Amazing Video

I saw the story of this guy on someone's blog today, and....wow. That's all I have to say. His name is Zac and he is 33 years old, diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, which has now spread to his abdomen. Medically speaking, there is no more hope for him aside from a miracle -- chemotherapy no longer works, and surgery is not an option.

Take a look at his story and send up a prayer for him. I read a few excerpts from his blog here and on his Twitter, and almost burst into tears in my office as he talked about preparing his wife and kids for "life without him" by teaching her about finances, how to grill, and how to raise boys.

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

It's amazing how watching a story about a complete stranger can make me want to hug my husband just a little bit tighter tonight.

Pregnancy Highlights: 34 Weeks

How Far Along: 34 weeks...he is almost 18 inches long, and weighs about 4 3/4 pounds.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure of the total, but I LOST weight since my last appt! WOO HOO!

Maternity Clothes: Yep...tomorrow night, we're going to go try to find the good ol' (prepare for TMI) nursing bras I'll be needing. The new belly pic will be coming sometime this weekend.

Best Moment this week: Going to a car seat check to get his seat installed in our cars...NOW we're getting close!

Gender: A boy....who must want to play soccer or be the kicker for the football team. :)

Movement: Crazy amounts. So much so that, because of his length now and the fact that he must be squished in there, it literally feels like he is moving my organs when he shifts around. Sometime it just downright HURTS. And I'm pretty sure one of those cute, tiny little feet is somewhere between 2 of my rib bones.

Food Craving: Pretty much back to cereal. And toast. And Italian Ice.

What I miss: When I could wear shoes other than flats to work, not having to prop my feet above my heart every night, a nose that isn't clogged.

Sleep: Off and on....I have had a few nights lately where I've only woken up one time to go to the bathroom and aside from that slept wonderfully. Then last night, I tossed and turned ALL NIGHT, which hurt when doing so. I feel like I want to wake Seth to help me roll over without pain.

What I am looking forward to: Going to BRU this weekend to order the glider which will make the nursery look complete! Oh, and also the fact that there are only 6 weeks to go AND technically, he is full term in 3! :)

Symptoms: Swollen ankles and feet at the end of every day, stretch marks (which are actually fading so that's nice), and a few sharp pains at the bottom of my belly. Also, like I mentioned above, he sometimes feels like he is kicking or shifting my internal organs. Sometimes when I'm just sitting at the computer I'll suddenly get out of breath for no apparent reason. It's then that I feel like he's kicking something like my lungs. :)

Baby Shower #2

On Saturday, my mom and sister threw Carter and I a baby shower for the PA family and friends! And, just like the one in NJ, this one absolutely made everything feel so much more real. In fact, there is just over 6 weeks until the little guy gets here, assuming, of course, he doesn't want to delay his arrival and be late. :)

It was so much fun -- it was held at a super cute place nearby called Events, Etc. Lots of friends and family were able to come and celebrate with us. The theme matched the invitations and was turtles!!

Here are some pictures of the shower:

The centerpieces (under the turtle tag was Carter's monogram!)

The tables all set up!

The food! It was very good!

Cake -- white cake with strawberry filling!

Ultrasound picture on the welcome table -- surrounded by the turtles!

Turtle cookies made by mom, my sister, and grandma

All of the gifts moved into Carter's room

Working on his closet -- everyone brought a book to the shower, so he has 2 FULL shelves of books plus a tote of them in the living room. Love that he'll have lots to read! :) He was also blessed with tons and tons of clothing so he won't go naked, that's for sure!

His bed is all ready for him -- now we just need HIM!

We are very thankful for the shower and I was so excited to see so many friends and family there. Thanks to my sister and mom for planning the day! :)

Pregnancy Highlights: 33 Weeks

How Far Along: 33 weeks...he is over 17 inches long, and weighs slightly over 4 pounds (though I'm going to be frank...he feels like he weighs 20) :)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Like 24 I think.

Maternity Clothes: Yeah...went to the consignment maternity shop a few days ago but only had luck with one short sleeved shirt. They had a TON of pants and shorts but we'll be getting out of pant season soon (and I'll be fine on dress pants and jeans for the rest of the time anyway), and there is no way I would be these swollen legs in shorts. I was hoping to find a bunch of longer tops, but they still had mostly long sleeved. Bummer. I'll check again soon. The place is SO CHEAP. It is all Motherhood Maternity, Liz Lange, and things like that for like $4 or $5 an article of clothing.

Best Moment this week: Scheduling Carter's newborn photos!!!!

Gender: A boy....who must want to play soccer or be the kicker for the football team. :)

Movement: So much it is unreal. My stomach moves all the time. I felt him have hiccups for the first time yesterday. It's pretty cool because we can feel exactly where he is all the time because of how hard it is at that spot. Seth loves to find where he is and how he is laying!

Food Craving: Nothing really. Pretty much out of the cereal phase so when I'm finding it challenging to find a snack I want. The past week or so, those real fruit popsicles seem to be hitting the spot.

What I miss: When my feet weren't so swollen every day, wearing my wedding rings (though I probably could -- we won't risk it though), sleeping through the night.

Sleep: Eh, getting sort of rough again. I just wake up SO MUCH. If it isn't to go to the bathroom, it is because the baby is kicking the tar out of me. A few nights ago, I just grabbed Seth's hand while he was sleeping and put it on my belly. Instantly my entire stomach shifted and he said "oh my word, no wonder you can't sleep." Yeah, tell me about it. :)

What I am looking forward to: My PA baby shower is tomorrow!!! Plus, I get to meet baby Emily AND set up Carter's nursery!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!!

Symptoms: Swollen ankles and feet at the end of every day, stretch marks appearing, and a few sharp pains at the bottom of my belly...not sure if it is some type of Braxton-Hicks contraction (I have no idea what to even expect!) or him kicking something. Never lasts more than a few seconds.

ABCs of me

My life is consumed by pregnancy lately. :) Seriously, it feels like I work, eat, sleep....oh, and prop my feet up so that I don't have cankles from the swelling.

SO, as a break from all things pregnancy-related (until tomorrow's 33 week update), I'm doing something I saw on someone else's blog.

Age: 25
Bed Size: Queen -- sometimes wish it was a king but we would have no space in our room!
Chore you hate: Emptying the silverware part of the dishwaster, cleaning showers
Dogs’ names: Bentley Maximus
Essential “start the day” item: Breakfast! Love it!
Favorite color: Turquoise blue
Gold or Silver: Silver
Height: 5'4"
Instruments you play: None anymore...used to play the flute. haha
Job Title: Marketing Specialist
Kids: One furry kid and one human baby almost here!
Living Arrangements: ranch house
Mom’s Name: Sally
Nickname: D, Dee, Doc (one of my co-workers calls me this since we work at a hospital and my initials are DR)
Overnight hospital stays: None
Pet peeve: Lying, when people don't drive the speed limit in normal weather, when the house gets messy after it was just cleaned, when Bentley takes pieces of his dog food and drops them all over the house
Quote from a movie: And who is going to poison theiw baby with the dwugs of westewn medicine? Woo Wooo! (Baby Mama) :)
Righty of Lefty: Righty
Siblings: Old sister, younger brother
Time you wake up: 5:33 a.m.
Underwear: Um, yes????
Veggie you dislike: Lima beans, peas
Ways that make you late: Slow drivers, TRAFFIC (story of my life)
X-rays you have had: Oh boy, dental, legs, knees, ankles, back, fingers -- a lot!
Yummy food you make: Anything I make :) hehe
Zoo animals you like: Haven't been to the zoo in a LONG time...bears, tigers, giraffes

Newborn Photographer

I booked a newborn photographer for Carter last night and am seriously giddy about it!!! I searched for a long time and ended up right back to where I started--with someone from Messiah who has turned it from a hobby to her side business.

We will do the photos about a week after he is born so he is still curled up and bendy and tiny (hopefully). :)

YAY!!!!

Lots of progress

Yesterday, we made a lot of progress in preparing for the baby's arrival. My mom and grandma came down in the morning to spend the day doing a serious cleaning of our house to have it ready to go (with the weekly upkeep of it, of course).

They washed blinds, showers, baseboards, moved all of the furniture, etc...pretty much the whole kit 'n caboodle. I helped when I could, but since my feet were swollen the size of Mt. Everest, they made me take breaks frequently. Which, by the way, is the perfect way to clean in my opinion -- laying on the bed or couch supervising other people clean. ;) I told them I could get used to this!!

I did manage to make a bunch of freezer meals for after Carter's arrival too, which was very nice! We made a ham that we had in the deep freezer since Easter time, which freed up a lot of space in there. So I used the ham for a few things, but also made other things as well.

In all, we got 3 lasagnas, 6 quarts of ham and bean soup, 6 quart-sized bags of frozen baked ham (to use in future recipes or for omelets and things like that), 2-3 quarts of ham broth w/ ham (for a central PA favorite of ham, green beans, and potatoes--I'll just have to toss in a bag of beans and some potatoes when we are ready to eat that!), and a nice sized bag of ground beef/sausage already cooked (for in spaghetti sauces and other recipes).

Today, I am going to make 2 chicken supreme casseroles with a small chicken that we found in the freezer too that needs to be used. At some point, I'll make some meatballs and other things that come to mind. I'm thinking it'll be a huge help after the baby arrives and we're far too tired to think of dinner ideas and/or prepare it....thaw, heat, and eat (or at the very least, have part of the preparation already done)!!! :)

Any other freezer meal ideas?

Pregnancy Highlights: 32 Weeks

How Far Along: 32 weeks...he is almost 17 inches long, and weighs about 3.75 pounds.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: A lot, in my opinion. :) I think 23.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and one of my favorite pairs of pants is getting a little tight. Other than that, still okay with everything though I can totally understand how in the last few weeks, the bottom of your belly would stick out. Might need to get some longer shirts in a few weeks. I'll try to take a 32 week picture tonight and post sometime this weekend!

Best Moment this week: Having the doctor feel my belly and tell me exactly where he is in there and how he is facing.

Gender: A mud-throwing, sports-playing, truck-loving, eat-us-out-of-house-and-home little boy. :)

Movement: A ton. He moves so much. On Wednesday night he rolled from the right side all the way to the left and then I could feel the left side solid as a rock and the right side squishy. So I knew exactly where he was positioned!

Food Craving: Still nothing really. Cereal here and there.

What I miss: Wearing shoes that aren't flats.

Sleep: Alright. Not the best every night, but not the worst. I started dreaming again quite vividly -- sometimes the dreams are happy and sometimes they are dreams of worst-case scenarios which I HATE.

What I am looking forward to: Today, my mom and grandma are coming to help me clean my house from top to bottom really well in preparation for baby. I'm also going to be working on a few freezer meals to start stocking up!

Symptoms: Itchy belly and heartburn, though the heartburn seems to have died down a bit. HOWEVER, my feet and ankles are HUGE. They have been swollen for 3-4 days now and I can't seem to kick it during the day. When I wake up, they aren't too bad but as soon as I spend a whole day on them at work, they are right back to being awful. I really, really need/want to avoid bed rest so I have been propping when I can and drinking lots of water.

Some of life's greatest mysteries

1. How on the very same day, someone can say "wow, you look fabulous for being almost 32 weeks pregnant" and someone else can say "oh my goodness, you look like you could have him today."

2. How I can have an ob appointment and everything is literally perfect and fine, but then I step out of the office and my feet swell up like balloons.

3. How on a normal night, I would love to lay on the couch with my feet propped up but when I need to, I'm bored with it.

4. How in the very same week Seth and I purge stuff and organize, my mom goes through the storage shed and gives me my stuff from college and growing up. Back to square one.

5. How I can go from zero stretch marks to several OVERNIGHT.

Pregnancy Highlights: 31 Weeks

How Far Along: 31 weeks...he is 16 inches long, and weighs about 3.3 pounds.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure; I have an appt Wednesday where I'll find out!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and luckily (knock on wood), everything is still fitting and long enough over the belly for now. I will say that I should have listened to the people at Motherhood Maternity back in my first trimester when they said that the "under the belly" paneled jeans would be nice at first, but eventually, I would hate them and wish I had the full panel. She was so very right. My full panel jeans are my best friend...the full panel holds them up SO much better. I'm going to make it through the last 9 weeks of this pregnancy with only those 2 pairs of jeans, so I'll have to just suck it up and use the under the belly ones. haha

Best Moment this week: Watching my belly move every day at work (his most active time). Though I will say, it can be sort of creepy to others. :)

Gender: Boy. Carter.

Movement: A ton. He moves so much. Yesterday morning before we got out of bed, I told Seth to feel my belly and he kicked him super hard right away. It was nice to have that moment because I swear, that little stinker knows when his daddy's hand is on my belly and he'll pretend he's sleeping. Seth will step away, kick, kick, kick. ;) We need to come up with a secret code word on facial expression so that Seth knows to hurry and feel without Carter hearing. haha.

Food Craving: Still nothing really. Food still gives me heartburn. I will say though that we went to Melting Pot last Saturday for fondue and it was FAB.U.LOUS. A preggo woman's dreeeeeam.

What I miss: nothing really. I stopped being anal-retentive and have a glass of restaurant iced tea every once in a while now.

Sleep: Shockingly, it has been going better lately (knock on wood). Seriously, that body pillow Seth got me is heaven sent. I think that after I have the baby, I will probably still use it every night. Sorry, babe... ;)

What I am looking forward to: My Pennsylvania shower and getting to see people I haven't seen for awhile. Also looking forward to finally being able to set up his room entirely. I can't wait to make his bed and have everything absolutely ready for him to come at any point (after 37 weeks, of course)! I'm so excited to pack the hospital bag, pick out his going home outfit, his "meet people for the first time" outfit, his professional picture at the hospital outfit...you get the idea! haha

Symptoms: Mostly just itchy belly and heartburn. Getting a few light stretch marks now. I also think I could get my rings back on now because the puffiness went away, but I don't think I'm going to risk it. I would just die if they had to cut them off.