34 weeks!

Wow, 10 weeks since an update is a LONG time! Thank you so much for sticking with me and checking back for any news. I hate that I've been so bad at this. I've been waiting to write until I could get a good belly picture, but I'll just give that up for now, but I PROMISE (to those who have asked) that I will have a new picture up by the end of this week.

Time is going by faster and faster! How am I already 34 weeks? Can it really be 6 weeks(ish) until our little Adalyn is with us? Things are going really well, and as much as Nick hears me whine about all my aches and pains, things couldn’t be going better. I have a healthy baby growing in my belly and that’s all I can ask for!

We had our incredible church-wide baby shower on February 20th. I was and still am in such awe over all the people that came and all the wonderful gifts we received. We are so blessed! My amazing sisters-in-law worked so hard to make the day special for us, and it was so much more! We are so, SO blessed. Something that made it extra special was having my mom here to celebrate with us. She flew all the way from Arkansas and it meant so much to have her here.

As far as pregnancy goes, like I said, it couldn’t be going better! My glucose test came back normal which was a HUGE shock. I was totally prepared to have to prick my finger every day. The only things that I’ve really been dealing with are swollen feet, heartburn and acid reflux (ew!). It could be so much worse! One of my midwives said that if I wanted the swelling to go down, all I should be drinking is milk and water. No fruit, no fruit juice, no lemonade. I like milk and water, so this normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but I crave lemonade all the time and Nick and I drink juice like you wouldn't believe. Speaking of which, have you tried Simply Apple? OH.MY.GOODNESS. It tastes like you put a straw in an apple and the ONLY thing listed in the ingredients is “100% Apple Juice.” It’s amazing. Okay Julie, back on subject... if it were for Adalyn’s health, I would GLADLY sacrifice my cravings and give up all the stuff the midwife wanted me to, but since it’s for my own comfort, I'll just deal with elephant ankles for a few more weeks if it means I can still have my lemonade. Of course, I’m drinking more water than anything else, but I’m not cutting anything out.

Adalyn has become rather violent the last few weeks. For my fellow Twilight fans out there, I’m feeling a lot like Bella did in Breaking Dawn. Sometimes she kicks me so hard that I wonder how her foot isn’t sticking out of my side. But, I absolutely love it and wouldn’t trade those kicks for anything in the world! She’s getting so big that there’s no way to NOT feel her. She’s always nestled somewhere up against me. The other night Nick was making drum beats on my stomach and when he stopped, she would kick him back. Maybe she’ll follow in her daddy’s footsteps and be a drummer!

My 34 week appointment was today and it couldn't have gone any better. A lot of people have been telling me how big I am and how there is no way I will make it until May, so I asked the midwife about it. She measured and said that I couldn't be more perfectly on schedule. Then she made my day... she said that Adalyn isn't fat, she's just really long. I don't know exactly why this brought tears to my eyes, but it did. It made me SO happy because now I feel like I know something about this little being that I've never met. I don't know what color eyes she has, if she has hair or not or whose nose she has, but I do know that she's tall. Another reason this made me so happy is because Nick was 22 1/2 inches long at birth, so he was very tall and knowing that she's tall is evidence that she's pieces of her daddy. She's being created in her earthly AND Heavenly Father's image... nothing could make THIS Mama happier!

I guess Spring has gotten to me because my inner Monica Gellar has kicked into high gear. When we have company over, I get kind of insane about the house, so imagine how I am with a person coming to live with us permanently! Now, I know that my newborn baby couldn’t care less whether the blinds that our cat destroyed get replaced, or whether the refrigerator and pantry are organized, but I feel the intense need to get everything perfect for her. I’m so paranoid that we’ll bring her home and I will have missed a speck of dust on the baseboards, on a ceiling fan or air vent. I can’t bring my baby home to a dusty house! But, I figure that the cleaner the house is now, the easier life will be once she is here. So, I guess it’s not THAT crazy…

Thanks for reading! I can't wait to have even MORE exciting news in just a few weeks!