29 Weeks

I was totally starting to believe all the random comments of how "great" I look and even "not pregnant at all except from the front" until I saw the rest of our professional maternity photos.  Sigh.  Maybe next pregnancy I won't start out quite as big or I'll at least wait to take maternity photos when my belly safely extends past my mammoth breasts.

Oh okay, they weren't all bad but it disproved my theory that professional photos make everyone look good.  Sometimes I'm just going to look fat because my boobs are are big as a breadbox and there's really nothing I can do about that for the next several years.  I'll share some on the blog as soon as I have the non-watermarked images.

 

How Far Along: 29 weeks.
Size of baby: Baby is the size of acorn squash.  What is that?  LOL.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Down three this week? Two below pre-IVF weight.  At my appointment on Friday they said my weight was "perfect" so I'm just going with it.  I did tell H to buy more peanut butter crackers lest my Gizmo thinks I'm depriving him all of a sudden.
Workouts: Nada.
Maternity Clothes: Still loving my leggings, especially since the legislature is on break for the next two weeks.  Haters gonna hate.
Gender: It's a boy!
Movement:Yes! Every time I think it's been a while Gizmo will kick me right in the lungs.  Good boy.
Sleep: Much better this week. Didn't have to get stronger acid medicine.  Maybe the Zantac is really working now?
What I miss: I really want a margarita.

Cravings: None.

Symptoms:Sleepy.

Anxiety Level: Ebbs and flows.  Everything is starting to feel more real, which is scary and exciting.

Best Moment this week: My second prenatal massage and working on the baby's space.  I'll upload more pictures when it's done but here's a sneak peak of my cat checking it out.

Reading: Still reading Bringing Up Bebe.

Dad is: On a weight loss kick of his own and looking good!

We had a really productive weekend!  I had hired a handyman to come on Saturday and do some projects for us and the jerk never showed up.  But since we were awake with coffee brewing so early in the morning we were determined to make some progress.  And, by we, I mean H.  He hung up our monkeys in the office/baby space!  And he mounted our old flat screen t.v. in the bedroom so I'll be able to hang there with the baby on maternity leave and beyond, while H is working.

Which brings me to this next thought - about home decorating in the age of Pinterest.  I thought about this a lot this weekend when I thought about how our "baby space" looked in comparison to the ones I used to lust after.  I was sort of obsessed with the modern minimalist nurseries on sites like Apartment Therapy for a long time.  Maybe if I had an entire room to work with instead of half a room I would have some "cooler" stuff.  But then again, my Gizmo is going to be a real kid who is going to want to touch and throw and slobber everything he sees.  He's going to watch Thomas the Tank Engine and suck on a pacifier. So....having a vintage ceramic elephant on his shelf is just not gonna work for us.  Thus, the monkeys.  Plus, they make me happy. 

And yes, I now have a 42 inch television in my bedroom.  It may look a little tacky but you try getting any sort of money for a four year old television in the resale market and then talk to me. I promise you I'm still going to get laid.  We don't' even have cable!

The point of this diatribe is this: my home may not be perfect but it's mine and, after this weekend, I'm feeling a renewed sense of affection for it.  Also, I finally started thinking more of the financial implications of moving and, whoa Nelly, I am not ready.  I know people buy houses all the time with nothing but a few hundred dollars left in their bank accounts but I just don't want to be that person (again - technically H bought our condo with zero money because his parents loaned him the down payment).

I want to have the following saved in addition to our down payment and closing costs:

Emergency Fund - at least one month's salary.

Moving Fund - we agreed to hire the "do everything for you including packing and unpacking" movers so I don't even know how much that costs.

Condo Fund - three months condo mortgage plus HOA fees in case we have some months without a renter.

New Car Fund - if we move to the burbs we're going to eventually need two cars even if H is working from home.  New cars are like $20k!

Home Improvement Fund - ideally this would have like six million dollars in it so I can get a heated driveway, a hot tub, a new master bathroom and the phattest kitchen you've ever seen, but at least enough for paint and rugs and stuff.

So, while we've made amazing progress on our debt reduction and savings this year we don't even have the whole down payment saved yet, much less all the other stuff. H and I said if we could stick it out until Gizmo was walking we would be much better off.  Maybe in a year?

And in fun news, a good friend of mine who I had lost touch with is pregnant too!  She's due in August with a little boy and we've resolved to get together more.  I'm excited even though she lives about ninety minutes away.

Next week I'll be in the thirties, hurray!