I woke up this morning, stared at the ceiling and thought, “Next Friday is the due date.”

Isn’t that just craziness?? 🙂

And I’m going to start this post with a disclaimer – a lot of what is below is just me being nearly 39 weeks and needing to vent a little bit. I’m hoping the venting will take care of things that seem to be inflating – like my ankles, for instance.

We’ve got our next appointment on Thursday. And a few things have changed – for example, up until this week I hadn’t really had swollen ankles or anything, but now my ankles and hands are pretty much constantly swollen and my wedding rings no longer fit. The swelling seems to get worse at night. Also, I’ve been having off and on Braxton Hicks contractions which are just incredibly fun times. I’m always thinking, “Maybe this is it!” But it isn’t as of yet.

Last night, both Jon and I were both thinking maybe it was it. I woke up about one in the morning with super bad heartburn and some painful cramping. It kept me up until about six. Jon, thankfully, went back to sleep since he had to teach at summer school today. And I, thankfully, didn’t have anywhere I needed to be today, so I slept in until noon.

So it seems that Baby N is perfectly content to just stay in there. I’m SO hoping that we’ll get to hear something positive about dilating at our appointment on Thursday! I’ve been trying to tell Baby N that his happy little existence in his private bounce house is only temporary and he would much rather be out here where he can completely stretch out, but he doesn’t seem to care.

But. Enough with the pregnancy complaints. 🙂 Apparently, I’ve been more of a grumpus lately. We helped some friends – Blake and Shannon – move on Monday. I’d seen Blake the previous Monday at one of Jon’s softball games.

He came over and I asked him how he was doing and this is what he said: “Well. I’m fine. I’m just hot. And tired.”

So I snapped, “Well, why don’t you try incubating a human heater in triple digit heat and see how you’re doing then?”

I guess he went home and told Shannon it was the first time he’d ever seen me grouchy. Which just goes to show that we probably need to hang out more because I’m definitely not all happy and carefree all the day long, all of the time. Still. Poor Blake. I’m blaming the off-with-his-head remark on the pregnancy hormones, but deep down I know I was just being a Mrs. Grumpy Pants, like our friend Laura would call me.

Yesterday, though, was fun! I spent a good part of the afternoon having coffee with some of my sweetest friends who helped put my “woe is me, this child is going to come out needing braces” thoughts to rest. 🙂 It really is amazing how friends and some iced mango tea can help solve some of those issues. That and realizing that despite how loooong the days are right now, I’m still not to my due date and so I don’t have much room to complain. (Especially compared to one of the ladies in my community group who was 2.5 weeks late with one of her kids – OY.)

So. We are just here waiting. Waiting and praying and walking. I know in my head that God has already planned Baby N’s birthday and it’s going to be exactly the right time – it’s just convincing my emotions and ankles of that…

Here’s praying that we all have a good night’s sleep!

~~

Due Date Countdown: 15 days!

I think we can tell what my focus has been lately. 🙂 I’ve been trying to make sure we’ve got everything ready, reading up in my pregnancy books on labor and delivery, sleeping a ton (I’ve been SO tired this week!), and trying to soak up as much time with Jon as possible before we’re officially parents!

Father’s Day was SO much fun – we hung out at my parents’ house and went swimming, Mom made some awesome enchiladas and we gave Dad his Father’s Day gifts:

I can’t show you what the shirt says because it’s one of those secret, inside family jokes and you probably wouldn’t find it so funny. 🙂 But obviously Dad did!

I’m SO grateful to have such an amazing father – I really can’t imagine having a better example growing up of what my Heavenly Father is like. 🙂 Dad is hilarious – I love hanging out with him!

And I’m also so thankful that I married a man who is going to be an amazing daddy as well! Honestly, that is one of the things I’m most excited for – I cannot wait to see my sweet Jon as a dad! 🙂

And I finally got Baby N’s room to the point where we can take pictures! Yay! There’s a few things I didn’t take pictures of to show you guys – once we have him and his name is officially “official”, I’ll post a few more pictures. 🙂 But for now…

Here’s view of his room from the hallway. You’ll notice a few things shoved into the corners and those are the things that won’t end up in his room (like the bouncer seat, the car seat, the bathtub, etc).

The crib! We went with a transportation theme because really, what’s cuter with baby boys than trucks? 🙂

Here’s the stroller! I love the print on this one – my in-laws got this for us!

Baby N’s bookshelf – isn’t a bookshelf a must for the son of an author? (Of course, you’ll notice that there seems to be more sports-related items on the bookshelf than actual books…)

Here’s his changing table/dresser. We put the quilt from the bedding on the wall. The lamp is one of those little mini ones from Target and of course there had to be Disney! My mom and sister picked up Mickey and Donald on their last trip for Baby N. He’s spoiled already 🙂

Here’s his going home from the hospital outfit – aren’t those just the cutest little socks you’ve ever seen? And when I think about how cute he’s going to look in that little hoodie? 🙂 I have to admit, I’ve gotten a little bit soft over the last few weeks. 🙂

Mom found him this miniature Kody – isn’t it adorable?

This is the quilt my mother-in-law made for him – doesn’t it match his room just perfectly?? I love the colors! Told you he’s already spoiled rotten. 🙂

I’m not sure why the lighting is all weird in this picture, but this is an outfit my sister bought for him while we were on our girls’ trip in Phoenix a few months back. I just LOVE the zebra (it says “My Stripey Friend”)! So cute! And I’ve decided that baby boys have the cutest pants ever!

Last, but definitely not least, here’s a picture of the necklace my mom got me for my baby shower – the heart has the July birthstone in it. 🙂 I love this!

There are SO many other things I could have taken pictures of – we have been SO blessed by our sweet friends and family! 🙂 I’m so thankful that our little guy is loved and prayed for already – THAT is by far the best gift Jon and I have been given!

A few of you have asked if I have a PO Box and yes, I do!! And I love getting mail – you guys are so sweet to ask! It’s:

Erynn Mangum
PO Box 66331
Albuquerque, NM 87193. 🙂

Off to get some lunch! I hope you guys are having a wonderful, restful Wednesday! Have any fun plans for the weekend?

~~

Today, I am officially full-term!

Yay! I think Baby N knows it too, because he was doing a happy dance in there this morning (either that or he was hungry since I hadn’t had breakfast yet and was protesting). However, he might just be too comfortable in there – at my appointment yesterday, I was again not dilated at all.

Silly rabbit. You’d think he’d be getting squished in there and want to come out.

So, I thought it might be fun to do a pregnancy stats post today – just so that someday when Baby N is six years old and pretending to be a luge racer (luger? lugee?) and is hurtling himself down the street laying flat on his back on a skateboard (shout out to my brothers and brothers-in-law), I can look back and remember the calm days with this baby. 🙂

Total Weight Gain (thus far anyway): 24 pounds. I lost a pound at my appointment two weeks ago and yesterday I had stayed the same. Which is miraculous considering the amount of dessert and number of frozen Cokes I’ve been consuming lately.

Baby Stats: According to the books, he weighs a little over six pounds and is at his birth length now. My doctor said he’s head down still (yay!) and he’s been at a -1 station for the last two weeks. Also, at this last visit, I was 30% effaced. I cannot wait to see what he looks like! I’ve been so anxious to see what color eyes he has. And I’m so curious to get to know his personality!

Movement: Some days, he’s moving almost constantly! And he’s so big now that it hurts when he catches me certain ways (like my ribs or the inside of my hips). That being said, it’s still SO fun to watch him move around in there and try to guess what all the lumps might be. 🙂

Swelling: Not so much. My ankles have swelled up maybe three times this entire pregnancy and even then, they weren’t bad. My hands are a little swollen in the morning and at night, but again, nothing too horrendous. I can still wear my wedding rings (though it has gotten a bit tight a few days).

Cravings: I’ve already mentioned the frozen Cokes and I think that I’ve mostly been wanting things that are cold and sweet. Which means a lot of Keva Juice, cold cantaloupe and I’m really loving peaches (and pineapple, watermelon and pretty much any other cold summertime fruit!). Even just writing about all this makes me want to run out and get a Keva Juice real quick… That being said, I haven’t really had that many cravings over the last nine months.

Aversions: Now this is a different story. From about six weeks pregnant until now, I have hated and I mean hated all things chicken and eggs. For a while, I couldn’t even smell them without throwing up. It’s better now, but it still makes my stomach turn. Jon is desperately hoping that this isn’t a permanent condition.

Sleeping: Between getting up to use the bathroom (never in my life had to do this before!) and not being able to roll over without waking myself up, I don’t get tons of sleep. However, my mom recently got me a body pillow and that seems to be helping a lot! Napping, though, is a different story. I think I took a nap almost every day this week. I’ve heard that I should be soaking up as much sleep as I can get right now. Last weekend, I’m pretty sure I slept longer than I was awake.

Maternity Clothes: I started wearing maternity jeans around 18-20-ish weeks and I’ve been actually outgrowing some of my maternity shirts in the last few weeks. I’ve been telling myself that they are shrinking in the dryer.

Baby’s Room: Done! I’m posting pictures hopefully Monday!

Mood Swings: I don’t feel like I’ve been overly emotional most of the time, but there are times when I find myself tearing up over things that I would never have cried over before. And I’ve apparently become a lot more opinionated over the course of this pregnancy, or so I’ve been told. 🙂

Workouts: I worked out almost every day during the second trimester and the beginning of the third, but I have to confess that I haven’t done my prenatal workout DVD at all in the last four weeks. I’ve been SO lazy! I’ve been trying to get us to take Kody for walks every day, but seeing as how it’s been so hot outside and I’m pregnant and he’s a husky, we haven’t been as good as we should be. I told Jon that I’ve been hearing Jillian Michaels yelling at me in my ear that it’s almost time to get back to the 30 Day Shred – and I’m actually looking forward to it! It’s been a while since I had a really good workout (I know – I’m weird).

Kody: Doesn’t play with me very often. He hasn’t really played rough with me since before we found out we were pregnant. I’m a little worried about how he’s going to react to a baby taking “his” spot of center of attention and because of that, I’ve been trying to ignore him as much as I can during the day since I know I won’t be focusing on him later. You can see from the picture that he’s still trying to get my attention all the time and I feel awful when I just ignore him. Poor puppy!

Me: Feeling pretty good most of the time! I’m a lot more tired and I don’t have the energy level that I used to have, so I’m missing both of those. My back hurts pretty bad at the end of the day and Jon has been SO sweet to give me nightly back rubs! I’m incredibly excited for Baby N to get here and incredibly scared for Baby N to get here. Can you be both? Plus, there’s the whole labor and delivery to look forward to (also scary!) and I’ve been praying almost constantly that God will keep me from getting anxious about any part of what’s in the near future.

Hope you all had a fabulous week! Enjoy your weekend – I’m going swimming! 🙂

~~

So, since Jon and I got married, I think you can probably guess what his reaction to my Lip Free Zone rule was. 🙂

Not only did he call the next day (so glad Dad was wrong!), but he came over for dinner. And the entire time he was there, I kept trying to tell him about my no kissing stance and each time I opened my mouth, someone would walk into the room, or dinner was ready, or the movie was starting.

So, once again, I went the whole night without saying anything and it was again time for the awkward porch goodnight thing again.

This time though, he hugged me and stepped back. “Well, goodnight,” he said.

I almost just let him leave. Then I felt bad about the previous night again and mustered up my nerve. “Jon I just want you to know that I’m saving my first kiss for when I get engaged so I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but it was kind of weird last night and also by the way I don’t date casually and I’m sorry and anyways goodnight,” I said, all in one breath and then I ran for the door.

He left, I closed the door, I took a deep breath.

Then the doorbell rang again.

And it was Jon. Who calmly announced that we needed to talk more about this and could I join him on the porch for a little bit.

I sat down on the bench out front, fully expecting him to say that wasn’t going to fly with him, so I was either going to need to pucker up or plan on him leaving.

So, I planned on him leaving. Because being with someone who didn’t respect my boundaries – regardless of how pointless, silly or stupid he thought they were – just wasn’t an option.

He sat down next to me and we ended up talking for the next two hours about me and why I wasn’t going to kiss anyone and him and why that was okay with him and the whole not casually dating thing and then he said, “Look, Erynn, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think there was a possibility of marrying you someday.”

Um. Okay.

Then we said good bye (again) and he left (again) and I walked back in the house (again). I’m pretty sure that my parents thought we were ending it outside and that it was probably the shortest relationship ever next to Britney’s Spears’ 21-hour Vegas marriage, but happily, they were wrong.

And what came next? 🙂 I guess you’ll have to wait and see!

Thanks so much for letting me ramble on about my memories like this! I love it!

~~

So sorry for the lack of posts lately. I’ve been so spacey-brained I can barely remember to put shoes on to leave the house. That and Jon’s been on his break before teaching summer school starts, so we’ve been getting our house deep cleaned and organized and soaking up the little amount of time we’ve got left with just the two of us. 🙂

It has hit triple digits here several times over the last week, so needless to say, I am SO ready to not be pregnant anymore! I’m roasting! About the only amount of time I spend outside is swimming in my parents’ pool (which feels amazing!).

We had our weekly checkup today and I actually lost a pound this week, which I’ve heard is a good sign that he might be coming soon! The doctor also checked me and Baby N (now I’ve got you guessing!!) is head down – YAY! That is SUCH a relief to here because I’ve been worried that he was sideways or something. 🙂 Hoping to be at least a little bit dilated next week!

This week was also the week of cravings – Sunday I would have given my right arm for a Frozen Coke Icee. Jon was such a good husband – after church, we probably drove to about eleven places looking for one (and I called about six others) before we finally found it. And it was GOOD. 🙂

Then Tuesday night, I was planning on making burritos for dinner. Then I started thinking about pizza. So, we pulled out the ads to see if we could find any coupons and that when I saw the ad for Long John Silvers. Pizza and popcorn shrimp? Sounded AMAZING. So we got both. Considering I haven’t really craved anything the rest of this pregnancy, it was a little weird that all of these things hit in one week!

I’m going to post a picture of me at 36 weeks tomorrow and hopefully next week I’ll get back to memory lane! Hope you all are staying cool!

~~

Today was the last of my two-week doctor appointments. It’s every week from here on out! So crazy! Today is also the first time I’ve had a caffeinated Dr. Pepper since I got pregnant – and I think the little mister loved it just as much as I did. I was craving it SOOO much today! I couldn’t resist – we drove to Sonic and picked one up before the appointment. 🙂

It made it hard on the nurse to get his heartbeat though, because he kept kicking the heart monitor off. 🙂

And here’s me at 35 weeks tomorrow!

So, I believe we were reminiscing, right? 🙂

After the four hour lunch date, Jon and I went and got coffee, he came over and watched a couple of movies at my house, and I went with him to watch one of his friend’s rugby games (did I understand it? No. Did I care at all about it? No. Why did I go? Because of the guy who asked me). And this went on for about two weeks.

So, naturally, I assumed we were dating.

Apparently, that is not the conclusion that Jon came to. Because, one day, he had to go pick up his roommate from the airport after church and he asked me to go along with him. We were sitting on the side of the road leading to the airport waiting for Johnny to get there when Jon says, “So, I uh, really like you and um, I’d really like you to be my girlfriend.”

To which I said, “Um. I thought I already was?”

It was really romantic.

Later that night, Jon was leaving my house after dinner. I walked him out to the front porch and we were standing out there talking for a little bit.

Small side note that Jon was not aware of: When I was a sophomore or junior in high school, I decided that I wanted my first kiss to be when I got engaged. I thought it would be so romantic and I also thought it would protect me from kissing a bunch of guys that I would inevitably end up not marrying. Both good reasons. Both things Jon did not know.

We were standing on the porch and it was a little bit chilly, since it was early April and it was completely dark outside except for the porch lights and the stars, and Jon bent down and…

I realized what he was about to do right before he kissed me, so I instinctively turned my head and he ended up kissing my cheek.

It was SO awkward!

And then, I was so completely flustered that all I could say was, “Okay, well, good night, drive carefully!” and then I hurried back inside and closed the door.

Poor Jon. I was so rattled when I got back inside. I walked in the kitchen and both my mom and dad were in there and Dad asked what had happened since I guess it was obvious that something had.

I told them that Jon had tried to kiss me and I’d turned my head and they both started laughing so hard and Dad said, “Well. That is probably the last we’ll see of him.”

🙂 I love remembering these days! I felt so bad that night! And… I guess you’ll find out how Jon reacted to my “news” later. 🙂

How about you guys? What are/were your boundaries when it comes to relationships – dating or friends?

~~

But I’m finally catching up on here!!

So sorry for the lack of blogs lately – Jon’s two week summer break started Friday afternoon, so we’ve been busy trying to get our house cleaned and organized for when our little mister shows up. 🙂 And we spent Memorial Day weekend swimming at my parents house (which felt SO good on my back!!), so we’ve been busy!

I did want to post my shower pictures though, so here they are! My baby shower in pictures!!

Here are the sweet girls who were the hostesses – Eliya, Shannon, Laura and Mrs. Wright. 🙂

They had a super cute idea for a game and had everyone decorate onesies for our little guy! Here’s the one my mother-in-law and mom made. So cute!

This is a quilt that my grandmother cross-stitched for the baby. Isn’t it adorable?

Jen and Greg came in town for the shower – here’s a shot of my sister, me, my mom and Jen. I love this picture!!

My two sisters-in-law, Vicky and Ashlee, came in town with my mother-in-law. We had such a good time with them! We ate out on Sunday night at a teppan grill. So fun!

I’ll get back to my memories about how Jon and I started dating hopefully tomorrow. And I need to post another pregnancy pic! Almost 35 weeks – WOW.

More to come tomorrow! Have a great day!

~~