26 weeks 1 day

I have been so busy at work (and at home) that I have simply not had a chance to post anything for a while. I'm grateful for the distraction that a busy workday can provide. I still can't honestly say that the weeks are flying by, but I'm definitely feeling a little pressure to get things done and I don't feel like time has stopped like I did in my first trimester.

I ordered our nursery furniture last week, and we were able to pick up the crib right from the store. This was a very big step for us because I have always felt that a purchase like that was way too significant to do if we weren't actually going to be bringing a baby home. I guess I'm starting to believe it's actually going to happen. Of course, said furniture will not arrive for 8-10 weeks, so by the time it actually arrives, it's really going to be time. I wish we hadn't waited so long. The crib is assembled and in the nursery now. We also were able to get our glider this past weekend and that was assembled yesterday. I set that up in our living room, so I could enjoy it while watching tv and hanging out with hubby before the baby comes. I absolutely love it and I'm dreaming about sitting in it later today as I power through the last hour or so of work.

I am starting to feel the nesting instinct kick in. I've been cleaning closets (a chore I absolutely dread when not nesting), and I'm making little purchases each week to fulfill our enormous baby needs in time. We were actually very lucky to receive several large items from my sister. She sent an infant car seat, a convertible car seat, a breast pump, a Baby Bjorn, a bouncy chair, a crib mattress, several crib sheets and playard sheets, and a pretty good sized box of clothes. My sister's baby was a girl, so much of her stuff is girly, but everything she sent was unisex or neutral and there were enough boy clothes to really put a dent in my list of things I need, so I'm feeling extremely blessed.

I don't believe I will be having a shower at all because my family and friends are all out of state and I don't want to travel, so other than a few things here and there, we won't be receiving big gifts from people. That being said, my parents bought us our pack n play, my in-laws bought us the glider, a friend of my mother-in-law was extremely generous and bought us a pack n play as well (the registry update was delayed just enough to cause that duplication), which I exchanged for the bedding we picked for the crib (they'll never know the pack n play we have isn't the one they bought). Generally, I feel that we have a good start and if I spread the remaining purchases over the next 14 weeks, we should be able to fairly painlessly get all the stuff we need.

I also have had a compelling urge to prepare my diaper bag and the changing area for the baby. This makes little sense right now, because I don't even have a changing table yet, but I just feel like I want to get all that stuff ready. I'm trying to redirect that odd desire to more practical things like freezing some meals for my first couple of weeks with the baby. I am not one of those people who enjoys a weekend full of cooking and freezing. I would much rather make double dinners every weekend between now and delivery and freeze those instead. My biggest challenge is finding food we will want in August that also freezes well. August temps where I live are typically 100-105, so a lot of good freezable meals like soups and lasagna may not be good choices.

I start my third trimester either this Sunday or the next Sunday (depending on which method you use to calculate it), and I'm so excited. I've finally, finally graduated to the point where perfect strangers feel comfortable asking me when I'm due instead of curiously eyeing my bump not sure what to say. I'm sort of looking forward to them seeing me in the next few weeks as I get bigger than ever. I will say though, whenever I comment on another pregnant woman's body or bump in the future, I will be very careful about how I word it, so as not to offend, because it's amazing the things people will say.