Thanksgiving Adventures

What do you get when you combine a very pregnant person (32.5 weeks to be exact), a 7lb. car-sick prone dachshund, and a 12 hour car ride (one-way)?

Thanksgiving 2012, of course!

This year a trip to my dad's was well overdue. I haven't seen my dad, my little sister, or grandmother in over 2 years, since our wedding. I'm too far along to fly, and let's be honest, who wants to pay $400+ per ticket for a 2 hour flight any ways, so we decided driving would be our best option. And bringing Libby, well, that's not ideal, but we didn't want to board her for a week.

Now, let's flashback quickly to Christmas 2011. Remember our road trip through Tuscany? It was like a comedy of errors. Poor Libby got sick 4 times in the first hour on the road. And, I'll mention too, that Libby, just like her mother, gets carsick on the way to Lake Martin...and that's just a 30 min. trip.

So at the crack of dawn on Wednesday (actually 3:45am) we set out for our looooong drive.

Snacks...check.

Extra pillows to keep mamma-to-be comfy...check.

Plenty of music for the drive...check.

Directions...check, check.

Our drive was uneventful, which is exactly how you want a long trip to be. I'm happy to report that Libby did GREAT. She didn't get sick once. She did have to sit in my lap the entire way, but I enjoyed the snuggle time. We made great time and got to my dad's exactly 12 hours after we left Auburn, just in time for dinner and to celebrate Jessica's 8th birthday.

In addition to eating tons of yummy food, we took a drive on Skyline Drive. It was pretty cool. Lots of amazing views and we even saw a black bear! Yikes! We also went to the new Air & Space Museum that is out by Dulles Airport. It was my first time going to that one, but I've been to the one in D.C. many, many times. It was one of our favorite things to do when we were visiting our dad when we were little, so every time we were there we had to go to that museum.

The museum was awesome. It's like taking a trip down memory lane for my family. PapPap (Wes is his real name) is my grandfather and he was an amazing person. He was in the air force and flew B-52 bombers in WWII. The average life span of a flight crew was about 12 missions. His crew flew more than 30. He was a brilliant engineer and went in to research and development after the war and was project manager on some pretty amazing projects, including developing the brake system and tires for the space shuttles. It makes me sad that Jim never got to meet him and makes me even more sad that Baby J won't get to know him.

The trip was a quick one, but it was so nice to see everyone. On Sunday we made the looooong drive back to Auburn. That trip took us 13+ hours and was a bit of a nightmare. There was just so much traffic, it was unbelievable. Libby had another good car ride though. She slept on my lap the whole way back and didn't have any problems. So proud of my little girl!

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Poor Libby was so worried we were going to forget her.

Family photo attempt #1

Family photo attempt #2

Jessica and Libby being silly.

See that black spot in the center? That's a black bear.

Me and the Hubby at the Air & Space Museum.

I LOVE all these planes! So cool.

The space shuttle that PapPap designed the tires and brake system for.

Baby Update: 32 weeks

Slow down baby! Mamma can't keep up with your non-stop growth spurt!

The past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. Baby J has done some serious growing and I'm doing some serious slowing down. No longer are people commenting on how small I am. Along with the joys of knowing that this little baby is growing come some discomforts. It's mainly just the heartburn and sleeping (or lack there of) that's driving me crazy. My mom said she had horrible heartburn when she was pregnant with me. I guess this is payback for that. But, on the up side, we're entering the final countdown. Only 8 more weeks of slight discomfort. I really have to emphasize the slight. We are beyond blessed with this pregnancy. I really, really cannot complain about anything. And, Jim loves to remind me that my back always hurt before I was pregnant.

I had another appointment this morning. It was great because Jordan, Jim's sister, is home from school for Thanksgiving and she was able to come with me to the appointment and hear the baby's heartbeat. She is VERY excited about being an aunt. :-) I'm up 17lbs. and baby's heartbeat was a strong 130. Have I mentioned that I love hearing that heartbeat? Such an amazing reassurance.

Tomorrow morning we're leaving at the crack of dawn to drive to my dad's in Virginia for Thanksgiving. It is going to be a loooong drive, but we're very excited to see that side of the family.

Once we're back from Thanksgiving I'll be in full baby prep mode. Right now I feel like I'm in a kind of holding pattern. I'm waiting for the rest of the furniture to arrive (just the bookshelf), I'm waiting to buy the rest of the baby gear that we need, I'm waiting to pack our hospital bags, I'm waiting to learn more about the birthing process and newborn care (our classes aren't until December). I'm just waiting, waiting, waiting. Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful to have 2 more months to prep for Baby J. I'm just feeling antsy. I'm guessing this is totally normal though.

The nursery is looking great. Here's a peek at the progress (sorry the lighting isn't very good):

The crib. Jim and his dad (aka Pop Pop) put it together last night.

Close up of the crib bedding. Grey hand-tufted bumpers and percale
cotton sheets in Dune from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child with a basic
white cotton crib skirt from Amazon.com 

Baby Update: 30 weeks

I'm getting BIG! :-)

30 weeks down, 10 weeks to go!

I'm still feeling great, but definitely starting to feel pregnant. I've obviously been feeling pregnant for a while now between the growing belly and the baby kicks, but I'm talking more about feeling the restrictions of pregnancy. I get really tired really fast. I'm used to going 90 miles an hour and I just can't. And sleeping, well I've said goodbye to that. There is no comfortable way to sleep. My Boppy full body pillow doesn't even do the trick anymore. I guess this is prepping me for all those sleepless nights to come. I've also started having a few noticeable Braxton Hicks contractions. These are the false labor pains that are totally normal. They aren't painful or regular and help your body prepare for the real deal. I actually wish they didn't call them contractions. That word - contractions - freaks me out. I haven't even been able to start reading the labor and delivery section of my What to Expect book. All I want to know is when does the stork come in?

I had another one of my regularly scheduled appointments this morning. Everything is good. I've gained 15lbs. and the baby's heartbeat is still strong. Baby J has been on a non-stop growth spurt the past few weeks, part of why I've been soooo exhausted. Dr. Golden said just wait, this growth spurt was nothing. :-) Baby J still has a LOT of growing left to do in a relatively short amount of time. From here I start having appointments every other week until Christmas. Then I'll be 36 weeks and will start going every week.

I really wish I could find out more about the baby, like how big it is right now, if he/she has any hair, if he/she is a he or a she. I'm just so curious. I'm curious to know what Baby J will look like and what his/her personality is like. It's so crazy to think that this little thing inside me will grow up to be a person. Kind of mind-boggling to think about.

Exciting things are happening in the nursery. First of all, we have a room we can actually call a nursery. We had to completely clear out everything and do some major cleaning. This was one of those rooms we always kept the door to shut. We still had things we hadn't unpacked yet from living in Rome. I'll let you do the math, but we moved back to the States in February...

***Side note on the benefits of unpacking...I had a favorite pair of handmade shoes that I got in Capri, Italy. I LOVED them. I loved them more than you should love a materialistic thing. And can you believe they were the one thing I couldn't find after moving back. I was so sad. I might have even cried about it. I had it set in my mind that we were just going to have to take a trip back to Capri so I could get another pair. A bit excessive? Absolutely, but they were my favorite. So anyways, I was unpacking a bag that was in the nursery-to-be and there at the very bottom I saw a little glimmer of gold leather. My heart literally skipped a beat. I didn't believe what I was seeing. Sure enough, when I pulled everything else out, there they were. My beloved handmade gold flats. It was a very exciting moment in the Hunt house. Lesson learned? Yes. Unpack everything. :-)

I'm LOVING the nursery so far. I'm not really going with a traditional nursery design. I'm being selfish and designing a room that I want to spend a lot of time in. It will be calming and soothing for mom, dad, and baby. At least that is what I'm hoping. I'll let you know how calming and soothing it is after lots of midnight feedings and poopy diapers.

We've got all the furniture ordered from Pottery Barn Kids. So far just the rocker has arrived. The crib, which is backordered, should ship next week. The dresser/changing table shipped a few days ago and should arrive next week. Our super awesome carpet from Flor arrived Tuesday, and today I ordered all our crib bedding and the mirror for above the dresser from RH Baby & Child. (I am obsessed with Restoration Hardware!) I'm so excited everything is finally coming together!

Here's a sneak peek of the progress:

My rocker, complete with the fabulous pashmina throw
I got in Nepal that was handmade by women.

Close up of the rug from Flor. I used 2 different styles,
Feelin' Groovy and Rack Me Over, both in the color Sterling.

The mantle.

Close up of the dachshund bookends. Yup, that's right.