You might be 37 weeks pregnant...

...if it's 35-degrees outside, and you chose to drive with the moonroof open.  How refreshing!

...if you are having to tell your husband that he can't eat certain snack foods you just bought at the grocery store, because those are for the hospital bag.

...if you visit a model home, and the saleswoman is scared for you to take any of the stairs up or down (don't worry...no home shopping for Billy & I...we just wanted to check out the new construction homes going up in our backyard).

...if everywhere you go, people are finally allowing themselves to smile and ask you if you're having a boy or girl, if this is your first, and how much longer you have to go (people seem to wait until the baby is practically coming out of you before they'll say anything :).

...if you think of every meal as your potential last time to eat as much as you want without having to worry about "sucking it in" afterwards (oh, how I hope we make it to Thanksgiving...so I can eat all those yummy foods with no regrets!).

....if everybody at work refers to you as the girl who could "go down" at any moment...and starts to worry anytime you show any sign of discomfort.

...if you're the "oldest" in your prenatal yoga class (I remember being the "youngest" when I first started going to class!).

...if you've "graduated" from child birthing classes (woo hoo!).

...if every night you go to sleep, you wonder, will contractions start tonight?!?

...if your baby bump looks like this, and you can feel that your baby has "dropped":

Hello family & friends.  I'm happy to report that all is going well.  I'm definitely slowing down these days, but still feeling great.  I'm able to get fairly good sleep at night and lots of rest in the evenings.  My work is going very well these days, as I have a fantastic colleague replacing me for the duration of my maternity leave.  She is new to my client, but has lots of construction management experience and is picking up the new work load with ease.  It's such a blessing to have my firm and my client both be so supportive of my pregnancy and my upcoming leave.  Between accrued vacation time, sick days, and short term disability, I will be able to take 10 weeks off from work to be home with lil' fryebaby.

I have stopped going to the gym in the wee hours of the morning.  Sleep seems too precious these days to even think about getting up at 4:45AM like we were doing.  And, although I love the cool weather, it's just too dark to go for an evening stroll when we get home from work.  I'm going to try and get a walk in during my lunch hour every day...especially now that my work load has been mostly transitioned to my colleague.

No real news to report from the doctor's office.  We are going weekly now, with our next appointment scheduled for Tuesday.  The doctor's have continued to advise me to stay home as long as possible once labor does begin, especially since I'm trying to have a drug-free, intervention-free natural birth.  They've told me not to come into the hospital until my contractions are 2 minutes apart...which souds like we'd really be cutting it close...but I realize they just want me to have the comforts of home as long as possible, since a hospital bed with no epidural is really not ideal for a laboring woman :)

Keep us and lil' fryebaby in your thoughts and prayers as we enter these last precious weeks of pregnancy.  Thank you for everyone's continued excitement and love...it's been so wonderful to be pregnant and enjoy all the love and attention.  I'm going to savor every last day of it!

Cheers!

Superstitious

It's been a week of little talking here in the Frye household.  When you're a Red Sox fan, you tend to be a little superstitious...which means a lot of emotions and excitement went un-spoken this week.  Billy wore his Boston Red Sox tie to work; I decided that since I didn't update the scoreboard in the nursery after Game 1, then I shouldn't touch the scoreboard the rest of the series.  We watched inning after inning and would give each other looks...but said very little.  Didn't want to jinx any of it!

Well, the silence has been lifted and the celebrations have begun.  And I can finally say out loud that I know my baby's Red Sox room had something to do with all that glory.  It can't be a coincidence that we build a shrine to the team and they win the World Series the same year...can it?!?!

GO RED SOX!  BOSTON STRONG!

Weekend update

Happy 34 weeks!  Not too much to report this week.  Billy and I've had a relaxing weekend.  I find myself nesting in anyway I can.  I messed around with the car seat some yesterday...will plan to get the car seats bases installed in both cars in the next couple of weeks and head to the Fire Department to get them to inspect and make sure lil' fryebaby will be safe and sound.  Today I took all the coverings off our array of "baby-be-happy" devices (swings, mamaroo, playmats, etc.) and washed all of those.  It was nice to get all those hand-me-downs sparkling and new, and good to know that everything washed well...since I'm sure this will be just the first of many washes for those items.  I think I'm slowly running out of things to do to prep for baby...here's a list of what I can think of right now:

-Read books (reading book on childbirth recommended by our teacher; reading book on breastfeeding)
-Watch "Happiest Baby on the Block" DVD recommended by Joanna
-Continue to do pregnancy stretches and workouts
-Visit pediatricians in Ashburn and decide which practice we want to go with
-Tour the hospital (we've registered for a tour tomorrow!)
-Talk to hospital about ordering breast pump and other supplies related to pumping (thank goodness all will be covered by my insurance :)
-Read up on vaccines and vaccine schedules
-Decorate for Christmas in November (we decided we want to decorate for Christmas since ALL our family will be visiting in December...but can't wait until after Thanksgiving to do so)
-Hang baby monitor camera on the wall (played around with the baby monitor this morning...it is SO AMAZING...who knew these things were so advanced!)
-Enjoy final outings with friends before becoming a mommy :)
-Buy nursing bras
-Talk to neighbor mom about her teenage daughter, Olivia, visiting me while on maternity leave and be my "mommy's helper" occassionally...and hopefully have her become a baby sitter in the future!
-Make-ahead meals
-Pack hospital bag
-Take a day off from work and visit the daycare where we have pre-registered

Ok, guess I haven't quite run out just yet.  And, I bet there's more...let me know what I'm forgetting :)

For anyone looking for a baby bump update, here's a cute pic from Billy and I's anniversary brunch date at Hotel Tabard Inn in DC yesterday.

Just thought of another thing I need to do...

Update the Green Monster scoreboard in the nursery with the latest win by the Red Sox last night!!!  Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship series (4 games to 2 games) in Boston last night.  Oh how Billy and I wish we could have been there.  With that said, they're headed to the WORLD SERIES against the St. Louis Cardinals!  I plan on updating the scoreboard after each game during the series (even though the real green monster is not updated when they're away...) and will post the results for all of you.

Go SOX!

The chair is perfect!

The glider / swivel chair from Land of Nod was delivered yesterday.  I am so in love.  I'd been a little anxious to finally see the chair in person, since I purchased it online without having ever previously sat in it.  Looks like luck was on my side...it couldn't be more comfortable, easier to get in and out of, or look any better in the nursery!

The fabric is a microvelvet, color "Slate".  This was actually the darker of the two grey options...thank goodness we didn't go with the light grey option.  This should clean up well and be super durable.  The mini pillow and blankets make it look so cozy.  I curled up in it last night and read my book in the nursery (a book on breastfeeding...so fitting).

The nesting phase has commenced.  All clothes, blankets, etc. have been washed and put away.  The clothes have been hung up or put in the dresser, organized by size.  We are sooo ready to go!

Look at these little newborn clothes.  They're so tiny!  Already trying to decide which outfit(s) to bring for lil' fryebaby when we head to the hospital.  They're all equally adorable.

P.S. Tonight is Week 10 of our 12-week child birthing classes.  Billy and I have had "perfect attendance" so far and are so glad we signed up for these classes.  It's been a great way to bond, learn, share, and prepare ourselves for lil' fryebaby's pending arrival.  This weekend was our 5-year anniversary and I don't think we've ever felt as close and connected as we do this year.  Lil' Fryebaby has been such a blessing to our marriage...

Small Frye!

Maybe I should have named the blog "Small Frye"!??!  LOL

Showered with Love (and presents!)

Happy 33 weeks!  Can you believe we only have 7 or so weeks to go?!?  Well - rest assured, after these last two weekends, Billy and I are officially ready to go!  We were blessed with two wonderful baby showers, back-to-back weekends, where we received the most wonderful gifts and were showered with love, love, love.  I've never felt so spoiled in my entire life.  After the showers were over, I was telling a co-worker all about my fun-filled weekends and mentioned that I don't think there ever has been or ever will be a time when you feel as loved and cared for as you do when you're pregnant with your first child.  The whole world, especially your family members and friends, are just so darn excited about the life you're creating within you and from that excitement, they do, say, and give in ways that you've never experienced before.  Not to say that I haven't lived a pretty spoiled life...because I definitely have...but there's just something super special about all the love I've received over the course of this pregnancy.

And since the people I'm talking about are YOU...the readers of my blog...I say THANK YOU!

Here are some fun photos from both showers.  This will be the first time I'm posting photos of myself (other than the bump photos)...so for any remote readers, here's the proof that I really am pregnant and getting quite round ;-)

Baby Shower with Billy's Family in Wytheville, VA

**special thanks to hostesses Toni (Billy's cousin-in-law), Jennifer (Billy's cousin) and Aunt Linda (Billy's aunt)**

 the happy couple

 yum!  snacks, punch, and CAKE!

 Billy and I with my mother-in-law, Peggy...proud "Gigi" to be!

yay for gifts!

We received so many beautiful gifts and lots of clothes!  I love going into the closet in the nursery and just touching and feeling all his little onesies, sleepers, and outfits!

Thank you to Billy's family for hosting us and sharing your excitement for the future fryebaby with us! Can't wait to welcome a new member to the family!

Northern Virginia Baby Shower

**special thanks to hostesses Joanna (my bff from GT), Jenna (my bff from NoVA), and my mom** 

The shower was hosted at Jenna's place.  Check out the adorable balloons and baseball sign out front pointing the guests to the "Lil' Fryebaby Shower"...can't wait to get upstairs and see it all!

Preg-o-tini!

I'll have one of those preg-o-tinis, please!

Two Joannas attended the party...this Joanna is pregnant, too!  Happy 37 weeks to Joanna!

  Mom made this amazing pennant banner by hand as a decoration for the shower, and as a window treatment for the nursery.  Doesn't it look like Jenna painted her house to go with the theme of my "all star" shower?!?

The decorations were over the top...balloons, baseballs, red/white/blue decor, flowers, bubble gum, pop corn...

...and, then, the FOOD!  Look at this spread!  Luckily, there was lots leftover, so they sent me home with a couple platefuls for Billy to enjoy.

...and, then, the CAKE!  It tasted as good as it looks...or maybe better...apologies if this blog post is making you hungry :)

...and CAKE POPS for the road!  Every guest went home with homemade cake pops thanks to Joanna's handiwork in the kitchen.  For those of you that weren't salivating yet, these were red velvet cake pops...yummy!

This adorable (and totally useful) 4-tier diaper cake was thanks to Mom.  The best part was the baseball on top...which all the guests signed in lieu of signing a guest book...go TEAM!

Thank you, Mom!

 Now to the gifts...I can't even begin to post photos of every single amazing gift...but this one needed to be posted.  A special thank you to Kathy for representing my 6AM gym friends!  They showered me with "exercise themed" gifts, like this muscle-man onesie...

 ...and this baby barbell.  Isn't that so original?  Of course, I'd expect nothing less from this crew!

Another special present was the complete Red Sox themed gift box from Billy's co-worker, Alana.  Red Sox bin, Red Sox ABC's book, a stuffed baseball, and lots more.  So many of the attendees were mom's themselves, so I received lots of practical "tried-and-true" items that they knew we would need. 

 Thank you again to all my friends for making this day so special.  For those that weren't there, you'll laugh when I tell you that there were 5 construction managers at the party (including me) and ten of the twelve guests work in the real estate industry...it was practically a networking event for all my friends.  I hope they brought business cards and stirred up some new work!  LOL

Cheers to the beautiful hostesses, Joanna & Jenna!  Mom had so much fun planning this with you guys and I loved every minute of it!

Red Sox Clench the AL East

Friday night, the Boston Red Sox clenched the AL east when they beat the Toronto Blue Jays...and in case you wanted to see the scoreboard from that game, c'mon over to our place and check it out!  (details to follow...)

Billy and I spent most of Saturday working on the nursery.  We had to chalk the entire chalkboard wall & clean it with a wet cloth, per the manufacturer's instructions.  Not sure why, but it did give the entire wall a bit of a chalky non-perfect look, which I really like.  Then, it was time to apply our Fenway Park scoreboard decal.  The decal was roughly 9' long, by 3' high.  Somehow, we figured it out and got the decal on the wall still wearing our wedding rings.  We went into the exercise knowing this would be a challenge and tried to laugh as much as possible throughout all the frustrating moments.  Decals are tough due to the fact that once the decal hits the wall, you're stuck...so you better make sure it's straight and level...now multiply that by 27 square feet!  In the end...the finished product is exactly what we imagined.  Check out the progress photos:

First, we chalked the entire wall...

...floor to ceiling...

...then we measured the decal and the wall...

...then used lots of blue tape to lay it out on the wall...

...TAH DAH!  (these photos make it look so easy!)

As mentioned previously, we chalked in the score of Friday night's game against Toronto.

So as to avoid any questions from my followers...did you notice that the scoreboard has a 10th inning?  I promise that's not a mistake.  The scoreboard in the real Fenway Park, too, has a 10th inning slot.  It's my understanding that this 10 is changed to an 11, 12, 13 and so on for when games go into extra innings.  Luckily, Friday night's game didn't even go to the bottom of the 9th (hence the hyphen).  

The chalk board is super easy to write on and to erase.  I definitely recommend this product to anyone else with kids.  Benjamin Moore sells it by the quart (about $25/quart...this wall took under 2 quarts) and can be made any color you choose.

In addition to applying the decal to the wall, we also finished "dressing" the crib with the plaid madras bedding and hung some artwork on the tan walls.  The nursery also now features an adorable round rug in the center of the room that looks like a baseball.  We found this last weekend and had to have it.  It's shag-like, made of strips of jersey knit knotted to the rug pad.  Feels so good under your feet and will be soft for our crawling baby one day!

Isn't this rug adorable?!?

So soft and wonderful under my tired feet!

Baseball bat corkboard, infant baby caps (VT and Red Sox...where's the GT hat?!?!), and baseball glove artwork.  If you look closely, you'll see two red stars on top of the navy storage units.  These will be installed on either side of the top corners of the window to allow a baseball penant to be strung across the top of the window.  My mom is making this for my "all star" baby shower...can't wait to get this hung in the room!  Stay tuned for photos once it's all done.

Fenway Park artwork (from Target, of all places...gotta love Target) and foam "B" over the crib.  I decided that we needed a photo of Fenway Park in the room, so that I can point to the scoreboard in the photo to explain the green monster wall :)

Don't you just want to curl up in this bed and go to sleep!??!  Hopefully lil' Fryebaby will feel that way when he comes home with us ;-)

I love the wall so much that I had to post one more photo of it...wow wow wow!

In other news, we have been the lucky recipients of wonderful gifts!  Our other upstairs bedroom (loosely referred to as the play room) is currently housing all the fun baby stuff...swings, mamaroo, exersaucer, playmats, boppy, bumbo, high-tech baby monitor, infant pool tube, vibrating seat, bassinet, and a pak-n-play.  We are also now the proud second-hand owners of a fancy Boon high chair that is on display in our dining room, and a car seat / stroller combo in our foyer.  Slowly but surely, we will be distributing all these goodies throughout the house.  Anything we can do to keep lil' fryebaby happy and entertained, right?!?!

The "playroom"

Our stylish & easy to use pak-n-play (check it out: http://www.4moms.com/breeze)

Isn't this the coolest high chair?  Ours has survived our friends' three growing girls already, and still looks this new!

Finally, before I have to sign off for the day (we have to head to our child birthing classes starting in 45 minutes!), I am happy to report that things are going very well at work with regard to my upcoming maternity leave.  I have been trying to appreciate all the little things in my pregnancy...first, no morning sickness (hallelujah!); second, always feeling healthy and staying energized (woo hoo!); and, now, third...a wonderfully understanding employer and client.  I am working with a fellow project manager from my firm and am commencing the "hand off" of my projects to her super-capable hands.  It is such a relief to know that I already have a back-up in place and will be good to go no matter when lil' fryebaby decides it's time for him to meet the world.  

Cheers y'all!  Go Red Sox!

Welcome to the 3rd Trimester

Long time, no posts!  Apologies for the delay in posting the latest updates.  I'm coming up on 28 weeks and have officially entered the third trimester, which feels like a real accomplishment.  The end is in sight, yet I still have energy and am not too uncomfortable yet.

Check out the latest baby bump from 27 weeks (please disregard the complete and total lack of any "tan"...this baby-carrying body never made it to the pool this summer):

Over Labor Day weekend, Billy and I made significant progress on the nursery.  We painted the walls, assembled the crib and some fun toy storage bins, and set-up all the furniture in the room.  The only piece missing now is the special order swivel glider that will not be here until October or November.  I am very happy with how the furniture turned out, and even happier with the paint job.  We decided to knock the painting out early, while I could still help out.  I was able to tape and cut-in, while Billy rolled.

Before Photos:

We painted three of the walls Sherwin Williams "Toasted Pine Nut" (think Light Khaki).  Check out the fun toy storage bins from Land of Nod (they call these "Storagepalooza") and the fun red cube ottomans.  And the baseball lamp!:

Then, we painted the fourth accent wall "Monster Green".  As you've learned in previous posts, Billy and I wanted to incorporate Fenway Park's Green Monster into our decor / theme for the room.  We decided to paint the entire accent wall with chalkboard paint that was custom color-matched to the real Green Monster wall at Fenway Park.  I actually called a paint shop in Boston to get the color information, as this is proprietary information held by Benjamin Moore.  Here's a look at our own "green monster" wall:

In addition to calling up a paint store in Boston, I also spent a long time online creating my own "custom wall decal".  In an effort to make our Green Monster look just like the one in Fenway Park, I designed a "to scale" decal to match the portion of the scoreboard wall shown below.  The decal will span roughly 10' wide by 3' high and will be applied to our green chalkboard wall.

Once the decal is installed, we will be able to use chalk on our chalkboard wall to fill in the blanks with any opponent / score we want.  You can rest assured that lil' fryebaby is going to grow up thinking the Red Sox are always playing the Yankees, and, of course, are always winning!  :)  

Finally, check out the photos of the dresser, crib, and bedding.  We don't have a mattress for the crib yet, but I went ahead and placed some of the madras bedding in the crib for fun to see how it all looks with our new paint colors.  I love all the red, white, and blue with the boy-ish khaki and green walls.  It definitely says "all boy" when you walk into the room...which I love.

(imagine the scoreboard decal running the length of the green wall over the dresser / changing table)

Besides all the nursery progress, these last couple of weeks have also included a 26-week ultrasound.  Turns out lil' fryebaby is not so lil'.  He's actually tracking a couple weeks ahead of the size charts.  I asked if this means I should expect for him to come early, but was advised that it was more likely that he would come on time, just big.  This didn't come as a surprise to Billy or I, considering our height and build, and I figure if any girl has to give birth to a big baby, I should be able to handle it.  Better than a petite gal trying to birth a 10-pounder!  Maybe I need to re-name the blog "Biggie Frye"...haha!