Balloon Tops and Baby Drops Weeks 32-33

When I first got pregnant Mike and I sat down and made a list of all the things we were going to need as new parents. Needless to say the list was very over whelming. How on earth were we going to have enough time or money to gather all of these essentials?!
Little did I know, that with the amazing support of my family and friends this list would not only be fulfilled but then some! These last two weeks we were showered with even more amazing generosity!
My older sister Jen, who as most of you may already know, lives in California. She came up with the brilliant idea of throwing a shower by mail. This way family and friends who live far from the lone star state could help outfit our little baby bean (that's right no name yet) and get him ready for this world! The shower was themed to go along with the nursery idea we have for his room:

Each guest mailed a gift and an alphabet letter. I can't even explain how fun it was opening these gifts! We signed on to Skype and via internet I opened some of the most spectacular gifts and letters. With the exception of just a few letters, I am almost ready to decorate the alphabet wall. I will hopefully have it all put together to show pictures in the next blog post.
My sister, even though she was so far away made this day so special, she even surprised me with balloons!

As if this weren't incredible enough, this past weekend my amazing friend Kendall threw me a shower with all of my friends from Austin. I couldn't believe how many people gathered together on Mike and I (and bean's) behalf! It wasn't until I sat down to open my gifts and looked around at all my friends that it hit me how absolutely blessed the three of us really are.

I just want to thank everyone and I mean EVERYONE for not only helping us fulfill our baby "necessity list" but supporting us in this exciting adventure of new parenthood.
I am so grateful to have such amazing family and friends that would bend over backwards for us. I can't even express enough how much I truly appreciated all of your generosity. It is bringing tears to my eyes just thinking about how absolutely blessed we are. Thank you all so so much.

On a quick note about Baby Bean, he is now head down (yay!) and my iron levels are back to normal. He is still moving around like crazy all the time. This past Friday he was trying to kick his way out through my belly button which really hurts! It kind of freaked me out so I called the Birthing Center to make sure that something wasn't wrong. I feel silly now but at the time I was thinking "is this was a contraction feels like?" I was assured that it was normal to feel pain around the nerve endings in the belly button if he's moving around there and no, that is not a contraction. It's really crazy to think that in about 7 weeks he will be here. I forget sometimes to appreciate these quiet moments in my life because soon they will be no more.

I now present my belly!

I had a bit of a shocking realization that he is still going to double in weight before he is born. Where on earth am I suppose to put that much baby?!

Decision 2012...The Name

Not having a name for our unborn bean is driving me bonkers!
I've worked up a survey so you guys can put in your opinion and help me pick a name in the process.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2CG68PV
I look forward to seeing what you think!

Woah! Put That Thing Away! Weeks 28-31

I am not doing so hot with keeping up with this blog every two weeks am I?

It has been a pretty hectic past 3 weeks. It started off with a shared shower in Fort Worth with my sister in law Stephanie who is due any day now!  Most of the turnout was from Mike’s side of the family who were so generous and great to hang out with! I also got to see my friend Jayne who I haven’t seen in almost 5 years!

This is also the busiest time for work at my job. I would typically thrive on being super busy at work but having a human strapped to my abdomen definitely makes it difficult. Sitting for too long makes my ribs ache and standing too long makes me dizzy and have to pee. It pretty much makes me feel like a whiney beast all the time.

It was all worth it though because of this past weekend. Me, Mike and our friend Dehron all flew to Colorado (last flight before the baby!) for a fun-filled extended weekend.  My amazing friends Shannon and Heather threw me a spectacular shower where not only did we get a plethora of children’s books and wonderful gifts I got to see friends who I haven’t seen since we moved to Austin.  I was in heaven.

The weekend’s greatness just continued from there. We attended our dear friends Grant and Abbey’s wedding (the main reason for being in Colorado) that was held in the snowy mountains of Estes Park. All in all is was dream-like.

Enough about what I’ve been doing, let’s talk about baby bean!

I know you’re probably wondering, have you picked a name yet or what?! The answer is no. We do have a list started though. Unfortunately nothing we have our hearts set on. I had no idea how difficult this naming business would be!

At my last visit to the midwife I did the glucose test which we passed with flying colors. Unfortunately we didn’t do so hot on our iron levels. I am trying to eat more iron rich foods and I have a supplement I’ve been taking every day.  It’s sad that a lot of iron rich foods are ones that I don’t really like right now like red meat, dark greens such as kale and arugula and kidneys. It’s a shame there isn’t iron in chocolate because I would probably be over-dosing on that!

All in all I think everything is going well, with the exception of morning sickness, achy ribs, over active bladder, the baby kicking the over active bladder, the baby kicking all my organs all the time, and not sleeping. I put that in small print for those out there who don’t want to hear me whine or those out there who are planning on getting pregnant anytime soon. That is what you have to look forward to. Ahhh…

Now behold the next magical act…Britt turning into a killer whale!

This is what I would look like if we were expecting twins!