Packing for a trip where you come home WITH AN EXTRA PERSON

And not just an extra person, but one whose clothing size you don't know.  Does he need an adorable newborn onesie to come home in, or should I throw the three month version in there in case he's a whopper?  WHO ARE YOU, TINY PERSON?!?  This is fascinating, terrifying, and exciting all rolled into one.

In case you couldn't tell, I packed a hospital bag...or as much as I could pack with a big note stuck on top reminding me to grab all the things I'm still using that can't really hang out in a bag for an undetermined amount of time.  Just one more thing in a string of "ok, this makes is very REAL" moments that seem to keep occurring...every day.  Yeeps!  But Holden has a place to sleep and diapers and clothes and food (well, theoretically my body's working on that - science and nature at work, y'all, it's for real! - but we have some backup formula on hand just in case), so really we're ready to go.  Or at least we appear to be ready to go.  There's this whole mental/emotional component that is NOT covered by giant boxes of diapers and wipes.

Just look how super pregnant I am!!  Ahhhhh!

We've made really good progress on the nursery and the organizing of all the things - I'll give you a real post on that, but for now let me share an army of tiny clothes...

Washing all of the clothes and organizing his closet made me really, really happy.  Sometimes strange things (excessive organization!) make me happy.

In other baby-related news...my belly button hasn't really popped out (yet), which gives me great joy.  There's just something about that belly button POP happening to my own body that was weirding me out.  Although it is kinda weirding me out that my belly button is just stretching...crazy town.

Also, a note for my husband - when I share my stretch marks with you, "ewwww" is not the appropriate response, even if quickly followed by "I'm kidding!" - come on, husband, you're dealing with an emotionally wrought and extremely pregnant wife.

Early on in the pregnancy I was T-I-R-E-D, and I'm sad to report that I'm pretty much back to a very tired state.  Tiny things are exhausting, so how am I supposed to summon the energy to push a human out of my body??  Adrenaline and drugs kick in for that part, right?  Still waking up in the night (training for the parenting job to come!), although last night I'm not sure if it was kicks from Holden or my extremely vivid "being chased by dinosaurs" dream that woke me up.  Yes, dinosaurs.  Who knows where that came from...

Tomorrow is May.  I'm supposed to have a baby in May.  Eeeeekkk!!

The name game

After much debate and flipping through baby name books (the Craig method) and keeping of spreadsheets (obviously the Erin method), we finally decided on a name for our kid...

Holden Michael Pendarvis

There's his sweet little face from FOUR MONTHS AGO (dang, how did that happen?!?) when we first found out we're having a little boy.  He's certainly changed quite a bit in the last four months - I mean, he's gone from the size of a banana to a head of romaine lettuce.  Approximately.  Since it's kinda hard to see what's going on in there.

And actually, we decided all of this awhile ago...but I thought an official blog announcement was in order!

Can't wait to meet you, Holden!  Actually, I can wait a little while longer - keep on baking in there, ok? Watch, after all of this careful deliberation we'll totally change our minds when we meet him.*

* Ummm...probably won't change our minds, actually. That goes against my planning nature.

Bumpdate...entering the home stretch

Notice the glasses, clingy cat, and nighttime lighting effects - home stretch to 4/15 on this one, gang.

My God, it looks like Erin actually took a picture in the daylight!!  She must have survived the 4/15 deadline at work!  Way to hang in there through some long days, little buddy.

I actually look terrified (and fuzzy - sorry, wobbly phone pic) here, and it must be because this thing is getting very, very real.

Here's what's going on in baby world, y'all:

• I had a dr's appointment last Wednesday (freebie day off from work after surviving the craziness of spring busy season, yay!), where everything just went swimmingly well other than the epic soreness in my left arm for two days afterwards where I got my Tdap shot. However, I also booked ALL of my remaining dr's appointments up to my due date, which is mildly terrifying.  When you start going EVERY WEEK you know that things are getting extremely real.  Yeeps. 
• Those halcyon days of the second trimester are GONE, folks.  Welcome to the world of swollen ankles and feet and occasional heartburn.  
• Generally uncomfortable when attempting to accomplish simple tasks.  When I drop things I now just sigh and look at it, then decide if I REALLY need to pick it up.
• His movements, while reassuring and kinda freaky cool since YOU CAN SEE HIM JUST MOVING AROUND, are also a little painful.  And just weird.
• I miss being able to lay on my stomach.
• Want to know what I considered a night of sleep about a week ago?  I really took multiple naps instead of getting a full night's sleep.  9:45 (that's right, I was EXHAUSTED) to about 11, then from 11:30 to 4:00, awake from 4:00 to 6:00ish, then slept again until about 8 something when Zach went thunder-dogging through the house, then just refusal to get out of bed and minor moments of sleep until 9:30.  Not cool.  Although I really guess it's just training for the days to come.

Everything really has gone pretty smoothly with the pregnancy, so here's hoping it stays that way for the next month.  Ummm...he's going to be here before I know it.  Omg.

Oh, so THIS is what having a baby looks like?

Post-baby shower explosion of assorted baby awesomeness in the dining room as I attempt to organize...that's a lot of STUFF, y'all.

The Great Sorting of the Tiny Clothes!!  Why must alllllll of the tiny things be SO ADORABLE?!?  I think we're set for a while in the clothing department.

The epic "you get one shot to use the 10% registry completion coupon so let's go get all of the things" Buy Buy Baby shopping trip.  Phew.  That's also a lot of stuff, y'all.

Basically what I'm saying is that our home has exploded into a pile of baby stuff, and now that I actually have things like weekends and time to breathe I'm trying to organize it all and actually feel ready for the arrival of our tiny human child.  Going to Costco and buying 1,120 wipes will really make you feel like a mom.