Baby Update: 31 weeks

Baby is pretty much what occupies all my time and thoughts these days. I literally keep forgetting my birthday is in less than a week (yaaaayyyy 32!). Thankfully I have a sweet husband who keeps reminding me and has planned a stellar camping trip to celebrate. But, in the mean time, back to baby.

Sunday I hit the 31-week mark, which means this babe will be considered full term in 5 weeks. And may come to our home in another 9 or so. What the? This is the nutsiest! We are going to have a real, live tiny human in our house SO soon. Ty and I were chatting in the living room when he exclaimed how, so soon, we will have a baby in the house ALWAYS. "Like...not just for a day or a week," he said. "He will ALWAYS be here." Which was equal parts fantastic and frightening. It makes me thankful there will be two of us to ease our way into this amazing parenthood adventure together. I have no idea what we are getting ourselves into, but I can't help but be really really excited for it.

I re-read over these 5 Wonderful Mothering Tips from Cup of Jo this morning, and they totally made me smile (especially the Babies Be Babies - "Your spouse is not the enemy..."). Among other advice, I've had a few friends tell me to snuggle our little guy like crazy when he gets here, and not to worry if nothing else gets done, which I really really liked (he's only little once, after all). I've also been informed that's it's okay to cry. A lot. And to feel overwhelmed and need a break sometimes. So, thank you for that. At least I will know I am 100% normal when those times comes.

The great news is we have nearly everything ready! Well, at least home speaking. The rooms are painted. The excess furniture is sold. We have places for guests to sleep. And a sweet friend of mine even commented that Casa Clark is looking quite fancy lately, so if that doesn't say "guest and baby ready," I don't know what does. If I wanted to go crazy, I would try and paint the kitchen cabinets and master bathroom in the next few weeks just for funsies (we'll see), but overall things are feeling much more settled and prepared in the Clark house for this babe as is.

On the to-do list still is devoting a Saturday morning to shopping to stock up on all the little essentials (both baby and non) so when he gets here we don't have to worry about if we have enough toilet paper or dog food or laundry detergent. I want to prepare as best as possible so when he gets here we can just savor holding him and loving him instead of rushing about. I also still need to read the baby books on my nightstand. ALL THE BABY BOOKS. What have I been doing for 31 weeks?!. goo. Wish me luck.

And, to round things off, here are 5 nicki-pregnancy happenings as of late:

1. Every time I leave one of my doctor's appointments, my doctor departs with the phrase "Keep being perfect!" as we exit the room. I guess low blood pressure and no crazy symptoms are much appreciated in his book. Mine too.

2. I haven't had much of an appetite in the evenings after dinner lately. It's kind of nice not to feel like I need to eat constantly. Plus, it saves me from some oh-so-lovely heartburn. Oh heartburn -- I really don't like you.

3. My hair has been abnormally dry with these baby hormones, which means that as of late I only wash it every 7-10 days. Is that gross? Okay. Good. Didn't think so either.

4. I recently purchased two pair of maternity pants. Life. Changing.

5. Overall, I feel like a freaking champion still. And I promise to be grateful EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. that I don't feel like an overly huge, uncomfortable pregnant woman (as I am sure those days are coming).