Pregnant birthday/33 weeks, 3 days

A quick entry to tell you about how you celebrated my 34th birthday with me.  'We' started the day with a tutoring session, then did some garage sale-ing.  I bought some books for you and 2 dragonfly suncatchers for me :)  We had a lovely nap, complete with many kicks and squirms from you hehe.  When dad got home from work, he brought me flowers--gorgeous carnations, my favorite (tied with stargazer lilies), then we got ready to go out to dinner with friends at Villa Verone.  Oh, was it ever yummy!!  We're going to continue the celebration tomorrow by going downtown--should be lots of fun :D  You got quite active right after the meal, so I have the impression you enjoyed it, too.  At the table next to us, I noticed there was what appeared to be a family of 3--the parents and a college age boy (I think, can't know for sure, but he was having wine, so at least 21).  I imagined that being our family in the future; perhaps you would be home for the summer to visit, and we'll be going out for one of my future birthdays.  Just one of many, many activities I hope and dream will happen...
Love you, mom.

Your room

Wow, it is 32 weeks 3 days now--time is going fast!!!  The reason I haven't written for a while is that I've been working hard on getting your room ready.  It used to be the "office" of the house; you would never believe the transformation that has taken place--it was A LOT of work (you are worth it, of course!!)
Anyhow, little by little, I've gotten the various pieces that I needed to have it ready to receive you in just a few weeks.  Much of what I have bought has come from garage/yard sales, though about half of that has been toys and other stuff for when you will be a little older.  Let's have a look:

I just painted these letters and animals over the last two evenings.  It was tedious trying to get them lined up and spaced, but I managed well, I think!  As I painted them, I didn't have them in order yet.  When I finished, I rearranged them correctly to spell out your name while drying.  Seeing your name there in front of me made me all the more excited for your arrival and, yeah, I got teary-eyed with happiness and anticipation.  I stared at the letters for a few minutes, just thinking about you and how much I love you already.

This is the corner view with the closet doors hiding your stroller, blankies, some toys, and other stuff.  About half of the closet still has office stuff, though, because there's simply no other practical place to put it at the moment.

It was really hard to get this picture, had to stand in the doorway and aim as best I could.  As you can see, I went with a pond theme, but I also added Winnie the Pooh stuff, too (my favorite blankie when I was little was one with Winnie the Pooh, so yes, I've still got a bit of a 'thing' for such décor).  Your dresser is filled with A LOT of clothes; each drawer goes one size level up for now, most likely will change this system later.  On top of the dresser, you can see a few different items.  At the far left, there is a jack-in-the-box of Humpty Dumpty (got that last weekend at a garage sale--so cute!)  Behind it, there is a Winnie the Pooh wooden puzzle block that you'll get to play with when you are older.  In the middle, there is coin bank of the "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe"; this belonged to your daddy and was in his room from the time that he was a baby!  Behind that, the lit up item is a gift from your "Aunt" Monica--it's a wax warmer that makes the room smell nice, plus it makes a nice soft light at night time.  When we need a little more light, we have the 'Hunny' lamp that next to it.

  This one shows the wall a bit better.  For now, we have just a bassinet to receive you; Nana Linda and Junior are currently making your crib and will bring it when you are born.  The bedding for it is a great set I got of Winnie the Pooh theme.

You can't see the blankies very well, despite my efforts here.  There is one from Great Nana Nicholson (the 'baby' one), one from Nana Judy, and one in the bassinet from Nana Linda.  The awesome rocker-recliner where I'll be probably nursing you and probably falling asleep many times was a gift chosen by daddy--it's super comfy!!

Here's a better view of the dresser, plus you can see the froggie wastebasket in the corner :)

One more corner view.  The Graco bag contains a 'pack and play', which I'm told will be very useful when we travel (and I believe it already, even though I've no experience with such a thing lol).

This is located on the opposite wall of the room; the whole wall is taken up by bookcases.  Because we believe that reading is so important, we have already dedicated these 2 shelves to books for you!  There are books in both French and English.  Some were gifts from your baby shower, others were eBay purchases (mainly the French books), and the rest came from garage sales.  We plan to read to you a lot, at least every night for bedtime if nothing else.

There you have it, the room as it is at the moment, ready to become officially 'yours' when you decide it's time to join us.  For now, I'll just keep enjoying you kicking and squirming in my belly (which you do quite often these days, particularly when it's bedtime).

Love you,

mommy