31 weeks (9 more to go!)

The baby ticker says we've graduated to watermelon size! I'm assuming that's one of those "personal size" watermelons, not a traditional "american size" one. Here is a belly picture for this milestone.

As you can see here, I have outgrown my maternity tank tops. Also, I borrowed one of Josh's belts today, because I really like this pair of maternity pants, but they just won't stay up. The belt sort of makes it look like I have a beer gut though, which is why I think pregnant ladies don't wear belts. I threw a sweater on over it all and no one was the wiser. How do you feel about the gold curtain backdrop? Very "theatre dramatic" I thought. I still feel like I haven't gained much weight elsewhere on my person, which I'm pretty happy about. My face and legs feel a little chubby, but I'm pretty sure it's just water retention and that I will lose that pretty quickly after the baby is born. I have never spent much time worrying about my weight, but I would like to not tote around 30 extra pounds of baby weight after the birth if possible.

Today I came home to find Richard standing in the hallway just outside of the Bloob's room, looking very sleepy. He was smart enough to get out of the crib when I opened the front door, but not smart enough to walk to the other doorway and pretend he had been sleeping in another room. I went and felt around in the crib, and just as I suspected, a warm spot! And cat hair. So I lined it with foil, as the internet suggested (cats hate walking on foil) and now we have a space age crib.

I can't wait to hear the sound of him jumping in there on the foil. I hope it happens when I'm home! He's gonna be so bummed. He's been pretty needy lately, and wants to spend every moment that I am sitting down laying on my belly. I think he is trying to assert his dominance early, so we don't forget about him after the baby comes. He's also been eating a lot of food, which is weird for him. Josh is too, now that I think about it. We are all gaining baby weight in solidarity.

I worked on sewing some changing table covers this past week. They were pretty easy, and way cheaper than the $20 store ones! Apparently changing table pads are high tech safety devices now, so they come with a safety strap, and two tabs under the pad that you screw down to the table to keep it from sliding off.

Can you see one of the tabs sticking out (picture below)? This seemed smart to me until I was putting on the cover and I thought, how do you change the cover with the pad screwed down to the table? I have to figure that out I guess. I also don't plan on leaving the baby unattended on the changing table, so I'm not sure how necessary it all really is. Let's be honest here Moms - how many times did we (your kids) fall off changing tables or other furniture and were fine? I turned out okay without a safety harness!

Josh is feeling very impatient for the Bloob to be out of my belly. Even more than me I think. Almost every night when we get in bed he talks about how he wishes the Bloob was out for snuggling. I get such an intimate relationship with the baby now, since I can feel every movement, it must be frustrating as a Dad to want that too, and not get to have the same connection. On the other hand, he doesn't have to get up 5 times a night to pee. He's also been putting my shoes on for me most days, which he says is good toddler training. I think I'm worse than a toddler though, since I say "no, too tight!" and then "now too loose!" "can you make the bow smaller?" "double knot!" etc. etc.

Baby shower invitations are going out in the mail tomorrow, so keep an eye out! We are so excited to have all of you guys here. Ali, I think you're the only one who doesn't have a plane ticket yet…

We can pick everyone up from the airport, and between my car and Josh's car, no one should need to rent one. There are a couple of hotels really close to us (Econolodge is two blocks away, takes 5 minutes, tops, to walk there!) If anyone need info on that, let me know.