How Did I Even Get Here?

Tonight our family home evening activity was shopping. Furniture shopping. BABY furniture shopping. That's right. We officially own a beautiful espresso-finished (but it looks more like cherry) crib and changing table. I totally went on a cleaning the house rampage on Saturday, which resulted even in cleaning out the fridge with 409, but included getting the baby's room clean (finally!) which means we had to go shopping. We had no choice.

We went to, like, six different stores before we ended up at RC Willey and found their children's furniture. Just when we found the most perfect changing table ever, guess which song came on? My favorite song from my most favorite band of all time--"Faithfully" by Journey. It was a sign.

Really though? We fell in love with that set almost as soon as we walked in and saw it. And for every other piece of furniture we'd looked at, we had to be like, "well, I like this, but I liked this on the other one better . . . " Yeah. Not the case.

The hardest part about buying our furniture was tracking down a salesperson. Unfortunately for us, college students in their twenties are not typically targets for furniture salespeople. Every single one we saw was trailing an older couple around the sofas and dining sets. But when we did find one, he was super nice--not pushy--and recommended the crib we had already chosen because his wife is having a baby in December and they picked the same one. Totally perfect. Mike gets to pick it up tomorrow (they have them in stock in Salt Lake and a truck comes down every morning with the previous day's orders).

So besides purchasing physical evidence of my impending mommy-hood, I also just clicked "add" on my one and only VERY LAST class at BYU. Seriously. As of thirty seconds ago, I have finished registering for the entirety of my academic career. I've got the jibblies so hard it's putting the "EEEEEEEE" in WEEEEEEEEIIIIIIRRRRDDDD!!!!! Mike is only a little bit jealous.

Yeah, a lot of things have been sinking in recently. Such as owning furniture for the baby, and having a belly that's actually big enough for me to spill food on it, and completely finishing my education. I'm really (for REAL) going to be a mother very soon, and my life will be dictated by someone who's not a professor but has WAY more power over me. This is going to be so great. :)

Oh! and maybe I'll post pictures of our new baby room after Mike gets his manly on and builds all the furniture.

Today my boss met Katie.

My boss bought a new serger today that is specifically (and only) for T-shirt hems. Like, it does the whole thing. Super nifty. Anyways, she was telling me that she got it because her husband went and bought a handgun that he really wanted (and he's definitely not the kind of guy to actually go out and get something that he wants), so she had an excuse to get something she wanted.

So, naturally, I compared it to Mike getting his super-fancy ultra deluxe racquetball racquet, and how it justified my getting a bunch of satin and lace to make Katie's blessing dress.

When I said that, Ruth said, "Who's Katie?" I pointed to my belly.

"Oh," she said, brightening. "Hi, Katie!"

I have an awesome boss.

My pregnancy: Review at 24 weeks

Cool things about being pregnant:

• Baby stretches (even when its up against my ribs and kinda knocks the wind out of me)
• Making Mike jealous because he can't always feel the baby stretches or kicks when he puts his hand on my belly
• Super-whacked-out dreams, like the one where our car suddenly decided of its own accord to turn into a hybrid . . . and hilarity and giant spaghetti noodles ensued . . .
• Buying really cute baby clothes
• Buying really cute baby accessories
• Thinking about buying really cute baby furniture
• Cool friends who want to throw me a baby shower so we can squeal and look at cute baby things without thought of responsibility
• Thinking about the eighteen months that we couldn't be pregnant, and how those months are over
• Thinking about January, when all the soreness and inches will turn into a delicious and wonderful cuddly baby that will love me more than anyone (and I guess Mike too)
• Thinking about not being pregnant any more

Un-cool things about being pregnant:

• Heartburn (this is huge)
• Sore muscles, ligaments, and now-non-existent abs
• Waddling up and down stairs and around campus
• Not sleeping very much
• How every time anyone says anything about going to the bathroom, Katie does a Jackie Chan-esque turbo-kick followed by the Ironman 3-point power-landing on my bladder
• (All the horrific things that my body did to me during the first 5 months, about which I am not prone to think. Also the things that are starting to happen to me now that I'm 3rd trimester, also about which I choose not to think)

In all seriousness, though, this is one of the most amazing experiences of my life. During that year and a half of praying for a baby, I will admit that I didn't know, fully, how it was going to happen. But every time I say her name and she kicks me hard in the belly button, it gives me the shivers. Every time I see the little sleepers I already bought for her (with MONKEY FEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I imagine her warm little body inside them and cuddling her against me, and it makes me almost physically ache for January, when I'll get to know her for real.

Maybe I'm getting a little sentimental. But seriously? There's going to be a baby here. And saying that babies aren't the most amazing thing on the planet is like saying that ice cream is an unsavory substance that causes uncomfortable feelings in the digestive system, or saying that a jet pack is a dangerous thing to own (that was for you, Mike). Babies are just . . . the whole reason I exist right now.

Sorry. I'll stop blubbering. And hint that my mom might actually get a picture of me with my pregnant belly sometime soon . . . like, after I get my hair cut tonight. Maybe. Just saying, there's potential.

Hey Nonny

I would just like my sister to know that Mike and I passed the most gorgeous blue-eyed husky on our way home from school today. Yeah, Nonny, you BE jealous.

In other words, school . . .

Can you guess what happened at the ultrasound?

The radiologist said she's not "100% sure," but there were no . . . manly parts where there would be if it were a boy, so . . . IT's A GIRL!!!!!!!!!
I'm so excited, it's giving me heartburn.

Non-text-based Blog Post

I just realized there's been a lot going on this summer, and while I may have told you all about it, there has been no visual. And pictures are half the reason anybody even reads anybody's blog. It's true. Don't try to deny it. So I thought I'd take selections from the "SpSu 2010" folder on my computer with a little list of the major events of the summer. Here goes.

Mike may have learned to make real bread. It was quite tasty, even if the rolls got slightly burned on the bottom.

Sarah came to visit while she was at her ballet intensive. More like we kidnapped her. But then when she went home our house was always really boring.

Apparently this was more comfortable than her dorm bed. I dunno, maybe all the stanky ballerina feet finally got to her head.

And of course the usual happened . . . :)

Then we happened to meet the Pirate King. He got a little less hairy, you'll notice, but still just as ridiculously flexible. Ew. Also, did you know that the official, (cough cough legal cough) DVD of that movie is coming out in September? No more secretive eBay hunts!!!

Then the Pirate King was attacked by the Phantom of the Opera/Headless Horseman/G.I. Joe wielding a furious wooden spoon. The battle was quite epic.

Then Mike applied to med school. No big deal. Except for that it has consumed his entire waking life when he's not at work. Which, by the way, he is nowadays. He's back at the library in another Level 2 secretary position (which = really good pay). In fact, the supervisor heard he needed a job and called and asked him to apply. That's how much they like him. Then they hired him at the rate he had been at before he quit, which is much higher than most students who work at the library. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyhow, this is the picture for which I dressed him up and posed him next to our cleanest cinder block so he could attach it to his med school applications.

And these are the amazingly adorable twin boys (4 months old) we babysat this morning so their parents could go do sealings. Oh my goodness, it was so much fun. They were all giggling and happy and smiley until I got the camera out (of course). Pretending to be the parents for a few hours makes the whole actually being parents thing a little more real. Not to mention, I got so excited my brain hurt. Luke likes me better . . .

. . . but Mike and Thomas totally bonded.

All the same, I really kinda hope we don't have twins. I don't think we will, but there's always the chance. We have our ultrasound on Tuesday (!!!) and then we'll see. :)

By the way, for those interested, I finally gave up and cut my hair because the front wasn't getting long enough. It isn't the haircut I was waiting for, but it's not a mullet. It's actually quite cute. I am satisfied. . . . I just also don't like getting my picture taken. Maybe it's all the swelling.

I get to brag because Mike's not here to stop me.

BRAG: Mike totally had an official interview with the Provo Manager for Kaplan today. And apparently it went well.
Back-track: Because he did so ridiculously well on the MCAT, Kaplan (the people from whom he took his test prep class) invited him to audition for a teaching position. Thus, a couple weeks ago, he went over to Kaplan for a teaching audition. They said he could teach anything, so long as it was non-academic, and it had to be less than five minutes. So he decided to teach them how to build a snow-cave. He rehearsed it for me a couple of times (using our little refridgerator whiteboard) and he did a pretty good job, but I think he did even better when he actually got there (I don't think my snarky comments were helping him stay serious much).
Anyways, there were a couple of other guys there, one for DAT prep courses, and one other guy for MCAT prep courses--and the latter happened to be his old roommate from when we were engaged, Aaron. First thing Aaron said when he saw Mike was, "Hey, Mike! . . . You've gained a lot of weight!" To which Mike replied "uh . . . thank you." Apparently it's a good thing. Aaron taught about how to serve a racquetball and the DAT guy taught about surfing, and apparently they all did really well, because each thought the others did better than he did, and I know at least Mike and Aaron passed with flying colors and had interviews today. (I dunno, we don't keep in touch with the DAT guy. :)
So during my lunch hour Mike modeled his suit jackets for me to see which one fit him best, approved his choice of tie, and at 2 went to his interview. Apparently it went really well, but that's all I know because then he went straight to his hospital volunteer job. Yeah, rolling patients to the CT scanner! Woo!
Yeah, I'm pretty much bubbling with pride. He's pretty great.