Happily Overwhelmed

So, to be honest, I’m overwhelmed just thinking about writing a blog post… I really need to keep up better so I don’t fret over every last detail of the past few weeks each time I post. Argh.

And It’s not because I’m overly exhausted… (Okay, maybe I’m a little tired. It IS after 8:30, afterall). I’m just kind of feeling stressed about how fast everything is moving. Don’t you ever wish you had a pause button? I suppose that thinking that your pregnancy is going by quickly is a good thing. If I was sick 24/7, I’m sure it’d feel like January was nowhere in sight.

But that’s not the case… In just a short three and a half months, we have a bazillion things to do, it seems! And in between the fun stuff (decorating the nursery, registering, reading pregnancy books), there’s a ton of boring stuff (like huge projects at work) I have to put my energy into as well. I suppose this is the beginning of the figuring-out of the work-life balance thing. Oh, and I need to relax. And daydream. Duh.

Anyway, here’s what we’ve been up to lately…

The beach!

On Labor Day weekend, we joined Kathe (Ryan’s mom), Harald (stepfather), Meghan (sister) and Dane (sister’s husband) in Destin, Florida. Even though we arrived to the wrath of tropical storm Lee (and by wrath, I mean rain, crazy 60-mph winds and tornado warnings), we had a terrific time with Ryan’s family, and we even enjoyed two days on the beach, in the sun.

Speaking of the sun, I learned a major lesson on the trip: When you’re pregnant, use at LEAST SPF 45 sunblock, and reapply often. I stupidly thought that my usual SPF 30 routine would do, but I should’ve heeded all of the advice from my pregnancy books. I’m pretty sure my feet and parts of my legs are now permanently a purplish hue. And I’ve been peeling so bad on my forehead that I’m sure strangers (or non-strangers) feel bad for me and my bad case of “dandruff”.

So yeah, wear sunblock, preggers. And remind me to next time (since I’ll surely forget).

Hospital tour #2!

Last Saturday, Ryan and I toured Centennial Hospital, the second (and last) hospital we had planned to tour. The hospital was fine, and like I’ve mentioned before, I’d be happy delivering at either hospital. However, both Ryan and I just had this feeling while we were on the tour at Centennial - we knew that Baptist was our hospital. Nothing against Centennial… We just had a better feeling about Baptist. The warmth and friendliness at Baptist are what really sold us, I believe.

So, it’s been decided… If everything goes as planned, Baby Winkle will make his debut at Baptist Hospital in Nashville!

Showers/registering!

Speaking of time FLYING… It’s time to register! We have two showers coming up quickly. The first, thrown by Ryan’s dad and Sherry, will be October 8th. We just found out about this (and the accompanying drive to Tulsa) today, hence the unprepared registry. We figured we’d leisurely put together our registry throughout the next month, which would leave us plenty of time to spare before our November 13th Nashville shower (thrown by Linny and Ali). Now we have a tighter deadline, which is probably good for us. It’ll force us to get it done.

Nesting!

We’ve really had a lot going on around our house lately… Lots of cleaning, rearranging, paining and organizing. While I was in Atlanta on business Monday and Tuesday, Ryan (with the help of Ali, Pete and Linny) painted the entire upstairs of our house (which includes the nursery, our bedroom, a living room and a bathroom). It looks fabulous and totally deserves its own post (with pictures!). So, stay tuned.

Dance party USA!

Throughout the past few weeks, I’ve noticed more and more movement. He’s either having a dance party, practicing for his Olympic gymnastic team try-out, or something similar. And his favorite time to do so seems to be late at night and very, very early in the morning. It’s such a cool thing… If I wake up to use the bathroom at 4 in the morning and return to bed to find Baby Winkle moving around, I may or may not fall back asleep before my alarm sounds at 7. I could just lay there and feel him move around forever.

Last, but not least… my 23-week belly pic (beach addition) follows: