34 down, how many more to go?

Cute Trish at 34 weeks!!

We can hardly believe that Christmas is only 2 weeks away. With all the baby preparations like painting his room and buying all the baby essentials, we've hardly begun our shopping for Christmas. We did get our tree up and decorated, but we have not strung any Christmas lights because of the snow. We have not yet started to panic (about Christmas and the baby coming), but it's almost getting to that point.

As an update about our lil' baby's bedroom, we have been painting the walls a light-yellow color. We had been using that room for storage and have been working for almost this whole pregnancy trying to get it cleaned out. I still need to assemble the crib and paint and repair the changing table, but otherwise the room is starting to look like a lil' nursery. Based on the results of a poll that we had on this blog, we have decided to go with Jungle as the theme for the room. Actually, that's what we wanted from the beginning, so it was nice to know that y'all supported us in our decision. Some of you may be asking, "why aren't they doing a sports theme?" The answer is quite simple really.... we are having a baby monkey and he needs to feel comfortable in his natural habitat. There you go. Plus, he'll have plenty of other sports stuff like his wardrobe, his toys, and playing and watching sports with his dad. But yes, he really is a monkey.

The main questions that we get asked at this stage in our pregnancy are, "How is Trish feeling?" and "What are you going to name the baby?" The answers to those questions are "good" and "ask us again when he's a few hours old."

Trish really has been doing pretty well considering that she is 34 weeks tomorrow. She has had a bit of nausea and throwing up that has unfortunately returned from the beginning weeks, and there is of course the common aches and pains of pregnancy like back, neck, etc. She really can't complain though because she has been sleeping quite well and isn't to the point where she is so miserable that she just wants him to come out. She is handling the stresses of pregnancy very well and I am inspired by her determination and strength to carry-on. I love her. Best mommie ever.

As for the name.... I never thought it was going to be this difficult to name a baby human. I mean, I've named puppies before. I had a name for my first car, my first computer, my bike, my even my imaginary friend when I was little.... but I've never had to name my own baby before, and quite frankly, I'm struggling. You see, I was named after someone my dad knew from his mission in England. It has always meant something to me that my first name had that significance, had some of the flavor of the British Isles, and was fairly uncommon. So I think we've backed ourselves into a corner wanting something that isn't too common, but not weird. Something with meaning and not just a random name from a baby book. Also, my connection to Japan isn't going to work very well for an American baby. And most of all, something we both agree on. Whenever someone gives a suggestion of a name they like, we can always find a reason why we aren't going to use it (read that as Trish has been a school teacher for 4 years). The fact is, we just aren't sure what we want to name him yet. Good thing we still have a little time to think about it.

We are getting really excited for our little boy. We are hoping that he won't come before New Years (despite Colin's desire for a tax deduction). At our last ultra sound, we saw his cute chubby cheeks and watched him nibble on his own toes. Trish has been visiting the doctor every week lately for non-stress tests and he is an active and healthy little monkey. We hope not more than we bargained for, but we are grateful to know that he is still growing, his heart is beating strong, and he is enjoying the jungle gym inside his mom's tummy. :) We hope to add a few more blog entries over these next few weeks, and Colin has even said that he wants to blog from the hospital! We'll see if that really happens.

As always, we would love to hear any comments from you parents. Please share any experiences or advice that you think might be of help. We always look forward to hearing from you.

P.S. We added a new poll! Check it out!