another week, another bumpdate! and friends...i'm bumping. bumping so hard.
yesterday my best gal wanted to take pictures with my phone. i hadn't tapped into her talents for many weeks, so i asked her if she wanted to take some pictures of my belly. she enthusiastically agreed (which i love). she suggested we go outside and quickly rebuffed that offer because it's still so damn hot here...and the bugs / mosquitos. i offered up the baby's room and she agreed. it's important your photographer stays happy.
and so - the 38 week bump photoshoot began. she snagged a few here and there, but most turned out slightly blurry or pretty crooked. the best thing she does is take many in rapid succession...so you can always find a few to straighten and / or crop. regardless...i think she did a great job and had a great attitude...which is more than i can say for any photo session my farmer has ever been involved in.

kaye even suggested poses for me. 
mommy! act like you're thinking!
mommy! do a kissy face! 

mommy! put your hands on your hips!

ummm...stage-mom in the making? i can't even imagine where she gets this from. i mean...has she heard it from me? yes. yes 1000 times.

and of course...we had to get her in front of the lens.
take a picture of my cat face!

just take pictures of me! just keep taking them and i'll move around. what about this pose?

i've created a monster. a monster that's still not quite sure how pose for the camera. but neither do i...soooo...? i never know what to do with my hands. #awkward
but then there are the sweet moments i snag of me and my gal who i'm just head over heels for because she's funny and crazy and wild and sweet and rubs my back (seriously) and asks me every morning how my belly feels.

i'm basically the luckiest mama in the world.

kaye's the sweet one.

sawyer's the ham. 

and this next one...? i wish i could just have the tiniest peek into our future.

38 WEEK STATS | BABY #3

THE NAME GAME | marin pronounced like karen...how do we feel about that name for a baby girl? all of a sudden i'm really stuck on it. i feel like it fits with kaye and sawyer. not only that...but i had about 10 people tell me how cute elliot (the other name i like!) is and that they know someone who just named their baby girl that. and you know what that means...it's popular. i want to shy away from popular. 

WEIGHT GAIN / WORK OUTS | i had my little 38 week check up yesterday. yay. i lost a pound. say what? don't worry friends...it's muscle lost. the baby is growing fine. so i'm up 17 pounds and that's where we're at. 

work out? yeah...no. i did take a five hour nap on sunday. does that count?

but truly - i can't wait to get back at it after the gal is born. i'm still on the hunt for a fresh treadmill, so hopefully we can find another one for a great deal. i also still have my heart set on a pelaton bike...but what are the odds i can get a treadmill and a bike...slim. very slim. unlike my belly.

SYMPTOMS | i itch. the itching is not accompanied by a rash. it's only on my arms and moves up my forearms to my shoulders and upper back. this usually happens in the evening. it's just some random reaction to the hormones...my doctor does not think it has anything to do with excess bile in my liver...so no worries there. it just really really sucks. 

SIZE OF BABY | this little muff is almost 20 inches and nearly seven pounds. i know this to be true because in looking at pictures of me pregnant with sawyer and kaye...my belly much more closely resembles kaye. large and poking straight out. sawyer was just so tight and compact in there. for reference kaye was born at 7 pounds 14 ounces and sawyer arrived at 6 pounds 3 ounces. 

prediction : a 7 pound 4 ounce baby girl...named marin. (do you hear me farmer? marin...i know you don't like it, but deal.)

KAYE'S THOUGHTS | kaye is all about all things baby. she wants to help me pack my hospital bag. she helped me pick out the baby's going home outfit. she loooooves spending all the time in the nursery. she puts dolls in our little baby swing. she just...she's going to be the very very best big sister.

she's wild and free-spirited and athletic...but the bed-side manner of my gal is something else. she cares and loves so deeply, it's just the sweetest thing. i cannot wait to see her with marin. yes, marin. 

SAWYER'S THOUGHTS | i think my sweet, little badger is just tired of mommy saying, "no, sawyer. don't jump on mommy's belly." or "no, sawyer. mommy's too tired." or just any of the other endless amounts of excuses i say. but...i won't be pregnant forever. she'll just have an un-pregnant mom that still gives excuses because now i'll have a newborn babe. 

however, sawyer does have a sweet tenderness when it comes to little ones. i'm sure it'll be a pendulum that swings drastically both ways - intense love, intense jealousy. 

PURCHASES | no, no purchases. unless you count the $20 abercrombie dress i bought a few weeks ago (the one in the pictures) and have proceeded to wear at least two times each week. i mean...i'm going to get my $20 worth out of it because i certainly won't be wearing it post-baby bump. 

i also dug out our five year old mama roo swing that has been kept in our dirty dirty shed this entire time. we didn't even dig it out for sawyer. i didn't have the energy, i guess. but guess what? that thing polished right up! i was able to take off all the cloth pieces and wash it in the washer and the rest i just took a sponge and some cleaner too. it looks brand new! the best part - both gals have figured out how to work it, so i can imagine, once their sister is here they'll enjoy swinging her.

LAST MINUTE PREP | there are a few things i want to do before this gal gets here. the most important is to take kaye and sawyer on a mommy / me outing. something that they've never done before and indicates that they are big girls  and are going to be great big sisters. i was thinking mani / pedis with some ice cream and a movie. 

and then of course i'd love to squeeze in a date night with my farmer.

oh...and then there's the endless amounts of cleaning. i cleaned out a our fridge and microwave. the laundry is in a permanent state of done-ness. our sweet little robot vacuum has a daily rotation. i swear if that thing ever quits i'll take him directly to the ER and demand resuscitation. 

the last thing i can't decide on is if i want to bug amy into taking some final bump pictures with the gals. i probably should...it's just so much effort. 

cheers to 38 weeks / one large bump / itchy arms / and the fact that i can start counting down.

38 WEEK BUMPDATE WITH SAWYER

ps. did you see the gender reveal video i posted several weeks ago? i still can't get enough of it.