5 weeks to go! - Wait! What?!

That's right! I'm 35 weeks along and have 35 days to go! How cool is that?! And my other countdown is just 1 week until I depart Petersburg and head to the lower 48 states! I'm still giddy excited about going to the ballet with Rachel and Aunt Marge. My scary mental images now include going into early labor - and missing the ballet! However if that were to happen I'm sure I'd be over it in no time seeing as that would mean our baby girl were here.

My nesting instincts have been thrown into overdrive. I have this mental pile of things to do at home (this week!) so that they're done when I come home with baby. Which by the way, is the strangest feeling in the world. I'm going to Arizona to visit family and friends but when I come back, I'll have a baby! ?!?! I don't think that those lucky mothers who get to deliver their babies where they live have this thought. You stay at home, you putter around and nest in your own home and then labor starts. You leave the house with the thought that when you come back you'll have a baby, but that is hopefully only a day away. Maybe I'm just giving myself a pity party but damn we Alaskan women have to think ahead!

Once I depart Petersburg, the whirlwind begins. After the show in Seattle Friday night, I fly to AZ Saturday, go to a musical with Mom on Sunday, my first appointment with the midwives at the Birth Center on Monday, a breastfeeding class on Tuesday, an ALL DAY birthing class that weekend (for those of us who just don't have the time left for a 5 week course) and a baby shower the following weekend! Whew! I certainly don't mind if baby shows up a little early but if this girl is too eager she's really going to throw a wrench in my plans!

On the other end of this . . . it just recently occurred to me that she very well could be a November baby. I blame the "baby brain" for this one, but honestly my mind never went past her being born on October 31, which was exciting in it's own because not only is it Halloween but it's Tracy's birthday (my dear friend and roommate from college). November 1 is just a short 12 days after the October 20th due date and my logical brain knows that this is not a long time to wait for a baby, but you better believe we'll be pulling out all the homeopathic labor-inducing methods before then!

Let's see, other fun tidbits
- My cravings for orange juice are back, just not quite as demanding.
- The super sniffer is back in full force and I'm ever so grateful that the cannery workers stinking like last week's fish guts are no longer sitting at my desk.
- Sitting all day (like at work) makes me hips hurt like nobody's business but a little yoga, some walking and a little back rub usually makes it all better.
- This little girl might love to go hunting and fishing with her daddy but I believe she'll love the theater stuff too. She squirms whenever I sing or play the music for her.
- Is it too much to think that she'll be graceful? She moves around so much, changing positions and stretching, but doesn't "kick" all that often. I like to think she just moving around gracefully in her little home.
- Baby loves baked goods. Not so much the candy kind of sweets, but cookies, cake, cheesecake . . . and it's all good when paired with ice cream! Recently we found Ben and Jerry's red velvet ice cream - this could be a bad relationship.
- Oh! We also canned our own pickles two weeks ago and they Are. So. Good. Why do pregnant ladies like pickles so much?? And what's Nick's excuse?

In other news, I was in my friends' wedding this past weekend. Katie and Bucky were married here in Petersburg on 9-10-11 and treated to a beautiful sunny day, which have been in short supply this year. Us gals got together in the morning to start the process of being primped to perfection and managed to look pretty damn good by the end of the day! We've already been hearing comments of how beautiful the ceremony was, how fun the reception was and "how fun that she had TWO pregnant bride's maids!" Yes, Niccole and I proudly waddled glided down the aisle with our third trimester bellies to stand by Katie's side. And we wouldn't have had it any other way.

Sorry I don't have many pictures to share. I tend to dispose of any 'real' clothes immediately upon getting home for the day and then strut around the house in maternity sweats paired with shirts and sweaters that don't even kind-of fit anymore but are somehow still more comfortable than anything else. Not exactly photo inspiring attire. However, I promise there will be more pictures to come, I still have some pregnancy to document and I'm counting on my lovely sister to take some pictures for me while in Tucson.