Odds and Ends

1) This morning Scott finally felt the baby kick. Several times. I’ve read that if you’re a larger woman, or at least carry around more fat in your midsection, it’s not as easy to see the baby moving, or feel her if you’re not the one carrying her around, so it wasn’t a shock that up until now he hadn’t felt her. I was up early today, sneezing my head off, which got our girl moving. There was no way Scott wasn’t going to be able to feel her kick. I grabbed his hand and sure enough? Finally.

It was an awesome family moment, despite all of the sneezing I was doing. The more he talked to her, the more she kicked. I’ve certainly felt sad that he hadn’t been able to feel her, especially since so much of the past 29 weeks have allowed me to be very aware of how real this baby is in a way he hasn’t been able to share.

2) I have the beginnings of a cold. Again. I’m trying not to think about it. Because I have too much to do.

3) I’m incredibly grateful that I took the time to create the exhaustive to-do list that I have. It’s allowed me to balance out everything that needs to be done by the time the baby is due to arrive, and it’s all down on paper and accounted for so anytime someone asks, instead of responding, “Oh shit,” I can say, “That’s slated for the week of January 10.”  I’ve got everything from the hospital bag that I need to pack for both me and the baby to getting our will and life insurance policies set. There are mundane things like upgrading our Netflix subscription as well as more serious items like getting Scott a complete list of all of our bills, passwords and due dates.

Next week I’m putting together a binder filled with recipes and grocery lists to make meal planning/making easier. I tend to make the majority of our meals and I know there is no way I’m going to be interested in that part of domestic life once the baby arrives.

This nesting instinct is just the best. Seriously. I get giddy just looking at this list, even if some of it is a little irritating. I could do without the experience of spending every other day on phone with the insurance company and my doctor’s billing department, all of us trying to understand why it is that Blue Cross will pay for some of the screenings we had done but not others.

4) I still have a belly button. Was not kidding about the cavernous depths thing.

5) The remodel is moving right along. You can follow along here if you’d like. We’re hoping to be done by next week!

6) We picked up our car last weekend. For everyone who asked – we love it. Love, love, love. Scott calls it “The Batmobile.” It is the nicest car I’ve ever owned, and I sort of want to go out into the garage and snuggle up with it. Of course, I don’t know how to work all of the features, so we’re going to a clinic on Saturday. That’s right. A clinic. Seriously. There are so many buttons and gizmos to this car, you need a class to learn how to work it all. Similar to when our new appliances were installed last year, I remain in awe of technology…and I’m someone who has made her living for the past four years working SOLELY ON THE INTERNET. But analyzing behavior on the Internet and a car that can talk to me and give me turn-by-turn directions to my destination are two different things. And I know, I know. Some of this stuff has been around for a few years now, and everyone has had the luxury of getting used to the wonder that it all is. But it’s taken us a few years to save up for this stuff, so I’m a little behind the curve.

7) Jessie is coming over next week to take pregnancy pictures. I’ll finally post pictures of this big ol’ belly for you guys. Seriously.