Homebound and on the Home Stretch!

Only 10 DAYS to go until our due date!  I can't believe it!

Here are some recent belly shots...

38 wk profile shot

During our little weekend getaway in Philly (@ 36/37 wks). 
Hanging out at the pool was absolute heaven!

At the fireworks in Conshy (@ 36/37 wks).

I've been anxiously watching for any and all signs that labor may be near, but honestly some of those seem to be misleading.  For example, one of the signs I've read about is a sudden burst of energy and urge to nest.  Well, that has been a non-stop occurrence for me throughout this whole pregnancy, so not sure that will be a good indicator.  I may have possibly reached a new level with that though this week.  After the cleaning ladies left on Monday (by the way, our recent hiring of cleaners was quite possibly the BEST decision ever!), I actually went around and cleaned a bit more behind them!  I had to point out some 'cleaning deficiencies' to them.  Sorry, but they should understand that they are dealing with a full-on nesting, VERY pregnant client who is confined to home right now with the time and energy still to scrutinize their work.  Lol!  The baby will likely be here by the next time they come, so they may get off easy then.

This week was my first week away from the office.  I technically am still working remotely, as my boss reiterated was our arrangement on Friday, with a wink.  I'm so lucky to have such a cool boss!  (My actual 6-month maternity leave won't start until I actually deliver.)  And despite my eagerness to leave the office and come home to mentally prep for the birth of our little guy, I actually already miss some of my work colleagues, or at the very least the human interaction.  I thought I would have been happily skipping out of work last Friday, but it was rather kind of emotional--damn pregnancy hormones!  I have been at the company for 11 years, about 6 of which have been spent in the same building and on the same floor, so it was a bit weird for me to be leaving such a familiar place for a rather extended period of time. 

With hugs all around, I bid 'farewell for now' to the cafeteria workers--particularly Jen at the register, Carson at the deli, and Dwayne at the grill who really hooked me up throughout my pregnancy by sneaking me extras like pickles and carrots all the time.  When it came time to say good-bye to my boss, I went into his office with a chipper "the next time you see me I'm gonna be a Mama"!  To my surprise, my boss, who's been at the company for 26 yrs and is your typical hard-headed, no fuss type, got up from his desk slowly, approached me with his arms open, and gave me a big hug.  I felt myself starting to get emotional and couldn't look at him!  We chatted very briefly then and I said the rest of my farewells to my other colleagues.  I managed to make my way out of the building and actually shed a couple of tears as I drove away. 

My spirits shifted quickly though because I was on my way to pick up my, sorry, our, new car! 

Mama's new wheels!   The carseat is all locked and loaded
now in the new ride.

Anthony had been searching for months!  He did a great job finding this certified pre-owned car and negotiating a great deal on it, and all in time to get the paperwork all straightened out and the car seat installed before the baby arrives!  We had a great experience with the Acura/VW dealership in Ardmore, PA if anyone is looking for a new car.  They even provided me an overnight test drive, which I had never been offered before. 

The good thing is I guess I won't really be putting a lot of miles on it for a while at least.  My daily 'routine' now consists of me waking Anthony up at the crack of dawn (I'm his human alarm clock--that will certainly be changing soon!), then sleeping in a bit, cranking up the air conditioning, having a big bowl of honey nut cheerios with bananas (I need this to get going in the morning as much as others need coffee!), getting online sometime around 9:00 am to fire off some emails and attend some meetings, taking breaks to rest and put up my feet, and hopefully showering at some point.  HGTV, Bravo, or some morning show is usually on in the background, although I can only take Kelly Ripa in very small doses and need to completely avoid Rachel Rae and The View at all costs. 

The rest of my day involves a nap around lunchtime, little trips here and there to avoid cabin fever, and about a thousand trips in and out of the nursery to see if there is anything that needs organizing or that I should pick up for those early days with the baby.  When I do step outside to water the plants or something, I feel like I'm going to combust--it is so unbearably hot out right now!  So I've been trying to avoid being outside right now. 

Took about a day for these
 'sausage feet' to recover!

Then I figure out dinner and anxiously wait for Anthony to get home.  Exciting, I know, but I'm actually enjoying the precious R&R right now and the chance to decompress a bit before our little one arrives.  And it is nice to be home to ensure I'm drinking lots of water and putting my feet up regularly to avoid the 'sausage feet' I experienced this past weekend!




I'm also enjoying a bit of online shopping lately.  I love searching for deals and I LOVE getting packages in the mail!  I get almost instant gratification from Diapers.com, who deliver next-day, and I'm rather addicted to perusing Etsy for unique, handmade finds.  I ordered something recently from Etsy for my friend Lauren Y's baby girl and when it arrived, it was so adorable I had to order it for our little guy.  These handmade hooded towels are the first things that I have ordered with Baby M's actual name on it.  I loved seeing his name on them when they arrived in the mail!

Love these!  Adorable dino and shark hooded towels
(strategically positioned to not reveal his name)!

We have another Dr's appointment tomorrow during which we hopefully will receive some news that I am progessing towards labor.  In our appointment last week, I was measuring right on at about 37-38 wks, but no dilation or effacement yet.  The Dr. indicated she could feel his little head, which is great, but that I hadn't really dropped yet.  She estimated that the baby was about 7.5 lbs at that time and that he likely would end up being 8.5 lbs if I deliver on or about my due date.  I feel like I have since "dropped" because I have much more pressure on my pelvis and seem to be breathing a bit easier.  We'll see what she says!  In the meantime, we'll continue to marvel at the crazy shapes my belly has been taking lately as our 'little' guy continues to shift around in there...

"Alien belly"!  That's his butt.

Stay tuned!  Perhaps the next post will be to introduce our precious baby boy to the world! 

Love,
Ulana & Anthony

Waiting on an Angel

We are on the home stretch now and anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little guy...any day now! 

My calendar at work...a simply circled date never meant so much.
We're officially becoming a little family this month!

And, pretty soon, this will be us...

One of Anthony's Father's Day cards...really does kinda resemble us!  Lol!

Profile shot @ 36 wks

Technically, I am 36 wks as of yesterday.  At my last Dr's visit, when I was 34.5 wks, they claimed I was already measuring at 36 wks and strongly recommended that I limit my travel to within a 1 hr radius.  (However, they still maintained my due date as July 28th.)  This travel restriction ultimately changed my plans for this weekend, which Anthony and I were planning to head to the beach with my sisters and their families.  We felt at this point, it was probably wise to heed the Dr's recommendations and not take any chances, but I'm bummed!   Instead, Anthony and I opted for a local alternative and have a little overnight getaway planned in Philly, which could possibly be our last mini-getaway as a twosome.  My only request for this overnight was that the place had an outdoor pool and as always, Anthony delivered!  I am so excited!

Needless to say, the hospital bag is coming with us on our little overnight...

Future diaper bag getting broken in as my hospital bag! 
Loving all the compartments!

At our last 'fancy' wedding as
a twosome! (35/36 wks)

Almost everyone I run into now is skeptical of my professed due date and claim I have to be going early as if there is absolutely no conceivable way I have another month to go.  My friend Kelly A. swears I'm going into labor with the full moon on July 3rd.   Even my colleagues at work are basically counting me out after next week, even though my current arrangement is to come to the office through July 13th and then work from home thereafter.  Speaking of my colleagues, they threw a surprise shower for me this past Thursday...so sweet of them!  I honestly was not expecting it, but Anthony and I are so appreciative of their generosity and all the wonderful baby gifts they gave us.

Also, the most common question I get lately from people is, "Are you ready?"  My typical response is, "I think."  Not sure we can ever really be ready for what's in store for us!  We think we have most things, at least the basic things, in place for his arrival...

Carseat is officially installed and inspected! The one thing for sure

we needed for them to release the baby to us at the hospital. 

Our version of a bassinet is ready for him in our bedroom!

And the nursery is pretty much finished!

(Mama is still working on some paintings for the wall in the last pic.)

I have to admit, the unknown of how the whole labor process will start is a bit unnerving! I've heard so many others' stories and they are so varied! Will I have a hollywood-type water breaking episode at the office with my boss freaking out? Will it come on me quickly with just enough time to grab the good ol' hospital bag and have our neighbor, Roberta, or our friend, Flagg, or some other "back-up" rush me to the hospital? Will I closely approach or even pass my due date and beg to be induced? Or will I wait out hours of contractions at home with enough time for Anthony to get home from Wilmington or wherever to 'wait it out' with me until we have to head to the hospital? Who knows?! But I'm hoping for something similar to the last scenario.

Yes, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little angel, but I'm sure many of you recognize the title of this post from elsewhere.  It happens to be the title of one of my favorite songs written and performed by Ben Harper.  We even incorporated this song in our wedding video and now it is one that I play for Baby M often.  I'm rarely doing anything without music playing.  We have iPod docking stations throughout the house and I even listen to music at work, well when not in meetings of course.  Over the past several months, part of my evening routine during the week involved me coming home from work, putting my feet up, and reading a book on my iPad that was propped up on my belly and playing tunes from Pandora, etc. We typically had an hour or sometimes two of R&R together while we waited for Anthony to get home from work.

So I suppose I wasn't entirely surprised by some of the feedback I received after my first Reiki treatment.  Kristin, the 'Reiki Master', asked if I played music for Baby M, because apparently he was "communicating" that he loves it!  Also, she indicated that he "said" that I'm very particular about the music I play for him.  I found that amusing because when I would read, I would only play one particular Pandora station (Beethoven, Chopin, and Bach piano radio).  And Anthony and I typically only play 3 different other Pandora stations when we're home: David Gray radio (1st concert we went to), The Fray radio (1st CD we made out to, Lol!), and Michael Buble radio (we love him and Sinatra, etc.).  I do also sneak in my beloved Usher radio from time to time (just because...he's awesome!).   At work, I typically only play Coldplay and Dave Matthews Band.

During additional Reiki sessions, Kristin said she continues to see music surrounding Baby M when she puts her hands on my belly and she insists we are going to have a little musician, apparently also with a BIG personality, on our hands.  Whether you buy into the whole Reiki thing or not, that was pretty intriguing to me!  Who knows, maybe we have a future rock star or American Idol in there.  Lol!

So fittingly, Mama ordered these little lullabye CDs for him...

All I know is, when we hear his first scream in the delivery room, that will definitely be music to our ears!  Can't wait!

Happy 4th everyone and be safe!

Love,
Ulana & Anthony

Showered With Love

A couple weekends ago, a beautiful shower was thrown in Conshy in honor of our little King of the Jungle.  Once again, we were reminded of how blessed we are to be surrounded by such thoughtful, caring, and supportive friends and family.  As our friend Christy C. inscribed in the book she got for him, he is "already so loved." 

Our nursery theme is a subtle jungle safari theme, hence the inspiration for the shower theme.

  

The hostess with the mostess, my amazing Mom!

             

Awesome diaper cake created by Kelly A.--so creative!

Me and Auntie Kel!

Look at all those diapers from the broken down diaper cake!
Well maybe that will be a week's worth, haha!

The guests were asked to guess the circumference of my burgeoning belly.  The centerpieces were up for grabs for the one at each table who guessed the closest without going over.  At about 33 weeks, I measured 40.5 inches.   The tape measure my Mom brought was barely long enough!  I know I'm a bit big, but someone (Lynn C!) actually guessed 63.5 inches...I'm not even that tall!!  Haha!

Such a creative gift from Aunt Krista...cute outfits of all sizes strung from a clothes line. 
We kept pulling the outfits out of the laundry basket they were stacked in
and it seemed never-ending!  So cool! 

Baby M's awesome cousin Julia, Baba, and Aunties Tanya and Krista

Among the trees!  The beautiful (and tall!) Vebrosky's! 

With my lovely--and colorful--Nova gals...
Aunties Colleen, Lauren, Marisa, Jenny, Christy, and Jude

My Lehigh ladies...Aunties Cara and Karen,
who kindly traveled the furthest to be there!

My Philly chicas...
Aunties Jen, Meagan, Megan, Kelly, and Flagg

In lieu of a card, guests were asked to bring a book for Baby M. 
Can you believe we received not one duplicate!!!  Amazing! 
Thanks everyone again so much; Baby M's library is off to a great start!

Anthony's been eager to put together the great gifts we received for Baby M...he's been busy! 

Thank you all so much again for helping us to prepare for the arrival of Baby M! 

He'll be here before we know it and he is going to have an awesome welcoming committee! 

Love,
Ulana & Anthony

A Tribute to the 1st Man in my Life

I'll soon have a new little man come into my life, and with Father's Day right around the corner, I wanted to take a moment to honor the very first man who entered my life.

When I was in Frackville for Mother's Day this year, my Mom pulled out this old short story I had written in college.  In fact, it was my very first official paper of my collegiate career.  She had saved several of my short stories from my very first English/creative writing class when I was a Freshman in college.  (I've learned she has secretly been stashing away a lot of cards and mementos over the years too...so sweet!)  Honestly, looking back, that class was like therapy for me.  I was trying to find my way in the much larger world I was exposed to upon leaving my hometown for the first time; writing was an outlet for me to express all the mixed emotions I was feeling. 

My family and childhood experiences afforded me a lot of material for these creative writing assignments, but this very first one still stands out in my mind.  Our first assignment was to be inspired by the following theme: Recounting Experiences: Capturing the Images of Home.  It has been over 15 years since I wrote this story and it has much more meaning to me now for various reasons.  I'd like to share it with you, in honor of my amazing Dad.

On September 19, 1996, I submitted the following reflection paper (in its original, unedited version):

"Learning the Hard Way"

I awoke at the usual time only to find that the rain I had prayed for had not arrived.  I just wanted to crawl right back into bed, but I knew my dad was waiting for me.  I proceeded slowly into the bathroom to begin my regular routine of washing my face, putting in my contacts, and doing other essential morning duties.  I pulled my plastic storage containers out from under my bed, opened them up, and just stared at the clothes inside of them.  I must have sat there for almost five minutes in a daze, wanting so much to just jump back into my nice, comfortable bed.  I didn't want to work at all, especially that day.  The thought of my dad waiting for me, though, always managed to keep me moving.  I got dressed in the usual mesh shorts, threw on a coordinating T-shirt, and completed the outfit with a pair of grass-stained socks.

I went downstairs to the kitchen to find that my dad wasn't there, but I knew exactly where he was.  I looked out the screen door to admire the beautiful day when suddenly my eyes became focused on the black truck.  The truck was all packed and ready to go with the lawnmower partially sticking out the back.  I told my dad not to lift the lawnmower into the truck by himself because of his bad back, but he never listened.  He then came into sight and I turned to make my breakfast.  "We have to cut all of the grasses today because they're calling for rain tomorrow," he said, smiling as to lessen the harshness of his words.  I smiled back, acknowledging what he had said, basically just trying to conceal my disappointment.  There was really no point in trying to hide my feelings.  He already knew how much I hated to cut the grasses.  I just didn't want to annoy him.  He often coined the phrase, "You like the money, but you don't like the work."  I tended to agree with him for the most part.

After I ate, I put on my sneakers, slowly, trying to stall a little.  With a slight groan, I got up from the lawn chair I was sitting on and made my way up the yard.  I got in the truck and desperately rolled my window down because it was already so hot and humid.  The truck had a unique scent—one of gasoline, sweat, and dead grass.  (I would constantly find myself apologizing for the stench to my friends if we needed a ride and the truck was our only means of transportation.)

The radio was always tuned to the same AM station, which, despite the static, was a favorite of my dad's.  I would even tune the radio back to that station after I was finished using the truck.  Therefore, it was no surprise that the familiar station was on when my dad started the truck.  I couldn't bear listening to it, especially when Rush Limbaugh was on, but I wouldn't dare say anything.

We finished cutting about three or four of the people's grasses and by that time, my neck and back were in terrible agony from holding the heavy weedwacker.  It was so hot.  I would often take little breaks now and then when I was sure that I was out of my dad's sight.  Several teenagers lived in the house next to the elderly woman whose lawn we were cutting.  I would make it a weekly ritual to just stand and stare at their house and wonder what they were doing inside on such a gorgeous day.  Their radio or television would always be blaring.  Piles of junk and debris would be scattered around their house—a house with the potential of being really nice.  A large Santa Claus decoration hung from their chimney.  I wondered if maybe they were celebrating Christmas in July or something, although I seriously doubt that was the case.  Then there was their pool.  I often wished I could jump right into it, but then again, I guess it would be more inviting if it weren't green.  How could people be so lazy?  If I had the luxury of having a nice house and pool like that, I would definitely take care of them.  I felt a sense of pity for their parents, but in a way I didn't know why.  I'm just glad I'm not like that kind of people.

I looked to see where my dad was, making sure he didn't see me slacking off.  The grass was sticking to my sweaty legs.  I just kept reminding myself that this would be the last time I would ever have to cut all of these grasses, since I would be going to college soon.  My back still hurt, though, and I couldn't deny that.  Why couldn't I have had an easy job like my friends had, working in air-conditioning (if you even consider what they did as actual work)?  It was common knowledge that I cut grasses for my summer job.  I have even had John Deere jokes directed toward me at school by some of the boys.  I tried not to let it bother me, although I resented the fact that I couldn't just have a normal job. 

We were finally on our last grass.  I could not wait to be done, although I did not know what I was going to do when I returned home anyway.  My friends were gone for the day since it was so beautiful.  I missed out on a lot because of these stupid grasses.

Then a thought came into my mind.  What is my dad going to do about these grasses when I'm gone?  He can't do them all.  He would only end up overworking himself.  I turned my weedwacker off and focused my attention on my dad.  Why does he even cut these grasses?  He's retired, so he should be relaxing.  He gives me the majority of the money, so how could I be so selfish?  I wondered if money was the main reason I am dragged out here every Saturday.  Maybe I'm gaining a little more than just a monetary reward.

He was sweating through his tank-top and frayed denim shorts, which were stained and slightly uneven at the bottoms.  I watched his slightly bowed legs as he pushed the lawnmower—the same legs I see when I look in the mirror.  He is such a hard-worker; he never complains.  If my body ached, I wonder how his felt.  All I could do is wonder because he would never tell.  He and my mom have given me so much already that to ask for anything more would be unthinkable.  I'm glad that I never had many luxuries or freedom to sit around and watch television all day long.  If I had, I doubt I would be the same person I am today.  I owe a great deal to my parents for that.

I began to think that these grasses were not so bad afterall.  At least I didn’t have to go to tanning salons like so many other people did.  I worked for my tan.  Also, because of the muscles in my arms and back, I would often be asked if I worked out or lifted weights.  I would simply reply that I cut grass with my dad and laugh at their confused expression.  I'm really going to miss cutting these grasses.

My dad noticed me standing there and flashed another comforting smile as to say, "We're almost done, buddy!"  I adjusted the clutch and pulled the starter.  The weedwacker now somehow seemed a little lighter than it was before.

Dad, I have learned a lot from you, whether the 'teachings' were intentional or not.  Among other things, you taught me to be appreciative, hard-working, and to always stand up for myself (not to mention, to always make sure I changed my oil and checked my tires, Lol!).  I have come a long way since those grass-cutting days and am eternally grateful to you and Mom.  I only hope I can be as good of a parent as you both have been to me.

Happy Father's Day!

Love, your daughter and "buddy",

Loni

XOXO

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"...The dance has begun
We twirl around the floor
But I know you're not my little girl anymore
A lovely young woman has taken her place
And there's happiness written all over her face
But always remember although we must part
You may leave my arms but never my heart..."

- Daughter of Mine, written by John McDermott