33, Look at Me

I know I just did a 32 week update, but I feel like there has been so much to write about and I missed out on a lot in last post. Plus, I love writing. I'm starting to think that instead of posting statuses on Facebook, I might start blogging more so people who are actually close enough to me to want to read through my blogs will be able to know about what's going on in my life. I'm on a new "unplugging" kick where I'm trying to detach from social media and spend more quality time talking to people... through talk, not type. 

At 33 weeks, I'm feeling at my best. I thought the whole third trimester was filled with aches, pains, hormones, and basically three months of trying to get this baby out as soon as possible. Even though I still have some annoying symptoms, it's exceeding my expectations. As I said in my last post, we are finally close enough to the due date that reality is kicking in. We are building up the nursery, starting to pack and prepare for when I go to the hospital, and getting prepared for when baby Ryan comes home. It's exciting!! I haven't been this excited about the baby since we first found out I was pregnant. 9 months is a long time, and after a while, you tend to lose interest in the final product which makes all of the pregnancy symptoms more irritable. 

I feel energized, happy (rather than bitter) about my big ol whale belly, and I'm still able to stay active. I originally was going to stop teaching Zumba as of Aug 1, but I still feel beyond great when I teach so I extended my classes another couple weeks and I couldn't be happier. Teaching Zumba is my sanity and my passion and I was dreading the day I had to slow it down. I'm glad I get a little extra time with my students before labor. 

I love that I still somewhat have my "ab" lines. I really am just a belly. It's cute to see how small of a space Ryan really has in there. My belly button still hasn't popped but it's sure getting close! 

If anyone is pregnant and reading this, I want to recommend registering at Babies R Us over Target. Why? Well, they mostly have the same things, but at Babies R Us, you get rewards back whenever someone buys something off of your registry. We did a bunch of shopping this week-and we were able to add more to our registry, buy it, we'll get money back off that purchase after my due date, andddd when I got home, we had a coupon for 10% off our registry purchase so I brought my receipt back the next day and they did a price adjustment and gave us back our $38 savings in cash. They are so good and helpful there. Target does have some awesome stuff-mostly the cute outfits/bedding that Babies R Us doesn't have, but they don't really give you any rewards back nor did anyone at guest services really seem to have knowledge about the baby registry. Plus, at Babies R Us, you get 12 months from your due date to return any gifts you don't use. Target just has their basic return policy. 

When we were back home, we went to Buy Buy Baby (we don't have it out here) and it was awesome! They are owned by Bed, Bath, and Beyond so they honor their coupons. Yesterday, we went online and ordered a bunch of wall decals for the nursery. I wanted to see if they'd still accept coupons so I did their "online chat with a pro" option and the guy was really nice and price adjusted our order to give us 20% off an item. Very cool. Another good place to register.

I finally finished writing out thank you notes from the baby shower. It brings me joy when you have the EXACT amount of thank you cards vs. people. I ordered them months ago so it was exciting that I was right on the dot. I have this weird obsession with putting stickers on envelopes, so I went and spent $10 just on baby stickers that I know will end up in the trash probably 5 seconds after opened. But I think they are super cute and I have some left over for whenever I get to scrapbooking baby Ryan's life. 

My baby stickers :)

I'm a nut! But I love it. 

I still have a couple weeks before my next drs. appointment and our first birthing class (finally!), but I think I'm going to spend as much time as I can just reading up on labor (I know you seem to forget everything once you go into labor, but I like the comfort of knowledge beforehand because that's the kind of person I am) and post-delivery to have an idea of what to expect when we go home and, you know, what we are actually supposed to do with this baby once he's here. I truly am excited and each day has been super fulfilling this week :)