34 Weeks & "boy oh boy oh boy"!

On Saturday my 2 very good friends Laci Brandley and Jacie Saltzman threw me a wonderful baby shower with some of my most favorite people. I'm so grateful for these amazing girls and the awesome job they did throwing such a fun party. Throughout all of the changes that are about to happen in our life, it's a huge comfort to know there are people there who love us and support us throughout it all!

The food spread... of course a highlight.

Just a few of my forever friends:

Erin & Rachel Simmons

The Thorkelson Girls: Tati, Kelsey, Sydney, Mary Ann

Kimber & Kenzie

Erica Hawkins skyping with my mom- she was sad she couldn't be here, so she sat up on the piano during the shower so that she could be there in spirit.

Baby boy Bennett got all sorts of spoiled with cute clothes and other fun toys. He's not even here yet and he's already getting all sorts of love from all his Momma's friends!

This is the list of comments that Laci wrote down while I was opening gifts... all things that were highly acceptable in the setting of gift opening. Then at the end, Laci read them all back as statements made during conception. It's amazing how quickly the acceptable statements became highly comical & inappropriate.

Tati Thorkelson- we've been friends since birth.

Sister.

Jacie & Laci, the women of the hour responsible for the wonderful shower.

Cousin Kayla & her little boy Russell

I can't say thank you enough to everyone who came to the shower, all these wonderful people who already love this baby boy almost as much as we do!

Sunday also marked the point of 34 Weeks. I seriously cannot believe how fast it just snuck right up. On the phone last night with my mom she said, "It's kind of starting to freak me out, you're actually having a baby. Being pregnant is one thing, but you are actually going to be having a baby in 5 weeks!" (apparently she's predicting he will be a week early- I won't complain) So here is a glance at pregnancy at 34 weeks:

• Some serious back pain- I swear I can't truly get comfortable for any extended period of time. Sitting for very long makes my back hurt, so then I stand which makes my back hurt, and then I'll lay down to take the pressure off and after a few minutes that, it makes my back hurt. Constant repositioning is the only thing that works.
• Nesting is in full swing- We're starting to get the baby's things all put together and organized in our second bedroom. I bought a changing table on KSL last week and we've since cleaned out quite a few things from the closet to make room for all of the baby's things.
• Officially got the carseat out of the box and have it ready to go at a moment's notice. We can just throw it in the car and be on our merry way as soon as he decides to get here!
• Still managing the gestational diabetes, which is proving to have many unforeseen advantages. It's really been a good thing to cut out most desserts/candy and limit carbs. It's made my weight gain healthy, but still minimal.
• At my last appointment on Friday, he was measuring at 34 weeks- right on schedule. Hopefully managing my blood sugars means he won't be huge! The thought of birthing a 10 lb baby is not exactly enticing.
• He is incredibly active multiple times throughout the day. Especially right after I exercise. He kicks like crazy, has the hiccups often, and reassures me constantly that he's still in there and growing strong.
• He is still really high up and is becoming quite the impairment in my breathing. But really, who needs to breath anyway?
• Chad is hoping that he comes a week after his due date so that he can get through all of his midterms before the little man gets here & becomes the center of our universe. He's even of the opinion that it would be awesome if he was 10 days late and born on Leap Day- February 29th. I'm a little less than thrilled with the thought of waiting 10 more days than we have to, so we'll just have to see!
  
• The 2 names we are leaning towards are: Ryder & Drew. Still haven't exactly settled on one name yet, but we've got a list of 5 or 6 names that we both like and agree on and as soon as we see his chubby little face for the first time, I think we will know better which one suits him best.
• I have never known such feelings of excitement & anticipation- just thinking about him actually being here in my arms is like all of my Christmases added up into one single event. Sometimes I think about how it's only 6 short weeks away and it still feels so unreal.
  

We sure do love this little boy of ours...