month and up."

And she would write it down. Very easy!! It was so fun.

After that, Judd and I went home and took a nap. Judd hardly ever gets to take naps and he really wanted to take one, so I obliged. :) All in all, we had a really fun day together and I loved spending time with him. I definitely don't take our time together for granted!

Now, for the 31 Week update:

Me:

I'm feeling "okay" these days. Each day is different. The back pain is pretty constant now and I guess I've just succumbed to it. I look forward to the day she's born - because that night, whatever sleep I get will be on my SIDE! And I won't have that burning pain under my shoulder blades! It's going to be so wonderful. I can't wait. Ha! Some days I'm full of energy and can go all day - others I'm tired from the moment I wake up until I go back to bed at night. I've had some pelvic pain in the last couple of weeks and I'm sad to say my doctor says it will only get worse and the only help is put my feet up for a while. Problem is, in the last few days - just sitting can cause it to hurt. :( Howcome no one ever told us how very PAINFUL pregnancy is?! I strongly consider adding that point to all high school sex ed classes. I'll come guest speak. lol. All in all though, I feel like I've been blessed with a rather "normal" pregnancy without any major (or minor for that matter) complications. The things that I'm going through are nothing new! Women have been putting up with this stuff for YEARS so I can't whine too much.

Caroline:

Well she's busy as usual! Let's see...

• From this week on, she'll gain 1/2 lb a week! Oh my stars!
• She'll probably start getting squished this week, so her arms and legs will stay closer to her body instead of jabbing me...except in the ribs. I still feel that a lot. lol.
• She can now process information from all 5 senses. That's really cool!
• By now, her lungs are the only system not mature. Everything else can still continue to mature a little - but the lungs just aren't ready enough to be called "mature" at all.
• She weighs about 3 1/2 lbs and is almost 17 inches long!

Um, in the next 9 weeks - she's going to DOUBLE her weight. Is it okay that that scares me? Just a tad? Because it does.

Anyway, this post has been way longer than I intended (I've gotten long winded lately, haven't I?) so I'll show you my picture for this week.

I am including a picture from when I was 15 weeks wearing the shirt I wore today. The difference is incredible! It's almost time to retire this shirt because it barely covers the band on my maternity pants!


15 Weeks picture!


31 Weeks picture in the same shirt!



31 Week belly. No stretch marks yet!

Thanks for reading all of that! I'll try to update again soon! :)