SAHM I am

I'm officially a SAHM! I'm still waiting on the baby part, but I'm "retired" from work. It hasn't quite set in. I feel like I'm on vacation.
So, what have I been doing these past few days?
I've been running errands and cooking like crazy. I will say the eggplant parmesan I made last night was worth not being to distinguish between my ankles and knees from standing up all day preparing the delish dish.
Today is more errands and a double batch of muffins to freeze.
Now if only I could be as motivated to clean as I am to cook.

Surprise Shower!

My friends Brooke & Pilvi found out I wasn't having a baby shower in Cincinnati and put together a surprise shower for me yesterday!
Jarmo told me were going to lunch, and we ended up at my friend's house. I walked in to see several of my friends waiting for me.
It was a fun afternoon complete with a pink and brown theme. We played baby shower games and enjoyed delicious homemade cakes and pastries. Pilvi is a genius in the kitchen.
I didn't have a camera, but will post some pics once my friends send them. I only wish Jarmo had said we were going somewhere nice for lunch so I could've dressed a bit nicer.
I'm truly blessed to have met such great friends here!

I'm also officially 37 weeks today...only 3 more to go!

7 weeks and counting

I'm officially 33 weeks today. SEVEN weeks to go, but who's counting, right? I feel pretty good, but am starting to feel worn out. It's humid, my feet always hurt and I could be the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's stunt double with all the swelling I have. If you poked holes in me and set in the front lawn I'm sure I'd water the yard better than our cheap sprinkler head.
But some positives to looking this pregnant and still have almost two months to go:
1. When shaving I never have to worry about nicking my ankle with my razor because I have no ankles due to the constant swelling.
2. People stare, but move quickly out of my way at the gym. (I think they're afraid I'm going to have the baby right there on the elliptical machine!)
3. It's socially acceptable for me to balance my plate on my stomach to avoid spilling food down my shirt.
4. I got out of going to an after hours work event b/c my boss said I couldn't help set-up tables, etc. and she didn't want me standing on my feet for the 2 hour event. Very thoughtful, indeed.

I also notified work that my last official day would be August 21st. That's five weeks away...I can't believe it! Our lives are going to drastically change soon! But, for the better.

How to clean your basement

We learned how to efficiently clean our basement this weekend.

1. Fill basement with 3" to 5" water.
You can do this yourself by putting a hose in the basement, but we opted for the free route of having our power go out at midnight Friday morning, and let the torrential rainfall seep into our basement. Woo-hoo...way to avoid that high water bill!
2. Let soak for a few hours, or in our case until 6:30am when we woke up to a hot, sticky house b/c we still have no power and realized we should check our basement.
3. Purchase costly gas powered generator from Home Depot employees who laugh at you and wish you luck. Dangerous thing to do when it's 7:00am and you haven't had coffee because you still have no power.
4. Let your husband move all the boxes from the basement to your backyard because you can't lift a damn thing b/c you're 7.5 months pregnant.
5. Run to Home Depot again for a longer extension cord for the generator. Plug in generator to sump pump and curse yourself for not having battery backup system for said sump pump.
6. Let the neighbors come over and look at your ruined, limp, wet stuff that has been scattered across the backyard drying all day.
7. Grill out with neighbors since food in your fridge/freezer is defrosting at an alarming rate. Admire their wet, ruined stuff in their backyards, too.
8. Go to Costco and purchase shelving units for basement and lots of Rubbermaid containers for basement storage.
9. Sort through semi-dry stuff. Wonder why you had half that crap saved in boxes in the basement. Fill multiple trash bags with ruined stuff, including most of your Christmas ornaments that now weigh three pounds each because they were filled with water and quickly rusted.
10. Assemble shelving units. Have husband carry back down all the stuff now in Rubbermaid tubs. Give husband lots of beer.

We now have a fresh, clean basement without a speck of dust in it because it was all washed away. Aren't you jealous?

I hope your weekend was better than ours!

Beer Tasting

We hosted a beer tasting with a few friends and neighbors Friday night. Jarmo and our next door neighbor, Tim, put together 11 beers to sample. They realized too late that several of the beers were heavy, and might not be liked by the participants. I mean who wouldn't want to taste a beer called "Old Engine Oil?"
Or what about this Finnish beer? It was so thick it left a trail of sludge behind in the cup.
My favorite was this beer mainly because the name. I adore Elephants, but was rather surprised when I realized the skunk smell wasn't coming from outside, but from the beer. It really smelled like skunk!
The heavier beers also resulted in several of the participants being highly intoxicated by the time we finished the tasting. Several games of cornhole ensued. The trash talking ended by the third game, but only because everyone's speech was slurred and incomprehensible.
Everyone had an enjoyable evening, including this pregnant lady who looked longingly at the beers as they were being tasted all night. This is going to be a long summer.

Under construction...

My mom came to visit last week and helped us paint the nursery along with the upstairs and downstairs hallways. She also helped put together some neat pictures for the room.
Since our camera died, and I'm too lazy to go downstairs and figure out where my husband put the batteries, undoubtedly somewhere high up where I can't reach anyway, I'm going to post the pictures my mom sent me of the nursery.
Thanks, mom, for all your hard work! I hope the half bucket of paint you dumped in your shoes came out in the washer.

We still need something to hang on the far wall of the nursery that you can't see in the picture. I'm debating on putting her name in wooden letters on that wall, but I'm just not sure yet. We still have time, and a few more things to purchase for the room.

By popular demand...

I'm posting a belly shot. I had to crop the heck out of it b/c my husband's photography skills need some work. He usually isn't allowed to take pictures because he refuses to use the zoom, and we end up with pictures where you can't tell what the focal point is, (I kid, I kid!).

I'm 22 weeks in this photo. I'm starting to feel big, and noticing I'm out of breath more easily. I'd be okay with my size if it weren't for my co-workers. I would think women who have had babies in the past would know that the only acceptable things to say are, "You look good" or "Your pregnant stomach is cute." NOT-acceptable things to say, "The Doctor said there's only one in there, right? You look like you're having twins." Do you think HR would really reprimand me if I punched her in the face? (Again, I kid...well, sort of)

Also, here's a link to the bedding we bought for the nursery.