You Look...Like an Elephant

Jeff and my friend were pointing at my stomach and laughing yesterday. I kept hearing, "It's just so big!" "I can't stop looking at it." "You look...like an elephant." I feel humongous. Here's how I look. I give you permission to point and laugh.

We Like to Move It Move It

Nothing like moving two weeks before your due date, right? My mom moved in the middle of her pregnancy with my brother, Ben. Ben came five weeks early. Jeff's mom moved a little bit before Jeff was scheduled to come and he was two weeks early. Our mothers are convinced the stress of moving sent them into labor. I can only hope this move sends me into labor. I'm ready for this baby to be born before he gets any bigger.

Let me tell you the saga of our apartments.

It all started with things getting a little rocky over at our first place. We were fed up with our whole situation one Saturday and decided to start exploring other living options. We drove around town only to find all the apartments within our price range were less than satisfactory.

We went to lunch quite discouraged. Mid lunch, Jeff got a phone call. A phone call from a guy he knows who owns some apartments. To our surprise, he was calling to let us know he just had the perfect two bedroom apartment open up. We were even more surprised to find the apartment was in our price range! Awesome. We moved in no questions asked.

We soon found out there was a good chance the landlord's wife would be getting a job up north and they would have to move, leaving his apartments in need of a manager. The landlord decided Jeff was a worthy candidate for the job. For the last few months we have anxiously been waiting to hear whether or not his wife got the job.

A couple days ago, my breakfast was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was the landlord coming over to share the great news that his wife did get that job. Oh. And there are termites in our current apartment.

SICK! I was overcome with excitement to keep a little extra money by being the apartment managers. But as excited as I was about that, I couldn't stop thinking about all those little bugs crawling around in our walls. And then to bring home a new baby to a bug infested house? It just wasn't sitting with me very well. Jeff was even getting a little squirmy at the thought of living in the middle of a termite dome.

I went to my last shift of work with termites on the brain. Jeff called me a few hours into my shift with more news from the landlord. They have to do a lot of work on our current apartment so our landlord showed Jeff a new apartment he would like to move us into. I haven't seen it yet, but Jeff said he really likes it. And get this - it has a dishwasher! We are just moving up one kitchen appliance at a time. I can only hope it also has a garbage disposal.

So two weeks til baby. And we're on to our third apartment. It's an even shorter move than our last one, but it's still a pain to pack everything up. And silly me - I was worried I'd be bored these last two weeks before the baby comes.

Diapers...Check! Wipes...Check! Baby...

It's a good thing little Eli hasn't come yet. We took a risk having my baby shower three weeks before my due date. I told my mom I didn't want the house completely covered in blue. We decided I might still be in denial I'm having a boy. I really just hate that all boy clothes are blue. Boys can wear and have decorations other than just plain old blue. So thanks, mom for the yellow plates and splash of pink. The decorations were perfect!
I had my shower on my dad's birthday. Jeff and my dad spent the whole day together golfing, eating out and watching basketball.
After we sent the boys on their way, the lovely ladies started showing up for my shower. It was fun to see everyone I hardly ever get to see.
My sister sent out the invitations and thought of a cute game for the shower. My mom insisted on taking a picture of every gift I got. My mom will be posting those pictures HERE.




When Jeff got home, these shoes were one of the first things he noticed. They're so adorable. He said he wanted to get matching shoes. So if anyone sees these shoes in men's 9, let us know.
I may have been in denial about having a boy before, but the "Pee Pee Teepees" Abe and Klarissa gave me quickly put me into the baby boy mentality.
Here's my mother looking lovely for church.
After eating two cinnamon rolls and a slice of cheesecake for breakfast, homemade ice cream after dinner and M&Ms and Starbursts after ice cream, I thought I was going into labor Sunday evening. Turns out it was just a stomach ache from all those sweets. Rats.

While playing Taboo, I looked behind me to see Brooke had piled all the stuffed animals within eyesight on my mom. What a good Grandma!
And here we are with all of our gifts. We were planning on going home on Monday because I had a dentist appointment early Tuesday morning. We got the car all packed up and we were ready to go when I noticed the dentist office called because they had to reschedule. We decided to stay an extra day. It's always nice to be able to stay up a little longer than just the weekend. Thanks to everyone who came to my baby shower! We finally have most of the baby items we need. Now we just need a baby!

A Different Kind of Nesting

The last few weeks I have been laying on the couch in pure exhaustion every free moment I have. I pant going up stairs. I shuffle my feet when I walk. Rolling over is impossible. I gasp for air when I bend over to tie my shoes. When is this whole "nesting" thing going to kick in? You know, the burst of energy that makes me want to scrub down my whole house and go shopping for all those baby items? Where's that?

We have yet to buy a diaper. A wipe. A binkie. A blanket. A burp rag. Jeff's going to be making a lot of trips to Wal-Mart in our first few weeks as parents.

I just don't have any baby motivation. I'm excited for the baby to come, but I think a part of me still thinks it's such a distant idea that I haven't been inclined to prepare the house. At all. I just keep hoping and praying that so called "nesting" will happen one of these days. And hoping it's a day before the baby is in our arms.

While I haven't experienced the typical nesting, I have been preparing for the baby in a way I didn't really expect. I had to work general conference weekend and I missed Elder Bednar's talk Saturday afternoon. On Sunday I decided to catch up on all the talks I missed. I am so happy I went back and watched Elder Bednar's talk because that is how my unexpected nesting began.

He talked about things parents should be doing to provide a good spiritual upbringing for their children. That's when it hit me. I have a little future missionary about to enter our family. Do I know all the things I need to know to be a good example to him? Am I really ready to be trusted to give him the spiritual nourishment he needs?

I decided it was time to kick up my gospel game. It has been a neat experience as I've taken the time to sit down and try to understand things I haven't fully understood before. Jeff is a fountain of church knowledge and I have enjoyed our long discussions about my gospel questions.

I have always heard giving birth is a spiritual experience, but I didn't expect the experience to start happening before I was in the delivery room. So even though the house doesn't look like we're so close to having a baby, I like to think I'm a little more prepared to be a parent.

Bugged

After many nights of tossing and turning, I booted myself to the couch. I have hit the uncomfortable phase.

I'm finding something significant I miss about our old apartment - it was upstairs and it rarely had bugs. We got moths frequently, but the only other bug I really remember is one daddy long leg. Basement apartment = bug city. I am learning so many new things to take into consideration for our next place: give it a good smell before you sign any contracts, the bug factor, neighbors.

Jeff frequently asks me how on earth I lived in Georgia for so long with my deathly fear of bugs. Throughout the day I drive Jeff crazy pointing at lint balls or crumbs screaming "bug!" My "bugs" used to be all in my head, but the last month my worst fears have come true. Now Jeff hears me scream, "Bug! OH MY GOSH! IT REALLY IS A BUG! Ewwww! It's a WORM! That's disgusting. I hate basement apartments!"

We have found two worms in our house and a huge spider in Eli's room. There was also a weird collection of rollie-pollies on one of our window sills. Every time I have discovered bugs it's been while cleaning the house. Good excuse not to clean? I think so. But then I hate the thought of leaving something on the ground and giving them a hiding place.

When I was little in Georgia I remember thinking bugs would play games with people. I used to imagine them all gathered together inside a wall and I thought they would try to run across the floor to the other side of the room without getting squished. Insect Roulette.

I remember the silverfish, scorpions, praying mantis, and spiders in Georgia. My sister and I used to put our hair over our ears every night to make sure bugs wouldn't crawl in them and lay eggs. Perhaps that's where my fear stems from - the horror stories my older siblings would tell me of bugs laying eggs in my body. Something stuck and now poor Jeff has to deal with it.

Here's to good bug spray and hoping that the bugs win that game I think they play so I don't have to see them scurrying across the floor anymore.

Sweet Boredom

I have been purposely trying to make myself bored because I forgot the feeling over the last few years. I have missed it so much.

Jeff started summer school Monday. He's easing into the master's program with one class. It's weird to be having my summer and trying to motivate Jeff to do his homework and study. I have been distracting him a little bit. But it's SUMMER! I convinced him to break from his studies earlier this week to go to Zion.

I got a few funny looks being 8 months pregnant and hiking up a mountain. My doctor's convinced I'm trying to put myself into labor, but I really just wanted to make our yearly Zion trip before it got too hot. And pregnant ladies need fresh air, too!

Just one month to go! I have been surprised at how little unsolicited pregnancy advice I have gotten. So here it is. Here's the post where I'm asking for your advice. How to cope with labor, how to deal with a new baby, baby must-have items. Your best words of wisdom are welcome here. I'm begging for it.

Picture Vomit

We had a great graduation weekend with my parents in town. These pictures are kind of out of order. Of course we had to play a little Rook with my parents. It wasn't as intense a game as it should have been. As you can see, the boys were distracted by the Jazz game.

My mom and I enjoyed some ice cream together while the boys were getting ready after a nice round of golf.

My mom did not approve of my dad's golf hat hair. So she made him do this:

This is what we came home to after ice cream. Two men, three computers, ESPN.

Mary and David were so nice to come to both parts of my graduation. Here's Mary patiently waiting for the ceremonies to begin.

We had a burn party with the Excells after all the graduation festivities. I wanted to burn my notebook from my last semester. I made a little schedule in the back of my notebook of when all my assignments were due the last couple months. It was always so refreshing to cross an assignment off my list. And I knew it would be good closure to burn the crossed out list after the semester was over. Weirdly enough, the burn party did give me more of a sense of closure than the actual graduation ceremony. It was like graduation was my last assignment so burning my assignment calendar finished everything off.

And here are my two favorite pictures from the weekend. The moral of the story: even a college degree doesn't prevent blonde moments.