i would like to give some thanks

I am having an amazing Thanksgiving and am feeling like I would like to proclaim my thankfulness to the world!

However, I have to say that Turkey Day 2010 did not start out so wonderful.  First I was canceled from work.  So I had to kiss that holiday pay goodbye.  This always makes me feel guilty, which generally means that I do not go back to sleep in the morning.  This happened to me this morning.  But to be honest, I wasn't sleeping very well anyway, boo.  

The day continued to be icky as I was having some serious contractions this morning.  That, of course, made me all anxious and annoying.  But my loving George came to the rescue and was all supportive and understanding.  And that is when my day really picked up and caused me to want to scream my thanks from the tops of the trees.  

That being said, let's get to the thanks already.

I am so thankful for my family.  They are so amazing and supportive.  They are so excited about this little Squirt, so much more than I ever expected.  My mother, who hates talking on the phone, calls me regularly to check up on me.  It makes me smile every time.  My dad must know I love him because he asks me every time I talk to him how much weight I've gained, and I haven't screamed at him once!  And hanging out with my beautiful sister, who is so kind, independent, strong, motivated, and full of love, is absolutely the thing I miss most about home.

I am also thankful for George's family...he obviously is too!  I am clearly a unique brand of crazy in this family and yet they seem to like me just the same.  They are so open and loving and I always feel like part of the family.  The best part is seeing how much they love George.  I obviously think he's the best person ever and am so thankful that his family helped to make him like that!

I am super thankful for my Squirtfetus, a) because he was finally conceived and b) because he is going to grace us with his presence very shortly.  Speaking of that, I am so glad that he has not shown his little face yet but I am eagerly awaiting his arrival anytime after Tuesday!  He is obviously the best fetus a mom-to-be could ask for and I think that speaks volumes about how awesome he is going to be in the future!

Related, I am most thankful for my husband.  Without him I would have no fetus and no future little family of my own.  Today he was awarded the Best Husband Ever award by a seriously biased judging panel!  He is normally amazing but this year he has been exceptional.  He is supportive, understanding, and (almost) always says the right thing.  When I told him I felt so lucky that I had such a supportive husband, he looked at me like I had three heads and said how else would I be?  This is exactly my point, not every girl gets this lucky, but he just is that awesome without trying.  He always tells me how proud he is of me and even tells me that I'm not crazy when I clearly am!  He's so fantastic and I can't imagine my life without him.  In the last 11 years we've grown and changed so much, but are always getting closer.  I can't wait to see what happens in the next 11 years!

And now for some photo fun!  I am seriously thankful for the Thanksgiving dinner that George made today!  It was possibly the best Thanksgiving dinner we've ever had (sorry moms)!  He such a great cook and everything was fantastic!  In fact, it was so great I was inspired to take a picture of our feast (I felt like a certain food-blogging couple we know..what up guys!)!  

Yes, that is food for two people!  Also, while it is difficult to see, I would like to be thankful for my awesome gravy boat!  It was given to us as a wedding gift and it is seriously great!  I have never really liked gravy before but this year it was superb!  

And I am grateful that it is supposed to snow tomorrow and Saturday.  It would really make me so happy!  I know I'm the only one who thinks that but everyone else can suck it!

Ok, I think I've proclaimed enough thanks for one day.  Instead I'm going to hang out with my man.  And for those of you who don't care about me and only come here for the baby news, well, haha!  No I'm kidding, don't fret, nursery pictures will be up soon!  And of course, soon there will be a totally inappropriate number of baby pictures posted on this little blog!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

update

I am still pregnant.

The end.

charades anyone?

Who likes Charades?  I've never really gotten into it but it seemed appropriate for this occasion.  (Warning: this might just be the most embarrassing picture I've ever taken of myself!)

 Is this:

a) a weight lifting belt

b) a torture device

c) a jock strap for your belly (as George stated when he picked it up off the floor)

d) a belly support band

So...this was given to me by a fellow preggo who just had her baby.  It's a belly support band (obviously).  All the girls at work swear by it so when I started getting really uncomfortable I thought I would give it a shot.  Turns out it's actually helpful but seriously the strangest looking contraption ever!

*****

Related...I got a request for a belly picture so here it is.  And yes, I am enormous!

This is us at 36 weeks and 5 days.  Last week I was ZERO cm dilated (yay).  However, I did learn the hard way that having your cervix checked is possibly the most uncomfortable experience ever.  That was a serious violation of my personal space!  Hopefully Squirt can hold out for just two more weeks and then we can all be one big happy family!!!

confusing times in the life of a pregnant woman

Did you know it's November 4th?  And did you know there are officially 32 days left until the predicted arrival of my Squirtbaby?  And did you know I'm freaking out?

So I've always wondered why mothers tell first-time-pregnant-ladies all the horror stories of labor.  I feel blessed that no one has felt the need to do this to me!  But, to be honest, I could care less about the horrible labor stories.  I figure, it's called labor for a reason!  I also have come to the realization that he's coming out one way or another so there's no need for me to dwell on it!

On the other hand, I didn't realize before that mothers also tell first-time-pregnant-ladies these vague stories of labor.  Which, I will tell you, are the worst!  I would much rather hear the painful stories about ripping and stitching and what have you, than hear about these phantom labor stories!  And to top it off, I heard like three vague labor stories in one day, and now....well now I'm freaking out.  

The first lady told me she woke up with a "feeling."  Yeah, I've never been pregnant before and I've got a lot of "feelings"... you're going to have to be more specific.  

The second lady told me that she thought she lost her (warning) mucous plug.  So I thought, ok, that's something I can look for.  Yeah, until I found out that not everyone knows they lost their mucous plug.  

Then the third lady told me that she had some GI upset (see how I was nice there and not too graphic!) and that it's an indication that labor will start shortly.  So now I've got some GI upset (sorry for the details) and am convinced that I could go into labor at any time!

The good news is that last Friday I was worried that I was going to go into labor...you know, because of these vague symptoms I was having...but I didn't.  So one week down, four more to go!  But in the meantime, poor George has to hear every other day about how some random fingernail pain means I'm having the baby in four hours!  Sorry honey!

To add to the stress, I have already convinced one teacher to let me take my final early.  I'm hoping that today I'll be able to convince the other one.  Which of course would mean that I got everything in order, so that I could be done with my semester early, and ready for my Squirtchild, and then he'll come seriously early and my planning will have all been for nothing.  (Yes, I've been told before that I am Type A.)

Basically, the moral of the story is that I'm worried and confused about pregnancy and labor.  Every time I have back pain or a headache or a general feeling of malaise I'm worried that the next day I'll go into labor.  Even worse, and feel free to laugh, I'm worried that I'll be in labor and not know it!  It sounds crazy but I'm just not quite sure what kinda "feeling" means you're in labor you idiot!

So think good, non-labor thoughts and maybe I'll stop freaking out!