This tweet just about sums it up. Life is pretty amazing right now. Not just in a "good" amazing way, but in an "I'm amazed by all of these massive changes" kind of way. An "I can't believe that this is my life" kind of way.

The above photo was taken last week, so the bump is even bigger now! I can't believe that this child has five weeks left of growing to do in there. I've officially started to waddle and I get tired just walking down the block to the mailbox. Because of these factors, I made the tough decision this weekend to put my gym membership on hold until I'm cleared by my doctor to resume exercising after the birth. I had hoped to keep going for at least a few more weeks, but I decided to listen to my body's cues (utter exhaustion) and take a break. I hope to still go for moderate walks everyday and squeeze in a prenatal yoga class once per week, but we'll see...

In other news, I have less than four weeks left of work before starting my leave (!) and I'm starting to feel ready for a break. (There is a lot of uncertainty about by job situation going forward, but I've started to adopt a very blasé attitude about the whole thing.) Work starts to feel less urgent in light of the whole impending childbirth thing and this feels like a healthy approach for me at this point in my life.

The diaper bag is all packed and ready to go to the hospital. I packed three little baby outfits (different sizes and sleeve lengths), two pre-fold cloth diapers, one diaper cover, a toy that Nate picked out, a swaddle blanket, a receiving blanket, little booties, and some nursing cream. I also plan on bringing our Boppy nursing pillow with us. I still have to finish packing our hospital bag, but I think that I've got everything now that I need to put in there.

We spent the weekend nesting (yet again) -- painting the hallway outside of the nursery, hanging some artwork and shelves on the walls, and finding the perfect baby album to take to the hospital for the little one's first footprints.

Happy spring!

Nate and I spent a few wonderful, stormy days on the Oregon coast last weekend to celebrate some precious time alone together before our daughter's impending arrival (next month!). We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast in the small, rugged community of Arch Cape, just south of the popular beach town Cannon Beach. Although it stormed most of the weekend, we had a fabulous view of the rough seas from our inn. Durning any breaks in the weather, we would head out to the shore for walks, photo sessions, and beach-combing. We got a couple's massage at the local spa, which was the first time we'd done that since our wedding weekend almost five years ago. We ate chocolates and salt water taffy. We collected stones and driftwood. I took my first bath in eight months (being careful not to make the water too hot) with these amazing new bath salts, made some progress on knitting the baby's blanket, and sipped sparkling cider from a wine flute. After all of the months of childbirth classes and preparation, coupled with some necessary home improvement projects, we needed this time together to relax and unwind. It was heaven.

Most of my free time for the past couple of months has been spent shopping for and organizing the nursery. I'm happy to say that we're almost done! It has been a really fun series of projects, though, at times, it has felt overwhelming. (Maybe everything feels overwhelming when you're pregnant?)

Anyway, I've tried my best to balance being frugal, safety conscious, and environmentally friendly by buying used as much as possible and then splurging for certain other new items. It the above photo, our beautiful crib was a Craigslist purchase. We bought it for $450 (along with the matching changing table) back in the fall when I first found out that I was pregnant, but it is super high quality, eco-friendly furniture (sustainably harvested solid wood and safe paints and stains) that would have cost us close to three times that amount if purchased new. In the name of safety, we opted to give away the mattress that came with the crib and buy a new (expensive) one. See? Balance. (The reason that we made the decision to ditch the old mattress -- which seemed fine -- was because of a possible link between older crib mattresses and SIDS.)

The Dutailier glider is one of the company's higher end models, but we saved about 30% by purchasing a floor model. There are a few small marks on the fabric, but they're hardly noticeable (a few scuffs and pen marks). Realistically, this thing is going to take a beating once the little girl arrives anyway. I really liked the look of some of the trendier, more modern gliders, but I'm tall and this is by far the most comfortable chair I tried. (And I tried them all.)

The wooden bunny on the wall was from my Mom's room at her home in North Carolina, and it sort of feels like a gift from her to the baby :-)

The owl lamp is a recent purchase from West Elm and I plan on carrying out a little craft project with the shade (decorating it with felt leaves). The lamp rests on a little table that we snagged a few weekends ago at Cost Plus World Market for a very reasonable price.

That bright little chair to the left of the table is essentially the baby's "swing" -- the mamaRoo! After despising every baby swing we could find, we decided we'd try out this device. It is supposed to simulate being rocked by the Mama, going for a ride in the car, etc. It has a much smaller footprint than most of the swings we found and it is also way more mobile and aesthetically pleasing.

I'll be back later this week to post more pictures of the nursery and discuss the items that are still lingering on our to-do list, but first, here's a snapshot of the 31-week bump :-)

So... My iPad apps are telling me that I've officially entered my third trimester. Part of me feels like this pregnancy is going by really slowly, but then I am astonished to realize that May is just around the corner. As you can see from the photo, there's no more hiding this bump! (Please excuse the bed hair and the sleepy face, Nate took this photo before work one day and I had just woken up...)

The most exciting baby-related thing that happened this week was that I finally took the advice of a number of friends and tried out acupuncture. I think that the little one LOVED it because she started squirming around like crazy when the needles went in. It felt a little weird and uncomfortable at first, but then I became more relaxed than I've been in a long, long time. My acupuncturist specializes in working with pregnant women, so she finished up our session with a belly massage (which was divine) to help the little girl move up and get centered. (I'm carrying pretty low, which can be rather uncomfortable.) I'm already counting down the days until next week's session.

In other news, I've been pretty scared of the whole childbirth process, so, on a whim, I ordered the Hypnobabies self-study course. I've heard good things about the program, particularly its ability to help the mother relax during the labor process, so I figured that it was probably a good investment.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend of brunch with friends, working on the nursery, and continuing to knit the baby blanket I've been working on for a few weeks. Happy March!