am a total sucker for cuteness.
saw these little nonskid rugs in the "cheapy" bins at target & simply had to have. the german didn't love me getting them, but truly, $5 for both? that's less than a lunch out. he informed me that it would be a lonnnnng time before liam would "use" them. i told him i didn't care. so glad i stuck to my guns. they make me happy when i peek into the guest bath...

QUESTION:

if i force myself to lie down more often, say, during non-sleep/daylight hours, will little liam's acrobatics and dance-a-thons go down in frequency during true sleep hours? weigh in won't ya? i've searched this subject & come out fruitless.

last night i got up (actually early this a.m., about 3:40 to be exact), per usual, to hit the loo. and upon returning to bed, L decided, as he did when i 1st went to bed, that it was show time. AGAIN. & for a good, long while. lurching and lunging. shimmying and swaying. this resulted in me waking up fully, as opposed to dreamily drifting back to sleep, as i sometimes manage to do. and that's when the dark demons that lurk in my mind awoke from their slumber too, unfortunately. thus, i watched the sun come up. and it wasn't one of those beautiful photo-worthy sun rises. instead it was dreadfully @#$!-inducing. i was going to have to face an already dreaded & abhorred monday with a whopping 3 1/2 hours of sleep. i didn't just wake up on the wrong side of the bed, i stayed awake on it, which is far worse.

insomnia is a b!tch. and people that know it super well truly dread anything that might trigger it. getting up to pee is definitely a trigger, but a rave 'til dawn baby on top of it, wow, that's some serious icing on the not so tasty cake.

i did read that right around now the little guy should be at his activity peak. shortly, as he experiences the growth spurt that prepares him for birth, he won't have room.

anyway, the photo above was taken shortly before i lied down for what i thought might be an OK night sleep. wish me luck tonight...

I CAME FROM OUTERSPACE
If I hadn't reached my german-imposed buying clothes for baby L pre-baby L's birth limit, I'd be snatching this cute little bodysuit right up. Adorable, no?
It's by Pluto & on zulily.com today.

this is no joke.
A friend of a friend shared this hospital packing list with me.
Am currently mesmerized in massive ways by the organizational/planning skills of this list's creator. She is having a pool birth at the hospital so there ARE a couple things of that nature that aren't applicable to everyone. But a poster for the door!? Well that's dire. Hmmm, I'm kind of not joking. Had to look up "pretty pushers". And WOW, that's snazzy. Thought this list would be helpful to others like me who were born without any organizational/planning skills whatsoever.
(If it's fuzzy/blurry to you, just click on it and it should get bigger and more clear.)

No world, I do not suddenly have tourrettes syndrome.
I'm sporadically uttering exasperated $#@%'s here & there as my insides are being bullied by a very small being. I -know- I look crazy, sound crazy. But if YOU only knew. And again, friends with kids, you never ever accurately described what was going on in there as you grew your little ones. "Oh! He/she's kicking!" doesn't quite cut it. Leave it to my former coworker, Carrie, though, she fully divulged that her son was annihilating her rib cage 'til the very end. I sent her a text last night letting her know that I was and AM being tortured in the same way. It's pretty amazing. Laying flat on my back for 20 minutes or so is too, perhaps more so. No joke, it's like an alien is in there, watching my stomach stretch and roll and take new forms. Utterly insane.

In other news... being a fashion hoarder has def. paid off these last 32 weeks. i've purchased two pairs of maternity shorts and one pair of maternity jeans. the rest, i've found in my very own closet (or purchased as i stumbled upon a fab find, per usual). Flowy tunics, A-line dresses, stretchy knits and leggings have reigned supreme through this entire pregnancy. That's not to say i won't be buying moo moos at Walgreens and Publix here very soon. ;-)

The home stretch is full of tons of "fun things". Including fear. Truly can't wait to meet the cause of all this chaos...

the landscape is changing.
it's quite the surreal sensation when i find myself getting excited that they've torn down the old "play park" in my neighborhood & replaced it with this bright, cheery, primary colored one. i have visions of putting little L in his jogging stroller, enjoying the tree shaded 1/2 mile walking path to get to this fun spot, then snapping fab photos of him against such great colors.
the future's so bright...

I KNOW 2 PUPS in for a SHOCK
i happen to know a pair of pups on the brink of a major rude awakening. there have been foreshadowing signs for each of them, but it's pretty safe to say foreshadowing is lost on your average dog.

lily has found herself plopped down into baby L's crib on numerous occasions. i'm quite certain she finds it comfortable and spacious but isn't fond of the fact that there is no exit.

additionally, the german decided to practice using a Velcro-closure swaddling wrap on lily two nights ago. this entailed her back legs being tucked into the pouch at the bottom and her front legs being wrapped and velcro-ed at the top. she let out a piercing warning of her hatred for this straight jacket-like contraption. worry not, she was not harmed, just pissed.

then there's maggie, our second maltese's most recent baby L-related experience. i just had an ultrasound this week, revealing little Liam's current position. the ultrasound revealed that L's head was to the right, just above my pelvic bone, his butt, all the way to the left near my waist and lastly his feet, all the way to the right, wedged into my rib area. like a "C". the german grabbed maggie last night, flipped her upside down and positioned her exactly as I've described, against himself, "so this is how liam is right now?" he asked. maggie had NO idea what the heck was happening. each of these two scenarios provided moi with much laughter. am i a bad mom already? ;-D

these two fluffy white girls have been the center of the universe for 10+ years. suddenly, their world is changing, just as much as ours. and i'm afraid that they have no idea what exactly is about to hit them. am certain of one thing though, there will be tales upon tales to come as liam meets and gets to know his two big (little) four-legged sisters.