Passed!

Just a quick note to say that I passed the Patent Bar exam! I couldn't be more relieved. Now we can focus entirely on our little one's upcoming arrival!!!

It's been awhile...

But in our defense, we've been busy!

Thankfully the move went well, and we are mostly unpacked and settled. There are still a few things to do, but for the most part we have things put away. Again, I had very little to do with the entire process, other than taking things out of boxes when they were set in front of me and then letting Troy put the things away. Anyway, photos of the new place can be found here.

As will be clear from the photos, we have lots of built-in shelves that we haven't done anything with yet, but that will all get done in time. The only room we don't have a picture of is the guest bedroom, because that's been the staging area for unpacking and we still aren't done setting it up. And obviously we've got a start on the nursery, but still lots to do like washing clothes and bedding, hanging stuff on the walls, etc.

We also had a wonderful weekend in Princeton, NJ for Michael & Sarah's wedding. Oh - and I've been studying for the Patent Bar Exam, which I am taking in 3 days. (Yes, I am somewhat insane. But I really want to get it out of the way before the baby arrives.)

Photo of me at 36 weeks is below! Everything is still going smoothly, except for the typical stuff like being tired and not sleeping wonderfully anymore. But that's all to be expected at this point!

Moving, moving, moving...

As I type this, Troy is busy packing up the apartment. I haven't been much use in this department, since I can't really bend down or lift anything heavy. I did contribute by emptying out the desk and remaining little items in our office bookcase and throwing everything into some boxes. Yep, that's about it.

The movers come on Tuesday, but we'll be able to access the new place tomorrow afternoon. So we're going to drive a few loads of things over there tomorrow, like artwork and other really fragile stuff. On Monday Troy will go and paint two of the rooms (including what will be the baby's room!) The color will be "Rejuvenate" by Behr, if anyone is interested. :)

We are so excited about our new place, and our new neighborhood. Our current place has been great, and we will definitely miss our wonderful landlords, Kris & Brian. (We're having a "farewell grillout" this evening, which should be a lot of fun.) But we're really looking forward to a quieter area with less college kids and more families.

This past Memorial Day, it was so nice out that we went for a picnic in a nearby park. I don't know that this picture shows it well, but I have definitely grown a LOT since the baby shower weekend. We'll try to get a better belly shot sometime soon!

Baby Shower in MN

Last weekend I went home to Minnesota for a long weekend, and a baby shower! Sarah, Emily and Grandma put it together and it was SO much fun. I was amazed at the number of people that came, and especially that so many came from out of state! (Four from Illinois, including Troy's mom, and two more from Wisconsin!)

Playing the "cut a piece of string that will fit around Anne's belly" game. There was a three-way tie between Carol Earnest, Carol Erickson and Ellen Carlson for the win!

Our beautiful luncheon table....

With Emily and the super-cool "diaper cake" she made for me!

My sister gave the baby lots of books, including this favorite from our childhood, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"

Emily ran the last game, which involved changing a diaper on a baby doll while blindfolded. Here Jess and Ellen face off against each other!

The Grandpas and Craig came at the end of the shower and enjoyed some cake.

Thanks to Grandma Barb for the photos!

Public comments are now open

It's amazing what a difference a few weeks makes. Up until recently, I hadn't been asked many questions about my pregnancy by people that I don't know well. Even people at work that I don't interact much with only started approaching me a few weeks ago to say, "Um, are you pregnant?"

But in the last week, the floodgates have opened. The woman at the Midwest Airlines counter asked me how far along I was when I checked in for my flight home to MN. The flight attendant on my way back asked me if I'd like extra snacks "for the little one inside." More people at work who had never previously commented are now asking "When are you due?" And a random stranger on the T pointed at me yesterday and announced, "It's a boy! And he's due in July!" (I felt better when he got the exact date wrong... that would have been downright spooky.)

Pics and stories from this past weekend's baby shower in MN coming soon!

30 weeks!

It seems impossible that we're already at the 30 week mark. Here's a few things babycenter.com has to say about this week:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

You may be feeling a little tired these days, especially if you're having trouble sleeping.

(Anne adds - this is definitely true on both counts!)

Remember those mood swings you had earlier in pregnancy? The combination of uncomfortable symptoms and hormonal changes can result in a return of those emotional ups and downs.

(Anne adds - true as well... thanks to Troy for putting up with my occasional outpourings of emotion!)

Back to school...

Today we had our all-day childbirth class, and it actually went pretty well. I can't say I'd been really looking forward to sitting in a room all day long listening to gory details, but the instructor was fantastic and made it really fly by. It helped that she brought a sense of humor to the whole thing. Both Troy and I felt like we learned a lot of useful info. We also ended the class with some fantastic relaxation exercises, which were very similar to things I'd been doing with my prenatal yoga. So it was reinforcing to know that I'd already been doing the right kinds of things, but also really nice to have Troy involved in the process.

We also met a really nice couple that live near where we will (*hopefully - more details soon*) be moving at the beginning of June. We got their contact info so hopefully we'll keep in touch and get together with the babies later in the summer!