Christmas!

Troy and I had a fanstastic Christmas! We spent most of it with his family this year (we switch off) but spent the morning with my mom to open presents. My mom as usual spoiled us. She knew we had been wanting a camcorder for when the baby comes so when she asked us what we wanted I suggested she could just give us some money to put towards the camcorder since thats what we were planning on getting ourselves for christmas. Instead she just went ahead and bought us one!

Troy also spoiled me. He was a big cheater face this Christmas. We had both talked about only getting each other one present this year and not to do anything extravagent since the baby and tuition are due pretty much the same time. So I followed through on the plan... and bought him Oregon Duck sweat pants and milk duds. And what did Troy do? He got me a cd, Inception and the 6th seasons of Grey's and The office and like 10 bags of my favorite candies. And so that it would fit the criteria of "one gift" he put it all in one box. And I gave him sweat pants... I felt like a lousy wife. A lucky wife, but a lousy one.

I really had a great Christmas. I had a lot of fun spending time with family and playing my two most favorite games, Wackee 6 and Catch Phrase. I get really excited when I play those games. I get really competitive even though I'm pretty terrible at Wackee 6. I'm so grateful for my family! I coudn't ask for anything more! Except maybe for this baby to hurry up and join the fam.

Well done

I am officially 37 weeks today! Which for those of you who don't know is considered full term. Pregnancy is technically about 40 weeks long but I guess at 37 weeks the baby is "cooked" enough to be not considered "pre-term" if she were to be born today.

My lungs are smooshed, I've begun retaining water to the point I feel like an indoor swimming pool, and my belly is about as stretched as it can go. So baby... it's time to get out. You've over stayed your welcome in my uterus. I'd appreciate it if you'd hurry up.

Your dad and I are very much ready to meet you.

And if you come before the new year... We'll be able to claim you on our 2010 taxes and I'll buy you a nice present with the extra money from our tax return! How is that for incentive, eh?

36 week appointment

I don't have much to do these days... or much to talk about. So I apologize for the overload of baby Jackson posts. But since I don't really keep a journal, this is pretty much it. Here's another one, I'll keep it short I promise.

I had a doctors appointment yesterday. I've hit the point in my pregnancy where I start going weekly now. I got the dreaded GBS swab, I was freaking out before because of where I heard that they swabbed you. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as I made it out to be in my head.

Then she performed an ultrasound to make sure that the baby had finally flipped head down like I thought she had. To my great relief she had! And then I asked her to check and make sure this little girl is in fact a little girl. I've been so nervous because when we had our "big" ultrasound neither the tech nor the doctor sounded very confident when they said it was a girl.
Forgive me for not putting much faith in "It's a.... It's a girl? wait.... no, yeah... it's a girl."

So she checked and even I could tell she's a little girl. We tried to see her face but she had her hands right up in front of her face and her face is towards my back. We got a sort of a side shot but the picture makes her look like an alien. You can't even tell what your looking at.

Then she checked my cervix and I've only dialated to 1/2 a centimeter, but I'm 60% effaced. I think thats pretty good for 36 weeks.

Everything looks great and the doctor said now it's just a waiting game.

So we wait....

57 years

There is this old man that I work with at the rec center. When I say old I mean OLD. He's like 86-89 years old. I can't exactly remember. I know for sure he's in his 80's. He does some of the janitorial work around the rec center. Let me tell you about him.

His name is Dean and he pretty much makes my day every time I see him. He's always so happy and kind even though he cleans windows and sorts through the nasty lost and found items. He also whistles when he says his s's which I can't help but smile every time. He also brings the front desk a huge handful of fun size candy bars every time he works. One day while at work I got assigned to this ridiculous task of making these ginormous signs for Spooktacular. I was basically 7 months pregnant and had to be on my hands and knees taping these huge sheets of paper together to make an even bigger piece of paper of 96 inches by 112 inches. I was on my hands and knees on a concrete floor taping them together. And who came along to offer me some help? 80-something Dean! He got down on his hands and knees and helped me tape these papers together. I felt almost guilty accepting his offer but he seemed to be more capable than me!

The other day he came to empty the lost and found bin and I asked him how long he had been married for.

57 years.

57 YEARS.

I know my next question was probably stupid but I couldn't help but wonder...
me: "And you still like her?"
dean: "oh yes, she's a sweetheart. I think I'll keep her."

And I knew he meant it. Not just one of those things you say to someone because the real answer would be awkward. I know that being in love and being married forever is a very possible thing but I have to admit that I don't know very many people who have been married for 57 years.

I have every hope and desire for this kind of longevity with my marriage. In fact, I want it for forever.

I think my next question I'll ask is, how does one stay married and in love for 57 years?

If you blog it...They will come.

My last post I said I had no pictures of me because my friends hadn't posted any as of yet so I was just waiting on them. And voila! Both friends posted pictures. And no I assure you I am not having twins (I was asked that today) I've just gotten HUGE in the last month. So here I am in all of my large whale-ish glory....

me and one of my best friends Lisa who is due 2 weeks after me!

5 of the 6 of us from high school

I look ginormous in this picture but I had to post it because my husband is so darn cute

And these last 2 were taken of me today at 35 1/2 weeks
Look how much I've grown since month seven!

Although I've basically lost my waist you can see I'm pretty much just carrying this little girl out in front. Which according to a man named Roger who comes in to my work is how he could tell I was having a girl. He's kind of crazy so I attribute his correctness to a 50% shot at getting it right.

month 8

I would just like to point to the little count down ticker thing to your right....

5 more weeks! whoa! I can't believe I'm 35 weeks.

Every day I think to myself, "There is no way I can get any bigger or more uncomfortable." And then it only takes until the next day for me to get bigger and more uncomfortable.

Some of the things people say to me a lot are....
"You just keep getting bigger!"
"Wow! You're huge."
"You're looking good!"
"I think you're going to pop!"
"You look uncomfortable."

Some of these things I'm not really sure how to respond. "You look uncomfortable" Um... thank you?

Since I work in customer service I get a lot of random advice from people I've never seen before in my life. I also think it's funny when I help other women who are also pregnant and they start talking to me like we're best friends.

Right now....
I love apples.
I crave salad.
I walk really incredibly slow.
Walking short distances puts me out of breath.
Sometimes when I eat I feel like I'm going to puke because I'm so full.
I get an insane amount of braxton hicks which my doctor doesn't seem worried about. It just bugs me because every time I have a contraction it makes me need to pee. And walk weird.
My baby has yet to (and hopefully won't) kick me in the ribs.
She does however enjoy kicking me in what I think is my ovary. It hurts.
She still moves a ton and some how manages to switch from my right side to my left about every other day. I'm not sure how she does I just know that my stomach moves a lot when she does this.
I sleep with 5 pillows.
I take a nap every day.


And I haven't taken any pictures of myself but my friends have (you know who you are) and I'm waiting for them to post them so I can....ahem.

A bit behind...

All of my friends wrote posts about what they are thankful for during Thanksgiving and I wanted to do the same but now it's December 1st... oops.

I'm thankful for...
My amazing/incredible/fantastic/sweet/loving/generous/sexy husband
My happy marriage
Family + Friends
the wonderful FREE country I have the opportunity to live in.
those in the military who help keep our country free.
My house
My 2 dogs
Having 2 working vehicles
Leisure time
My education
A warm bed
Food in my cupboards
Our jobs
Health Insurance
the ability to grow human life
medical advances
nap time
indoor plumbing

Plus 1001 other things!