Life update

As promised, I'll try and recap on life after vacation.  The day after Many Glacier and the Lake McDonald cruise it was raining in Glacier and we didn't have hotel reservations that evening, so we started the journey home.  The ride out was pretty dull, so we decided to take a different route (I-90) home.  On the way we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield, but I left the camera in the car so we didn't get any pictures here.  Then it was  back on the road.  Overnight in Gillette, WY, and the next day we drove through to my parents' house to pick up the dog. The next morning we headed home where Rick's parents came to visit for a few days after their South Dakota vacation.  The visit was pretty low-key as all of us were tired from travelling, but we did make a run to WalMart to buy some things for baby.  It was a busy week! 

I took this picture two weeks ago, at the start of my third trimester.  Since returning from vacation Rick and I (along with my sister and her husband) have attended a few baby classes which have been helpful.  Tomorrow we start the "prenatal class" which is 5 weeks long and covers important things like labor and delivery.  Yikes!  It's getting closer every day!

Things have been busy.  Work will continue to be busy for a month or so; I have a very big presentation about the summer's findings in a week and a half where I present the data I analyzed for 8 hours in front of a room full of people who are higher up than myself.  This is the third year I will have led this meeting so it's less daunting than it used to be, but it's still stressful.  I hope to have it all prepared by the end of this week.  Then work will continue to be busy, but less stressful, though I have a to do list before I take maternity leave.

  We have spent the weekends at Iowa State football games and aside from last week, it's been a really good and exciting season.  Tonight they beat ranked TCU in Texas!  An upset is always nice.  The past few years I have really been into ISU football--I must watch each game, listen to the post-game analysis, read the sports section thoroughly on Sunday morning, and then recap the game with my coworkers on Monday morning.  I'm just so impressed with the coach and the apparent unity and humbleness of the team.  And the nice thing about ISU fans is that we are anything but fair-weather fans.  That's almost impossible.

We've been preparing for baby and have the room cleaned out.  Rick will be painting the nursery when his dad comes to visit in a few weeks, and I have hit garage sales hard lately.  Our child has quite the wardrobe already!  Garage sales have become a bit of an addiction lately and one weekend my sister and I mapped out and hit 8 garage sales between 7:30 and noon in 3 different suburbs.  It's not just clothes; I've taken a Boppy, Baby Bjorn, and swaddle sacks all off of my registry based on the great deals I found at garage sales and on the classifieds at work.  It's somewhat addicting, but I figure it's smart since kids grow so quickly and all the gear and clothes are so expensive and many used things can be washed or wiped down and are almost like new.

Evenings have been busy: Pitch Perfect with the ladies, Les Miserables at the Civic Center (great show!), a local production of Sunset Boulevard, supper at Grandma's, Christmas shopping (online is dangerous!), and cleaning.  I also got around to doing my yearly flight review last weekend which went well.  Darby had a tail issue just after returning from vacation, but some meds and rest has her back in top form.  We still don't know what happened, but time and steroids have definitely improved her outlook on life.  She was one unhappy pup for a few days.

Which I think updates the going-ons in my life.  Took this picture this week, week 29 going on 30, and things are a bit less comfortable than they used to be.  I really have very little complaints, but sleeping is harder, leg cramps are more frequent, and the added weight is not enjoyed by my feet.  Last Sunday, after spending much of Saturday on my feet, my left ankle had swollen past recognition.  Goodbye ankles, hello cankles.  They vary from day to day, but it's a little sad.  A few shirts are getting too small and my doctor yesterday told me I was gaining weight more quickly than she would like.  These are the downsides, but the baby moves a lot (which I find fun for now, until it starts to hurt) and everything is looking good, so I'll just snack less and keep my feet up and move into those outfits that have been too big until now.  10 weeks to go!