Merry Christmas!

Belly at 33 weeks.

This week has brought on more heartburn and lower back aches. And it's not even that bad, just a little uncomfortable. I would just prefer not to feel like a dragon. Blah. Jamie is still kicking away and occasionally has the hiccups. Most of the day, I just wonder "what is he DOING in there?"

Scott and I are going to his company Christmas party tonight! Should be fun.

Matching bumps.

Here I am, with my high school friend, Jenn. This was taken the day after Thanksgiving, when we were both in Maryland, visiting our families. Jenn's 2 weeks behind me, also expecting a boy! It's so exciting and I'm glad that we're going through this together.

Saturday night randomness.

Jamie has the hiccups. This happens every other day or so, or at least, that's how often I notice it.

We had our "first" snow today in Richmond. Well, if you'll call it that. A lot of people seem to hate snow, but not me! Anyway, it rained for most of the day, but around the late afternoon, flakes were starting to fall. It lasted for a few hours.

Not much else to report. Just taking it easy, watching movies on tv with my feet up. I've been feeling pretty tired lately, but I guess it's a good excuse to rest as much as possible.

Sweet Tea

Who doesn't love iced tea? I love it only when it's sweetened, which is funny because if it's hot -- I drink it black.

Anyway, had a craving for iced tea yesterday and I want to not only store this recipe away for myself, but share it, too.

It's pretty easy:

--2 quart pitcher
--4 regular tea bags
--1 cup sugar

Boil 2 quarts of water (some people use a pan on the stove, but I used my electric kettle), let the tea bags steep for however long you'd like, and add the sugar. Let it cool. Voila! Delicious sweet tea.

It's Friday!

Last night, Scott and I took a tour of the hospital where I'll deliver. They recently did some remodeling and it's NICE. The rooms have -- get this -- hardwood floors. And flat screen tvs. I mentioned awhile ago to Scott that I may bring a season of Gilmore Girls with me, to keep me occupied. I mean...I'd rather watch that than sports.

We even got to peek in at the nursery and the babies were adorable. Little burritos with tiny hats. Anyway, I have a good feeling about the hospital. That was the last official "class" that we had on the list, so we're done with most of the prep work. Scott's going to install the car seat this weekend, hopefully.

As of this morning, I'm officially in the land of Braxton Hicks. My doctor informed this week that I've probably already had some contractions, but just nothing that I've noticed. Sure enough, early this morning, I experienced some tightening in my abdomen off and on. It's just crazy that I'm really in the last stretch of this pregnancy.

And man, I'm tired. After several nights of wonderful sleep (I knew it was too good to last!), I just had the worst night's sleep last night. I feel like I've been awake forever. I hate it when this happens.

31 & 32 weeks!

31 weeks, Thanksgiving morning

32 weeks

I've been busy! Since my last post, Scott and I've celebrated 2 Thanksgivings, I've had another baby shower (thrown by Scott's mom), put up our Christmas decorations, and today, had our 32 week OB appointment.

The baby shower was a complete surprise. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we planned on going to Scott's parents' house and when we arrived, that was the start of the shower. It was really nice and we received some great things for Jamie, including a pack and play, a stroller, some clothing, toys and toiletry essentials.

Today's appointment went fine -- I'm still right on track with weight gain and how Jamie's growing. We heard the heartbeat and it registered in the high 140's. Only 8 weeks (or so!) to go!

And here's our Christmas tree. Isn't it gorgeous? I can't stop looking at it.