34 weeks - only six weeks left!

Here I am at 34 weeks pregnant (sorry, I cut my head off). Thebump.com says the baby is about the size of a large honeydew melon (though I think our guy is bigger), which is fitting, because the size of Jeremy's "honey-do" list continues to grow every day. :)

We're in full-nesting mode right now, putting finishing touches on the baby's room (building the dresser/changing table, hanging pictures, etc.) and washing baby clothes as we receive them. I had a baby shower last weekend, and have another one next weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!


The pregnancy continues to go pretty smoothly, I'm handling the gestational diabetes okay, but it continues to get harder to keep my blood sugars under control. I've found I have to walk 50-60 minutes a day now to produce enough insulin. I don't want to go on meds or insulin, so here's hoping I can control my diet enough for the next six weeks without it!


Baby is nice and big (a week ago he was 5 lbs, 4 oz) and I'm having contractions every day, so the doc thinks I'll deliver a little early, naturally, which would be nice. He just says I have to make it three more weeks (to 37 weeks) so that I don't have to be flown to Spokane for the NICU. I REALLY want to deliver here in Pullman!


My guess? Wednesday, 3/17. :)

Persistence that pays off!

Lloyd and Wyla Headley are my great uncle and aunt. They are two of the sweetest people I have ever met, and have been married for SEVENTY years. The Spokesman-Review recently did a story on them, which can be found here.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

The Branding of Disney

In short, Disney does it right. When they do something (any type of endeavor - movie, merchandise, theme parks), they go all-out, delivering a high-quality product with very few flaws and gaps. I think a perfect example of this is their Pixar division, which produces the most well-made animated films of the last 10 years. Cases in point:
Toy Story
A Bug's Life
Toy Story 2
Monsters, Inc.
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
Cars
Ratatouille
WALL-E
Up
In total: 22 Academy Awards (Up hasn't earned any yet) and $5 billion of worldwide gross earnings.

I recently spent 4 days (and nights) inside Walt Disney World in Orlando. We were the for the 2010 UCA/UDA College Cheer and Dance National Championships, which is hosted by Disney World. We stayed at the Disney All-Star Music Resort, which is a family-friendly, affordable option for people who want to stay inside the park.

The Crimson Girls by our hotel pool, which is shaped like a guitar:

Disney certainly has it all figured out, from airport transportation (bags delivered directly from
baggage claim to your hotel room), to park-to-park transportation (free busses that run every
20 minutes), to park admission (scanned park-hopper passes individualized with fingerprints of
the pass holders).

But one thing I admire over all others is Disney's branding abilities. It's incredible how many times we saw those uber-recognizable mouse ears inside the parks. Kids incessantly begging their parents to buy them Mickey paraphernalia, and most of the time, they get what they want. Here are a few examples of things I saw - people spending money to give Disney some free advertising. :)

A dancer in her Goofy hat, which she HAD to have - $29.99

Another dancer in her Mickey antennae headband (sparkly and pink) $6

Mickey/Minnie souvenir balloons - not sure how much, but I probably saw 300 kids carrying these.

A few girls in front of Mickey's "Fantasia" hat:

And of course, what's more iconic than Cinderella's Castle?

Even the milk cartons are branded!

Everything inside Disney is done in grand, regal style. Princesses must train for months before they can be "Belle" or "Cinderella." Characters go through a rigorous training process to ensure the brand's authenticity. Costumes are all in prime condition (you would never see Pluto's tail ripped or looking "used" like Butch's often does). And I believe this attention to detail is part of what makes Disney so recognizable and lucrative. Park workers clean up litter 24 hours a day. An underground series of tunnels takes "non-costumed team members" from place to place inside the park, so they are not seen by guests.


Not to mention, Disney is the King of Package trips. Just to see how long it would take, I looked up the costs for a family of four to vacation in Disney World. For under $3,000, a family of four could vacation there for 5 nights, 6 days, including 6 days of park tickets, airfare, and airport transportation. While I wouldn't call that "cheap," it isn't as much as I would have imagined, especially for so many days! And it took me all of 12 minutes to book on their website, which was fun and easy to navigate.

31 WEEKS

Hee hee! Here I am today at 31 weeks. I love that this means I officially only have 9 weeks to go. Somehow single-digits sounds a lot closer than 10 weeks.

I am handling the gestational diabetes pretty well (I think I have a mild case, because my blood sugars aren't too difficult to control) and I had a good doctor's appointment today. I do need to have an ultrasound in two weeks, I guess, because my uterus is measuring big, and the doc thinks baby may be breech. Not a huge alarm at this point, but good to know.

The overly large baby could be a result of the GD, but they've been telling me baby has been measuring big ever since my first ultrasound at 10 weeks. So who knows? Maybe we have my due date wrong, or maybe I just grow big babies. I guess we'll see!

Thanks for being along for the ride - this pregnancy thing is pretty fun.

Holiday Fun and the Ever-Expanding Belly

The holidays this year were a blast, even though they were a bit of a whirlwind (when are they not, I guess). We were in Spokane for Christmas, then in Boise for the Humanitarian Bowl, then in Pullman for Men's Basketball over New Years. Just a little photo journal for you! :)

Christmas Eve night playing Beatles Rock Band with my mom and sis - this will have to count as my 27 week belly picture, since I didn't take one. Hiding behind the guitar!

Jeremy and I on Christmas Eve before bed. Jeremy is enjoying his "White Christmas" drink, while I'm am enjoying... the Christmas spirit? ;)

And lastly, here I am today at 29 weeks. Baby is healthy, but the doctors are still concerned about possible Gestational Diabetes, so I have to go spend another four hours at the hospital on Saturday morning for blood tests. Awesome.

My favorite things - Winter edition

Taking a page out of Oprah's book, I want to share some things that really make my life better, in a practical way. Things that I would suggest to close friends, or family members. I did one of these in the summer, but it had very summery-things on it (like sunscreen and flip-flops). Sunscreen and flip-flops feel like a world away right now. :)

1.

Starbucks Eggnog Lattes (light, decaf). Nothing says "holidays" more to me than this drink. And if you ask for a little extra nonfat milk, it's not so bad for you!

2. Bella Band by Ingrid and Isabel: This is a MUST HAVE for anyone who is newly pregnant. I love mine (I have two - one white, one black). I've been wearing it since I was about 17 weeks pregnant, almost every day. The only days I don't wear it is when I'm wearing pants that have a full-belly panel. I love it because it helps hold my pants up, makes me feel like I'm "held in" in all the right places, and keeps me warm because I'm having a winter pregnancy. I'll probably keep wearing it post-partum as a "support-hose" substitute.

3.

Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy Sugar Scrub. Can you say at-home pedicure in 3 minutes? I can. I use this stuff a lot, maybe

once a week or so, and the different scents really do effect my mood (for the better). My favorite is Orange Ginger for Energy.

4. Motherhood Maternity: Ok, this is the end of the "pregnancy things," but I really love this store. They have a great online system, which is good for someone who lives in Pullman, but the in-store staff is really great and the prices can't be beat. Some of the clothes are more fashionable than others, but that's to be expected, since expectant moms come in all ages and sizes.

5. Pandora.com: I can't believe I hadn't discovered this online radio site until last week. I am now totally addicted, listening all the time at work. You get 40 free hours per month, and they will tailor-make a radio station according to what you like and dislike. I typed in "Michael Buble Holiday" and the music that followed was absolutely perfect for office-listening.

6. Armommy: This company is owned by a friend of ours, Rae Friis, and her mother. Rae lives over in Seattle and she is one of the most fun, creative people I've ever known. Armommy comes up with products that make a mother's life easier, and Rae does printing; holiday cards, gift tags, invitations, etc. I fully intend to buy one of her nursing tops and some of her bibs when baby comes!

7.

Suave Damage Care Shampoo and Conditioner: Due to prenatal vitamins and pregnancy hormones, my hair is growing at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, while it's growing fast, it doesn't seem to be growing healthy. Combine that with the very dry winter air, and I had a lot of breakage on my hands. When the hair stylist told me I need to switch shampoos, I thought I'd give this one a try since it was cheap ($2.79 per bottle at Wal-Mart) and I've liked Suave products in the past. I was pleasantly surprised! It really does seem to have made a difference. If you are struggling with breakage and split ends, you should give it a try.

8. Wrapping paper from Costco. In December of 2004, Jeremy and I were preparing for our first Christmas as a married couple. I had never wrapped that many gifts before, so I thought - "why don't I just get a roll of paper from Costco?" Well, five years later, that roll of paper has finally run out, as I wrapped gifts for this year. I seriously wrapped almost every gift we gave over five Christmases in that same paper from Costco (good thing I liked the print), and I cannot believe how long it lasted. Not only that, but it was really high quality paper as well, with a good feel, and it didn't rip easily. I believe it was 300 square feet for $9, or something close.

9.

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha (nonfat, decaf): Normally this entry would be "hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps," but since that's off the menu for me this year, Starbucks gets an extra shout-out. These are delicious.

I was shooting for a list of 10 things, but I ended up with 9. Oh well, that's life!

It's been a long time.

I didn't realize how long I've gone without a new post! How disappointing. Anyway, below is a belly pic of me today, almost 25 weeks pregnant. Only 15 weeks left! I guess we better get going on the nursery...

We ordered some prints for the walls from Artimals.com, and of course I'll post photos when the nursery is put together, but I have a feeling it'll be a while. Honestly we probably won't really start working on it seriously until January. Oh well.

We got the house decorated for Christmas, and found out that we'll be going to Boise with the University of Idaho for the Humanitarian Bowl. Fun! I love this time of year - I'll even put up with waking up to 0 degree temperatures for the Holidays!