Bumpdate: 36 weeks!

Guess What?! I hit 36 weeks today! Officially hit the 9 month mark and holy crap, that means Baby Boy is going to be here SOON! It blows my mind that if labor starts next week that they won't try to stop it. Eeek!!

Bumpdate Stats:

Weight Gain: About 28 pounds at 9 months. I was hoping to not gain anymore than 30 so we're getting close to that mark. I've honestly ate pretty well throughout the whole pregnancy and stay active at work. I was hoping to get some more workout's in, but by the time that I'm done with work, I'm pretty spent for the day and crash once I get home. I really can't wait to be active again and to have some energy after pregnancy. :)

Baby Size: Head of Romaine Lettuce (18 1/2 inches long and almost 6 pounds). At this point baby gains about an ounce a day.

What I've Been Eating: Little meals at a time because there's no room for much more. Still eating lots of peanut butter, fruits and veggies. Been digging nuts lately too. And of course lots of Turkey this week. :)

How I've Been Feeling: Tired and getting a bit more achy. Work kicks my butt when I stand all day (back aches). Still no swelling though so that's awesome! I feel like he's moved down lower so that's becoming uncomfortable to the point that it makes me wince at times. To be honest, for being 9 months pregnant I thought that I'd feel a lot worse so I'm pretty thankful.

Am I Showing Yet:  Duh.

I can't really tell if I've dropped...can you?

Any Other Symptoms: Occasional Braxton Hicks contractions and some insomnia. I think a lot of it has to deal with my work schedule kind of being all over the place (some days I work 1st shift and then others I'm working 2nd shift)

Best Moment of the Week: We had a great Thanksgiving with family. We had my parents over and Ryan's as well. It was great to not have to travel on the holidays like we have done for the last 10 years. Lots of great foods, company and celebrating. My sister got to feel the baby move too, so it was a pretty good feeling too. We also did lots of relaxing on our days off and Christmas decorating.

My sis and I

Ryan and my mom helping out in the kitchen and carving the bird.

The dads hanging out by the fireplace

The turkey apron my grandma made has been passed down to me. :) 

Anything Else: I have a work baby shower on Friday so that's really exciting. I feel so lucky and thankful to have my co-workers do this for me. I'm sure he'll be spoiled. :)  Also started my week OB visits this week. His heartbeat was strong and steady at 150. And we FINALLY told family what his name is going to be.

At this time next week there could be a baby?!?!?! WHOA! 

Any last minute labor and delivery tips that I need to know/remember?

Wine, Cheese, Chatter: Dinner party?

Thanksgiving has came and went in a flash this year!  All the preparation paid off and the day went smoothly and lots of food was enjoyed by all.  By the time the big day rolled around, I had most everything done aside from throwing the bird in and baking a couple things last minute.  I  used the Michigander Way for the turkey, which was nice and easy for a first timer like myself.

Right before I popped her in!

The turkey turned out fabulous; nice and juicy and tons of flavor.  It did cook a lot quicker than planned so that through a bit of a wrench into my timing of all the other things that had to be put in the oven too, but we worked it out and got everything done in time.  Phew!

My in-laws were pretty thrilled to walk in and smell all the food in the oven and see me sporting the apron they bought us (Ryan has a "Mr." of his own).

The afternoon before I made one of my favorite things: Pineapple Cake!  This is one of the easiest and an amazing dessert (my mom is the one that introduced me to this recipe).  I love, love, love the frosting and pineapple is one of my favorites so it's a winner in my book.  The recipe is as follows:

• 1 3/4 c. flour
•  2 eggs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 can crushed pineapple and juice
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting:

• 2 c. confectioners sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 8 oz. cream cheese 
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix with handmixer until smooth and slather on cake once cake has cooled!

Gets nice and browned on top.

My favorite! Usually I share but I was home alone so it was all mine!

It's long gone now!

Considering it was the first time hosting a holiday for family it went really well!  We really would love to host more parties and are really thinking of having a dinner party of some sort with friends.  We'd like to have some sort of theme so I'm wracking my brain for ideas.  Anyone have any interesting dinner party ideas?  Real Simple has these invites that I love, in particular the wine, cheese and chatter one:

Is this not the cutest and most clever idea?