ED Day +5

Today was my last day at work before I take my maternity leave. It was so hard to go! I've never left work for more than a week (for vacation) and now I'm going to be gone 6-7 weeks.

Almost all of my coworkers are women and moms, and they have been tremendously helpful to me during my pregnancy. As I announced that I was leaving everyone got up from their cubicles to bid me good-bye and wish me luck. It was so sweet.

It's going to be so weird to not work for 6 weeks. I've been working since I was 15 years old. I've never had this much time off.

Yeah, yeah--I know that I'll be busy with a screaming mimi (please don't be a screaming mimi, baby! please!) but it'll be weird to not have to report somewhere every day. To not have contact with the world's workforce or have to put on a uniform/pantyhose.

Hmm, wait a second...the no-pantyhose part actually sounds appealing...

ED Day +3

So I'm going to try to post on this every day until baby comes so that readers can rest easy--if I've posted a blog entry, I'm obviously not in labor! :)

We have received so many wonderful gifts for our child--it's overwhelming how generous people are! As I got the baby room ready this last weekend, I decided to take a photo of some of my fav things that baby H will get to enjoy.

There are homemade items (like the blankets), unique used things found in a second-hand store or something (Seuss book and Kittens book), and bitchin' clothes.

Most of the homemade items are on the left. I would like to give props to the people who made something, as I understand the time and love that went in to them:

• Pink and white blanket: Andrea
• Green and White blanket (Go STATE!): Heather P.
• Yellow blanket: Beth's mom
• Pink knit hat: Grandma Hunt
• Striped bolero sweater (isn't it the bomb?!???): Lizzy from London
• White sweater: Mom Marian
• Pink bibs: Sarah D.
• Burp cloths with blue and brown ribbon: Jess F.
  

Thank you to all who have helped us get ready for this kid. We couldn't have done it without every single one of you!!

Five Finger Discount

Friday saw me through my final baby shower, which was put on by my coworkers. It was so nicely done. I have wonderful coworkers. Baby H got lots of neat things, including a barrage of sleepers. Final count for sleepers received: 28. Fortunately, they’re all different sizes, so I should be able to use them all. She also got a cute pink plush monkey which cracks me up, and my dream outfit for a little girl: a short pleated jean skirt and rainbow striped tights (the outfit also included a hot pink top and a hot pink cable-knit beret)! Agh! They’re the 12-month old size, so I have to wait for her to get bigger. She also got a pink MSU warmup suit that I wish came in my big girl size. Now I’m ready to have the baby so that she can start growing so that she can get big enough to wear her outfits.

I asked Marian what babies wear for the first few months. “Sleepers,” she said. “Ok. What about when you go out in public?” “Sleepers,” she repeated. Bo-ring!! I told JB that this is yet another reason that little babies are boring. You can’t do their hair. You don’t dress them up. They don’t say funny things yet. Sigh.

Out of baby’s present bounty there were a few doubles. So Friday night JB and I took baby’s Target gift cards and got some more store credit, and picked out things that we hadn’t gotten yet: a crib mobile, itso storage boxes for the closet, and a plush “Classic Pooh” piglet to go with her Pooh and Eeyore toys.

As we were leaving the store I was reviewing my receipt. The total I had tallied in my head was more than we were charged. JB was pushing the cart out of the door when I said, “JB, they didn’t charge us for Piglet.” He stopped the cart and we saw piglet sitting in one of the storage boxes, overlooked. He snatched Piglet up and jumped back in line while I went to the car. He was in the store for a very long time and when he finally returned to the car he said, “The lines were so long that I almost just walked back out the door with it!” However, integrity prevailed and we paid for Piglet.

Sunday we returned to Target and bought more of those dang storage boxes and also groceries, etc.

We were walking out the doors again, in the same exact spot, when I noticed a gallon of milk sitting in the bottom of the cart. I tried not to laugh as I said, “JB, they didn’t charge us for the milk.” He looked down at the cart. He looked at me. “I’m not getting back in line. Let’s just go.”

So we sort of stole milk from Target.

Tuba time

Well, I'm at the point in pregnancy where I move more slowly and at times am subject to the very humiliating waddle.

JB likes to sing this song to me whenever he sees me moseying along. It makes me laugh.