Cute.

I'm not a small girl. Not overweight or anything, but at 5'7" and on the upper end of the BMI scale, I've never really been what you would call "cute." I may have some cute shoes or a cute outfit, but I am not frequently referred to as "cute." I've heard "pretty" and "attractive," but not "cute." Reese Witherspoon is cute. Jimmy's girlfriend is cute. Me, not so much.

That's why it's so funny to me that, now that I weigh about 10 pounds more than I ever have in my life, I'm referred to as "cute" at least once a week. "Adorable," even! Now, I know that these adjectives are more directed toward my growing abdomen, rather than to me, but it's still nice to hear. Much better than the "you've definitely gotten bigger" I have actually heard at work. (Dumb, dumb co-worker.) Just another interesting thing to get used to, I guess. Before you know it, I'll look "miserable" and "ready to pop," so I'll enjoy my "cuteness" for as long as I can.

Lots o' Learning

This Saturday was the big Childbirth Class. 9am - 3pm we spent at the hospital learning everything you wanted (or really didn't want) to know about the whole "miracle" we'll be experiencing in a few short weeks. It was a long day, but a great class. We got a little tour of the Labor & Delivery ward and saw a room, too. They were actually pretty nice. Made me feel better. Walked by the nursery, too, and saw quite a few tiny little babies in there. Everything is feeling more real!

The rest of the day we spent shopping for wedding gifts and baby stuff. We stopped at a golf store to look at some putters for Mike and found Little T's 4th birthday present. How darn cute is this?! I love it!


Sunday was gym, shopping, pool, and grilling out. Perfect.

Today (Monday) I scheduled our crib and dresser to be delivered on Saturday. Woo hoo! Bonus - they'll set it up for us, too! That, alone, was worth the delivery fee. I can't believe it's really going to start to look like a nursery by the end of the weekend.

We took a CPR class tonight after work at our hospital. I'm really glad we took it. It covered adults, kids, and infants. The skills are ones I hope to never have to use in my life, but I feel better having taken it. We're not certified or anything, but at least we have a good idea what to do in an emergency.

Tomorrow we're meeting with a guy about life insurance and Thursday is the July Dinner Out Before Baby. Looking forward to another weekend here with little to do!

32 weeks

It's been four weeks, so here's your picture. Growing and growing and growing....


This was taken at 10:00 at night, after a long CPR course at the end of the work day. Mama was tired. Officially at 33 weeks tomorrow. Seven to go!

20 weeks 24 weeks 28 weeks

Progress

Big week for the CashTracy's! Monday night we bought a new car! Yippee!! Mike found out Toyota was having a great deal that ended that day, so we hit up a dealer after work and left with a brand new Highlander. It had just been delivered that morning and had one whole mile on it! It's going to take some getting used to; parking makes me pretty nervous. But overall, I love it. Poor Shaniqua. She's not going to be getting as much love, anymore. I'll still drive her to the metro every day, since it's only 2 miles away and that's where I think everyone rams their doors into me. Ironically, I had taken her in for her inspection the morning we bought the Highlander. Somehow she managed to pass, too! Amazing. Now, we need to christen the new car with a name. I keep coming back to Frank the Tank, since that's what I feel like I'm driving. But cars are girls, to me, and I can't think of a female name that rhymes with tank. And no, I'm not calling her Skank. Here's a kind of crappy picture from my cell phone to encourage your naming creativity. Maybe since she's big and black, rather than sassy and black, we could go with a female equivalent of Tyrone? Am I starting to cross a line, here? And yes, I know I should be deciding on a name for my CHILD rather than my car, but this baby was delivered first!


Today I had the carpets cleaned and they look so much better. I feel much more comfortable bringing a baby into that room, now. Well, after I get some furniture in there, anyway. Which is the next step!

After this weekend (childbirth class), we'll have knocked three more things off my to-do list for the week! Yippee!!!

Happy Fourth!

Last Tuesday, Mike and I made the trip to Towanda and spent the night at Mom and Dad's. We joined them up on the lake Wednesday morning. Mother Nature didn't really want to cooperate over the holiday, but we really had a nice, relaxing time up there, anyway. My parents were really sweet and drove the motor home up so Mike and I had our own little place to stay. There are extra beds on the houseboat, but well, I take up more space these days. :)

We managed to get some time out on the water on Wednesday and then again on Thursday when Jimmy and Brittany came up. Other than that, I designated drove to some wineries, we went on a long walk, and ate some great food. Not bad.

Saturday night we visited Tim and Amy, since they were camping nearby. And, of course, we hit some more wineries on the way there...not quite the same experience when you're not sippin', let me tell ya. Coincidentally, some old friends of mom and dad's were camping at the same campground and I hadn't seen their daughter since we were in high school, so it was fun to quickly catch up with them, too.

Of course, on Sunday, the sky was cloudless, it was nice and warm, and there was hardly a breeze. Doesn't it always work that way? Mike and I stayed a little longer, just so we could get a couple of hours out on the boat. So glad we did. It was a perfect day. As we were leaving, I had a thought....this was our "last" vacation!!! Yikes!

Mike, on one of the cloudier days
My view from the tanning chair
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, huh, Honey?

Fantastic Weekend

What a great weekend. Mike started painting the nursery Friday night. Mom and Dad got into town and Mom helped him on Saturday. They did a FANTASTIC job and I'm so, so happy with how the color turned out. Yellow can be tricky, but we really picked a great shade. It looks so, so nice. Dad got lucky, since Home Depot doesn't have the size closet doors we need, so we'll have to special order them. That was his big job of the weekend that will have to wait until they come back in August. He did verify our sump pump worked, though, as well as replace all the outlets and the light switch in the nursery.

Nothing else is in there now, since we don't have the furniture, yet, and I want to get the carpet cleaned, so here's my favorite part, so far. So cute!

We took a trip to Babies-R-Us where Grammy and Grampy ordered our glider. Dad and Mike tried it out - two thumbs up. Of course, there was some baby clothes buying involved, as well.

Last week, Mike and I test-drove a RAV4. On paper, we were convinced this was the car we were going to get, but after driving it, I didn't LOVE it. The backseat was fairly small and the whole thing wasn't quite as roomy as I thought it would be. I guess I expect everything to be big and luxurious, compared to the Eclipse. So I was a little disappointed. Today we went and took a spin in a Highlander. MUCH bigger, but so much nicer. It would take some getting used to, that's for sure. After all, I'm practically sitting on the ground in my current car. But it would grow on me. The features, the interior....we really liked it. Now it's about finding the perfect one we want and the best price. And we will NOT be getting a mini-van, before any smart-ass commenter decides to mention it.

Made it to the gym tonight while Mike went for a run and then we hit my favorite local restaurant, Sweetwater Tavern, for dinner. So good.

No planes, but trains and automobiles!

Just had to share my day yesterday. I had a meeting in New York and took advantage of public transportation all over the place!

VA taxi to DC's Union Station
Amtrak train to NYC
NYC taxi to office
NYC subway back to train station
Amtrak train back to DC
DC bus (subway was all messed up because of the bad accident. bus was so crammed, I was standing next to the driver, holding onto the money-taking machine! great view, though)
DC subway home
Mike's Honda

You can't say I'm a transportation snob!