Refrigerator Makeover...Maybe

I am entering a contest over at Danica's Daily to win a Refrigerator Makeover! In order to increase my chances of winning, I am including a link to her blog above. Here's what the lucky winner will get:

• $100 grocery store gift card
• Healthy recipes & tips to get your grocery list started
• Reach Right! package that includes a VIP coupon for a free tub of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
• A reusable grocery bag
• A disposable camera to capture before/after makeover pics

I really hope I win, because moving and getting a new refrigerator is the perfect opportunity to stock up on new healthy foods! I just took a quick shot of how our current refrigerator looks:

Yes, that is a homemade pumpkin pie in my refrigerator. I told you this housewife business is hard!

Pretty scary, right? Our refrigerator needs a good cleaning but I'm waiting until we move to do that. I am so excited about our new kitchen appliances! I can't wait to fill our new refrigerator with lots of healthy foods. And now they will all be at eye-level, so I won't be constantly bending over to figure out what is hiding in the depths of our refrigerator.

Here is what the front of our new fridge looks like:

And the inside:

I can't wait! Wish me luck on the contest.

36 Weeks

Had my 36-week Dr. Appointment yesterday and all is looking good!

I have to preface these pictures by saying that I am really bad at taking pictures of myself. And I don't know how to turn off the flash on my camera. Anyone want to teach me? I guess I should start having Adam take my belly pictures. Oh well, here I am at 36 weeks. Whoa belly!

Doctor said the baby sounds good....heartbeat was 153 bpm. She's estimating his weight at just under 6 pounds right now. If I go full term, she thinks he will weigh somewhere between 7.5 and 8 lbs. Sounds perfect to me! Mommy has gained a total of 27 lbs as of 36 weeks. Yikes!

My Dr. looked at my puffy face, my lack of wedding rings on my fingers, and poked my legs and said that I am definitely starting to retain water. I guess it's pretty common? She also checked me and said I am not showing any early signs of labor. She was able to feel the baby's head, which means he is still head down and in the correct position for labor. So now all I do is hurry up and wait!

This Housewife Stuff is Hard!

Those are the exact words I whined to Adam over the phone this morning.

Today was my first official day as a "housewife". I've been complaining for the past month that I wanted to get access to our new house as soon as possible, in order to get everything ready before the baby. But now that I know how much work is involved, I realize the timing really is perfect. There is no way I could run around and do all of this while still going to work....and there is no way I will be able to do all this once the baby is here. So now is the perfect time to be at home, taking care of the new house responsibilities. Here is how my day went today:

6:30am - Wake up and realize I didn't wake Adam up at 5:30am in order for him to get ready and leave for work by 6:30. I shove him out of bed, hand him his lunch and give him a kiss.

6:40 - Shower, feed Riley, dress, fix and eat my breakfast. For breakfast I had 2 scrambled eggs, 1 cranberry-orange scone (thanks Mom!), a few chunks of canned pineapple, and a small glass of milk.

8:00 - Arrive at the new house to meet the Wall Texturing guys. I clean up a little bit, explain to them exactly what we want done, discover they'd like to be paid in cash, and then leave them alone to get started.

9:00 - Arrive at Home Depot to get our garage door keys keyed to our front door key. Ask for Key Guy, only to be told he is on his lunch break. (at 9am?) They tell me to come back in 1 hour.

9:15 - Swing by Mom & Dad's house to use bathroom and computer.

9:30 - 10:30 - Grocery shop at Safeway. Try to take out cash at ATM but am unable to take out enough to pay Wall Texturing Guys.

10:30 - Go back to Home Depot and ask to see Key Guy. I am told he is helping another customer and will be with me shortly. I snack on a Banana Bread Larabar and some hot tea I got at Safeway. I begin to picture all my frozen groceries defrosting and melting in my car.

11:00 - Key Guy finally makes an appearance. I explain to him 10 times what I need done before he understands. He then tells me they don't have the necessary part. I politely ask him to call another Home Depot to see if they have the part. He grudgingly calls. They have the part, but their Key Guy does not work until Wednesday.

12:00 - Arrive home and unload groceries. Clean up trash that Riley got into while I was gone. Start load of laundry. Unload and re-load dishwasher.

12:30 - Call Waste Mangement to set up trash service at new house. Call Alameda County Water District to set up water at new house. Switch laundry over and start 2nd load. Prepare lunch of leftover pizza and salad. My salad contained: spinach, carrots, persian cucumbers, green onions, romaine, and radishes. It was a big salad!

1:00 - Sit down to eat lunch and watch Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals. Dessert was a small piece of dark chocolate and a prenatal vitamin.

1:30 - 3:00 - Finish writing Thank-You cards for my baby shower. Take out trash, check mail, put away laundry.

3:00 - 4:30 - Go to Doctor for 36-week appointment. I will blog a separate post about my appt, but all was good!

4:30 - 5:00 - Take Riley out for a walk.

5:00 - 6:00 - Unload dishwasher and make dinner. We had sirloin steaks, roasted asparagus, and sun-dried tomato risotto. I had never cooked with sun-dried tomatoes before because I thought I didn't like them, but this was good!

6:00 - 6:30 - Inhale dinner with Adam.

6:30 - 8:30 - Head back over to the new house with Adam and Riley to check on the progress.

8:30 - 9:00 - Get home, pack Adam's lunch. Eat a spoonful of lemon sorbet straight from the carton.

9:00 - Collapse

Before

Here are the "before" pictures of our new house. A LOT of work needs to be done in a very short amount of time! I will post the "after" pictures, hopefully sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. Baby Nullmeyer, stay in there just a few more weeks!

A Big Day!

Today is a very big day!

The first reason is because today was my last day of work! It was an exciting day and a sad day all at once. I am really going to miss my co-workers while I am on Maternity Leave. But at the same time, it is a big relief to be able to relax and focus on preparing for Baby Nullmeyer.

Oh yea, and this:

That would be a picture of the key to our new house! We officially got it today and words cannot describe how excited we are! We've got a lot of work to do on the house over the next few weeks, but it will all be worth it when we can bring Baby Nullmeyer home to a nice clean new house.

I have other things to post about, but I will save them for later. Right now this mommy is going to cook dinner because she is huuungry!

Late Pregnancy Symptoms

This is a picture of my hand.

It is also a picture of my lovely wedding band and engagement ring, both of which have been feeling a bit snug lately. Sadly, I think I will have to remove them sometime very soon. I don't want them to get stuck! I'm thinking of wearing them on a chain around my neck for the rest of my pregnancy. Any other ideas? Oh the joys of water retention!

Another weird symptom I have recently experienced is with my feet. All of my shoes suddenly feel too short! Is it possible that my feet have gotten longer? I have heard a myth about this happening during pregnancy, but I didn't think it was true. It wouldn't be such a big deal if my feet weren't already a size 9-9.5. I don't want to have size 10 gorilla feet!

Baby Boy Nullmeyer has been practicing for the 2030 Olympics inside my belly today. I have never felt such strong movement......he better not be flipping around into a breech position!

Made My Day!

Despite the fact some people have made insensitive comments to me during my pregnancy, I have received many wonderful compliments as well! Just yesterday I had my teeth cleaned and the dental hygienist told me I looked very small and in shape for being 35 weeks pregnant.

Today Riley and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a walk. I overheard two women talking near me about baby weight. One complained to her friend that she still had 20 lbs left to lose since having her baby. She then turned, looked at me, and said "See, she won't have any problem once her baby is born. She won't have any weight to lose".

Made my day!

Her comment definitely put a smile on my face, because I have been trying hard to be healthy and stay in relatively good shape throughout my pregnancy. However, I know that realistically I will have a good amount of weight to lose after the baby is born. But I'll tackle that when the time comes!

Riley was pooped after our walk! I guess we need to work on his physical fitness......

34.4 Week Dr. Appt

I had another great Dr. Appt yesterday, at 34 weeks and 4 days pregnant.

My blood pressure was the best it's been the entire pregnancy, at 108/66.

Weight gain was another 2 lbs, bringing my total to 23 lbs so far.

She measured my belly right at 35 cm and said the baby's heartbeat sounds great!

My Dr. also commented on my "excellent use of cocoa butter", since I don't have any stretch marks yet. I told her I haven't actually used any cocoa butter and she said then I just have really nice skin! I'm going to attribute that to having nice genes. (Thank You Mom!)

I'm feeling good overall. My only new pregnancy symptom this week is hot flashes. I feel like I'm constantly asking people "Is it hot in here?". But no, it's usually just me!

Baby is also getting stronger! My Dr. estimated him at 5 lbs right now, saying he will likely gain another 2.5-3 lbs before birth. Yay for a healthy baby! His movements definitely feel different now. Before, it was distinct little kicks. Now it's like he's slowly rolling around in there like a wave, and I can tell which side of me he's on. Like last night, for example. I suddenly felt him move to my right side and it felt like he was maybe sticking his butt up against the front of my stomach! I asked Adam to look at my belly and he immediately noticed that my right side was sticking out further than my left. So weird!

What Not to Say

So here's a little conversation I had yesterday with a security guard at work. I was in the breakroom heating up my lunch at around 11am when he walked in. YES I had already eaten my morning snack. And NO I can no longer wait until the more reasonable hour of noon to eat lunch. Keep in mind that he was staring at my belly the entire conversation. And YES, he said WOW! about 15 times.

Security Guard: WOW! You've really filled out since I last saw you.

(I just saw this guy like 10 days ago)

Me: Yea I'm getting near the end! And the baby is putting on an extra layer of fat now, so he's gaining weight pretty rapidly.

Security Guard: WOW! Is that why you're eating lunch so early?

Me: Well I do get hungry more often these days.

Security Guard: WOW! How far along are you?

Me: 34 weeks. Only 6 weeks left.

Security Guard: WOW! You look like you're ready to pop right now!

Me: Yes, not everyone is able to maintain their girlish figure like you.


OK so I didn't actually say that last line out loud.

My Baby Shower

Was absolutely perfect! I was so blessed to be surrounded by my friends and family on this special day. I don't really enjoy being the center of attention, but I thoroughly enjoyed my baby shower. My friends thought of everything! A huge thank you to my best friends for putting the whole thing together:

Lisa, Danielle, Brianna, and Jesselle

Me and the cupcake cake! Baked by Lisa and so yummy.

I was really excited to receive gDiapers.

My 91-year old Grandma. Isn't she cute?

Grandma with Samantha, my 14-yr old niece.

Brianna, me and Jesselle

My brother and I. Isn't he handsome?

My mom! Thank you for letting us use your house.

Lots of delicious food.
My cousin, Jessamy. Looking cute as usual!

Here are just some of the gifts. I am truly blessed!
Emma, my 7-yr old niece. I'm so glad she could come!

Diaper cake made by Danielle. She is so talented!

The favors were made by Jen. Jen, you should open a bakery!
Samantha, Me, and My sister, Jessica.

Thank you to everyone for coming! It was a very special day for me and Baby Boy Nullmeyer. I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did!

A Change of Scenery

I took Riley for a nice 45-minute walk tonight in a new neighborhood. We were tired of walking the same route every night. And we wanted to get away from the smell of illegal drugs and the sound of gunshots in the distance. (I'm only half kidding here). So we hopped in the car and drove about 3/4 mile down the street to a really nice housing complex.

I like to walk in nice neighborhoods and daydream about which house I would pick. Perhaps one with a nice palm tree in the yard?

Or maybe the one with the ugly lion out front?

Look, there's one for sale!

I've noticed lately that when I'm walking I get mild cramps on either side of my lower abdomen. My body is probably trying to adjust to carrying around all this extra weight. Although surprisingly I have not experienced any backaches during my pregnancy. Hmmm maybe something to bring up at my next Dr. Appt.

Surprise!

My co-workers surprised me today with a baby shower! I thought I couldn't be surprised because I've seen all the tricks used in my department over the past 5 years when throwing surprise parties. But they completely fooled me!

We had lunch in downtown San Carlos at a cute little restaurant called Spasso. I had the Skirt Steak Sandwich with a small side salad. Really yummy....I would definitely recommend it!

My kind co-workers all pitched in to buy the Pack N Play from my registry! I was completely blown away by their generosity. Adam and I were so excited that we set it up tonight in our family room.

Extra Credit if you can tell me what I was watching on TV!

All ready for baby!

Fear and Excitement

Did you know my baby is due in just 7 weeks? As my due date approaches many worries and fears have been running through my head. But I am also really really excited to meet my son. I can't help but feel my life is about to dramatically change......

Fears

What will labor be like? I wish I had an idea ahead of time what this will be like. I can plan and prepare all I want but ultimately labor is unpredictable. I could end up being in labor for 1,000 hours and then have a c-section. I need to mentally prepare myself for things not going according to plan. (My plan being: no inducing and waiting as long as possible for the epidural). I just hate not knowing.

Will I experience post-partum depression? This one worries me because I've heard such horrible stories. I know it will be an emotional time after the baby is born due to all the crazy hormones pumping through my body. I just pray that it doesn't turn into depression and take away from the joy of having a new baby.

How will Adam and I deal with the lack of sleep? Anyone who knows Adam knows that he loves to sleep. As in, he really needs a full 8 hours to function well during the day. I can get by on less, as long as it is uninterrupted sleep. Well that's all about to change! I worry that we'll both be so dead tired during the first few months that we'll turn into cranky mean people who barely have time to talk to each other.

Will I ever have time to cook? This one might not sound important enough to worry about. But I LOVE to cook. I look forward to making dinner every day. For me it is a relaxing time when I get to use the creative side of my brain. I'm afraid that with a baby I will no longer have the time to cook, and this makes me sad.

Excitement

Who will he look/act like? I am so excited to not only see what our little baby looks like, but also to learn all about his personality! Will he be reserved and a bit shy like me? Will he be laid-back and more outgoing like Adam? Or maybe the perfect combination of the two? I can't wait to find out!

What kind of Dad will Adam be? This one really makes me smile. I can't wait to see Adam interact with his son. I think it will be really special for me to see them together. The other day Adam told me he'd like to buy our son his first car (one that needs work) when he's still young, and then work together to fix it up so that it's ready to drive by the time he turns 16. Awwww! Kind of reminds me of Time the Tool Man Taylor. Home Improvement, anyone?

What will it be like to love someone that much? I can't wait to experience that deep unconditional love that a parent has for their child. To be honest I can't really fathom it right now. To love them so much that you would give up your life. To care so much about your child's well-being that you would sacrifice anything in order for them to be happy and healthy. Maybe being a parent gives us a small glimpse into what God feels like towards us. I can't wait to experience that kind of love.

I Think I'm Hooked

I woke up craving another Green Monster! Can you see my excitement?


Riley wanted some too!


Breakfast of Champions!