Eight. Months.

It's official.  Just two months or so, and our baby will be here.  Where has the time gone?  I can't keep track of anything these days.  If it didn't happen yesterday or today, I won't remember.  My Google calendar is full of reminders to call friends and family, appointments, and things to do around the house.  Somehow, I'm also squeezing in a decent amount of work.  I'm really feeling the pressure to accomplish so many things at work because I know, in as little as FIVE WEEKS, I'll have a newborn to take care of and everything else will just have to wait.  

I've decided to stop panicking about money.  We have gotten (and been blessed to receive) so many used items from friends that aside from the crib and lounge chair.  I'm not concerned about the crib because he'll be sleeping in the bassinet for the first 2 or 3 months anyway.   Matt will get back paid, he's getting a raise with the new job, and since the best thing for me to do is remain calm and relaxed, then that is what I am going to do. 

Work threw me a lovely baby shower yesterday.  It was so sweet.  They are all so excited, because the youngest "kid" is now 17.  I was so touched by their generosity and excitement.  I love working with these people.  They are more like family, which is how it should be when you are working for the family business.

The baby showers will happen soon.  The first one is next weekend, and it's the friends shower, at our house.  Matt got pictures up on the walls last weekend, and they look really good.  We have one wall in the hallway dedicated to family photos, and we are so excited to add pictures of the baby!  So many friends are coming from out of town, and I can't tell you how much this means to me.   I am truly honored to be surrounded by such amazing people.

The 25th is the family shower in Seattle which I am also excited about.  Family members from my side and Matt's side will be there, as well as a few close family friends.  I am really excited to see everyone.  I love my family through and through, and I am blessed to have them in my life.

Eight months.  Five to 10 weeks to go.  I can't believe it.  But you'd better believe that in addition to all this other stuff, Matt and I are squeezing in as many date nights/lunches as we can.  Time is limited, at least for a little while!

Oh, and I should also mention that baby boy is big enough that now, if he kicks hard enough or moves around enough, I can see the movement along with feeling it.  Which means during my meeting yesterday at work, Grandpa was entertained by his grandson's movements.  It was really cute.

Winter Wonderland

This may not look like much snow, but that's all frozen snow and ice.
Happy to be home with a working heater and a cup of hot tea!

I knew that when we moved from Southern California to Western Washington, it would be hard to acclimate to cooler temperatures. I certainly didn't expect snow and ice! My amazing husband, however, patched up our roof after the second windstorm took off more shingles, and even cleaned out the gutters so they wouldn't freeze over. My poor little flowers that I got at Fred Meyer are dead, and I forgot to bring in my jasmine plant, so that's dead too. But all in all, we are safe and warm, just a bit cold and not wanting to venture outside.

I am really glad that we went grocery shopping yesterday so that we didn't have to worry about food today or tomorrow. But we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner, and I completely forgot to get the ingredients to make my sister's favorite potatoes. Looks like we'll be heading to the store for a quick trip tomorrow! We totally lucked out with my Dad being in charge of the turkey - he's bringing my grandparent's turkey roaster - and stuffing. I'll be making sides and pies like a mad-woman, and my sister will be in charge of the sweet potatoes. I have no idea what my sister-in-law and her new hubby will bring since they just got back from their nuptials and honeymoon! Let's just hope the weather warms up. I'm remaining hopeful and trying to not listen to the weather report that says it might snow a little more Thursday morning!

My cell phone says it's 13 degrees right now. Sorry, LA peeps, you have no right to complain to this girl right now. I'd take a low of 40 degrees any day!!

As if we didn't have enough stuff...

...we unloaded our storage unit today. Rather, the boys did, while Tina and I jetted off to three different stores to find curtains for the other bedrooms and downstairs, and another few stores were thrown into the mix to find her some new shoes. No shoes were found, but curtains were bought and have been hung (thanks to Tina's manly skills --as she says "grrr" and flexes her muscles while drinking tequila). Then as I was unpacking boxes, I found more curtains...sigh...figures.

It's been a long week. Tomorrow we go get my grandmother's china, her china, and my parent's dining room table and chairs. I'm actually just "borrowing" the table and chairs from my sister, who wants to have them as her own, but as she's in college, she doesn't have space for them in her tiny apartment. So until she has a place of her own, Matt and I will gladly use them for our own family dinners.

And with that, my friends, good night. Pictures will NOT be posted until there are no moving boxes in sight. Or at least until I get them all into the garage.

Pictures of our house!

The west side of the house.

One of TWO fireplaces!

Our gigantic backyard. I have ideas, but right now it's just WAY overwhelming.

My kitchen! Look, it's not a shoebox! AND there's a dishwasher!!

The lovely entryway. I LOVE this house!