EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! My photographer, in lieu of my baby shower extravaganza on saturday posted some pics from yesterday SUPER early just so i can have some!!! FEAST YOUR EYES! they are breathtaking, and i am soooooooooooo happy with what i have seen so far!! Ms Carla Ten Eyck is an artistic genious, and she was SO much fun to work with! she made me feel gorgeous and treated me like a VIP! THANK YOU SO MUCH! for the rest of her samples, go to www.photosbycarla.com!!! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

i feel like a model!

one of our final shots of the day. love it.

carla tries to be sneaky and tells me she is shooting my shadow. i stick my belly out far and she winds up snapping me instead....

is this me and my husband? or an album cover? :)

it was 24 degrees in downtown hartford.....i was freeeeeeeeeezing!

J loves up on me....i LOVE this photo!

i'm rocking a pink stripe for avonlea. :)

maternity shoot and our first temper tantrum...

we had our maternity shoot today, and i can already tell that it is going to be AMAZING! it was an "urban shoot" in downtown hartford. She chose a pretty little parking lot where Justin first kissed me, and we braved the cold air for over an hour to get some great shots! my photographer is going to post a favorite pic to her blog in the next two days, just in time for me to print it out and bring it to the shower! I CAN'T WAIT to see them!!! just by studying her blog and work, i could totally invision what she was going for- i just CAN'T WAIT!!!!

i plan to post here, but here is her amazing website.

www.photosbycarla.com

amaaaaaaaaaazing!!!

also, i would just like to say that Avonlea had her first temper tantrum in the womb today. that's right. i just said that.
well, as i said before, she is tranverse breech, and while i was trying to take a nap, she was attempting to flip herself over. no easy feat, i'm sure. but regardless, she got herself flipped so that she was laying horizontally across my belly with her face and feet up towards my head, which i thought would be infinitely more comfortable than with her feet resting on my cervix. well.....while i was driving down to see a friend, she got her arm stuck under my left rib cage. and every time she would try to pull it out and couldn't, she would kick and stomp her feet into my belly. it was obnoxious and painful and i eventually had to pull over to do some make-shift yoga positions in the car to get her free, which finally worked.
i consider this her very first temper tantrum. she is a fiesty one! just like her daddy;)

um....

Today we had our *final* ultrasound. Avonlea is measuring quite small and is transverse breech, the rarest of all fetal positions! she is laying horizontally across my belly with her feet pointing down, which explains why my cervix feels like it went head to head in a boxing match with mike tyson. therefore, we will need another ultrasound in 2 weeks. i'm not worried, she is small (4lbs 2oz or so when she should be 4lbs 13oz) and has plenty of time to flip herself around.
i gained too much weight and got reprimanded by the APRN. :( Noooo more ice cream for me. :( now, knowing my issues with this weight gain, i would just like to share a little story that JUST happened.
Justin and I are laying on the couch. and he looks at me, smiles, and says....
"i love you! you are a porpoise!"

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!?!?! way to go, honey. way to go.

as i type this, he is very upset that i am raking him over the coals in print. he would like to add "but porpoises are the SMALLEST of all whales!"

in his defense, he did preempt the porpoise comment with "honey, if you were a porpoise and you were trapped in a frozen river, i would break the ice so you could get a breath." which was sweet until he called me a whale. lol.

silly faces

i get punchy. :)

her name on the wall, i tried to take the glare out, no such luck.

dad's and my baby bellies. :)

34 week pics

while my daddy-man came to give me a walk-in closet, sista friend came over to help me with the nursery and snapped some 34 week pics.
the nursery is basically finished, and my baby shower is on saturday! i can't wait to see everyone! i will take some nursery pics after i can clean it up a bit, but here are a few to whet your appetite. ;)

i know what you're thinking....
i had 7 days off and didn't post once??? well, i had.....things....to do? eh. not really. i spent this mini-vacation galavanting with my friend amy and the girls, sewing, being stressed out, and going to doctors.
so i will fill you in:

1. sewing: amy taught me how to use a sewing machine. and we have been making flannel baby wipes (yes, i said baby wipes- as in tushy wipes) for avonlea's adorable heiney. we have decided to cloth diaper using mainly BumGenius diapers and are soooo excited that justin's grandmother is buying a majority of the diapers for us as a gift! i know that to the unknowing cloth diapering seems like a lot of hassle, (and it might be too much for us to handle) but we are gonna give it a whirl. if it doesn't work out, we will switch to disposables, and probably feel that twinge of guilt every time we have to empty the diaper pail. :)

2. being stressed out: let's see...besides the fact that we are having the baby in 8 weeks, justin is having job issues (to put it lightly), is doing his BEST portfolio for the state of CT (part of being a teacher, i guess), and has been very absent while he tries to get it all done before the baby arrives. which is stressful anyway, but uber stressful when you are 8 months pregnant and just want your husband present with you as much as possible. especially since it's going to be a looooong time before you are ever alone together again. i just miss him i guess.
Also, the application for this years NELRP (nursing education loan repayment program) came out, giving me 3 weeks to complete it. when i have absolutely nothing ready. and this application gives me paralyzing anxiety, since i have been denied already for it. i hate doing it. and i can't even think about it....i am getting anxious already!!! aah!

3. going to doctors: since i am getting so close to baby-time, i have to go to the OB every two weeks. on top of going to my general surgeon every 4 weeks, AND my cardiologist. so, i'm kind of going all the time now. and in a few weeks, i have to start going to the OB every WEEK! who has time for that?? when i went to the cardiologist on wednesday, after telling him about a small problem i was having, he decided to put me on a heart monitor. for a month. (ugh!) which would be fine if i wasn't allergic to the adhesives and metal found in the leads. so, let's just say this is going to be a very itchy month, and i already feel like i am crawling out of my skin. :(
but, besides that, everything is good. my belly is measuring fine, the baby's growing and her heart rate is normal. and, despite the ridiculous amount of junk food i have been consuming, i didn't gain any weight. i am, however, VERY anemic, and they are very concerned, so i had to add some iron pills. if it doesnt come up by the time i go back to the MD in 2 weeks (for my last ultrasound!) they mentioned something about a transfusion. can i just have a normal anything health related in my life? the answer is no. obviously.
so, iron it is, with all the other crappy stuff they have me on. maybe that's why i am so tired this week. i have no blood! :)

in other news, i am scheduling a professional photography shoot today, and can't wait to see what she can do! i will keep you updated on that. and, our rocking chair came in! so, me and a friend are going to go see if it will fit in the jeep! i can't wait to get it in the room! then i can REALLY finish the nursery! :-D yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

i know, i know

i know i haven't posted in for-ev-er. but i had a silly stretch of working nights, and haven't had the energy, much less the time.
things here have been pretty good. i'm feeling more and more pregnant and stressed as the days wear on. especially lately, as i gained like 10lbs in the last 2 weeks. :( (hard to remind myself it is baby-fat and not amber-fat)

so i hear she is roughly 3.5lbs and about 19inches long in there. she's got a sleep pattern and a wake pattern, sucks her thumb, swallows, and pretends to breathe. it's pretty neat. :) we are starting to get the little planning done, like finishing up the nursery, finishing up the registry, and *gasp* packing the hospital bags. i know it seems silly, but it's a just-in-case thing. i think that if i went into labor now at 31.5 weeks i would freak out and forget everything important at home. so, i will probably pack a preliminary bag in the next week or so. :)

i am considering getting some professional photos taken, and am wishing that my jenny lived a little closer to use that gorgeous cannon on me. :-D (can't wait to see the jamaica pics!)

justin took a mental health day today, and i'm pretty sure we are going to lounge around and do nothing. it has been far too long. :)

have a happy thursday!