Week 22 & 23

So, in full disclosure- its been organized chaos at our house. Mary has been traveling with work, so I (Machelle) am taking over the post this week.

Week 22:
During week 22 we went on our “Babymoon” to Asheville for a few days and then met up with my extended family in Boone for my cousin Paul’s graduation from App State. Mary and I really enjoyed the “last vacation just the two of us”. We went to the Western North Carolina Nature center, shopped downtown Asheville, ate at some very nice local restaurants, and of course, the Biltmore. As I get a little larger my back and feet sometimes start to hurt more than usual, and truthfully I was a little worried about being able to keep up or being too exhausted to enjoy an active vacation. However, the mild weather and the fact that I’m still working out during the week have kept me in pretty good shape and I was able to “keep up”.   We toured the Biltmore, which was the first time we’d done it as “adults” (we went when we were much younger on school trips)- and age as a way of making you appreciate things. I, being the neurotic planner bought the tickets far in advance so we could get a discounted price and I bought the audio tour.

I was a little apprehensive about the audio tour- its something you always see older generations holding up to their ears in museums. But all of the reviews I read online suggested it was very much worth the $10, so I bought them. Worth every penny. I really liked how the audio tour told “stories” about each room, gave a bit of history about the paintings, tapestries, and explained the purpose of the room, what events took place here, about the culture, the architecture, period, restorations, etc. Yes, you look like an old nerdy lady- but you learn so much more! The also had costumes on display from the set of Downton Abby, which we also enjoyed reading about.

After the tour, we had lunch there and then went to the gardens, winery, the new “Antler Village” and got ice cream, looked at the farm animals, etc. They had the most adorable week old goats at the farm- still learning to use their little baby goat legs.

At the gardens, they had the most extensive flower collection, and the largest orchids I’d ever seen. Mary of course, was going wild with her new camera. I’ll get her to post them on Facebook.

The following Saturday, we drove over to Boone and met my aunts, uncles, Paw Paw and cousin Josiah for lunch at Mellow Mushroom. Mary and I split a Holy Shitake pizza, and when the waiter brought it out my Aunt Machelle said, “Mary, are you sure you want to split a pizza with her?” (See week 19 post). I wasn’t expecting anything, but my generous aunts and uncles gave me the sweetest graduation gifts. A monogrammed bag (My first bag with my new MTW initials that’s super nifty for toting around my laptop for work!), a beautiful frame for my degree (Can’t wait to hang it in my office at work) and a really nice video camera (For capturing memories when Doodle arrives). Those were the sweetest and most thoughtful gifts.   Afterwards, we went to see my Cousin Paul graduate and enjoyed a really special graduation dinner for him at Chetola resort.   I really enjoyed spending time with everyone and seeing Paul graduate. I only hope Mary and I can raise a kid as well as my aunts have their boys.

Anywho, we drove back and ran into Tropical Storm Ana on the way home. Sunday was mother’s day and Mary’s birthday- so we braved the storm and went out to a local Italian place to celebrate.

Week 23:
We’ve spent this week focusing on the nursery and preparing for Doodle to arrive. Mary has painted the whole nursery (with help from Aunt Carey). All that’s left is touching up the trim a bit. We also spray painted some old furniture (book cases, shelves) to match the nursery. It’s coming along so well and so fast!

In Wilmington, every spring the baby geese are born- they can be seen all over town. Its how you know spring as sprung…and the little baby duckies make me want to start “nesting” and getting ready for our little one. So, I splurged a little bit. There were a couple of nursery items that would soon be out of stock that I really wanted to have- so I went ahead and bought them- just some wall decals, an elephant mobile, yellow and gray crib sheets. A doctor at Mary’s work gave us a car seat- which from what I can tell, was never actually used. It looks brand new right out of the package. The house is starting to fill up with baby stuff!   Love it! I know the baby is coming because I feel it move all day every day- but the little blankets, the little onsies and the cute car seat somehow make it seem more immanent.

We also broke down and traded in the PT Cruiser last night. We really needed a vehicle that would allow us to travel with 2 large dogs and a baby- so we purchased a Chevy Equinox, which will be Mary’s primary car (I took her Camry). Mary has been doing so much- painting the nursery, doing most of the yard work, making dinner while I study for school, etc. She deserved to have a new car she really loved. When we were test driving it I said, “Are you comfortable in this car, like really comfortable? Because this is the car you’ll be driving me to the hospital in while I’m in active labor- the longest 7 minutes of your life…”

We are going to our Bradley Method class tonight- it should be interesting. Tonight we are talking about “Things that can go wrong…” in labor.  Yikes! We see the midwives again Friday for our 24 week check up. 24 weeks! Aggghhhh!!!! That’s 6 months pregnant!

Side note: we got our baby book in the mail today. Most people just go pick up their baby books from Target or Babies R Us. But all of the baby books had a page for “About Mommy” and “About Daddy” or “How Mommy and Daddy met”. We needed a book that had pages for 2 mommies and “How Mommy and Momma met” Well, we found one online, and its handmade and just beautiful.  So I have to give a shout out to the site:    http://www.babysakes.com/gay-and-lesbian-baby-books

Its flying by- but I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.