Birthdays! Week 37 update

This week was exciting for many reasons, but at the same time I feel being pregnant is getting old.
We've been very busy wrapping up things in Miss P's room. I took several photos (final) of the nursery.

Clock, crib, and family tree.

Glider, new table and diaper bag packed and hanging on the door.

Her name is painted on the canvas above the chest of drawers waiting to surprise you all.

Last weekend we got our glider off craigslist. I felt good about the purchase because the woman who sold it to me had the same doctor here in Columbia for both her little girls (now 7 and 10-years-old).  I've just about garage-saled out myself looking for baby items in the past three weeks.

At 37 weeks sometimes I am barely standing.

Miss P's toy box is full, there is a new table by the glider and I'm making progress on my office/the second guest room. Sunday Greg ran in the second annual Mid-MO Race for the Cure and I watched. We went to a breast feeding class at the hospital on Monday, I went to a ZTA Alumnae event on Tuesday night, a lecture at Mizzou on Wednesday night and walked around Stephen's Lake Park with my friend Brenda on Thursday night.

Brenda is a wonderful friend I met in birth class here. Her little boy is due October 24th. We've already committed to run a 5K with our strollers in the Spring together. Honestly I cannot wait to get this extra 40 pounds off. As you can see all of these events made for a very full week.

Today was Greg's 28th birthday. I like to call it catch-up day since he is five months younger than me for part of year. He's been so busy with school stuff and trying to catch up before the baby comes so it was nice he got to relax even a little this weekend. I made crepes for breakfast, we found him a filing cabinet at a thrift store for $15, went to Best Buy and went bowling with our friends the Varners. Greg and I followed that up with dinner at Sophia's, our favorite Columbia Restaurant so far. I'd be lying to say that part of me did not miss our annual Clyde's birthday trip like we had in Washington, DC.

In other news, can I just say again I have wonderful neighbors. One who recently had a baby boy came over and asked me if I needed anything from the grocery store on Friday (which I did). She made my day so much easier. Another neighbor made Miss P a cute hat and sweater (she knitted). Other neighbors have offered to make food for us, and a friend of ours is coordinating food/meals for us after the baby comes through a website called Meal Train.

Another exciting thing is that after six years my parents and sisters will be visiting me for Thanksgiving! This makes me so happy for so many reasons. I am feeling so blessed and spoiled at the same time. I think this means we get to make fruit salad since it takes a lot of people to make it. The last time I had fruit salad was at my grandparents' ranch in 2004 (this was also the last time I had Thanksgiving with my immediate family).

Miss P's birthday is just around the corner and I cannot help but think about how much Greg and my lives will change again. Greg and I talk about her (to each other) using her name (which I cannot wait to share with everyone when she is born). Her room feels lived in. Which is strange since she is not here yet. I'm trying to manage this feeling by spending a little time in there each day. Recently (since we got the glider) I've been spending an hour in her room reading pregnancy books each day. I spent an entire hour looking up iTunes songs that have the same name as her, there are 45 total. Don't worry I only purchased two.

I'm ready to not be pregnant, but I'm also enjoying these last few days and weeks with Greg. We've been together for a quarter of both of our lives now and I know the next seven years will be full of new things--finishing Ph. D programs, children, possibly another move. Regardless of what we face it is so great to know we have each other.