32 weeks...wow!

29 weeks

How far along?  32 weeks, 8 weeks left
How big is the baby?  If you were to ask me, I would say he is HUGE because I feel huge!  According to the books, he is almost 4 pounds.
Maternity Clothes?  Um...yes.  A friend introduced me to the maternity section at Ross that I never knew existed.  It has been a life saver!  Their clothing is so much more inexpensive than anywhere else.
Sleep?  Well, even when I'm not pregnant I don't sleep well.  I get up about 3-5 times a night to use the restroom, and another 3-5 times during the night because baby boy pushes his feet against my side and hits my tickle spots!
Best moment this week?  Shane was sweet enough to let me fly to California to vacation for a few days with my family.  While I was gone he finished up painting our basement!  We will be getting carpet tomorrow, which means very soon we will be able to begin working on baby boy's room.
Movement?  This little one doesn't STOP moving!  My belly looks like I have a huge fish flopping around in there.  If I fold my arms against my belly, he pushes back with all his might.

32 weeks

If I lie on my side in bed, he kicks and kicks against the mattress until I roll over to the other side...then he will kick the other side of me until I roll over again (another reason why I don't sleep very well!).
Food Cravings?  During most of my pregnancy I have been drawn to fresh fruits and vegetables.  Lately I have been wanting crispy french fries in the mix.
Food Aversions?  None.
Hormonal buggers?  Luckily I haven't been very "hormonal" during this pregnancy, but recently I have been extremely bothered by mouth sounds.  Shane woke up to me bawling and covering my ears in the middle of the night a few weeks ago because I was so bothered by the sounds he was making in his sleep!  Poor Shane...I try to not let it bother me but I can't help it!
Labor Signs?  I get braxton hicks contractions multiple times a day.  They aren't painful, but my belly gets so super hard!  I actually didn't even realize that they were contractions until my mom told me ;)
What am I looking forward to?  Being able to do something about this nesting.  Once our carpet comes, I will be able to REALLY clean and prepare for baby!
Weekly Wisdom?  Having a baby doesn't mean you have to spend hundreds of dollars on equipment.  There have been so many items that I would LOVE to have, but they just weren't practical in price.  I found bedding for $40, travel system (car seat, base, and stroller) for $60, super cute diaper bag for $30, I haven't spent hardly anything on maternity clothing, etc...and all of these things were brand new and had great reviews.  We have also been given many hand-me-downs that are in perfect condition...using hand-me-downs is okay!

I feel like my pregnancy has FLOWN by, and I'm beginning to feel rushed to get things done and ready for when this little boy arrives.  SO super excited to have him here!  If you have any advice for me, please share!

right, or left? woes of a pregnant woman

Being pregnant has brought on some silly traits in me, one being that I seriously can't figure out right from left anymore.
While I teach ballet I will ask the girls to begin with their right foot in front (but in my head I am thinking LEFT foot).  They will all obey and put their right foot in front...then I proceed to boldly announce, "GIRLS.  I asked you to put your right foot in front. Please listen to what I am asking you to do!" (all while I am standing there with my left foot in front)
...of course none of them move and they all start looking around wide-eyed as if to say, "um...I'm not exactly sure what you want me to do here..." until one of the girls will dare to raise her hand to tell me that indeed they DO have their right foot in front.
Ugh, seriously?  Am I really that unintelligent?  Did I really just get upset at my dancers for following my instructions perfectly?!  And I promise you, this happens every single day that I teach.  Every.single.day.
Let's proceed to jazz class.  On the walk over from one studio to the other, I hold out each hand and lecture myself..."okay Kenzie, this hand is your left hand.  This hand is your right hand.  Left, right.  Get it right."  It doesn't work.  I STILL struggle...I still get stern with my dancers...I still feel totally embarrassed when I have to be corrected by a 10 year old.
And what's up with by ever hardening belly?  I can't for the life of me complete all of my jazz stretches with my dancers because the massive basketball that has implanted itself up underneath my rib cage doesn't deflate enough for me to be able to reach my toes.  Weird...this is something I definitely have never experienced before!  What makes it totally hilarious is that while I am strangling myself to get my hands near my feet to stretch, my little dancers mimic me, as if they should be feeling a stretch by not stretching at all.  Oh it makes me laugh!  Then I have to say "don't follow me!  You don't have a baby in your belly!  STRETCH!"
All of this is so new, so different, and so extremely exciting.  I may be big bellied and unintelligent, but I am becoming a mother.  I am blessed to still be able to be up on my feet teaching dance to many beautiful young girls, who don't judge me for my inconsistencies.  They compliment me on my teaching outfits (that are much to tight to be cute anymore), and cheer when I can still get into my splits, only to hold them for ONE second before I think my legs might rip out from underneath me.  Baby boy loves to move around while I attempt to show a pirouette, and especially while I am teaching a new petit allegro combination.  It reminds me that ALL of this is heaven sent, and meant to be.
(okay...but it really would help if I could remember right from left...honestly. oh well!)

Projects that NEVER end

You all remember that super adorable, well made dresser that Shane and I decided to re-finish for the baby's room?  We thought we had such a good idea and a fun project on our hands...

NOT.

The dresser took LOTS of sanding, and more than half of it had to be done by hand.  Because the sanding was so hard to do by hand, we decided to try some paint stripper to quicken the project.  The paint stripper didn't work...it only made the sanding worse.  It was like sanding through layers of glue, plus the stain on the dresser.  After tons of work and backache, it was finally ready for primer.

Primer went pretty smoothly, except that the dresser pretty much drank it up.  We had to do three coats of primer to even barely cover the wood!  Once that was finished, I began to paint.  While I was painting, something just didn't seem right...the paint was super thick and wouldn't spread on very well.  Once it dried it was really rough (there would be NO way to clean or wipe off the dresser if it got dirty...which it will with a baby!).  I was SO disappointed.  Back to sanding.

Shane and I then decided to try spray painting it, because we had heard of so many people who have had great success with spraying furniture.  We studied everything on how to do it just right, bought all the right tools, and showed up PUMPED that this time, it was actually going to work!  We just knew it.  After an hour of taping off the inside of the dresser and all the drawers (painful process) we began to spray.  IT DIDN'T WORK.  For some reason the wood wouldn't take the paint smoothly and it looked awful...even after all the proper preparation.  Plus, since we were doing this project at my parent's house, we realized that even after placing tons of drapes down underneath the dresser, the white spray paint still went all over their garage floor, walls, tools, etc.  We felt awful, and we were so upset and ready to throw in the towel...we were spending so much money on this dresser just trying to make it work, AND we were ruining my parent's property doing so!  We left that day feeling quite down.

That same day my cute parents put their heads together to try to figure out how to make the dresser work.  They sanded it down (again) and borrowed some paint that my sister in law had been using to paint a table in her home.  After trying out this new, super cool, super expensive paint...IT WORKED! This paint was totally amazing...it actually went on smoothly and made the surface just perfect.  After a few coats, the dresser looked just how we wanted it to.  

So, I am happy to announce that after a whole month of backache, heartache, and frustration, the dresser is happily sitting in the baby's room (but I still don't love it enough to take a picture to show you...it's going to take some time people).  Oh wait...have I even TOLD you about the baby's room?  

...it's a mess.

...a complete and total disaster.

And it all stared with our great idea to finish our basement (which is still a good idea, I'm just DONE with projects)...

Every piece of furniture and accessories that belong in the basement are filling up the baby's room...and there is no room to even organize the mess that is going on in there.  

We are in the beginning stages of painting the basement, and now that you know my feelings about paint, I am feeling overwhelming amounts of anxiety just getting started on it.  I need it done, and I need it done NOW.  It has taken us forever to get to this point, and I worry that it's going to be forever from here until it is done.  

But it can't take forever...you know why?  We have a sweet little baby boy on his way in just 10 short weeks, and he has nowhere to call a room (unless he wanted to sleep on boxes of bathroom fixtures...).  

You know why else?  That little boy's mama is going crazy with not being able to really prepare for him...to make sure that the house is clean (I don't even remember my house without dust, despite the fact that I dust every day), that the rooms are organized, and to establish a feeling of warmth and peace in this home once again.

I don't even have the mental capacity to post pictures of this mess right now...but I'm sure you can conjure up a great image in your minds of what I am going through.

What I need to remember is that all of this has come about because of this little blessing that we are calling our son.  We already love him more than our hearts can contain, which makes me inevitably love the chaos that is happening here.  

I'm just ready for it to be over...before he arrives ;)