Update at 34 weeks, 6 Days (T-Minus 15 Days to Full Term!)

Pardon me if this entry skips around a bit. I'm pretty exhausted! I'm hoping to get a nap in this afternoon, but with all the work I have to do it's looking doubtful.

Baby Moves
Laurel's been active in spurts. She'll be quiet for the better part of a day... and then throw herself quite the dance party! According to the books, she's somewhere around 5 pounds now. The other day I felt a series of very large (and momentarily painful!) movements - she shifted from her spot to the right of my belly button, where she'd been for days, to somewhere a bit lower. She has not dropped, but she's not riding so high. It made it easier for me to bend over for a while but she's since shifted again and at least one of my organs is not happy about it! ;) Oooh, she's just started kicking again! Her movements are so big now, so cute, I'm looking forward to seeing them outside of the womb.

No Really, I'm 8 mos Pregnant!!!!
Over the past week, multiple people have been surprised to learn that I'm due in mid-August. One guy even made an a$$ of himself (trust me, the language is deserved) when he rudely suggested that I wasn't pregnant, just ugly fat and horribly ill due to bad eating habits. Haha, that guy has no clue!

But seriously, everyone from the gas station clerk to new pet sitting clients have told me that I only "look six months" along. Never before have I been accused of being too skinny!! Yesterday, The E.P. and I went to "Prenatal III" class to learn about newborn care with one of our HMO's pediatricians. He told me looked by far the least pregnant of the four women in the room.

This is where I realize how grateful I am to have short legs for a tall woman, and the World's Longest Waist. Trust me, she's in there, she's getting heavier and her movements are plenty strong. My bladder would have a word with those who still don't believe. =)

Hmm... what else did I want to share with you...

Extremely Bust Pet Sitting Week
Wow, this is the week that all of L'Ville decided to go on vacation. It's been exhausting. I can't get more than 6 hours of sleep a night just because I'm working so hard. I need to wind-down a little when I get home around 10 each night before I can go to bed. It's going to remain very busy until Sunday afternoon, but it's not until Monday afternoon that I really get a break - and that's after the doctor's appointment that I want to take the birth plan to! (I better get started on it!)

House Better Equipped but Still A Mess
When not working downtown or pet sitting, The E.P. and I have been working hard getting the house ready for the baby and for guests arriving next weekend. We've accumulated a lot and installed some of it!

We've got new pillows, window shades, a lamp, we have curtain rods on the way plus the cord for the lantern in the baby's room. Yesterday we bought a small electric weed whacker to save The E.P. time and effort at trimming after the baby comes - especially since our HOA has nothing better to do than complain about it. We have a privacy filter to install on the windows in our bathroom (not a major priority but needs to be done - the windows have been covered by shower curtains since we moved in.) We've boiled the shower head in vinegar to clear out the holes and changed out the aerator on the kitchen sink. We have another shower head to install in the other bathroom before our guests arrive. Literally, we're doing everything we can think of (within reason) as quickly as we can to whip this place into shape!

Of course, to do all this means we had to make a decision to let the regular house cleaning chores go for a while. It's such a mess in here. But ours is a home in transition, and fortunately we have a week to concentrate on finishing everything up. Today though I am taking a break from all cleaning and house chores whatsoever! Well, other than finishing the laundry and fixing dinner. =D

Was that all I wanted to share with you guys? I hope so. I'm pretty tired and I've got to go work on some paperwork. Snooze!