30 week update!

30 weeks...WHOA! I really cannot believe that I am almost 8 months pregnant and 10 short weeks away from meeting our son! It's kind of all been sinking in a lot more lately, and I'm not sure if it's from the little clock in my head that is constantly tick tick ticking down to the big day, or from all the other changes that are going on. We start our birthing class in about a week, and I also have a breastfeeding class to attend in the beginning of October. The new house closes in just a few weeks, so we've been trying to figure out paint colors for the nursery (luckily every other thing about the house is move in ready, including the overall paint color!), and we still have to go and pick out our crib, dresser, changing table, etc- not to mention every other piece of furniture for the house too! haha. Slowly but surely is our motto though. There's tons to do but I'm feeling good about everything and totally relaxed. Right now we are still trying to decide on whether or not we are going to do cloth or regular diapers. Originally I really wanted to do the bumGenius 4.0s, but now I'm not sure if we will go that route. We're going to start with disposables and then I'll decide if we want to take the plunge or not. I'd say I'm on the fence still but leaning towards no, but we will see! We're all registered at Babies R Us- if you're curious about our registry feel free to check it out, we're registry #45679494.

Here's the adorable invitation to my baby shower that I got in the mail a couple of days ago!
And I am loving the card my Mom included:

The picture is kind of weird but it says-

Just one last request, and we hope it's not hard,
Please bring Henry a book, in place of a card.
By signing your book we will remember and share,
Your special gift even when you're not there!

I seriously love this and think it's adorable that he will have tons of books to start his library rather than cards we would end up throwing away! Plus, as he gets older it will be really fun to be able to read the inscriptions and tell him about all of the wonderful people in his life.

Speaking of wonderful people, this past week we've received some of the absolutely sweetest, most thoughtful gifts from my blog friends and readers. I am so blown away with the amount of kindness and sweetness I've encountered, and I cannot tell all of you enough times thank you, thank you, thank you! It feels like we get a little package or letter everyday, and I just want all of you to know how much we appreciate all of your generosity and all of the time you've put into making baby Henry such beautiful and wonderful things!

from Susannah, over at http://susannahbean.blogspot.com/


from Emily, over at uff da! designs and http://poppymilkface.wordpress.com/:


from Sara, over at http://www.etsy.com/shop/joneshome


and from Becky, over at http://bthrifty.blogspot.com/
See? Amazing, amazing things. Thank you again so very much sweet girls. You've made me smile so big...and maybe get a little teary too! ;)

My belly is still growing but I'm still feeling really great physically. A lot of my friends who are also pregnant haven't had such a smooth ride, and I almost feel bad for typing that I feel wonderful! But really, I feel as good as I did before I was pregnant, with the occasional lower belly cramping or swollen ankles. The only other things that I get annoyed with are my chubby (okay, fat) face and my huge chest. Both pretty irksome for obvious reasons. I seriously go through my closet with longing at all the dresses I can't wear. I probably have about 5 things I just repeat over and over because I refuse to spend money on anything "temporary." But it works. The most beneficial items of clothing I've bought have been my maternity capri pants and my maternity pencil skirt for work, and I wear them every other day or so and absolutely love how comfortable they are. I've also been so thankful for my friend Anita (seriously go check out her baby blog for her daughter Lola at lolabirdie.com) because she has been SUCH a source of honest pregnancy talk. She's the best, along with a lot of my other mama friends too. You know who you are! Thank you.

Here are my 30 weeks belly photos:



check out the uneven line!




He is also the size of a head of cabbage this week!

You may feel as if you have been pregnant forever at this point. It might be hard to imagine being pregnant for another ten weeks, but your baby still has a lot of growing and developing to do! By this time, your baby's crown-to-rump length is a little over 10.8 inches and the total length of your baby is about 17 inches! Your baby weighs about 3 pounds now. Your uterus can be felt about 4 inches above your bellybutton. Your uterus, baby, placenta and the amount of fluid will get larger over the next ten weeks.

As far as weight gain, I stopped paying attention but I feel like I am doing a-okay. I have ten weeks left and my doc said that I'm doing very well and should end on a fabulous note if I keep up my normal eating and exercising. It doesn't really concern me about gaining because I feel like I've been in a good spot so far, but it's nice to know that because at this point I feel like it won't be very hard to lose the weight. I can definitely see it in my arms and legs...and FACE of course hahah, but overall I don't think it will be too bad, especially since I am planning on breastfeeding. At first it was hard for me to accept all of these changes, but the more pregnant I get the more I really don't care anymore, there are so many more important things to spend my time thinking about, and everything my body is doing is exactly what it should to make a nice place for Henry to grow, and then to sustain him once he is born! :)

Overall we are just getting more and more excited. It's scary and amazing and shocking and wonderful all at the same time to know that in a little over two months he will be here! I'm so excited for him to meet so many amazing people- all of his grandparents, his aunties, his wonderful uncles...our friends...it's just beyond exhilarating. It's so fun to be able to look back at this blog as such a great record of all of this, and I feel lucky to have all of you along for the ride!

I hope you have a beautiful Saturday!
xoxo

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