35 Weeks

Did anyone else notice the count down ticker says 34 days?! Thirty-four days!!! I feel like last week it said 200+ days! Holy smokes! Reality is definitely setting in. I am now having dreams about labor and more and more of my thoughts are consumed with what life is going to be like in the next few weeks once our little bundle arrives! The end is near and I am soooo excited (and sooooo scared!)

I am still feeling great, just getting bigger and my stretch marks are getting longer. I can tell Baby G has less and less room to move around. I don't get many kicks but s/he doesn't let me forget s/he is in there. I usually get a butt or back pushed to the limits of my uterus which makes me belly look out of proportion to one side - usually my right side... rarely does s/he venture over to the left side. Such a waste of space!

I get a lot more comments when I am out now. Usually the "Wow, you're pregnant!" type. And my usual smart alack response is "Is it that obvious?" or "No I'm not." Then the person usually tells me what sex that baby is and that "they are never wrong". This cracks me up because in any two encounters I am usually told both boy and girl - and they are never wrong. Well, good news is, they have a 50/50 shot at being right, even if they are never wrong.

Yesterday. Yesterday was a wonderful day and marks the third time in my life I've been really surprised. (Brian is so proud of this!). My girlfriends, Christina, Katie and Alison "kidnapped" me at after work. They barged into my house while I was in the bathroom! I was expecting Brian to be there any minute because the "story" was we were meeting his folks for dinner. So when the front door opened I wasn't surprised, but when I didn't hear Spinner and Brian didn't announce himself (He likes to yell, "Hello, anybody home!?") I thought "What the ___ ?" When I walked out of the bathroom, there were three gitty girls standing in my living room yelling "Happy Baby Palooza!"

Baby Palooza history: Christina, Katie, Alison and I have been friends for about 6 years About 5 years ago, at the shore, we named ourselves "B.A.C.K." (first name initials). We are the "wives" of our respective husband's friends. Over the years we've become very close, these girls are some of my best friends! Katie was the first to have a baby, Grace, now 2 and a 1/2. So almost 2 and a 1/2 years ago we started Baby Palooza - and we've had four since then (Two for Katie, one for Christina and one for me!). Christina, our "creative one" designs t-shirts for everyone and we coordinate with the husband for the best time to execute the "kidnapping". Then, we venture out in public, making as big a scene as possible, with the large pregnant lady in tow, and go get pedicures and out to dinner. It's so much fun! And this time, it was my turn to be that pregnant one!

Here's a couple pictures from Baby Palooza 2009!! Thank you so very much girls! Baby G and I are so lucky to have you in our life! You have truly made this experience so much richer than it already was!!

Straight out of the bathroom, I am tossed a shirt and told, "Happy Baby Palooza!" Sooo shocked!

L to R: Alison, Katie, Brooke, Christina
B.A.C.K. group photo at the end of the evening after a delicious dinner at the Yardley Inn. (Monday night is was half off bottle of wine - so they obviously selected that location for me! :) haa haa)

Back of my Baby Palooza t-shirt

35 Week belly shot!