Likely the last...

This is likely the last post before this baby arrives, or at least we can announce labor has begun. 37 weeks and 3 days. I decided I should take a few last pictures of prego world (glad to be leaving this stage behind!) and added some of the nursery as well, since it's essentially finished.

I've gained about 35 lbs, whether the rest of the world notices it or not (aside from the bump), I do, and I'm ready to return to "normal". Ug...35 extra pounds on a bike is quite noticeable. The most I can hope for is that riding will feel amazingly easy once it's all gone! I will be able to climb small hills without knowing they're hills and hopefully be able to tackle large ones and just be familiar with the pain. Ha. No major swelling...my feet are still my feet, my hands are mostly the same, though I did take off my wedding band and engagement ring and am wearing Jonathan's engagement ring instead. I do not enjoy the feeling of rings being even the slightest bit tight, so his has been a relief. No stretch marks! Wohoo! At the beginning of this pregnancy, I realized that stretch marks were a likely possibility and simply unpreventable, so I resigned myself to the fact that it could happen. Needless to say, I am quite happy that they never showed up.

I guess I still look fairly normal from the back...which may be why I get shocked expressions when people walk past and then happen to turn around. Certainly not normal from the front...
The nursery is just about complete, aside from a few finishing touches like the wall above the crib, adding some fun pictures, etc. Oh, and a rug.

Little bookshelf to house the "library" we developed thanks to everyone who attended the baby shower. My mom sewed the valances. Rocking chair is essential of course...we went the route of using a classic old wooden one we inherited from family friends instead of the $500 gliders we've seen at Baby's R Us (though they do look quite comfy!).

Every child's room must have a rocking horse of course! My mom found this one at a yard sale. can't quite see it...but we also put a toybox in here that I had when I was a little kid. this room is an eclectic mix of "memorabilia" and modern necessities I guess.

This is our awesome mobile that Adam brought back from Kenya for us. Seriously, is this not THE coolest mobile you could possibly have? And it even fits with the "jungle friends" theme of the bedding. 3 Tiered mobile...I still can't get over this thing.

Crib...hamper...pretty self explanatory. Happy little jungle animals.

Ikea dresser with the changing pad. Hanging up are the slings my mom got us-she made the green one. The wooden calendar hanging on the wall was a prize that Jonathan picked out at our family reunion Bingo game. I haven't completely put it together yet, but it's a fun addition.

So, we are set. Not featured in the pictures are the stroller, pack and play, etc, which are also ready to be used. We even put the carseats in this week, that felt bizarre. I have this fear of carseats being insanely complicated, but was glad to learn that they've either been simplified over the years and aren't that difficult, or I was just living under false assumptions. Either way, it wasn't that hard to figure out, though...it's weird having them there, especially when we're throwing bikes in the back and it's not quite as easy to fold seats down!

I have a doc appointment at 11:30, so I guess I'll post any news from that if it's important. Otherwise, realistically (since we just don't blog much!), the next post will probably announce whether this baby is a boy or girl and have more entertaining pictures from his/her arrival.