Bump Watch: 37, 38, 39 & 40 Weeks

This is the LAST 'Bump Watch' post you're going to get from me.  For some reason, that makes me a little sad!  Not sad enough to cry, though I do a lot of happy crying lately...  It's just that I LOVED being pregnant with my little TaterMan and am already looking forward to carrying a little sister or brother for him someday.  Yes, you read that right: I also LOVE being a mom!  I'm going to guess I have a very, very well-behaved newborn (hint: I totally DO) because it hasn't scared me off at all from doing this all over again.  Tate is amazing and I'm having such an incredible time getting to know him and developing a routine that works for us all.  And while I hesitate to say this out loud, I'm also getting enough sleep.  So...yeah.  I know it's early and I've only been at this gig for two weeks, but I'm just going to appreciate every blessing now and not worry about what routine-busting surprises might be yet ahead.  That being said, I'm going to hurry on to the belly pics before the Karma God reads this and decides to turn Tate into a cute little hellion! ;o)


Week 37: 

I was really getting puffy by this point!

And YES, I was excited to finally be considered 'full term' and at the safe & ready point, can you tell?

Week 38: 

Mark probably won't like that I'm putting a picture up of him that was taken as he was getting changed after his work day, but I thought it was important to include the ever-important daddy and 'Bump Watch' photographer in ONE of these posts!  I love him so...

Hello, double chin.  I don't miss you one bit (OR the 24 of the 30 total pounds I've lost since Tate was born - woo hoooo!!)!

Large and in charge!

Week 39:

These pictures were taken in the middle of the night on the day Tate was born...I'll share my birth story eventually, but it started when my water broke at 2:30am on 9/15/10 on the 1st day of my 39th week.   

You can bet your hiney I made Mark stop rushing about to capture my last TRUE belly pics. I was SO EXCITED, you guys.  

Just a little contraction; nothing to see here, folks! The contractions started around 3:30am - it was a pretty fast progression!

Here's one without the belly numbers for posterity.  I already miss that belly a little!  

Week 40:  

These are by far my favorite of all the belly pictures...because Tate was finally here!!

I cannot get enough of this little guy...

He looks hungry here, huh?  NOM NOM.

Sneak peek of the nursery!  I'll upload more nursery pics soon, but thought you deserved to see SOMETHING since I totally meant to show you some before I had the baby. 

I'll be back soon and will attempt posting a few photos a week until I can sit down and properly post again.  In the meantime, I hope life is treating you well - I certainly can say this is true for me...  :o)

Bump Watch: 35 & 36 Weeks (with "bonus" story!)

Before I post the latest belly pictures, I thought I'd remind you what I looked like during Week 16 when we first started documenting "the bump":

It's crazy what 21 weeks can do to a body (and baby), huh?  Admittedly, I posted this as much for my benefit as yours.  As you will see - and read - in a second, I've grown quite a bit in the past couple weeks.  And some people just can't help but tell me so...

WEEK 35:

Picture this:  I'm walking downtown with my friend/coworker, Tiffany, to grab lunch while wearing this outfit:

...when we cross paths with a young hippie dude who stops in his tracks and says to me, in his best Staples Commercial Dude voice (really, I kid you not), "WOW!  You're HUGE!  You look like you're going to POP!"

I'll give you a second to re-read that.

OK, got that? 

So my response was to somewhat sarcastically say, "WOW, thanks - you're awesome!"

And then HE asks, "But really...when are you due?" to which I reply, "In about 5 weeks."  And he, not realizing he's already said more than enough, opens his pie hole again and says, "Well it looks like they are going to have to induce you in TWO weeks!"

~BLINK~

After picking my jaw off the ground, I said, "Hmm...yeah, that won't be happening."  He then maybe realizes he went too far with the pregnant lady and says cheerily, "Well, you go and have a healthy baby now!" before scurrying away.

It took everything in me not to yell after him, "Well, you go and get some duct tape for your BIG FAT MOUTH now!"

Tiffany then looks at me and says, "Omigod, what is wrong with some people?"  The only answer I have to give is, "I don't have enough TIME to tell you what's wrong with some people, Tiff!"

That night I went home and asked Mark to take a picture of me in the outfit I was wearing in my 35th week when some random dude stuck both of his feet in his mouth and almost got smacked kindly by a pregnant lady.

Hello, my name is Amy and I'm all bark & no bite.  

WEEK 36:

This week's pictures were taken right before we attended our infant/child CPR class I mentioned here.  After a long day at work, no one wants to go to a 4-hour class during which time you are asked to get on the floor and do chest compressions on a plastic doll, right?  WELL.  Try that while sportin' THIS, ya'll:

Now THAT'S a belleh!

Does it look smaller in a black shirt?  Yeah...didn't think so.

I joke about my stomach - and it's OK FOR ME TO DO THAT (not you, hippie boy!) - but really?  I love it so.  I mean, just look; it's a hotel for my baby!

Bump Watch: 33 & 34 Weeks

As of today I'm 36 weeks and 2 days pregnant, but I'm JUST NOW posting my 33 & 34-week belly pics.  So let's get right to it, shall we?  

WEEK 33:

I call this series the "Anatomy of a Canine-Imposed Disaster Waiting to Happen":

Tired girl on her way to a baseball game.  Nothing to see here, folks!

What's that, cute puppies?  You want to come in?  WHY THE HECK NOT.

I wuf your furry arses, yes I do!

GAH!  Apparently you love me, too!

HALLLLLP! 

 Annnnnd scene.

WEEK 34:

Don't let the smile fool you.  I was soooo crabby during this photo shoot.  I have been a really happy pregnant lady overall, but I was so swollen and tired here.  I was literally WHINING.

Zzzzzzz..... (just kidding - I wasn't sleeping. Yet.)

After we got done and I saw that the sun had come through the blinds and was shining behind me, I made this comment to Mark: "Huh...pretty ironic that it looks like I have sun shining out of MY ASS, considering how foul my mood is!"  Yep.  I'm so eloquent. 

Side note about the white shirt I'm wearing here.  When I bought it around 25 weeks or so, I had to put the Really Pregnant fake belly to try it on.  Mark and I were CRACKING UP at how large I looked (we even took a funny iPhone picture of me with a horrified look on my face).  I felt certain I'd never fill that shirt out as it was intended but the joke was on me!  AND I LOVE IT.

Bump Watch: 31 & 32 Weeks

WHAT A WEEK.  I don't care to go into details, but suffice it to say it's been a bit of a rough one for the Burton fam.  The good part is that we have so, so much to be happy about and plenty of faith that all will be well.   Oh, and my husband?  Is amazing -- I'm so unbelievably proud of him for all he does and for the chances he takes to ensure we have a wonderful life.  If you see him, give him a hug; he certainly deserves it!

So the two series of photos being posted today are going to be infinitely different from one another.  The first week's photos were taken after a long day at work when all I wanted to do was put on the outfit you can find me in on a typical weeknight.  I'm looking SEX-Y in them, letmetellyou.

WEEK 31:

Like the cami and shorts look I'm sporting?  You're lucky I put a bra on for you. ;o)

Ok, seriously.  Can we talk about my belly?  More specifically, can we talk about how HUGE IT IS?!

Molly is so helpful during photo-taking time. What a sweetie!

This next week's photos are a bit more involved.  I figured since we didn't have time to take our traditional 32-week photos in the nursery, they had to be extra special.  OK, that's a lie.  We actually paid someone to take these!  If you like them and are looking for a great, VERY reasonable photographer in the Lansing, MI area, let me know and I'll be happy to recommend Cheryl.  For once I'm not going to add comments - I think these speak for themselves...

WEEK 32:

More can be found HERE.

Bump Watch: 29 & 30 Weeks

Hi, friends!  I'm back from a busy, happy, love-filled week.  It was my birthday and my stepmom ("Yom") Carla and little sister Rachel came to visit and help get the nursery around.  It was sooooo great seeing them again, since it'd been since March since I'd seen them last.  We shopped 'til we dropped, and while I was at work for a few hours, they literally got almost the entire nursery together!  Pictures to come soon - I'll be doing a start to finish series in the coming weeks.

Up now, though, is belly pics!  Sorry I'm getting a little behind on them; it's not like I'm BUSY or anything (HA)!  

WEEK 29:

Remember when I kvetched about our air conditioner dying?  Yeah...this was taken during that time, can you tell?  What a sweaty mess I am!

Thankfully I can still be silly while sweaty my hiney off!

What do you think?  Am I getting bigger?  Some people are saying they think I'll deliver early, based on the size of my stomach.  We'll see!

This is how slow a pregnant woman thinks...I was trying to figure out which pose I hadn't done yet and Mark was actually able to CAPTURE THE THOUGHT PROCESS on film.  Nice. 

WEEK 30:

Holy frickadilly, that white shirt makes me look HUGANTIC.  Why didn't anyone tell me?!

Not like I wouldn't wear it, anyway.  How cute are those flowers that are beginning to stretch? ;o)

And this skirt is The Awesome.  It's non-maternity, ladies, and can be found at Old Navy (Fold Over Jersey Skirt) for crazy cheap right now. 

That's it for now.  I've plain worn myself out the last couple of weeks and it's officially Nap Central up in here.  See you zzzzz.....

Bump Watch: 27 & 28 Weeks

Hola!  I've been busy since I last checked in, camping for the holiday, working, and sweating due to a broken air conditioner combined with 90-degree & humid days here in Michigan.  WOE!  Mark is a dear and played the 'My Wife Is Pregnant' Card and got the HVAC company to move us up on the list to get a new one installed - for an extra fee, of course.  Saturday officially can't come soon enough.  DO YOU HEAR THAT, SATURDAY?!

Lucky for you, the following belly pictures were taken pre-time-to-sweat-my-hiney-off, so I'm looking quite fresh in them...heh.

I figured I'd post a couple photos of me in work clothes so you can see what I look like when I pretend to work (KIDDING)!

WEEK 27:

 This is one of my favorite shirts.  Coincidentally, it's actually not a maternity shirt! It's an 'Apt. 9' one from Kohl's, and I feel a little 80's when I wear it.  

 

 

It, like, totally makes me want to swing my necklace around like I'm at Studio 54. WOOOOO, grab the glow sticks! 

Look how respectable I look in this one.  Don't let that sweet face fool you - I'm totally nuts. ;o)

WEEK 28:

This is a 'Pea in the Pod' shirt that Mark bought me when he went to the maternity store with me.  I totally would not have treated myself to it, but I'm so glad he did!  Shame it's TOO HOT to wear it right now (ok, I'll stop complaining...)!

OH!  I can't believe I didn't mention the wall colors in the background of these pictures!  If you'll refer back to my last bump watch post, you'll notice the walls to the future nursery used to be a boring, pale blue.  Now?  It's a happy yet calming 'Delicate Cream' that is totally yellow so don't let the name fool you.  What do you think?  

 I think I better get outta here and go make dinner in my holy-hot house, because this round tummy be growling.  Toodles!