Jake finished painting Gertie's room! It's beautiful. The crib was delivered on Thursday and it is also beautiful, though bigger than I remembered. Heh. My sister and Mikayla came over last night and spent the night, and my sister helped me sort through all the itty bitty clothes. I have so many clothes for the baby. We did three full loads of laundry and I still have another load to do! Jake has to finish up the dresser and have a buddy help move it into the room and we need to buy some finishing touches before the room will be complete.

My Michigan shower was on Saturday and it was very nice! It was a little more intimate, as there were about 20 people there. I was more comfortable this time because it was my family and friends and I know them all really well. I got a lot more wonderful stuff and about half of it is in our dining room and the other half is still at my parents’ house. We didn’t want to chance bringing it all over the border at once, but as it turns out the customs guy just essentially waved us through. Oh well, you never know who you’re going to get.

Mikayla was at the shower and I’m surprised at how well she behaved. There was another little boy there that she ran around with. He’s nine days younger than her. She called him “the Boy.” Jake came over to me at one point, laughing his ass off. “She just totally bullied that kid. He took her spoon and she shoved him into the wall. It was awesome.” LOL. She thought the shower cake was a birthday cake and she started to sing Happy Birthday. And she watched me open a few presents and took a stuffed hippo right out of my hands and ran off with it. “Woooooooow!”

We should have the baby’s room done this week. Tonight I’m leaving work a little early and we’re going to drive up to Tilbury to do some car shopping. Then the rest of this week we’re going to paint the room and finish the dresser, which only needs a coat or two of polyurethane. The crib is being delivered on Thursday.

On Friday I went to the chiropractor after work, and I don't know what the deal was this time but she really did a number on me. She didn't do anything that she doesn't usually do, but when I walked out of there I was in quite a bit of pain. By the time Jake and I got to my parents' house I could barely walk. I couldn't walk from the bathroom to the couch without crying. I thought I was going to have to crawl down the stairs to go to bed, but crawling hurt just as bad as walking so I tried my best to suck it up. I didn't feel much better on Saturday, so we had a lazy play-with-Mikayla day. Then by 8:00 PM I was going stir crazy and my back was feeling a little better so we went out and did some grocery shopping. Jake calls me Mother Waddles because when my back is acting up I have that pregnant girl waddle and I have to walk very slow. People keep joking that I should use a motorized scooter, and I just keep flipping them off.

I think we're close to getting the nursery done. Well, we started it anyway. Heh. Jake primed the room on Friday and we picked up our bedding on Friday night. We picked up a bookcase that was on sale at Target and we went to Home Depot to buy paint. When we got home today Jake primed and painted the top of the dresser to see how it would look, since the staining didn't go well. It looks like it might work, so provided that we still like it in the daylight tomorrow, he'll work on painting the entire dresser. Then we can paint the room and call the furniture store to have them deliver our crib. My Michigan shower is on Saturday and my sister wants to spend the night to help us put stuff away, so I am hoping we can get everything done by Saturday. I don't see it happening, but we'll see. The furniture is dark brown, almost espresso, we're putting a sage green color on the walls, painting the trim white, and bringing white accents into the room via curtains, an area rug, lighting and other decor. I am drawing four pictures for Gertie and we're going to mat and frame them with white and hang the pictures on the wall. I just want the room to look very serene.

So shower #1 is over and done with! It was really really nice. Wendy did a great job planning it. It helps to have a funny, not-shy husband when all you want to do it crawl into a hole. Heh. The food was yummy and the room looked really nice. Wendy had an insane amount of prizes, so almost everyone walked out with a prize on top of the “thank you” favors everyone received for attending. We got an insane amount of loot. Insane. Our dining room is loaded with baby stuff, as well as our laundry room in the basement. And I still have one more shower to go! Jake and I have some wonderfully generous friends and family. And because my husband doesn’t like things out of place, he has now fully realized that he needs to get moving on the nursery so we have a place to put everything! I must’ve heard comments about my “bump” (or lack thereof) no less than a half dozen times. One of Jake’s aunts took one look at me and said, “What I want to know is, where is that baby?” I said something along the lines of “Oh, she’s in there, trust me!” Then his other aunt piped in with “You’re not even showing!” Well yes, yes I am. But I’ve seen you all of three times in my life, so I don’t expect you to know the size of my uterus. Jake’s mom took a lot of pictures, but I’m afraid to see them because I was boiling hot and I’m sure I looked like a greasy, sweaty mess. I took the time to straighten my hair and it started to go curly because I was sweating. FABULOUS.

Oh, and Jake's sister rocks. She got this shirt for Gertie.

Today is my Windsor shower and I'm not too nervous - yet. Jake left to meet his mom at the hall to help her set up. He'll be at the shower with me the whole time, and people are acting like that's the most bizarre thing in the world. The last few wedding and baby showers that I've been to have been attended by the groom or father-to-be, so I didn't think it was a big deal. It's his baby, too!

Jake's stepmother just called and asked me if Jake's dad had told us what they're doing for the baby. His dad hasn't said a word. So she told me that they are going to start an education trust fund for Gertie. I am so unbelievably thankful for that gift. I always wished I had something like that set up for me and I always swore that I would do it for my child. I don't want her to have to worry about being able to afford to go to college.

I passed the 2-hour glucose test with flying colors! OB said everything is looking good. Gertie was moving around like mad when we were trying to hear her heartbeat. She kept punching/kicking the machine. I can't quite figure out how she's positioned in there, but I think I felt a bum last night.

So it looks like we may be SOL with the dresser that Jake has been trying to refinish. He did a great job stripping it, but he has already put three coats of stain on it and it’s not nearly as dark as it should be. So I did some Googling and found out that pine does not stain well, and that it looks best in light or medium colors. We’re trying to match it to our crib stain, which is essentially an espresso color. As a last resort, Jake went to Home Depot yesterday to try to buy some paint that matches the crib stain. I personally think that it will look like crap painted, but he wants to try it so we’ll see. We may have to go shopping for a dresser now, which we were not counting on. I’m almost wishing we had purchased a white crib because it would have been easier to match up with. Jake also started patching holes in the wall in the baby’s room and he bought primer, so we’ll start painting the room soon. I can’t believe I have like 8 weeks left. That’s insane.