Making progress (at last!) toward being baby-prepared...

Well, Tank, we're finally getting around to doing the "important" things to get ready to welcome you home - you know, like installing car seats and getting my hair colored.

This weekend we did install both car seat bases (don't worry, I've got a call in to the Noblesville Police Department for a safety inspection), got the crib and dresser delivered and crib built, got all the laundry items pre-washed, installed the car baby mirror and window shades, and got the nursery looking a little less chaotic and a little more like somewhere a baby would sleep. Whew!

 Our original furniture from buy buy Baby was delayed past your due date, so they hooked us up with a higher-end crib and dresser that were in stock! Great customer service and so pretty! (don't worry, you will get a mattress if you're a good girl)

Car seat bases wouldn't stay put in the middle of either of our cars, but we think we've got them secured properly on the passenger sides.

37 weeks down - "early term"!

Wow, Tank, we will meet you VERY soon! We've gotten a ton more stuff to fill out our baby supplies (though I'm sure we've forgotten some very important things that we'll discover as soon as we bring you home), your crib and dresser should be delivered this weekend, and I've been washing all your clothes, blankets, and baby things like a crazy woman. Brian calls this "nesting", but I just call it panicking. Either way, we are closer to being ready for your arrival (though nothing will make us 100% prepared). We also met with our birth doula, Sarah, and we feel excited about adding her to your welcoming team.

Part of my "preparation" was getting my hair professionally colored for the first time since before our wedding last September. It's a little more "purple" than I'd imagined, but it's WAY better than the gray/straw combo I had going on before.

Maternity pictures!

Aunt Sarah of Sarah Hodgin Designs (https://www.facebook.com/SarahHodginPhotography) took some maternity pics of us at Potter's Bridge Park right in Noblesville, one of our favorite new places to walk. We got some great ones!

 Note the belly bump shadow in the distance.

 This one is my absolute favorite. B looks so sweet.

36 weeks down - a busy time!

Tank, after weeks of denial and telling myself that you'll arrive AFTER July 30th because first-time moms often go into labor late, I realized there's also a chance you could come EARLY, and I needed to get on it with buying our last supplies and getting your room ready!

 We put together the Pack and Play, and Sox isn't too sure about it except as something to hide beneath.

 Our friends Marcia and Scott came over with their adorable kids, and B got to practice holding baby Everly.

 Uncle Luke and Aunt Sarah are expecting a new cousin for you in January - so you'll have someone a little smaller than you to play with soon!

 Speaking of small, these newborn size diapers look so tiny in my hand...

More trouble getting a "normal" belly pick... I think B made a bad joke here.

What's going on in there?

 What I get for naming my baby fetus "Tank"...

(this one courtesy of my friend Leah; I don't know the Tank Girl comic except by name)

35 weeks down, and a victory for marriage rights in Indiana!

FIVE weeks until my due date (gulp)! Tank, the big news (aside from your impending arrival) is that a federal judge threw out Indiana's ban on same-sex marriage this afternoon. That means ANY two people who love each other can get married, just like B and I could. For the time being most counties are allowing same-sex couples to get their marriage licenses ASAP. I hope you get to grow up in a world where "same-sex marriage" is as irrelevant an identifier as "interracial marriage" or "interfaith marriage".

 I am so proud that I was able to get my shoes tied all by myself! They pinch my swollen feet, though...

A tornado hit the west side, and the sirens went off here (no damage), so Sox and I camped out in the half bath and took a nap to ride out the storm.

34 weeks down!

The countdown keeps ticking away!

 At my shower a couple of people actually told me that I looked "tiny" and that I "don't even look that pregnant". Disagree!

 The carnage in the classroom for our Infant/Child CPR class.

 Sox likes to bring her favorite ball into bed with us. This would be more cute if it didn't jingle.

And my feet are NOT looking pretty these days.

Father's Day... first one for Brian! (and Tank's first baseball game)

As a family Father's Day outing, all the Hodgins (P.T., Jane, Luke, Sarah, Rylie, and Brian and me) went to an Indianapolis Indians game at Victory Field. We sat in the lawn, so even this pregnant lady had plenty of room to spread out on a blanket and get comfortable. It was a beautiful sunny (HOT) day, and the home team won!

 A Tank's-eye view of the field.

A good time was had by all!

33 weeks down!

T-SEVEN weeks... wow...

 We have three bunnies (this is the smallest one) who like to hop around our backyard...

..and torture Sox.

Baby shower weekend!

This weekend we had our "family baby shower", and all of Brian's siblings, their spouses, their kids (our nieces and nephews), and 2 out of 3 of Brian's aunts came to town for the occasion! We were so humbled by everyone who took the time to come to the party, to give us gifts to help prepare for Tank's arrival, and to celebrate our growing family. My mom hosted the shower, Aunt Sarah designed the invitations, and (I think) a good time was had by all!

 I wore different shoes, but I loved my dress - it even has pockets!

 Leave it to the pregnant girl to have exactly ONE photo from the shower - the one of the cake.

 Aunt Sarah made a "diaper tree" with rattling toys in it - Sox was at least as intrigued by the noises as Tank will be.

 B is practicing with our new travel system...

... and Sox is VERY interested in the box the stroller came in.

32 weeks down!

That is 80% of the way to my due date (YOUR due date, Tank), and as you can see by this week's photos, I'm feeling a little feisty.

 According to the chart in our childbirth class, this is the face I'll be making while I'm pushing... except that this is pretty much what I look like when I wake up in the morning.

 See? I send goofy photos via iPhone to B while he's at work. I am grateful he chooses not to put them on Facebook or anywhere else public (the 2 readers on this blog, one of whom is me, won't care).

Tank, don't try this at home. Your dad was being a pill. Can't remember what he said, but it was obviously all his fault.

We finally got a "normal" picture.

31 weeks down!

Tank, your mom and dad are now officially grownups - for the first time in years for either one of us, we own a dining room table AND a full set of chairs. We made an IKEA run - to the one outside Cincinnati - and came back with a table and four out of six chairs (two are back-ordered) that look great in our breakfast area. Now we won't be setting a bad example for you by eating at our coffee table all the time! (we just got a coffee table a few months ago, too...)

Sox LOVES to help us put together furniture.

 Our new dining room setup, minus two upholstered end chairs (in purple, B's favorite color)

The rabbits continue to torture Sox through the glass.