38 weeks and 4 days.

For everyone who keeps bugging me for belly pics of my baby and my 40 lbs. more of weight.  I happily carry it knowing that it will go away after Asher is here. :)  Besides, I kind of think I'm slightly cute preggo now after taking these pics.  I used my tripod, ISO 100, f/ 2.8 at a 40th to make it light and bright.  Shem snapped the shot since my auto focus wasn't focusing so much on me, but Fifi (the ficus) in the background.

...We also went to a Mariner's Game

The same weekend as my family baby shower my brother and Nikki came up for a Mariner's Game against the Tigers.  The Tigers won that night.

 The game was slow for almost all of the innings, so Shem graded stuff.  We then went on the hunt for some chili cheese fries that I started to crave.  I was secretly hoping that the spice would induce labor, but alas, my babe came right on his due date!

"My home is my Empire!"---cue the Emperor's theme music

Sinister title, I know, but after I told Shem some of my thoughts of going from a full-time working woman to a full-time Mom he started singing my new theme song. :)

I've been thinking a lot about what life will be like when I'm home.  I'm afraid of a lot of things like: being bored, un-motivated, trapped from other intelligent life, and being a crazy wife who can't stop talking when her husband gets home from work.  I already talk his ear off at times, so it's bound to happen...probably a lot...once I'm home.  Because of these fears I keep thinking about what I'm going to do when I'm home with the baby.  I know that I need to take things slow and with little expectation at first, but I do know that I need to have some goals and ideas of projects.

So on my way home from work today in the car I had the brilliant idea that my home would be my Empire!  I get the rule the house and take care of it!  There is so much that I can do that hopefully I'll find amusing and entertaining so that I can not only keep things running in great condition, but also stay happy.  These are some of my goals/projects for my Empire:

• Finish the kitchen, down bath/laundry room, yard, and baby's room this summer (Shem is helping with this...he's my apprentice...or slave.  I mean, husband! :)
• Paint
• Sew throw pillow covers in cool textures and colors to add variety to my otherwise brown, white, blue, and a little green living room.
• Sew curtains for all of my rooms
• Finish our bedroom
• Pick out new bed linens and colors for our bedroom...it will be gray on the walls and it would be nice to not use blue or green up there (since I've used it else where in the house a lot)  Maybe white, or white with some red accents...I'm afraid of red, so I'd have to be sure about it.  Cream maybe?
• Finish sewing this baby boy quilt from 3 years ago.
• Take lots of pictures and build my business...make some money to support my happiness and hobby.
• Coupon cut and shop the sales to save the family grocery budget!
• Find better ways to eat healthy
• Run frequently...once I have my energy.  I want to run a full marathon before I have my 2nd kid.
• Do my VTing
• Hang out with friends.
• Read more.
• Learn more about spelt and other grains and the amazing powers of good food for our bodies.
• Make a family book Vol. 1 of mine and Shem's life before baby.  I guess you could call this a scrap book, but I'm just going to turn the blog into a book.
• Teach Asher cool tricks and make sure he is safe and taken care of.
• Pick up a few tutoring gigs next school year to support the family budget a bit.
• Cook dinner regularly, or at least have something in mind.
• Have house chores done on a regular basis so that we can play with Shem on Saturday for a few hours in-between his crazy work schedule.

I'm sure that I won't be able to do all of this, but at least I have some ideas of what I hope to do when I'm home.  I never want to stop learning or working hard and I think it's going to be a huge adjustment going from a demanding job to taking care of one little child and a husband.  I want to still feel like I'm making a difference even if it only affects my immediate family, that's all the difference I need to make.  Life will be good and happy and balanced when I become the full-time "Lord-ess" of my Empire!

Once upon a time...I had a Baby Shower.

So with all the craziness that comes along with having a baby I completely forgot to blog about my baby showers.  Sadly, I only have pictures from one with my family, but I had one with my friends, at work, and Shem had a shower for the baby at his work too.  We truly felt so blessed and Asher got a lot of clothes, a swing, books, stuffed animals and money. 

 We made Asher a picture scrapbook of all of his family too look at while "baby showering" at my MIL's house. (4/16/2011

Normally I'm quite perfectionistic when it comes to photos, but sometimes you just have to document the event and not worry about composition, color, exposure, or anything else.

Progress! I think he's going to come early. :)

I had a doctors appointment this morning.  Just as a side note 9:45 am is sooo early for an appointment when you're on spring break.  I should have known better, but when I made it I was still waking up at 5:30am for work.

I wasn't excited for this appointment this morning because I was anticipating seeing the Japanese midwife who last time told me I was "fat", and I just felt like I didn't connect with her.  I also knew she'd have something to say about my weight and I never look forward to that part of these visits.  Next week I plan to jump off the scale before it fully registers my true weight...it's off anyway compared to my scale at home since I'm fully clothed at the doctors office. :)

Anyway, so I was happy when a different midwife walked in and I asked her a couple of questions then she got to checking me out and taking the baby's heart beat.  His little heart is beating at 153 bpm and his bum is right up in my ribs (hence the lovely rib pain I have all over now).  He's in the anterior position too, which is good.  I don't think he'll move either since the little squirt doesn't have any place to go in my not-so-big-torso. :)  She also thinks he could weigh 7-7.5 lbs!!!  That's so big!  I wonder how good she is at guessing these things?  I'm hoping she's off, but regardless he needs to come out and I feel very confident that my body will cooperate...it knows what it needs to do and I wasn't given these hips for nothing! :)

She also checked me out and to my delight, and excitement, I'm effaced 60% and dilated to 1.5cm!  My due date is still 4 weeks away!  I'm thinking that he will come early, but like the midwife said he could come a day early or a week early...we just don't know.  Lately I have been feeling different pains in my lower pelvic area and it makes sense since she said my cervix is really squishy compared to most women.  He's going to slip right out in my mind!  I'm practicing visualizing how my body and baby are going to work together to get him out quickly and efficiently.  I'm feeling really excited and confident about the whole birthing process...everything is going to go as well as it possibly could when things get rolling.

In other news, Shem has been working in the yard and making a huge muddy mess. I've decided that my floor is going to be muddy for a while and have been a trooper since I haven't complained about it either.  I only got a little upset when he put his muddy ax and oil bottle on my J.CREW bag and my leather purse.  They weren't even on the floor and he still thought that was the best place for them...oh well...at least he is still mindful of my patience.  Sometimes I wonder about what kinds of gooey treasures I'm going to find when Asher gets older considering the likelihood of him being a bit ADD. :)

Moving on.  Here are some pictures of my yard in its current state.  Enjoy.

 Oh, this is one of me about 4 weeks ago.  I was playing with the new lens.

 View from the patio looking south.  This is where the shed is going to go.  The doors will open up facing the house.

 The higher and drier ground.

The pond.  We hope to make it go away forever.  We detest the pond.