Indecisive/Contemplative Nesting & Meet Phillip

Indecisive/Contemplative Nesting:

Yesterday I may have been nesting. Or, I was just being woman. :) While starting to pack our hospital bag and get our car seat set up I washed majority of Ryan's newborn clothes and a few of his receiving blankets. I couldn't decide on which ones to pack as his 'coming home outfits' so I instead placed them neatly in a basket while maintaining a smile on my face. I wonder if the hospital will let me bring the whole basket in addition to our hospital bag.

Last night I also ended up vacuuming, washing all the dishes and cleaning the stainless steal. Doesn't sound like much, but this is after totally having a crying my eyes blow out from the worst sciatic nerve pain experienced so far and Jesse asking me if I feel like I'm in control. Jesse was making sure I'm feeling enough healthy control while still maintaining the "teamwork" & good communication in our relationship. I started to unintentionally planning 'our' time without checking in with Jesse. I had also been thinking out loud about a lot of protective ideas I have been contemplating (moving to obsessing over) lately. i.e. Can sick people hold my newborn?, How much space will I be able to have with our baby when he is born?, How do I communicate/know boundaries with visitors that we want Ryan to see/meet? Will the puppy barking really disturb baby Ryan? Because that won't go over well with me.) It's easy for me to let my mind take me away. I am so thankful I have a husband who also has a grounded foundation in Christ. As a woman it is essential for me to hear loving correction and know the difference between healthy reality and runaway train thoughts. The feelings and thoughts are real and are how I am feeling, but are they true, right and healthy? Over all, are the thoughts/feelings reassuring who I am in Christ or feeding into an unhealthy 'old Liz' or who 'Liz thinks she needs to be'? I'm thankful for these occasional check ins.

The last one being rather humorous when I was yet again having another emotional night (happening more often through out the pregnancy) where hubby could be gentle for only so long. He eventually lovingly told me to stop the 'Woe is me' insecure Liz because I will one day drive our kids insane. I'll tell you! That's exactly what I needed! Unhealthy thoughts killed instantly.

Now on a lighter note....

Meet Phillip:

Jesse fell in love with a stuffed animal that plays music at Target the other day. We bought it and Jesse named him Phillip. I think he is perfect. Phillip is super soft. Ryan will fall asleep to Phillip many nights. Phillip brings out a very soft and melty side of both me and Jesse. We like Phillip. Hopefully Ryan will too.

Week 35

Well! It has been some time since we have blogged! Life has been really busy and challenging but has been super sweet. Jesse and I are constantly growing closer and closer as well as growing more as our own persons! I'm finishing up my 35th week of pregnancy and I'm ready for this kid!

Ryan has a ton of clothes, toys, books, blankets and hygiene products thanks to the few baby showers and various gifts we have received. I'm having a hard time picking what to use as his "coming home" outfit. Thank you to everyone for everything. Hopefully, we will be able to focus and get Thank You cards out...which would be an accomplishment because we are TERRIBLE at getting them done and actually in the mail.

We were in Target the other day and Jesse nearly teared up when he saw a super soft stuffed giraffe that played a soft lullaby. Jesse then held it up to my belly for Ryan to hear and told Ryan he was going to fall asleep to it a lot. My heart felt lots of happy fuzzy feelings as I watched my husband bond with the baby in my belly. When it comes to labor, I think I'm most excited to see Jesse hold Ryan Joel for the first time. I'm of course excited to hold him in my arms, but I have been holding and bonding with his every move for some time. Jesse hasn't. I'll probably cry.

Sometimes I swear baby Ryan thinks he is a ninja. One of his favorite things to do is to push on my ribs as hard as he can until his feet pop off over and over. It hurts, but I think I've gotten used to it...Or I just am a push over and let him do it because he loves it so much.

Jesse has been painting and working on Ryan's room quite a bit (as well as the rest of the house). It's almost all painted. Jesse has to fix a leak in the roof and put the floors down. Once that is done we can purchase his bedroom set!

A few things I have learned after 35 weeks of pregnancy:

*Parts of my body will never look the same. Thankfully, I'm now a mom with a loving husband so I don't really have a need to show this body off...He already loves it.
*Having a painful pelvis is pretty much the norm. (At least during pregnancy)
*Getting a flu shot does not protect you from the flu. I happened to get a strain that the shot didn't cover.
*Pain experienced after getting a foot stomped on while playing competitive soccer in the middle of winter in the snow DOES NOT compare to the pain after spending too much time on my feet while pregnant.
*I can do a lot more than I thought I could when feeling so sick during the morning sickness phase.
*Sciatic nerve pain keeps life interesting.
*Getting over gas phobias after getting married is solved by pregnancy. You kind of have to get over it.
*Even after all the aches and pains, cooking a little boy is an experience so cool words can not explain it.

I'll be trying to post more pictures and details about all the different things happening more often now that I am a professional stay at home pregnant chick. I have lots of time on my hands and little ability to do a lot. :)