Because it's safe to say that most people are on vacation and won't be reading this anyway.

And therefore, I may whine.

WHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

35 weeks pregnant.

Ginormo baby.

Seriously. She's actually ginormo. Already. Well, she was 2 weeks ago and I'm pretty sure she's gotten bigger since then since that's what babies seem to do.

And now moving forward.

Wait, did I mention that I'm also really hot? Even in my newly insulated, radiant barriered home I'm feeling like I'm in a sauna.

I blame that on the baby, too.

Also, I blame the weird rash on my face on her.

Clearly the poor girl is going to be born with a lot of emotional baggage. But I'm sure I'll forgive her as soon as she's done dancing the cha-cha on my spleen every night.

Okay, really moving forward. Have I mentioned that Eclipse comes out this week? Have you noticed a measurable difference in my level of excitement about this movie versus the past two movies? I can assure you that I am no less excited. I really think this movie promises to be the best of the three. I've seen my fair share of clips and it looks quite good, to be honest. And I DID have a New Moon watching party last week in which like 20 of my girlfriends came over and none of us really watched the movie (except for the kissy-face parts...oddly we all became somewhat silent during those parts). But we did have fun eating junk food off of Edward and Jacob plates (thanks, Jen) and I'm pretty sure no one realized that I had a cooler full of water bottles, so people were probably thirsty the whole time. Which is appropriate because vampires are thirsty all the time, too. So maybe it was a sub-conscious effort on their part to really relate to the movie.

This time around I've decided to forego the midnight showing. Because after approximately 9 PM I am basically disabled. I could probably qualify for a special handicap tag for my car, except that when am I ever driving past 9 PM? Never. That's when.

So on Wednesday I'm getting a babysitter, going to my doc appt. (because I go to those a lot), and then I'm going to a matinee. I may or may not be all by myself. And I'm truly okay with it. Me, a diet coke, a tub of popcorn and a frigid movie theater is probably the most romantic thing I can think of right now. I'm practically drooling just thinking of it.

Word to your father

This is what Chase got for his Father's day. The kids decorated some cute frames to put their pictures in. Are my children insanely cute or is it just me?

We had a great father's day here. Chase is a great husband, great father and a great man, so he deserved it. He got some golf with his dad and brothers (twice!), and a quiet night with his amazing wife. Then on Sunday as we arrived home from church I was making lunch and getting to work on my (killer) coconut cream pie when he started doing this:

I immediately chastised him and tried to send him from the room to go take a nap or read. His response: "The only real gift I can give you is to do something for you when I know I absolutely don't have to."

AWWWWWWW yeah. That's a well trained husband. Stand back ladies, this one is T-A-K-E-N.

But seriously, that's just one reason I love the man. He's selfless. I did think it was kind of funny that this was the shirt he had put on...

Mormon Helping Hands. Sweet. Thanks for rocking my whole world, babe.

You know it's hot when...

The weatherman stops giving you the temperature in actual degrees and instead just lists in which circle of hell you are currently residing.

That man is sure good to me

Over the weekend Chase got me this:

Not bad, right? Is he the best or what?

And the REALLY good part?

Claires, $9.

Yes. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. My fingers have officially started to swell to the extent that wearing my real wedding rings makes me feel claustrophobic and panicky. This has happened before. Once I realize taking them on and off is starting to get difficult I go into crazy-lady mode. I immediately envision myself having to undergo some emergency medical procedure where FULL ACCESS to my hands is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. And, of course, they have to bring in some kind of metal cutting machine to take off my rings because they are locked in place. But the machine doesn't work. So amputation is the only option.

So clearly my fingers aren't the only things swelling. My brain appears to be doing the same. But try as I might the vision never goes away.

So around this time with each pregnancy I usually give in to The Crazy and get myself a "fake while I bake" ring. Because I'm not a fan of walking around with three kids, a giant belly and NO ring. Call me old fashioned. Call me crazy. You'll probably be right on both counts.

So there you have it. My new, fake rings. I think they're actually quite pretty.

And Chase taught Miles to shave this weekend as well. We figured we'd start early, because imagining him with a sharp blade at any point in his life gives me more panic attacks than tight-ring-induced crazy.

Just kidding. Miles just thought it looked fun.

So did Soph.

(LET'S HOPE SHE NEVER NEEDS TO DO THIS FOR REAL)

7 weeks and counting

Oooh boy, seven weeks to go. And what a long and quick seven weeks they will be, I'm sure.

Does anyone else think time is starting to get really tricky? I mean, I could SWEAR that yesterday Sophia was born. Now, here we are almost 2.5 years later and I'm about to do this again.

In just a measly seven weeks.

I'm scared, excited and heartburn-ey all at the same time.

I had a lovely little moment earlier today where I was sitting on the couch putting my feet up after a crazy morning of gym, errands, pool, house cleaning, etc. The Offspring usually takes these moments of solitude and practices for the World Cup. She was doing just that when I looked down and realized that I can't wait to meet her. Not just that I can't wait to get her OUT OF ME. I just can't wait to see her and count her toes and nibble her fingertips (and reassure myself that she is, in fact, a SHE). Who doesn't need a warm, wrinkly little baby curled up on their chest? I know that's what I need right now. Or in seven weeks, rather.

Miles has been cracking us up with all of his crazy, baby-related questions.

Heading out the door to the pool: "Mommy, is Haley wearing her swimsuit to the pool, too?"

Watching me eat something: "Mommy, does Haley want you to eat that? Does she think it's delicious?"

Standing in line at the child care at the gym: "Mommy, those mommies don't have babies in their tummies. That's why they're running. YOU can't run, mommy. Your belly is TOOOOOOOOOO big."

 

In other news, have I mentioned how grateful I am for air conditioning? Because I am. A lot. I'm the grateful-est.

Just below the ankle

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Christy, this is a post about F**t. The dreaded F word. So you're going to want to skip this post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is she gone?

Okay.

I don't actually have anything to say, except that Chase gave me a toe-paint job yesterday. I've been wanting a fun, summery pedicure. But I'm such a cheapskate. I have a VERY hard time convincing myself to pay for one. I actually never have. I've gotten them as birthday presents or when I got married.

So anyway, I knew I could still sort of reach my feet, so I was guaranteed at least some decent red toes. But I really wanted flowers. So I found a tutorial online, showed it to Chase and appointed him toe artist. And he came through, per the usual. I have yet to find something that guy can't do. He cooks, he can clean when motivated by my evil eye, he can whip out a spreadsheet and now he can paint rockin' flowers on my toes! How well rounded is that?

Observe:

 

 

 

Nice, eh?

As of late

I'm so glad to be done with major home projects for the time being. So glad. We've kept ourselves really, really busy lately. And while that's nice, and we've gotten a lot accomplished, I am plain worn out.

So here's what we've been up to.

Guest Bathroom:

I've painted this sucker three times now. The first time I painted it purple. Not sure what I was thinking. The second time I was trying to paint it a pebble color and it just ended up looking like a faded version of the purple. And, I realized that I needed to find something that actually matched our tile. We weren't sure if we were keeping our tile surround (I thought we weren't), but when we decided it was staying I knew I needed something neutral to match it. So I found a tan'ish yellow that seems to work.

In addition to the painting I scraped out the grout in the tile surround so Chase could re-grout. This has to be one of the worst home jobs ever on the planet. You have this little tool and you literally scrape away the grout. It's awful. But I did it and lived to tell the tale. And saved some bucks in the meantime. So it was worth it. Chase did a good job re-grouting, too. Now we just need to re-surface the tub.

Also in the bathroom I sanded and painted the cabinets and baseboards. And while they certainly look better, I'm not ready to say they look GREAT. I mean, they're 30 years old. Their days of looking great were over when The Brady Bunch went off air. But I can live with them.

We still need to put in a new counter, sink and mirror in there. But for the time being I'm happy to be at this point.

Master Bedroom:

New bedding, curtains, blinds, paint. I went with pale gray for the walls. I had the hardest time choosing a color because I didn't want something too dark/bright/overwhelming in there. And we have black furniture, so you can't just do anything. Anyway, after I found the bedding I was inspired by the sound of my sister's "Gentle Rain" paint in her bedroom. So I stole the idea and ran with it. I still need to get stuff up on the walls, but overall I'm very happy with the effect. So soothing.

Attic:

Chase has been a maniac in the attic. He put up radiant barrier, followed by insulation. The whole project took the entire spring (not the two Saturdays I thought), totaling over 70 hours. And that's including the 15 hour day he put in with my dad. The house has been SO much more comfortable this year than in previous years. Even considering the fact that I am a walking oven. Even if our cooling bill never goes down I could care less because it feels so much better! Definitely worth it.

Out-of-doors:

In April we put in a garden. I wish I could say that it's flourishing. But unfortunately the larger I get the less desire I have to go hang out in the garden. So it's fallen by the wayside. BUT the hardest part is done so I have full faith we'll be in full-on garden mode next year. Sorry little garden friend.

We also have attempted, yet again, to get grass to grow properly in our front yard. The previous owners were complete idiots. And I mean that in the stupidest, most moronic sense of the word. They just were. Everyone surrounding us who had grass planted at the same time (by the builders) and who has taken just the least care of it has a beautiful green lawn. Us? Not so much. Sigh. We're having to fight an uphill battle to get it to grow in some spots. Chase spent last week pruning the crap out of the tree in front, which should help let more light reach the grass below. Cross your fingers for us on this one...

Random:

We found a new kitchen table! Well, new to us, at least. We outgrew our old table, which made me sad. It was the first piece of furniture I ever bought at an actual furniture store and I loved that thing. But it was time. I found a Crate & Barrel table on craigslist for a steal and snatched it up. It's already "broken in" (it has some light scratches on top) so I don't feel like I can't let my kids sit there and do crafts like they normally do. But it's roomier, MUCH more sturdy, and a better color than the old girl. So that was a fun find.

Lastly, in the midst of all this craziness, we re-financed our home from a 30 to a 15 year mortgage. Chase just came home randomly and said we should do it and I just kinda went along with it. He's the CPA, after all. Anyway, now that he's shown me several spreadsheets (of his own design, of course, being the EXCEL JEDI that he is) and amortization schedules, I'm really glad we did it! It was kind of annoying to have the house inspected in the middle of all of our projects, but it was a good decision. Yay to Chase for being a rock star like that.