Making a list...

My list for this week had nothing to do with Christmas presents and everything to do with keeping myself busy and getting stuff done!  I have checked off nearly everything and still have a day and a half left.  Got a lot done for work so that my last three weeks before Winter break can be as relaxing as possible and I can work ahead for January and a lot done around home so we're ready in case Baby B decides to make a 2014 appearance.  I'll spare you guys details from work, but here's a smattering of items checked off:

Finish the scarf that I started while on bedrest and make the accompanying hat for Baby B:

Those are turtles at the bottom of the scarf if you can't tell

Finish the four baby blankets that I started making when we moved to CALIFORNIA.  I got frustrated and threw them in the closet, thinking I'd finish them in another month or so once I had cooled down.  Little did I know that my job was about to suck up my life and spit me out two years later.  At the time, I had a niece and a god daughter imminently arriving (although I didn't know the goddaughter was a girl, so the blue/green was for her), and a niece and a good friend's baby on the way in March, so the thought was the blankets would go to them (there are two of each design).  Now, depending on the balance of the genders (the only friends/family I have who know what they're having are all having boys, so if the surprises don't turn out to be girls I'm not sure where the flowers will end up), it looks like the siblings of 3 of these babies might be receiving a blanket and one will go to our son.  These blankets are the most imperfect blankets you can imagine, and one stipulation of receiving them is that you never EVER show them to anyone who knows how to sew, or allow one to be examined close up by anyone with eyes.  The blankets are finished with the exception of their final wash, and putting away the sewing machine felt REALLY good.  This task took way more time than I expected.  "Finish blankets" has actually been on my to do list since August, and I knocked it out in probably a total of 12 hours this week.

The combination of really soft one side with really silky other side + trim meant that mistakes were easily made and fabric buckled, slipped around, etc.  My grandma showed me an easier way to make blankets and if I ever go back, it will be to those. I would NEVER show these up close to my grandma.

Finish decorating the baby's room by buying frames for B's animal paintings and hanging those and the embroidery hoops that I made.  Please note that B actually did everything, really on my to do list it should have said "ask B to hang stuff."  He also re-organized everything; every couple weeks we have to completely start over because I just throw things we get in the mail into the room, and we've been in receipt of some awesome gifts.  B painted all of these animals; they're mostly Western animals with the exception of the penguin which I claim as my spirit animal.  They're each animals we've had fun interactions with on our travels.  The dresser is from B's parents' house; we cleaned them out over the summer collecting furniture and other odds and ends for the room.

Nanaa is ready for her diaper change!

Nanaa has shown us that she is capable of going floor to crib, completely clearing the side of the crib.  Not great news for the baby, but great news that Nanaa is almost 9 and still has it.

At this point, I should mention that the quilt hanging over the side of the crib is from my very talented grandma, who is currently expecting 7 great grandchildren from now until May.  And she just got a new one a few weeks ago.  So far she has over 20 and each great grandchild has received his or her very own quilt.  She also made the cushion for the rocking chair, which matches the fabric from the quilt that I made (hanging over the rocking chair) and also the fabric of the embroidery hoops.  The rocking chair itself came from B's grandma's house.  Credit goes to B for sketching all the embroidery hoop animals for me, and for the cow painting in the right of the above picture.  It's from a photo he took on our honeymoon on the first night of our trek to Machu Picchu.

Our toy chest, which is a bench/chest that we found on Craigslist, is already 1/3 full!

Last on my list was to decorate for Christmas.  My dad is going to join us this year for Christmas; he thought he was going to see me uber pregnant, but he might just get to meet his grandson depending on how things go in the next few weeks.  Really hoping to still be pregnant, but if we have a baby, then that will be a blessing too. ANYWAY, we decorated last night and broke out the amazing moose mugs that we got from my brother and sister in law a couple Christmases ago.  I decided to pose in front of the tree...33 weeks and 2 days today.  Every day counts!

This is not eggnog, but milk.  B pours me a glass a day and makes me drink it, "for baby."  That's one of our birth class instructor's favorite phrases.  I make that face or a worse one every time I drink it.

Amazing how a slight change in perspective changes things.

I am so thankful to have a job where I get time off for Thanksgiving.  B also got Friday off, so we've been enjoying this long weekend together.  It has been gorgeous weather so he has gone biking, and I've taken my small strolls.  Now I finally have no more excuses, I need to head to the coffee shop and check "grade optimization projects" off my list.  Bummer, but it's the last work-related thing I need to do!  I always save grading for last because it is the least enjoyable.