Got my hair cut yesterday (5 inches!) I like how it turned out. I got some bangs, too. Along with some new maternity jeans and a couple of tops, I feel pretty good despite the huge stomach! It really popped out again over the weekend. I hope everything continues to go this well for the rest of the pregnancy, but that is probably being naive. I go back to the doctor on Nov 4 for a check-up. I started painting clouds on the ceiling in the nursery. Not easy with a weird center of gravity. My arm was getting so tired, I will only be able to work on it in spurts. My shower is in a little over a week. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone. I've been a little out of the social circuit, so it will be great! Well, I've gotta go run some errands and figure out what I'm making for dinner.

Well Rudy and I are official graduates of Palos Hospital's "Birth, Babies, and Beyond" weekend crash course! And we've got the certificate to prove it. Although parts of the weekend were tedious, gross and/or scary, and at times downright difficult to stay awake, I thought it was very informative and learned a LOT of stuff about labor/delivery and having a newborn that I had no idea about! (Putting vaseline inside the diaper???) Rudy fell asleep a bunch of times and was snoring, and then I had a hysterical fit of laughter during one of the videos involving a nice Chinese lady in active labor and had to leave the room....but we did it! My favorite part was touring the maternity unit and meeting the nursing staff that will help deliver my baby. I think it will ease my anxiety knowing where to go and what it looks like. So now I'm pretty much ready to get on with the show! 10 weeks to go. The baby's room is all painted minus my artistic touches. So I am going to get started on that this week while I can still climb a step ladder. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Today at work I was having stomach cramps and didn't feel too well. I think the cramps are Braxton-Hicks contractions (for those of you that don't know - they are small contractions that prepare the uterus for labor). They are pretty uncomfortable but normal. But when I came home and layed down for a while I felt better. 28th week this week. This upcoming weekend Rudy and I have our baby classes at Palos Hospital. Over the weekend we watched Baby Mama and Juno. Highly recommend them both! Really cute. Rudy got me a dozen white roses for Sweetest Day. AWWW...

Ceiling of baby's room is painted one coat of blue! It looks so good! After a 2nd coat I am going to paint some clouds on it to look like the sky. Made an appointment today to get my hair cut and (SHHHH Don't tell the doctor.....) highlighted. It is totally too long and looks like a rat's nest. No joke! Off to Oktoberfest at Becky's house and dying for a Hard Core Cider. Maybe I can find a non-alcoholic version??? Peace out.

Today was a Schwan's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE SCHWANS. Don't know if anyone else is familiar with Toastwiches???? If you know what I'm talking about let me know! I am obsessed with them. I could eat them everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The color is up on the baby's room walls. Looks great! Can't wait to post pics when it's all done. Gotta go eat my Toastwich! Bye!

This past week, Rudy and I put up our Halloween decorations. They look really great. I had bought some stuff 50% off after Halloween last year that I totally forgot about until we pulled it out. We also have a fall scene with hay bales, scarecrows, and a cornstalk. Very festive! Yesterday was my 10 year high school reunion. Wow, can't believe 10 years have gone by that quick! I instead opted to go to a local bar/restaurant in Joliet for a co-workers bachelorette party. It was a nice time, I went for dinner. I'm glad we were in a back room, because just going to the bathroom, I found myself getting strange looks from younger skinny girls, like,
"What the hell is this fat pregnant lady doing at a bar?" Besides my paranoia about what people think, it was fun and I'm glad I went. 3 diet pepsis later, I called it a night at 9pm...Definetely a different experience from the other bachelorette parties I've been to in the past (pre-pregnancy)!
Tomorrow work continues on the baby's room. We are having issues with the ceiling. Lovely 1940's plaster walls have issues you guys don't ever want to have to deal with. Oh, and we had a mouse in our house!!!!!!!!!!! YUCK! Rudy took care of decontamination, but now I am paranoid to go into the basement or garage by myself! I feel like the elephants in Dumbo standing on the little stool! And our dogs were scared of it too! So, if anyone has a cat that they wouldn't mind coming over for a visit, let me know. We may need you!

I am so glad it's fall. This is officially my favorite season and it NEVER lasts long enough. Winter and the freezing cold always comes too quick. I'm really enjoying the brisk sweatshirt weather. (And I'm glad I don't have to squeeze into my capris anymore!) Had a doctor's appointment last night. My stomach grew 3 cm to 27. And I gained 10 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how this happened. The WHOLE pregnancy before this month I only gained 9 and NOW I have more than doubled it in one month. My doctor was surprisingly cool about it, I think because she saw I was really upset. I am going to get out and enjoy this brisk weather that I write about and start walking. I love to walk around the historic district out here in Joliet and look at the awesome old houses. But besides the weight gain thing, my blood pressure and everything else looked good. I just need to be a bit more active and eat a little less McDonalds!
I'm at 27 weeks. Officially 3rd trimester is next week. I was wrong, I thought I'd been in the last trimester for a couple of weeks. Then I'm going to have to go to the doctor every 2 weeks and after 34 weeks I have to go every week! Hope everyone is enjoying the weather! Bye.

Hi Everyone! It's been a while since I've written anything. My stomach is growing by the day! The baby must have hit another growth spurt because I've been ravenously hungry the past couple of days. I also can feel movement OUTSIDE my stomach with my hands. Very cool! I just can't time it for anyone else to feel because it's so spuratic and hard to pin-point. I will grab Rudy's hand and put it on my stomach but by the time he gets there, it's gone. My in-laws are coming over tomorrow to work on the baby's room with Rudy. I can't wait for it to get started! I decided to have the ceiling painted blue and I'm going to paint some clouds on it. I will post pictures when it's up! Well, not much else to report except it's after 9pm....I need to get my pajamas on! Goodnight!