Six Week Countdown

I'm camped out on the couch right now watching a Sesame Street DVD with my little buddy. We're munching on morning bagels with cream cheese, she's drinking some milk and I'm drinking my springtime favorite iced coffee and we're feeling pretty good this morning. She slept great and the baby in my belly gave me a well deserved break last night and only woke me once to use the bathroom. Winning!

(Although, Peter tells me that I've developed a new habit of snoring loudly during the night. Poor guy apparently moved to the couch to get away from me. I don't actually feel too badly about this. 1 - major pay back for the years of me "sleeping" next to his snoring and 2 - not my fault!).

Things have slowed waaaay down lately, and I'm so incredibly grateful for this time my husband is home with us. I'm just spent. Mentally, physically, emotionally, everything. I feel like I have so little to give right now, and am really looking forward to what will hopefully be a re-emergence of the old me in a couple of weeks. Peter took El all day yesterday while I went to a matinee showing of Jersey Boys with 7 other women in my  family. Very fun change of pace and relaxing, and I came home so rejuvenated. 34 weeks today, so we are right around the corner from meeting this new little person, and we are getting so excited.

So, for the record - here's where we are at 34 weeks.

• Huge! (obviously!)
• Started acupuncture a couple weeks ago, and so glad I did. Love it - and the woman I'm seeing does a combo of whatever she feels needs to be done. Massage/aromatherapy/acupuncture/etc. 
• Nausea is back, big time. V omitting  etc. Always a good way to start the morning. ;) I blame the terrific third tri heartburn.
• We *may* have names! Of course, this could change, but we're pretty zeroed in.
• Low back pain is intense.
• Swelling. I've sworn off shoes for the remainder of the pregnancy, and my rings are basically off for good. I indulged in two new maxi dresses from Target and am hoping that they can get me through.
• Contractions. Oh boy - braxton hicks contractions are frequent (6-8 an hour minimum, which is normal for me) and getting pretty painful at times. 
• Baby hiccups! Right now, as I type this...
• Appetite is leveling off. Weight, of course, is not. ;)
• Emotions are out of control. I'm not a crier, and have not been crier throughout either pregnancy, but the last week has been a little insane. Crying A LOT. And at anything.
• We have a very short shopping list which will be filled soon - basically just diapers and a few other small items - and we're done getting everything ready! We went from having done nothing to being completely ready to go (clothes washed, sorted, carseat ready, etc) in just two days. It's nice to know we're finally set.

And, so as not to forget our big girl, here are some recent pictures. She's just so funny right now - going back and forth between sweet as candy and making us want to pull our hair out. Her vocabulary is expanding, but she's still held back it seems by an inability to communicate at times what she wants. She's so strong willed and determined, and immediately breaks into tears when she doesn't get what she wants when she wants it. 6 weeks shy of two years old, and she's finally really connecting with reading books, starting to show us real imagination in her play (she loves to pretend she's a kitty), and is very affectionate. Can we really love another the way we love her? I trust we will, but for the next 6 weeks or so, she's the center of our worlds.