I am my own planet

I was sitting in the car a few days ago.
Sitting.
Not driving.
The car was not moving.
I was in the middle of a big city.
The GPS was on my leg.
Then the GPS slid up my leg and wedged under belly.

And then I heard what made me laugh and cry at the same time.

"Lost satellite reception"

The GPS apparently does not service my planet and orbiting moon.

So this is how it feels to be fat.

Bella Band

Image from here.

I am not sure why no one told me about the Bella Band earlier so I figured I would inform any pregnant friends who read this! I put my regular jeans back on and I was thrilled about it all day! It is just a stretchy piece of fabric that covers up that your pants are unbuttoned and keeps them up! It is really comfortable, too!

They sell them at Target (Be Band Maternity Band) for $17.

Independence Day Weekend

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Columbus with Sam's family! It is so nice having some family nearby and we will be sad when these weekend trips to Columbus cannot happen anymore!

We went to a parade and I enjoyed watching my niece and nephew chase after the candy being thrown!

Sam loves playing with his nephew Stephen

All of the children watching Toy Story

Lighting sparklers in the middle of the day

Getting ready for the fireworks show

Sunday was Ellie's (Sam's sister) birthday!

Seven States in Three Days

Sam had to go to Maryland to supervise another lead technician's office for a weekend so I went with him! While we were there, we visited some friends and family and saw a few nearby states too!

Friday, June 26th

We were trying to get from Maryland to Virginia and we were just following the GPS. Suddenly, we found ourselves on a ferry! $4 later and we had crossed the Potomac!

While Sam was working, I would just sit in the car. It was 90 degrees and I sat in the car for five hours! We spent most of the day in Virginia. Poor time management got us stuck in DC rush hour. It took forever to get out of that! We ended up getting to Baltimore after dark. In Baltimore, all of the houses are very close together. Most of the time they are touching! And everyone is outside wandering the streets.

We noticed the pretty blue flashing lights on top of the street lights but didn't know what they meant. We found out later that I was hanging out in the car in the blue light district! All of the flashing blue lights means that there is a camera there that is recording the area below. They have cameras to try to deter crime because it is so bad in those areas! Female, white, pregnant, and alone in the car. Scary!

Sam's old roommate is living in Baltimore for the summer so we went to visit him. He welcomed us in his Baltimore attire.
And we spent the next two hours just talking...

Saturday, June 27th

We were trying to get from Frederick, MD to Philadelphia, PA and ran out of money for tolls in Delaware! There was no where to get off and so they said they will mail us a $25 fine for "evading" the toll. Grrr on the whole state!

Because security systems are most often sold in the ghetto, that is where Sam was working! The ghetto of Philly is crazy! Just like Baltimore, everyone was out on the streets! We also went to Camden, NJ and stopped at a grocery store to get cash for the tolls on the way home (although we avoided most of them by taking the long way). Outside of the store there are metal fences that block people from taking the shopping carts more than a few feet away from the store!

We didn't spend the whole day in Philly's ghetto though. We also saw the historic sites in "touristy" Philadelphia.

City Hall

Masonic temple

Jeff squishing Sam

The Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

And you can't go to Philly without joining in the Geno's vs. Pat's Philly Cheesesteak Debate. We only went to Pat's because the lines were so long and it was already 11pm! I don't usually like Philly Cheesesteaks but it was delicious!

Pat's and a little view of the line.

The ordering directions! I was nervous and made Sam order for me!

Geno's is right across the street and looks like a strip club!

Sam approved. :-)

My attempt to take a picture of the Philadelphia Museum of Art stairs (the stairs that Stallone runs up in Rocky).

Sunday, June 28th

We went to church with some members of my extended family in Bethesda, MD and then had lunch with them! I don't get to see them very often so it was really nice!

Sam has cousins who live in Bristow, VA so we went and visited with them for a few hours as well!

When we got back to Frederick that night, Sam's friend had arrived home from his trip and we stayed up much too late catching up with him!

It was a very tiring and eventful weekend but I enjoyed it! I am so grateful we have the opportunity to do things like this!

Sam's birthday weekend

Sam's sister's family lives in Columbus so we went to stay with them the weekend of Sam's birthday.

We played at a reservoir that I forgot to take a picture of until we were leaving.

He has been asking for a baseball bat for every birthday and Christmas since I have known him. He was so happy to finally get one! He warned me that it would be sleeping with us for the first few nights but I didn't let that happen.

Sam is obsessed with the Utah Jazz.

Sam's birthday also fell on Father's Day so I gave him a present for the baby too!

He is half of 56...

Stephen loved eating Sam's new hammer.

After he opened presents, he attacked Nora and Andrew.

Showing off all of his presents.

When we got home from Columbus, we had his technicians over for some ice cream cake. Yum!

35 WEEKS down, 35 DAYS to go

We can only hope that I will have this baby in the next 35 days. I am not really interested in going overdue but if the baby isn't ready then I guess I will have to wait.

It is finally starting to seem real to Sam since I told him I needed to get all of my scrapbooking out of the way and I even started working on Christmas presents. I passionately hate scrapbooking so doing something like that means that this baby coming is serious!

I started going to a childbirth class and I am learning so much! It is a six week class, and after only one session I am already feeling calmer about the whole experience. I will be delivering at a smaller hospital (it does not even have a NICU) and I am actually excited about that. I feel like it will be more personal. I feel like they will take care of me.

On Tuesday, the doctor told me that if I go into labor then they wouldn't try to stop me. Although it would still be considered pre-term (until 37 weeks), the baby would be fine. I don't know if I am ready to have a baby in two weeks! I feel calmer when I think about labor and delivery but that "-er" only means that my hyperventilating at the thought has slightly backed down.

People tell me that I am still small but don't discredit the growing I have done! I have gained a little under 20 pounds! I just keep telling myself that it is all for a good reason. A wonderful, miracle of a reason. Sam and I are going to have a child!

35 weeks