And we wait...

A wise man (Tom Petty) once said, "the waiting is the hardest part." To which I would like to say, preach it Mr. Petty! While I feel like most of this pregnancy has flown by, what with getting married, settling into a new house, going on our honeymoon, the holidays, yada, yada, yada, the last few weeks have crawled by. And I need them to sprint by. (Let me clarify - I won't be sprinting anywhere. Just need the weeks to.)

We are 37 weeks tomorrow, and I have recently become consumed with knowing if I'm harboring a boy or girl Cookie. I've made it 259 days in a very zen, "it's going to be the ultimate surprise" mindset, but now, damn it, I. WANT. TO. KNOW!!!! Twice this week on the way to work I have flat out started crying imagining the moments after Cookie is born and they place him or her on my chest and we can finally see that sweet little face. JBB wrote a little message to Cooks in the baby book, and I sobbed. I think he was a little alarmed by my reaction. (In my defense, it really was very sweet. And I really was very tired).

Doctor appointments are weekly now, which I'm actually excited about. That means every week someone a whole lot smarter and better qualified than me is checking on my baby and making sure everything is how it should be. We got the all clear with our last ultrasound and blood work that whatever antibodies I may or may not have floating around aren't hurting Cookie in anyway, so I can permanently cross that worry off my list.

Speaking of crossing things off the list - a momentous thing happened last night in the Blythe household. I went to "my office" (the a fore blogged about roll top desk. I'd love to tell you all about it. I'm obsessed with it.) and consulted my to-do list, which for the last 9 months has had at least 20 items on it. It had two. Two things left to do. And they are both things JBB needs to do, not me. I'm not sure how I feel about this. While I thought I'd be swinging from the treetops with excitement, I felt a little deflated and a sense of "now what?" I've got to have something to do these last three weeks!

In typical me fashion, I've found new things to fixate on - namely, trolling Tiny Prints for baby announcements (I currently have 43 favorited. Someone stop me.), and - couponing! I've turned into a real couponer these days. Nothing excites me more than cutting coupons from the Sunday paper; I've joined Coupons.com, and Marsh.com and Kroger.com and whatever else I can find online that will give me .25 cents off toilet paper. (Pregnant women use a LOT of toilet paper). I even found myself reading aloud to JBB from an article on Pinterest about how to be a savvy couponer. Who have I become? In addition to my obsession with couponing, I've started making weekly meal plans. Which, every week have the same meals on them - tacos; breakfast for dinner; spaghetti; chicken and potatoes; pizza. I'm not terribly creative, but sometimes I get fancy and switch up the order, or the seasoning for the potatoes if I'm feeling wacky. I've "pinned" approximately 250 recipes on Pinterest, but somehow eat the same 5 meals every week.

In addition to turning into some weird 1950's hybrid version of myself, I'm also in a phase of trying to meet up for lunch or dinner with as many of our friends as possible before the baby comes, partially to keep busy, and partially because I know I will drop out of the "social scene" for awhile. While I love seeing my friends, I've become aware of not over scheduling and ending up with something booked 6 nights a week, as all that does is exhaust me.

Until recently, I had a lot of events at work that kept my focus off of the impending arrival - I worked the first two Saturdays in March, had a Family Fun Night, and various other meetings to focus on and lots of loose ends to wrap up. Even all of that is winding down, as I'm transitioning everything at work over to my replacement so that everything is transfered over and in good shape when I leave. Driving home from last Saturday's 10K event was a very, very strange feeling - typically March is when I really start mentally gearing myself up for the crazy 2.5 months ahead that is "season" at the 500 Festival. Instead, I was driving home from my last event until 2014. Strange.

Speaking of things winding down, we even had our last baby shower over the weekend - hats off to Steph, Krissi, and Nicole for an amazing shower! The thought and love that went into it knocked my socks off - from the "Baby Pictionary", to the "blue Kool-Aid if you think it's a boy" and "Pink Lemonade if you think it's a girl" drinks, to the amazing food and decor, it was incredible. JBB and I are continually humbled by the love and interest our family and friends have shown our baby. It was truly an amazing day. In fact, an amazing weekend, that I was so happy to spend with Nicole who drove all the way from Wisconsin just to be there for the shower. We did a lot of eating, watching HGTV, and just catching up. Cookie even put on a show for her Aunt Nicole, moving her big foot all over my stomach just to show off and say hi.

Celebrating our little rascal to be. Such a fun shower!

Think girl? Grab a pink lemonade!

Sure it's a boy? Have a blue Kool-aid.

Two of my very favorite ladies!

Look closely...JBB and I's picture is on these M&Ms. Funniest thing ever!

Love this picture! Can't believe Aunt Lisa and Ali drove all the way from Michigan to celebrate Cookie. Love you guys!

Steph wouldn't stand still for a picture until after the party was over. Truly the hostess with the mostess!

Cookie decorated her door for her Aunt Nicole's arrival!

So. That's it. We're just waiting. JBB and I are spending a lot of time together just the two of us; we have a "date" to see the new Tina Fey/Paul Rudd movie Admission next weekend and go out to dinner. I figure that might be our last hurrah for awhile. I didn't think it was possible to love JBB more, but as I watch him prepare for Cookie's arrival, and experience every day how achingly sweet and patient he is with me as he listens to me vent, makes dinner for us without ever complaining, and helps me out of bed when my back hurts too much to stand up, I do indeed love him more. Waiting for JBB was the best thing I ever did.

Celebrating "National Pie Day" at Shapiros!