38w 4d

38 weeks; 4 days. Last days of my second pregnancy. I can do this!

Well, I think the nesting instinct kicked in over the weekend for both Brett and me. He was working on home projects - rewiring some stuff and replacing old outlet covers and the things you plug them into...why can I not think of the word?? Stella and he really bonded. She enjoyed following him around as he fixed things around the house. She would shine a little flashlight for him if she thought he needed more illuminating for whatever project he was doing at the moment. On Saturday she wouldn't nap, so they hung out at the park, shared a cookie at People's Organic, and worked on little stuff around the house. Meanwhile, I was at my mom's for a baby shower that Susie, my mom, and my friend, Andrea hosted for me. It was so much fun! It was so great to have this shower to look forward to and give me a little break from the recent stresses of life. When Susie first brought up having a shower for me, I was hesitant since this is my second baby. What would people think? Would they think I was greedy? I was stressing about it for a long time, but I guess it is becoming more common to have these showers, and I was thinking that if I had been invited to one, I would've been excited to go.  It was nice and low-key, and more of an excuse to get together with friends and eat cake. Haha.

They blessed me with diapers and other fun stuff! My mom ordered me an almond praline cake from Buttercream. That was the same flavor we had for our wedding cake! Mom said the style of frosting was called "Sarah" at the bakery, so she knew she had to pick that option. My mom is so cute and thoughtful. Mom also bought me this arrangement of flowers from Bachmann's that I have since put on Stella's white dresser since it looks so beautiful in her room. Andrea decorated the house with bunting (I think that's what it's called) and pom-poms.

After church and lunch on Sunday, we dropped off Stella at my parents' to nap while we shopped for living room furniture. We ordered a couch and two chairs from Room & Board in Edina. I am so excited! The couch is set to arrive Wednesday, November 13 (the day before my due date-aaah!) and the chairs will be ready December 21st. Our living room space is definitely lacking in seating, so it's going to be so fun to set it up and then eventually get a rug, accent pillows, accent tables, and other fun accessories to tie everything together.

On the way to the store, my car was acting up really badly - the gears kept kicking around and then there was an awful rotten eggs/burning smell that the engine was emitting. We dropped it off last night, and I hope it's not a lot of money to repair, and we hope they can repair it fast as I could have this baby anytime now. Oh, life. You keep things interesting.

Rewind to Halloween night. Stella had a blast!! She didn't fall asleep until 11 p.m. We let her eat one sucker, but I think she was more wound up from the excitement of the evening than from the sugar. She fit her ladybug costume from last year, so I didn't bother getting her a new one. When she woke up from her nap, I walked into her room, and she was sitting on the rug with all her stuffed animals, and she said, "I go to people's houses and get candy." I had to explain that we weren't going until it was dark out. For some reason, she got scared and burst into tears when we rang the doorbell at my parents' house. I think it was strange for her and not the normal routine of going in the back entrance and running to my mom like she usually does. Her lower lip stuck out and she just wanted Brett to hold her the whole time. After my parents' house, we visited Susie and Jesse at their house. Stella had fun waiting for kids to ring their doorbell, and then she'd watch Jesse hand out candy. 

Recent pictures of Stella:

1. Playing with a mini sandbox toy at Patina 2. Eating lunch with me at D'Amico in GV 3. Coloring a Halloween-themed picture at D'Amico 4. She discovered all my old bracelets in my jewelry box 5. Playing in the bath today. She has recently been trying to "swim" in the tub 6. Today she saw the rain and broke out into song: "Rain, rain, go away."

Last night Brett built a fire in our fireplace, and we enjoyed sitting and watching it. So cozy. Before bedtime, Stella was repeatedly giving Brett hugs and saying, "I miss you" each time she hugged him. It was so sweet. I am so glad they had so many opportunities to hang out over this weekend. 

Brett's company hired a lady to work in an Operations role, so Brett is training her starting today. Brett jokingly requested I not have the baby this week because of that. I told him that I have no more control of keeping the baby inside than he has raising the dead. Ha. I have my 39-week appointment in about half an hour. Mom is lending me her car as mine is being fixed. I better go!