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Well, as you can see the ticker is ticking closer and closer. I'm finding myself busy with preparations and practicing my breathing techniques. I'm not sure how much time I have left and if there will be any blogging time in there so, I'm leaving you all with some before pictures and will return with some after pictures for you.
My wonderful friend Leah took these pictures at my swanky maternity photo shoot. I'm showing you a smattering of the pics that she took (tons!!). We had alot of fun and love that we have these keepsakes of......tiny steiny (oops almost said the name there!).
Well I'm off to pack my bag and not worry about the labor before me - aaaaah thank goodness for the epidural.

My Baby Shower Weekend

Who knew I would start my weekend out looking like this..........

Well little did I know that for the last two months my friends Candace, Heidi & Leah (along with the help of Ryan) plotted with Nan, Merisa, Anne, Natalie ("The Beatles" for those in the know or my 4 best friends since middle school) & my Mom to come up and surprise me for my baby shower! I was shocked, stunned, flabbergasted, speechless and teary-eyed. It was amazing and soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much fun!!

We spent the entire weekend talking, eating, reminiscing, talking, laughing, cooking, sewing, chatting, catching up and more talking (Ryan couldn't believe how long we talked for. I complained that my side hurt and he said, "it's probably sprained from all the talking you did over the weekend.")

The baby shower was totally over the top - I really felt like a celebrity, which was the theme anyways! There was the red carpet that lead into the party, full of dear friends, paparazzi snapping photos and a movie theater "candy counter" with four different flavors of popcorn and candy bar cup cakes. With an Italian soda bar to complete the "amazing" package that was my shower. A HUGE shout-out to Candace, Heidi & Leah for all of their work, planning, plotting and efforts on a very memorable baby shower! Games consisted of match the celebrity to their baby's name: David Bowie - Zowie (who is a boy), Forest Whitaker - Ocean, Woody Allen - Satchel and what is an Oscar party without awards? Candace made chocolate Oscar statues that were presented to 12 winners, some of them being: "Best Actress in a Horror Movie" (gal who lived through the longest labor) = Jalin, "Best Actress in a Drama" (gal with the most girls) = Christy, "Newest Star" (gal with the upcoming baby) = me! And then the gifts... the Steiny Man is set with more than we ever thought could be had!

It was great, wonderful, memorable.......one of the best weekends ever! It was sad to see it end!

Making Babies

So my friend Candace was asked to make a baby shower cake over the weekend and she found these fabulous baby cupcakes in her cupcake book. She's like Super-Chef and I love it when she asks me to be her side kick Food Girl. The cupcakes took a bit of time, but ended up not beeing too complex. I think they turned out great (they tasted really good too!). In anticipation of cooing to my own baby soon I practiced with these little guys.....aaaah, you are soo cuutsie wootsie!!

The Last Weekend Away

So, this was our last open weekend in March and after March it's.......APRIL!! and we all know what's going to happen in April - I have to stay put! So we took this open weekend as our last opportunity to leave town and go to "The Big City".

We went to the temple and did some family names. Then went on our big 3 grocery shopping spree with a list complete with things that we know we will need, but won't be able to get cheaper than here at: Costco, WinCo & Walmart (still missed some stuff, darn it!). Two-thirds into our Costco trip I got really, really, tired. So I let Ryan do the rest of the shopping while I shuffled by the book table and sat on some nice lawn furniture - nobody seemed to mind.

We have added a new addition to "Places to Go in Boise" introduced to us by our good friends, The Johnson's - Good Will. Ryan likes that everything is cheap & I love the challenge of the "Color of the Day". We both scored in the shoe department. Ryan got some new American Eagle shoes for $5 and I got some Neutrilizer knee-high boots....they had the green sticker on the bottom (for those who don't know if you have an item that's the color of the day you get it at 50% off) for $2!! Sadly my swelly legs make a muffin top at the top of the boot so I won't be able to wear them until post-baby.

We are Big! Man vs Food (travel channel) fans & since Mr. Richtman went to Boise, ID for a challenge we went there too! We went to Rockies Diner - a really cute 50's themed diner complete with a DJ booth and skatresses (waitresses on roller skates). It was really fun, sadly I forgot my camera so you'll just have to imagine our heads by Adam Richtman's! For dinner my cousin cooked us a Russian themed meal complete with dessert - honey cake - yummy and culturally enlightening!

Now we are back to the daily grind of work and a long list of To-Do's before Tiny Steiny arrives!!

Shabby to Spiffy

So, I kinda have to laugh that both of us are in the "Nesting Phase" working on projects that we've been meaning to do for awhile, but have put off. Our laundry room has been fine, plain, white, boring, but fine and completely usable.

When we bought bead boarding to re-do the extra bedroom (now nursery) two years ago we gained some bonus bead board that had been warped during the original shipping of our order, but what to do with it?

I remember suggesting many moons ago that we put it up in the laundry room and now we have found the time to do it. And by "we" I mean Ryan, because as a preggo I can't be around too many paint fumes and there have been two different occasions that I start painting and Ryan has to finish because I lose momentum.

Ryan has been spending a few hours every night measuring, cleaning, sawing, nailing & painting this boring room into a spiffy little laundry area. I love it! and him!!

Valentines Weekend

We had a wonderful Valentines weekend!! Since it was President's Day on Monday we both decided go to Boise and spend some extra time with the cousins and do some shopping!! So I told you in an earlier post that I was going to do the 14 Days to Valentines, well I think it turned out to be like 12 Days to Valentines (a few bumps in the schedule), but Ryan said he really enjoyed it! Some of the things I did were:

A card with 14 of my favorite memories with Ryan.

I found the Choo Choo Choose Me Valentine from The Simpson's and added a pack of gum on the back.

I LOVED making the fortune cookies with little notes that started with I'm fortune to have you because __________ and added some V-Day snickers in the take-out box.

I made a dozen little love notes attached to V-Day M&M packets and hid them all over

My friend Candace & I made "Manly Boxes of Chocolate". We made some football oreo truffles that I found on Bakerella.com (LOVE HER!!) and both of our husbands are rice krispy freaks - really a pan does not last long with the two of them around. So we made some rice krispy peanut butter truffles and Candace made peanut butter cups in some heart forms. We were orgionally going to make our own chocolate boxes, but since the chocolate took some time to make we just bought some cheap ones at Rite Aid - ate the chocolate inside - and decorated the boxes.

And the gift I chose to give him on Valentine's Day was a frame that I had made that said "My Buddy" on one angle and "My Son" up the other side and put our little guys ultrasound in there. He already has a picture of us on his desk and now he has one of his son too.

Boise, to sum it up into words and short phrases:

Our talkitive 3rd cousin Jill. Softest beds in the entire world. Temple work on the last day the temple is open before cleaning. New temple schedule. Costco with a baby (we were babysitting and I got a few questions about holding a 4 mo. old and being 7 mo. pregnant - how can that happen?). Wal-Mart. $2 Curtains. Getting tired of walking. All-American Valentines BBQ. Fame - I want to live forever, but never see that movie again. Apple pie a la mode is delicious at 11 p.m. Church at 9am (we are used to 10 a.m. and being on PST). Cutest RS meeting. Mashed potatoes & rolls (2 1/2 helpings). Tres Leches. German Chocolate cake. Two cousins & their two new homes. Ryan's V-Day gifts to me: Noises Off on DVD (If you haven't seen it - see it!! I watched my VHS so much it was really fuzzy) & a gift certificate for 4 hours of shopping without him mumbling & grumbling! Hobby Lobby. My new found desire to make soap. Uber swanky baby stores. Ross. Target. The pain of buying nursing bra's (I hate bra shopping normally and this was just ....bleh). Looking at strollers. Target Dollar Spot. Old Navy Maternity & Macaroni Grill.....haaaaaaaa. Head back home. Juntura does not have the best fudge. Get home, get warm & sleep. Go back to work the next day.

Wait! An Elephant has 22 months!!

So, I'm just chugging along through my day today and it hits me - I'm 30 weeks! Yeah! Then I keep going and I am struck with the realization that I only have 10 weeks left - 10!!! What can I do in 10 weeks to be ready for this baby?

I've really enjoyed being pregnant. After watching a video of a live birth I'm perfectly fine being pregnant for the rest of my life (I know that I'm "going to get tired of it", but after watching that video....I'm willing to cross my legs.)

We've made an inventory of what we have and don't have, we have the room, grandparents have made traveling plans, have a baby shower already in the works.....I don't know what to do. I feel like I have a million things that need to be done & yet also feel like I should just stay at home and crochet.....a very odd feeling........and odd, odd, feeling.