After working for 10 days straight and without adequate time to recover from his trip to Amsterdam, Shane had Thanksgiving through Sunday off. Yay! He really deserved it. We spent the time together, just relaxing and getting things organized around here.

For Thanksgiving, we watched the Macy’s parade on TV and then the dog show afterward, while munching on cinnamon rolls Shane so kindly popped into the oven. After he took a bath and I took a nap, we started making our quick and convenient dinner of ham, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, and rolls. Everything came together and tasted yummy. I don’t regret taking the easy way out.

On Friday, we did manage to do some shopping, though we didn’t head out until the late afternoon. We went to Joann fabrics and Target, and Target again the next day. Minimal crowds and lines. It was nice.

We have just about all of our Christmas shopping done (all that’s left are presents for each other!) and we’ve bought just about everything I hoped to have on hand before the baby is born. This week, I’ll order a sling and I’ll head to the mall and get a nursing bra or two to get me started. Other than that, I think we’re pretty much set.

Not long ago, Shane was lounging on our futon, and the crazy thing broke. Part of the frame snapped, and the only way to fix it would be to weld it back together. Considering we sort of hated the futon anyway, and picked it up for $40 used, we didn’t feel all that bad about parting with it.

Shane disassembled it and we carried the thing to the dumpster. Bye! At first, we thought we wanted to get a couch to put in its place. But now, we think that we’ll just use the furniture we have and get a couch some other time. Maybe when we move to a bigger place?

For starters, our living room isn’t huge. It feels a bit cramped with a couch in it, and now we’ll have more floor space for the baby to crawl about.

Plus, we don’t have a truck and we don’t know anyone with a truck. Getting a couch to our apartment (and to the third floor) would be more hassle than it’s worth.

So for now, we have a recliner and the Price is Right chair with ottoman in our living room. That’s one chair each — and if we have people over, we can also use our dining chairs, exercise ball and even some floor pillows if we wanted.

This weekend, we rented a Rug Doctor and cleaned all the carpets and our recliner. It didn’t take too long and it wasn’t difficult. The machine rental was about $30 and we paid about $18 for the cleaner and anti-foam. It’s taking awhile for everything to dry, but I can already tell that it looks so much better. I’m glad we finally did that. Who knows when they were last cleaned? I don’t.

In the baby’s room, we set up a shelf for books and I finished organizing the closet. Just a few more bits of organizing, and it’ll be ready to go!

We hope to get our Christmas tree set up early this week and get a few more things organized. I’ll feel a lot better about things if we can get these little projects finished.

We’re really making progress and I want to keep the momentum going while we still can.

All I want to know is: Where are my guts?! The “baby house” is now just mere millimeters from my sternum. When I hear my stomach rumble, the sounds don’t even seem like they’re coming from me. My stomach is wedged under my ribcage waaay up high. No wonder heartburn strikes so hard lately — there isn’t much distance for that stomach acid to travel!

All of my intestines and whatever organs typically fill my abdomen have been smooshed out to the side or backwards or who knows where (and have been for awhile). Sure, my belly sticks out and that helps there to be more room for things, but goodness! I bet my body will be relieved to have things move to where they once were.

Fortunately, it isn’t hard for me to breathe since he’s positioned so low. Whew. My baby is so courteous.

What’s happening according to babycenter.com:

Your baby doesn’t have much room to maneuver now that he’s over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it’s so snug in your womb, he isn’t likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he’ll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Except for Bonnie on Family Guy, no woman is perpetually pregnant. I suspect that as a pregnant lady approaches her due date, she starts to get especially antsy about getting that baby out soon, and wonders if her child will ever be born.

Maybe it has to do with her being a bit uncomfortable. After all, with a giant belly, it’s pretty tricky to get a good night’s sleep. And let’s not forget the frequent trips to the bathroom, heartburn, and increase in body temperature. Yep, she might be ready for that all to end. Maybe she’d like a glass of wine already.

Maybe her desire to press the fast-forward button on her pregnancy is hormonal. Maybe the body does this to acknowledge that, yes, babies come out at the grand finale of a pregnancy. It’s good to mentally shift from being a pregnant lady to being a mama, since that’s what’s going to happen.

Based on these things, I totally get why some women are really ready to get the show on the road by the time they hit their ninth month.

Not me, though. (Well, I still have a week to go before I hit nine months…)

I know that at this time, I’m enjoying the absolute easiest time of being a parent that I’ll ever experience. I know exactly where my baby is (and I even have a reasonable guess on how he’s positioned!). I know all of his needs are being met. He’s warm enough, cozy enough, hydrated and fed, and when he has to “go to the bathroom” he just does. Doesn’t need to be changed. I don’t have to do a thing except take good care of myself. How easy is that?

After he’s born, all of that changes.

We’ll have to actually do things to take care of him. It sounds silly, I know, but when you compare it to simply being pregnant, it’s much more complicated! More fun, but there’s certainly more to it.

I’m one of those lucky people who have had a relatively easy pregnancy. I like being pregnant. I feel pretty good most of the time. However, I have no idea how labor is going to go, and I have no idea how good of a parent I’ll actually be. Likely, I’ll be fine, but I really have no idea what I’m doing, and that’s a tiny bit scary.

So yeah, I’m approaching my 35th week with about two to seven weeks to go. Two is a super-short time to finish my preparations (too short, if you ask me!) and seven sounds like a long ways away still. By then, I’ll probably be singing a different tune. Something that goes like “You’ve gotta get outta this place, if it’s the last thing you ever do…”

For now, I think he can stay put as long as he wants. I’m anxious to meet him, but at the same time, I’m in no hurry.

Ashley had a fun meme on her blog, and I thought I’d tag myself for it. The rules:

Step 1: Put your music player on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly (No lyric hunting! That is cheating!)

1.    Got me on a short leash, tied to your screen door
2.    How soft a whisper can get when you’re walking through a crowded space
3.    All thru the day I me mine, I me mine, I me mine (I me mine - The Beatles)
4.    Operator, well can you help me place this call? (Operator - Jim Croce)
5.    Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray (We didn’t start the fire - Billy Joel)
6.    I can see why you think you belong to me
7.    Sugar, aw honey honey, you are my candy girl (Sugar sugar - The Archies)
8.    There must be some kind of way outta here (All Along the watchtower - Jimi Hendrix)
9.    I’ve paid my dues, time after time, I’ve done my sentence but committed no crime (We are the champions - Queen)
10.    Well I’m gunna raise a fuss, I’m gunna raise a holler (Summertime Blues - Alan Jackson)
11.    Oh the weather outside is frightful (Let it snow)
12.    She was in the backyard, say it was a little past 9 (Suds in the bucket - Sara Evans)
13.    Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got (Theme from ‘Cheers’)
14.    I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes (Love is all around - from Love, Actually)
15.    I backed my car into a cop car the other day (Float on - Modest Mouse)
16.    There’s a storm across the valley, clouds are rolling in, the afternoon lies heavy on your shoulders (Back home again - John Denver)
17.    She ain’t got no money, her clothes are kinda funny, her hair is kinda wild and free (Love grows - Edison Lighthouse)
18.    Para bailar la bamba (La Bamba - Richie Valens)
19.    Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone I hear you call my name and it feels like home (Like a Prayer - Madonna)
20.    Bright light city going to set my soul, going to set my soul on fire, got a whole lotta money that’s ready to burn (Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley)
21.    I know you wanna leave me but I refuse to let you go - (Ain’t too proud to beg - Temptations)
22.    I got a new life you would hardly recognize me I’m so glad
23.    Blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots and ruined your black-tie affair (Friends in low places- Garth Brooks)
24.    Turn it up turn it up turn it upside down (Turn the beat around - Gloria Estefan)
25.    Sing, sing a song, sing out loud, sing out strong (Sing a song - Karen Carpenter)
So come on, guess which songs these are! Don’t cheat, k? I’m not going to tag anyone but if you wanna do it, let me know so I can come over to your blog and guess your songs.

I had a surprise baby shower today! I attend a ladies’ group for women who are new to the Pittsburgh area. We meet weekly, and at today’s meeting I walked in and “Surprise!” a shower for me! I was more than tickled.

They each got me a baby book or two, I got a generous gift card to Target, a handy dandy ‘diaper cake’ and a homemade quilt. The quilt was made from fabric that everyone contributed. I know we’ll cherish these gifts for many years to come.

I wasn’t expecting a shower and was truly surprised and happy about their kind gesture. These ladies have really been awesome and have made living in Pittsburgh so much easier on me. Don’t know what I’d do without ‘em!

I don’t have pictures from the shower yet, but here’s some that I took when I got home: