So Much to Blog About!

First of all, I must admit that I am a blogging failure. Yup, that's right...I am a failure. I started this blog (like I do all new hobbies) with extreme enthusiasm, but somehow I never seem to find the time (in my oh so busy days - ha!) to update the thing. Leaving me with no other choice than to type incredibly long posts...so brace yourself (I'll try to be as short & blunt as possible). In fact, I may have so much to say & so many pictures to show you this might just take a few posts...

First up, here's are two pictures of my current fatness. These were taken last Saturday when I was 31 weeks exactly. I can't believe how big I am...please tell me it's not going to get any worse (yeah right!). I have two goals for after this baby is born...#1 Become anorexic and lose the weight as quickly as possible. #2 I plan on living in a tanning bed for about 3 months to bring some color back to my nasty pale self. 

And for you freaks out there that enjoy seeing naked bellies, here ya go!

I am also very excited to inform you that I decided to switch from my C-section and induction  happy OB/GYN to a much sweeter and natural childbirth oriented midwife. For those of you freaking out right now (like my mother), NO, midwives (at least not this one) are not back woods country bumkin witch doctors. I will still be delivering at a hospital (a very good one) and my midwife works in a practice under 7 other OB/GYNs in case there are any problems or emergencies that arise where I would need their expertise.

I am also very excited because I believe I have found a doula that we are going to hire. We are meeting her tomorrow morning to officially "interview" her. I have already spoken with her on the phone and emailed her many times. Her philosophy on birth seems to be very similar to my own. For those of you who don't know what a doula is, I'll tell you...we hire her basically to help me achieve the unmedicated natural labor/birth that I want. When I go into labor she will come to our house & help me labor at home until it is time to go to the hospital. This particular doula also has the knowledge/ability to "check" me to see how far dilated I am (so I don't go to the hospital too soon). She'll then stay with me after we arrive at the hospital until after I deliver the baby. Basically she's there to massage my feet, feed me my ice chips, and remind me to breathe as well as suggest other pain relieving techniques to help me get through the birth naturally. I know, I know, most of you are rolling your eyes at me right now and probably think I'm crazy! I know I am, but I'm still determined to give it my best shot. 

Now, take a look at this beauty....

It's finally official...I have a college degree! Now squint your eyes real hard and check out those words right above the seal...Magna Cum Laude....what do ya know, as it turns out I might actually be smart after all! Woot woot! One of the downsides of graduating in the summer, however, is that there is no commencement ceremony - we have to wait to walk with the fall semester grads in December. I'm not sure yet if I'll be doing this, considering we'll have a 6 week old at that point. Guess we'll have to wait and see how I'm feeling. 

I also want to share my excitement about some new blogs I'm enjoying. My friend Britni turned me on to Kelly's Corner which I am loving. She and her hubby struggled with infertility for a long time before she finally got pregnant. Her story and her unwavering faith in God is really inspiring. After discovering her blog I also discovered (from Kelly's blogroll) Big Mama & Boo Mama. You really need to take the time to check these blogs out...they are hilarious! I also want to welcome my friend Sarah to the blogging world! Hi Sarah...I added you on my blogroll. Congrats on the new blog, I can't wait to read about the fun stuff happening in the Wessel Clan's life!

Ok, this is all for this post...I'll be back in a little while with another one...

Nursery Progress & other randomness

So I know that originally I had talked about ordering our nursery furniture from the Land of Nod. But after receiving the crib and being disappointed in the quality we went looking for more options and found this line of furniture (Cocoon) in a local furniture store. We place our order 9 days ago and were told that it would take 5-6 weeks before it arrived. Imagine our delight & shock when they called yesterday to let us know it was here! I could not be happier with our purchase. Even though the crib was nearly double what the one at the Land of Nod was it is definitely worth every penny. 

Our new crib does have a *small* issue - there was a knot in the wood on one of the side rails which caused a small split in the wood (about an inch long). So I called the furniture store and they are ordering a replacement piece for us. Thankfully they can just send the one piece and not an entire new crib (transportation is a hassle). Other than this issue we are so pleased. The crib is VERY sturdy as are the dresser/hutch pieces. And the drawers on the dresser....oh, how they glide so smoothly! Here are a few pictures of the progress we have made in the nursery so far...

This is the corner where we will put the glider/ottoman 

we ordered.

In other news.....I did make the Chicken Farfalle dish that I mentioned previously. And it was DELICIOUS!!! Click (here) for the recipe. I was so proud of myself. Normally Rob despises pasta dishes so I wasn't sure if he would enjoy it or not, but he LOVED it. When I asked him if he wanted me to package the leftovers so he could take them to work for lunch his reply was "Yes! Hell Yes!" It kinda made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside :)

Here's a pic of our leftovers - again we were too excited & too hungry to wait around while I photographed our dinner before we ate it. 

Right now I am preparing for our trip to Cincy. I even took the time to bake some peanut butter cookies to snack on while we are in the car. Now I just need to finish some laundry & get the pets ready. I am LOVING being out of school - now I actually have time to accomplish all these things, whereas before I would be running around like a crazy person right before we left. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I finally graduated from college with a pseudo "real" degree? Monday, was officially my last day! I now have a BA in History - what will I ever use this for? Probably nothing. Actually hopefully nothing - I pray that I remain fortunate enough to never need to work outside the house and can be a career homemaker - because I am loving it so much:)