Kirsten and Mark

I had a hard time choosing a title for this week’s post. I toyed with “It’s Hot!” or “I’m Done!” or “It’s a Jungle Out There!” but it’s kind of all three.

First-I’m done with work. Monday was my first day of “maternity leave” so to speak. It’s been very weird to think that I’m done with the corporate world–as far as I can tell anyway. I’m actually not going back to work. Since I’ve been working for the past 12 years, this is definitely different. When Britt gets here I know I’ll be super busy, which is good, because that’s the only way I could do it. Sitting around all day just isn’t me. This is only my third day off and I’ve gotten most of my errands done. Now I’m down to housework stuff.

It has also been very hot here. After all the rain it just decided to change completely and get up into the 80s! I have the AC cranked up in my car, and all the windows open in the house. I’m really glad Britt isn’t coming in the summer! I’d totally be dying.

We finished Britt’s nursery finally. We got some cute wall decals that have black and white sea animals. The color (or lack of it) and shapes are good for babies eye and brain development.

On Saturday was my friend Ashley’s baby shower. Paige and I had been working on it for months and we were really happy that it turned out so well. The house we had it in was perfect, and Paige’s work let her borrow giant stuffed jungle animals. We had so much fun! Here are a few pictures.

Britt is now full term, so any time he wants to come, we’re ready. Based on the ultrasound last week I’m guessing he’s about 6 pounds now, and his lungs should be fully developed. I can tell he’s not very comfortable in there anymore–he squirms a lot and his pokes are really uncomfortable.

I guess since I’ve been pretty much holed up in my office all day and then home at night, I haven’t been out and about very much. Since I’ve been running errands it’s funny how everyone asks three questions:

1. How far are you/how much longer

2. Do you know what it is

3. Is it your first/are you excited.

It’s really interesting. Everyone seems really excited too. That’s nice I guess.

I do feel pretty huge though. Even my clothes that used to be really big on me don’t fit anymore. I’m just hoping he comes sooner rather than later.

This is our picture from Sunday:

36 weeks down, 4 to go. That means I’m in my last month of being preggo and it’s our last month of being a family of 2. I’m definitely in countdown mode.

Over the weekend we took our last trip before we become parents too. We know it’s not the last trip we’ll take alone, but the last one that we won’t have kids to worry about back home. With three things to celebrate in the span of 4 days, (V-day, B-day, Pres.-Day) we figured we had a great excuse to head out of town.

First thing to celebrate: Valentine’s Day. We’d talked about it being low key, so for the first time I didn’t plan anything special. Well, I did make little hearts and wrote things that I love about Mark on them. I hid them around the house in places I knew he’d find them as he got ready for work. That was fun. He said he had fun finding them. But, that’s all I did. He came home with dinner, dessert and flowers that he’d chosen himself and put in a vase for me. I thought they’d all come together. It looked really good and absolutely beautiful. He cooked all the food, and cleaned up all the dishes! It was seriously a great gift.

Friday friends came and celebrated Mark’s birthday early with some cake, ice cream and guitar hero. When I asked what kind of cake he wanted, I expected him to say chocolate, or yellow or whatever. No. My husband wanted a “gourmet” flavored cake. There is a bakery here in LA that’s famous for amazing cakes and they have their flavors online.  He decided he wanted me to make Lemon Raspberry. Well, I really hate lemon cake and he’d also mentioned the White Chocolate Raspberry too, so he agreed that would be just as good. So, I found a recipe online and made his White Chocolate Raspberry cake. I must admit, it was really good!

Early Saturday morning we began our last adventure =) We took the most direct route since we didn’t want to get to Monterey too late. We passed by a lot of empty fields, vineyards and also fields with giant cutouts of people promoting the produce grown there. The drive took longer than we thought, so we didn’t make it till 3–too late to go to the Aquarium that day. Since it was his birthday, Mark got to choose what we did and what we ate.

First stop–Cannery Row. Apparently it was made famous by Steinbeck in a book by the same title. We wandered down the street looking into shops here and there. There is a little speck of beach that was pretty crowded with people looking at the water and taking pictures. Being pregnant makes everyone talk to you and ask when you’re due, if you know what you’re having, tell you it’s exciting etc. One woman even offered to take our picture together.

After sitting for so long, you’d think I would have loved walking a lot, but at 8 months pregnant, it isn’t fun long. Mark chose a popular seafood place on a little “pier” called the Fish Hopper for dinner. We had a bit of a wait, but the menu sounded good. We had a view of the water, and the food was really good too. I told them it was Mark’s birthday and we got some cheesecake too.

We may never try going to church on vacation again. We like to because it’s fun to see other people in other places, and of course, we should. But Stake Conference thwarted our efforts once again! It happened the first time in Hawaii. Now here. What’ worse, is that the meeting was at 9 am, and since our hotel didn’t have breakfast we had to do a super quick McDonald’s trip. (Though, my pancakes and bacon were pretty good.) When we arrived at the chapel, there was a YSA conference meeting going on. And hardly anyone there. Yeah, the general meeting wasn’t until 10.  We were laughing so hard when we left.  Seriously! Twice in a row!

So, we began our adventure of the day a little earlier than planned.  Mark’s co-worker suggested a stop in a cute little beach town called Capitola. It was a major attraction in the mid-1800s and early 20th Century. We wandered through eclectic boutiques, down by the beach and watched surfers. We even caught the end of a performance by the “Uke Band.” Yes, they play ukeleles and guitars. One little girl was so cute. She was about 3-4. When she saw me coming she leaned over to her dad and in a kid whisper said “Dad, that lady has a baby in her tummy.” I smiled and told her she was right. It was quite cute.  As we walked on the pier, a woman with her two daughters asked if I was trying to walk the baby out. People’s comments are so funny!

After some really good pizza at “Pizza My Heart” we drove up to San Francisco.  Mark just really wanted to go there. We had no plans or maps. That proved somewhat fateful later. It was a nice drive, and we realized that if Mark got a job with Apple or Google that are based about 30 minutes outside the city it wouldn’t be so bad.

The city itself was crazy. There was so much traffic. We ended up on 19th Street that supposedly goes to the Golden Gate Bridge. For some reason we stayed on it for about 30 minutes and made it about 10 blocks. We did 1 block per light cycle, if that. Just as soon as it was clearing up–Mark turned off the street onto another one! Neither of us had any idea where we were or where we were going. Finally he saw something he recognized–a shopping mall place–but it turned out not to be as cool as he thought it’d be. So, we went toward China Town. I figured we’d get out, but there were so many people and we never found parking. Since we’re not really trinket shoppers and didn’t want anything anyway, we took it all in from the car.

Next, getting to Fisherman’s Wharf was a task too. With no turns allowed on some streets it takes forever to get where you want to go. We couldn’t believe the was so much traffic on a Sunday afternoon!  FINALLY we parked in a garage for Cost Plus and Borders. We had to make a $10 purchase, but we needed some pillows for the house anyway, so I figured it was worth it. We wanted to ride the trolley, but it was $5 one way! So, we looked at a submarine and got some sourdough bread instead.

These turtles were so cute, we had to get them. The store also had bears, crocodiles, crabs, lobster and regular loaves. We wanted 1 big one, but they didn’t have any, so the little ones worked too. They were also SUPER yummy!

Mark’s co-worker also suggested we eat at House of Nanking. Of all the places in China Town, we happened on it by chance. The service kind of sucks, and there is no atmosphere, but the food was really good. Seriously, they get people in and out as fast as possible since there is a line waiting outside to get in!

It was fun going back to S.F. I hadn’t been there since junior high! Even though we had a lot of time in the car dealing with traffic (so much worse than LA) we had a good time just hanging out together and having the adventure.

On Monday morning we finally got to the Aquarium. There were a lot of people, but they had really great things to see. One of the volunteers told us there was even a wild otter with a 1-day-old pup in the tide pool area.

Mark took so many great photos that I can’t decide. You’ll have to check them out at our photo site.

Since I’ve never driven down Highway 1 and thought it’d be cool, we took it from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. It took 4.5 hours. That’s longer than our entire trip up. But, we did see some beautiful country. Big Sur, a dot of a “town” called Lucia that has the greatest Root Beer cookies, and unbelievable coastline were amazing and something we wouldn’t want to do with little kids in the car, so we’re glad we did it now!

My 36 week appointment was on Wednesday and the doctor said my stomach is measuring a little small again (unbelievable to me) and said it’s probably because he’s so low, but she sent us to get an ultrasound just in case. We had to wait an hour, but it was fun to see how he’s doing.

The Tech said he’s just perfect. Head and stomach are 35 weeks, thigh bone is 36 weeks (Mark pays good attention) Very healthy heart, good amount of fluid, and all looks normal. Over the weekend with all of the walking I was getting Braxton Hick’s more, but nothing else is happening.

He is about 5.75 pounds now. Tech said if the measurements are right on and he comes when he’s due, he’ll be 7 to 7.5 pounds. I’m hoping for 7. All the doctors said there isn’t really any more room for him, so I’m thinking he’ll get tired of being squished in a couple of weeks and decide to get spread out on the outside.

Love is in the air today, and whether you hate the holiday or love it, there is really no escaping the overwhelming presence of flowers, chocolate and the color red.  Even though there are a lot of expectations that are hard to live up to, I think there is one redeeming quality the holiday has: It gives you a reason to tell your family, friends and significant others how much you love and appreciate them. It can get busy and hectic in our lives and sometimes we take the people we care about the most for granted.

So, as writer of this blog I’m taking the opportunity to tell my family how much I love them. They are always there for me, supporting me in all that I do and encouraging me to do my best. And I have a really big family, so that is a lot of love and support coming my way! Second is my friends. Some I’ve had since junior high, others since college and others more recent. I know I’ve written this before, but I have been blessed with the best friends. I don’t keep in touch with many people from high school or college, but those that I do are true friends that I’ll have forever. And, the more recent friends that I have made are amazing too. It’s great to be able to go through the same stages in life with good people who love and accept you for who and what you are.

And, of course the most important is my amazingly wonderful husband Mark. He is truly more than I even hoped to have as my companion through life and the eternities. His thoughtfulness, kindness, patience and love are everything to me and I know he was meant for me. In the past few months as we’ve been preparing for Britton’s arrival I have watched him interact with the children and babies around us and I know he will be an amazing father as well. I really could go on, but I’ll just say I love him with all my heart!

We’re keeping today pretty casual since we’re going away this weekend and will do something nice then. (More on that in next week’s post)

This past week has been pretty uneventful other than reaching 35 weeks. Only 5 more to go! I’ve sewn the burp cloths and little blankets I’m making for him, but need to put on the finishing touches. I actually sewed them! Sergers are really cool. I’d never used one before…but I actually did it–well, the straight edges of the blankets. I left the curves to Paige. I didn’t want to waste all of her thread making mistakes. Most of his clothes are washed and we’re just about all ready. A few more things for the nursery and then we’ll be done.

This week his  kidneys are finished developing, with the liver and lungs making their final preparations for birth. Even after birth the liver continues developing…that’s why some babies get jaundice, because the liver isn’t keeping up  yet.

Have a great day all!

It’s official, Britt has dropped. He’s now head down and preparing for his big move. I started noticing it about a week ago–that my hand was laying more vertical than horizontal between my chest and stomach. Then one day, I think it was Saturday, Mark even noticed it. I tried again, and my hand is almost completely vertical now. It’s been nice being able to breathe more.

Though, that does lead to other problems, like him kicking in my ribs now. Sometimes it really hurts! And, now that he’s bigger and stronger his movements are much more pronounced and uncomfortable. It’s not super cute anymore…sometime it’s really annoying. Oh well, I’d want to move around too if I was that squished, so I can’t blame him much.

It’s only 6 weeks till he’s “due” and I’m getting more anxious that he’s going to come early. It’s fueled by the fact that some women due when I am are already having theirs. So it’s making me want to get everything ready now, like wash all his clothes, pack my bag, make sure our cameras are charged and ready, have the car seat in the car. Mark thinks I’m a little crazy.

Other news of the week–we have great neighbors! They’re so generous and willing to help each other with anything. We still haven’t gotten a parking permit for our street because the parking office is closed Saturdays and closes at 5 pm during the week. Mark could theoretically go before work, but that early in the morning we dont’ think about it. And, for the most part it’s been fine–we park on different streets without a permit requirement. But, this weekend was a PAIN because all of the streets around are 2 hour parking during the day, and the one that isn’t was full…so I had to move my car like 3 times. So, back to our neighbors. One of them saw me running around Saturday moving my car and so he offered to give us his unused parking permit! He lives alone and only has 1 car, so doesn’t need it. He’s always so  sweet and willing to give us advice on the neighborhood and everything too. That’ll save us a whole lot of trouble! I’m so glad we found this apartment.

And the Super Tuesday hoopla…constant commentary is kind of annoying. I don’t understand why it’s so important to know who is ahead in all of the states when there are only 5% or 20% of the polls reporting their numbers. These polls have already closed, so it isn’t like it’s going to make people rush out to vote if their candidate is behind. It just makes it look worse than it is. (Or better depending on whom you’re voting for) Yesterday’s numbers aren’t too encouraging. It’d be really scary in my opinion if Hillary and McCain clinch the nominations. Luckily the Dem race isn’t nearly decided yet, so there is still hope.

Britt is just getting bigger this week, and looks kind of like this:

I’m pretty sure he’ll have lots of dark hair….