32 and 34 weeks

32 weeks (8 months)

ahhhh my belly looks like a giant butt in this photo!

butt in the front!

this was about when i started having really bad lower back pain, and i definitely felt my body slowing down a little bit. i told patrick i couldn't believe my belly was still going to be pregnant and grow for TWO more months. seems impossible. that baby was all up in my ribs and i was pretty sure that i was already as big as i ever got with piper.

34 weeks

and then, my belly went and did this:

yes, it got bigger.

which made me feel like this:

or actually more like this:

whoops, someone wanted to come say hi

 and give the baby a kiss!

there's my little bundle of boy

and at about this time, the baby shifted down a little bit, which gave me a smidge more room in my crowded ribs. and my back pain went away!!  it might have had something to do with the shift in baby's position (though i'd think this would be putting more pressure on my lower back), or maybe due to switching over to walking instead of jogging with piper (which then turned to be not even much walking. whoops.). but whatever it was, my back thanked me.

i felt a few contractions that were more than painless braxton hicks over easter weekend, but they were isolated to one afternoon and then nothing like it until a couple weeks later.

also to be grateful for ... no carpal tunnel pains yet! believe it started around this time with piper.  oh and only minor swelling in the ankles (happens after long days at the office).  i think i can partially thank the cooler weather for that!

so, all in all, feeling good!

a busy weekend

the weekend after easter was a busy two days.

we went house hunting, i went to a brunch club baby shower, and we went to a first birthday party.  i guess that's not really that much, but squeezing that all in with a toddler, while super dupes pregs makes for plenty!  posts to come...

before everyone gets all excited over the house hunting bit, let me get it out there that this is probably going to be a long one or two year ordeal.  so nothing soon!! long story, but i'll be sure to post about it.

easter part 3

man, this is taking me 3 posts to finish again this year???

... and so while pipes took her nap, patrick worked on our ...

8th annual easter lasagne!

here's a run down of easters passed (past?). 

note: 2009 part 3 includes a detailed history of our lasagne:

2011: three parts

part 1

part 2

part 3 

2010:

one part 

2009: three posts

part 1

part 2

part 3 

after naptime, piper put on some ears, and cousin kiira, uncle ryan and tia wendy came over. 

that table, which belongs in storage this time of year, has been serving us well.

we're so glad family could come over for easter, but we missed the bonkos this year!

easter part 2

piper loved easter egg hunting, and was quite pleasantly surprised to find goldfish inside.

after all the little eggs, she found a BIG egg inside elmo 

(please excuse our 12-15 year old couch)

this egg from norway was very exciting

piper showed us everything inside; a barking doggy, flower hair clips, a letter p, a headscarf, baloons ...

... plus this adorable pippi longstocking tank!

then, can you believe it, there was more.  piper found her sweet lamb from amber & b.

she's asking me to read her the cards.

amber & b always find the best cards.

lovin' on her lamb

running around with her lamb and wearing the paper ears that came in amber's card

then piper spent some time playing and making a mess.
in this picture, she's about to grab the headscarf that came from norway.
the funny thing about that headscarf is that later, we found it up her dress -- she'd put it on as underwear.  oh piper!

and off to naptime

while piper napped, patrick and i finished up our coffee and banana cream pie (from my new favorite pie shop).  perfect easter brunch if you ask me.

easter part 1

we started off the morning with easter baskets.  piper loved the basket that the easter bunny brought, and got extra surprises from grandpa frank, bestemor tove and oldemor kitty in norway; auntigram judy and aunties amber/b.  what a lucky little girl!

please take a moment to enjoy piper's fine artwork on the fireplace

she got the idea right away

a zipper pouch, so maybe she won't get into mommy's make up bag anymore ...

 animal crackers, a monkey notebook, hairclips, plastic bowls, a plastic cup and ...

... pens! the pens were a big hit.

piper, no swiping!

piper and i were out for a walk and wandered into a shoe store.  as the shoe lady went to go and grab a different size for me, i leaned over the stroller to adjust piper's skirt since it was wedged under a stroller strap. piper was wearing leggings and a grey skirt.  and as i tugged, i thought to myself, i didn't know this skirt had two layers, as i pulled a darker grey material down from the lighter grey. 

then i realized that the skirt definitely did not have two layers.
what i was pulling on, was actually a pair of ... underwear?
my underwear!

confused, i quickly pulled her skirt back over the underwear.  what would people think if they saw piper wearing my underwear over her pants?  how did it even get there?  did i somehow put those on her as i pulled leggings out of the dryer?  did she put them on??

once we left the store, i removed the knickers and stowed them away. 

and when we got home, she immediately ran into my closet, grabbed a new pair, and put them right on.  mystery solved!

this is a totally different night ...

(pardon her crazy hair)

but here's piper hanging out in a pair of my undies.

she does this all the time.

as you can see, they clearly don't pass as toddler underwear.

so now before we leave the house, we're sure to do a panty check. 

my little piper is a panty swiper.

the chicago botanic gardens

easter weekend we decided to go to the botanic gardens! 
we forgot our stroller at daycare for the weekend, so piper got to do a lot of walking.
and some not-walking.

"everyone" was walking ahead of the pregnant lady and i was so slow to take pics.
did a bad job of light in the photos, and my cheap a corrections don't make it much better.

there were tons of tulips, but i LOVED walking through all the crab apple blossoms.

and spending time with this little one!

st. patrick's day

saint patrick's day: pipes and i took the bus up to roscoe village and went to a park in the morning, then we went to katherine's rooftop party, and ended the day with a family picnic.  we made good use of the city and the spectacular march weather. 

chasing irish boys

(like her mama, i guess)

 with auntie katherine

the last time i saw this little guy's mama, kristen, i was pregnant with piper!  and there was no sign of a little guy on the way.  katherine and i went to college with his pop, adam

claremont photo!

scripps, scripps, scripps, cmc

and after naptime, the shoes went back on

we picked up tacos from the taco window at our fave neighborhood taco spot..

this is mid march in chicago, folks.

unbelievable.

piper loves to dip foods.  just in general, if you can dip it into something, she'll probably eat it.  so the guac was right up her alley, and a perfect green accompaniment to our st patrick's day picnic.