Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House

I have been spending the last few weeks trying to prepare our new home for Olive's arrival. I am happy to say, it's almost ready (and none too soon). I will be 37 weeks pregnant on Friday, which is officially full-term. Olive could be here tomorrow, or even another month if she decides to be a little late. I have started sleeping with a waterproof piddle pad under the sheets just in case my water breaks in bed, and I'm fearful of sitting on other people's couches. The hospital bag is packed and ready by the door. For now, it's just a waiting game that is terrifying and exciting all at the same time.

As promised, here are some pictures of Olive's first home. We still have some work to do, but we feel very fortunate to have found this place on such short notice.

Here's a view from the outside. Needless to say, at 8 months pregnant when we moved in, Jason did not feel compelled to carry me over the threshold.

These beautiful pink roses just started blooming by the entrance this week. I'm hoping they will be in full bloom to welcome our little girl soon.

A couple of shots of the living room

This is where the magic happens... Yeah, right.

Dining area with a beautiful view

This is Jason's and my own favorite feature of the house- it has a great back porch. I got these picnic tables in the summer clearance section of Lowes, so come on over and we'll grill out!

Here's a view of our backyard. I like to call these our "Mormon praying trees." Those blog readers who are Mormon/Mormon background know what I'm talking about. Doesn't this look just like the Joseph Smith first vision painting? Nobody be surprised if Olive digs up some golden plates back here. (A little LDS humor.)

On to the upstairs... Here is the master bedroom. I couldn't really get a good angle to show our new furniture. It's a little cramped in this room, but perfectly comfortable.

Space is also a little tight in the guest room. It should be fun turning this into a guest room/office.

...and the moment you've all been waiting for: The nursery! Unfortunately, this is the room that is still a bit of a work-in-progress. We did, however, get the crib put together this week. Thank you so much to Granna and Grandad Leggat for the beautiful crib. It is fit for a princess!

(This is not the princess.)

So here is a preview, but I will add an updated picture as soon as we get the rest of the room together.

As you may know, my sister Brie, and her husband, Daniel, were kind enough to let us stay with them for three weeks before we were able to move into our own home. They have been an endless source of kindness and help throughout our transition to North Carolina. I am also so grateful for the chance to see my beautiful niece and nephew on a daily basis. Jason and I wanted to do something fun to thank them all for their hospitality, so we rented an electric boat and took it out on Lake Norman for a few hours. We were a little nervous when the weather turned cold and windy, but the boat was enclosed, and the kids loved the rocking.

Also, since we were nearly the only ones crazy enough to be on the lake, it was deserted enough to let Caroline do most of the driving, with a little help from Uncle Porter.

I won't say Jamie loved the life jacket, but it did make falling down a lot more fun for him. Such a good boy.

I've also been offering up my babysitting services to try and get a little practice in before Olive gets here. Here are Jamie and Caroline riding in on their ferocious steed.

Little Prince Charming

Last time, Caroline insisted that we all dress as Doctor-Bat-Queens. James is always such a good sport. I'm pretty sure I'm in a viking hat for this picture. None of the tutus would fit, so Caroline agreed it would have to suffice. Fortunately, Doctor-Bat-Queens can be quite an eclectic bunch.

Finally, on to an Olive update. We have been busy trying to prepare for her upcoming arrival. I'm on a pretty friendly first-name-basis with our local UPS man. One night when Porter came home from work, this sight greeted him at the door:

This was one day's worth of deliveries, but as I explained to Jason, it was all "needs" and not "wants." It really was.

We also took an infant CPR class last week where we learned a valuable lesson that was drilled into the students over and over again:

The instructor added the following: "Not even a little."

Jason was able to get the most repetitions-per-minute of anyone in the class. He's a pro already.

Getting so close to the end makes me realize there are certain things I will really miss about pregnancy (and others I definitely won't). The main thing is being able to justify eating something completely inappropriate for a particular meal, and blaming it on "cravings." Here's what Jason and I had for dinner last Sunday night:

What? It was skim milk.

But most of my meals look more like this:

or this:
Jason insists that I eat a ton of salmon to ensure that Olive is smart, and to be honest, I'm pretty sick of it. I keep reminding him that we're her parents, so of course she'll be smart. ;) Besides, whenever people asked my mom what she ate while she was pregnant to have such great kids, she always said, "Lots of Hostess cupcakes." That sounds a lot better to me, and I really did mean to eat some while I was pregnant, but I'm pretty sure I haven't had a Hostess cupcake in about ten years. I might have to amend that today.

I haven't been very good at updating the belly shots, so these 36 week pictures may come as a bit of a shock to some of you. Here goes...

36 weeks front
36 weeks side

They did a final ultrasound this week, and the tech clicked over to the 3D for the end. To be honest, I had hoped she wouldn't because I have been picturing Olive for so long, I kind of wanted to be surprised. However, it really was pretty amazing, and she literally took my breath away she looked so beautiful already.

With her shoulder up to her chin an that sweet little smile, I like to think of this as Olive's future pageant pose. I'm just kidding... As if I would EVER put my daughter in a contest judging the beauty of children! That would be such a blow to the other girls' self-esteem, and I want Olive to be humble. :)

I think that's probably enough for one post. In all reality, Olive will probably be here for the next one. Lots of love to all!