38 and then some

38 weeks along....very close to 39 weeks.... 

and it sure does show. 

i remember telling will when i was about 24 weeks that i couldn't imagine my belly getting any bigger. 

it just seemed impossible....but here is the proof that it is possible.

i look back at those earlier pictures and my belly is so tiny to compare with now. 

rolling over in bed seems like the biggest chore these days.  i'm sure i look as attractive as i sound....grunting and everything. bending over to pick something up off the floor is terribly hard.  i've finally reached the point in pregnancy where i feel limited and sometimes rather uncomfortable.  but i'm not complaining at all because i bet when this is over in a matter of days i'll miss it. 

i'm going to just keep reminding myself of that fact and be happy with my overgrown limited state.

unreal

pretty soon there will be a tiny person to dress in these tiny clothes and it is crazy for me to think about....because it still doesn't seem real.

i know that'll change very fast once i see her and hold her for the first time.

bunny rescuers

first i have to say i really love that i married someone who has such a soft spot in his heart for animals.  we both would try to save all sorts of little critters in we had the chance....especially will. 

as we were going to bed last night we noticed one of the kitties had this tiny bunny cornered on the back porch.  will grabbed it before something terrible happened and made it a home in a cardboard box complete with food water and a cozy bed of old shirts.  we weren't sure if it was injured or just terrified so we got it set up as best as possible to stay the night in our room.   

all we could do was stare at it and talk about how tiny and adorable it was.

will even got up in the middle of the night to check on it.  i guess he's practicing the dad thing a little early.

this morning we woke up to this....

a bright eyed bunny that didn't seem injured or scared. 

i did a little research online and discovered it should be fine to release.

we found a safe kitty free spot, put it on the ground....

and the sweet little bunny hopped away.

that made our day.

37 and snow

 

37 week baby bump in my favorite kind of weather.

didn't even know i was taking this picture but i think it's a lovely shot of my growing belly.

it was the kitties first experience with snow.  houndstooth begged to go outside so we let her for a little bit and she was so adorable.  she's such an adventurous little girl...i think she would have stayed out there chasing the snowflakes all night if i let her.

pellegrino on the other hand.....he wasn't so sure.

as my mom left our house i made her stop for a few pictures in the snow and i love how this one turned out.  she's a beauty, that mother of mine.

i had will pose with our pizza in the snow. 

pizza has been my thing the past few days.

will took this one...a view from our driveway.

this is from our bedroom door.  i told will i like the snow because it makes our ugly non-landscaped backyard look pretty.....like it's covered in frosting.

a couple more of will's masterpiece photos.

ice on the antenna of our vehicle.

snow is magical to me.

luckily growing up i got to experience it quite a bit more than the average person living in our town because we lived in the mountains.

i remember sitting in the back seat as a kid watching the snow fall as we drove home and being completely mesmerized by it.

then when the headlights would shine on the ground i would pretend that the millions of sparkles i saw were tiny camera flashes going off or maybe diamonds.....always something imaginative.

luckily will shares the same love for snow. 

when it happens around here (rarely) we always make a point to stand outside in it, take a billion pictures, drive around in it without a real place to go, and open every blind in the house to watch it fall.

we are giddy like little kids and we make up pretend scenarios like.....

hopefully it snows all night and there is so much of it that we don't have to go to work.

didn't happen but still....we enjoyed every second of the snow while it lasted.

another party for e

i was spoiled with a second baby shower today. 

a couple of girls from work put it all together and made me feel special. 

i was extremely lame with the picture taking once the party started but i did manage to take these few before the festivities.  now i wish i would have at least taken pictures of those responsible for putting it all together, because it meant a lot to me that they went out of their way to do such a thing. 

i'd have to say that this whole pregnancy experience has reminded me of how many caring wonderful people i have in my life.

i feel shocked and almost embarrassed at the outpouring of love.

in fact i spent part of a morning earlier in the week sitting at my desk fighting back tears because i felt  grateful to be surrounded by generous people that have been a part of my life for so many years.

i'm pretty sure this little girl i have locked up in my tummy is very loved already.

a very sweet book

my friend aleasha came by to visit yesterday.

it is always nice to have time to catch up with her. 

there is never a silent moment when we get together. 

she came over with a giant gift bag full of wonderful things for little miss e. 

while i loved all of the items she brought, this sweet book has got to be my favorite thing. 

not just because it is magically written but also because aleasha wrote a beautiful little message to our girl inside the book. 

it made my heart do a happy dance. 

to any parent who hasn't heard of this before.....find a copy and read it to your little love. 

it is precious.

35/36

here is the baby bump at 35 almost 36 weeks. 

i knew there was some serious growth recently because i've been increasingly uncomfortable but wow....i am amazed when i see this picture. 

i think i'll really miss feeling her move inside there in a few weeks, but i'll be happy to haul her around in my arms instead. 

L

today is grandmother whistle's birthday, although she prefers to be called L.

she claimed to be 33 today but if you add 40 years to that you'll know how old she really is.  

although i'm sure L could pass for 33.  she's the most vivacious, wild, full of life 73 year old i know.  

she had me and everyone else cracking up at dinner tonight with her stories.

grandmother....please write them all down....write a book for me.

my favorite story of hers from the evening started like this...

"when my shetland pony trampled me..."

then there was one that went a little something like this

"i could feel the live frog jumping around in my belly"

and

"i almost died once,  i almost ate a live puffer fish.  he would have gotten scared once i swallowed him and puffed up inside me."

i was completely entertained tonight.

reading and reading some more

between nesting and my regular day to day obligations this is what i've been doing...

reading like crazy! 

i'm typically not a major bookworm.  i think the main reason is because i have a hard time focusing on just reading because my mind wanders so much.  then i end up having to re-read pages just to know what is going on and i get frustrated.  i have been known a few times in life to really get lost in a book but it doesn't happen often.  a few weeks ago i felt the urge to read so i started reading manifest west.

a book written by a very dear friend.

if you notice his note he wrote in my copy of the book you'll see it only took me two years to finally read the thing but once i started reading it....i was hooked. 

i loved it and told will he should read the book. he plowed through it in record time and loved it as well.

then for some strange reason i felt the need to read a book from 4th grade....bridge to terabithia. so i did just that.

next i got sick for a week and during the days i missed from work and the miserable sleepless nights i found myself comforted by the hunger games series.

i've heard over and over how great that series was but i just didn't take the time to bother with it.  

i am so glad i finally did because it has completely sucked me in.  i am a little over halfway through the final book and as much as i want to keep reading i am trying to pace myself because i don't want it to be over.  

i guess pregnancy has turned me into a book worm.

strange...but i like it. 

mini eggs

guess what i can't seem to get enough of these days...

that's right...cadbury mini eggs.

however this isn't a pregnancy thing.  it's more of an every year of my life when easter is coming up sort of thing.