36 & almost there

Wow, at 36 weeks I've just realized that there won't be a bump to show you for much longer. At 36, I've realized we need to get the carseat, co-sleeper, and baby clothes organized. And at 36, I've realized I need to get some meals in the freezer. Is that the "nesting" phase? Or is that the burst of energy before the nesting, which is more relaxing and waiting, like sitting on a nest? Either way, fewer than 4 weeks til the due date means I need to both get busy organizing and chill out at the same time. A new baby's coming! And I have to give birth to him or her! Why am I surprised by this! "Why am I talking like this!" To put it in real terms, there are only another 3ish episodes of Downton Abbey before I'm nursing lil Bee next to Nana watching the drama unfold.

Cute Paul story #1: he makes the doppler "white noise" sound and then the "woo-woo-woo" of the heartbeat whenever he sees my bare belly. It's awesome. We say, yeah! That's the baby's heartbeat you heard, that's the baby in there! And he giggles and smiles. Cute Paul story #2: he's grown so much just since Advent; I've seen how his play with his Little People nativity set has developed. He used to get frustrated when he couldn't put this & this together and would toss all the little figures around, and now he's even to the point where he puts Mary, Joseph, and Jesus IN the manger with the angel on top (as opposed to the cow, sheep, and donkey with a wiseman on top) ... not to say he doesn't still put the camel on top for kicks sometimes. He also waits for "Away in the Manger" to finish before pressing start again. And then he turns the switch off when he's done. Whoa. Oh! And he says "whoa" and "wow", thanks to Tante Ginny. He also says these / variations of these words (auf Deutsch...): bath, ball, (Christmas) tree, water, yes, no, book, bread, milk, baby, house, snow, fast, cheese, bed, blanket, ice, hot, egg, Cheerios, banana, nut, carrot, hi, hello, bye-bye, hammer, trash, Elmo, Pooh-bear, Mickey,  and nothing that makes or has a sound; he uses the sound instead =).

Bee news: Bee is big. And only getting bigger. And fatter. Bee also causes me some grief in the way of aches and pains; big surprise, I'm sure. I've had a funny shoulder-blade soreness this week that's made it hard to sleep on the left side, but sleeping on my right side dead-legged that leg and made for hip pain during the day ... and a pretty serious waddle. My pelvis bones are all loosening and clicky. Things are about to get real around here! Dylan and I switched sides, and I've had better sleep for a couple of nights, which is a huge help.

Tomorrow's the day we set out to make preparations for this big ol' Bee (co-sleeper, carseat, bouncer, clothes, hospital bag, etc.), and I'll get on a few meals to put in the freezer for ... later. Here's one of the last few shots of us all-in-one: