We are still waiting patiently (ok, maybe at times not so patiently…lol) for our baby girl to arrive. I went to the doctor yesterday for my last regular appointment, and I’m still 1-2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. Being that way for about a month now has been a little discouraging, but I know she is going to come when the good Lord is ready for her one way or another! I turned into a cleaning monster on Sunday (seriously, who vacuums the back of their couch?), so hopefully that means nesting has kicked in, and our daughter will come on her own soon. I have a nonstress test scheduled for Thursday morning to make sure the baby’s heart rate, movement, etc., are all ok. And if she’s not here by Sunday, I will be admitted to the hospital for induction. So by next Monday, I will definitely be a mom! I am beyond thrilled, and choke up every time I think about seeing her face for the first time. I know it will be one of the most special moments of my life.

I hope you all are having a good start to your week, and hope to share some wonderful news with you soon!

I’ve been trying to increase my walking this past week to jump start this whole labor process. I think it may have done some good too, because when I went to the doctor Tuesday, he said I am almost 2 centimeters dilated. While I could sit like that for a couple more weeks, I figure any dilation is reason to celebrate. Don’t you? I go back to the doctor Monday morning, so here’s hoping!

Something I am not celebrating though – SWELLING! My feet, ankles and legs at the end of the day are of epic proportions. My dog stepped on my leg last night while I was laying down, and he literally left a paw print that stuck around for a good 10 minutes. It reminded me of a mold in Silly Putty. I almost wish I had taken a picture of it for you all, but then who wants to see a water-filled leg with a paw in it? Ha ha!

I did get the swollen legs out on the town the other night for a “last supper” of sorts with my dear friends, Lori and Jessica. They will both be out of town next week, so all our fingers are crossed that the baby won’t come until they get back. Jessica said she’s going to bring me sushi to the hospital, so for that reason alone, she has to be here. (Just kidding, Jess!) We had an amazing Japanese meal, and I honestly think that may have been the best filet mignon I’ve ever had in my life. I love going to places where they cook the food in front of you too. So fun!

Since I didn’t have a fever, and since I’m trying to save every precious sick/vacation hour I have for my fast-approaching maternity leave, I did drag myself to work this morning after choking down some dry toast and copious amounts of water. I somehow managed to make it through meetings and assignments, but crashed immediately on the couch as soon as I stepped in the door of our house. I heard JD quietly tell me he was going to the store while I was in and out of consciousness, and I was pleasantly surprised when I opened my eyes to this:

This is not from a can, people. My sweet husband made chicken noodle soup all by himself just for sickly preggo me. And not only that, he purposely left the chicken out. I’m not a big fan of poultry in soup (yes, I’m weird like that), and I usually end up picking it out into a napkin or feeding it to our dog. But because he’s the best, JD just made a noodle soup. Love.

I actually am feeling somewhat better after slurping down a big bowl, and I thought I’d share the recipe in case anyone else is feeling a little under the weather too. Or, you can save it for those chilly fall days that are hopefully in the near future. JD got some help from this recipe from allrecipes.com, but subbed green onions for the regular onion and added more than the called-for amounts of veggies. It was super delish! The cook definitely got a kiss for all his hard work. Ha ha!

Hopefully after some more soup and sleep, I’ll be back to my old self tomorrow.

***

So in other news, my 1-year blogiversary was last week! On July 29, 2009, I wrote my first post on Blogger before switching over to WordPress and getting my own site a few months later. It has been a great experience for me, and I thank you all of you for reading and supporting me throughout my weight loss journey and pregnancy. I have to say, out of the 179 posts I’ve written, this one is probably my favorite.

I am working with my Web designer, Merideth, on some new things for the blog and can’t wait to share them with all of you!

I am 37 weeks pregnant today — can you believe it?! Just 21 more days until my due date! I can’t wait to meet our sweet girl! Tex is excited to see his new best friend too.

Night, all!

Just so you know I kept things fair, (ha ha) I numbered all the names in the order they were submitted, and entered the numbers into Random.org. And the winner is:

#2 — Ashley Cross!

She said:

“How fun and nice of her to help you with your first giveaway. I just love the The Lavery / Set of 50 Enclosure Cards/. I may buy them even if I don’t win.”

Congratulations, Ashley! I will give your e-mail address to Andrea, and she’ll get you those Lavery cards.

To everyone else, you can still get those cards and prints you want with a great perk. Andrea is offering free shipping for all you wonderful TPAW readers when you order by Aug. 31, 2010. Convo her on Etsy or e-mail her (BEFORE you place an order) at andrea.sandifer@yahoo.com, and mention this giveaway for the free shipping offer. Can she get any nicer?

***

I have so much to update you all on, but it will have to wait for another post. My doctor gave me strict orders today to do nothing and put my feet up and rest. I found out I’m already 1 cm dilated and 60 percent effaced! And I’m only 36 weeks tomorrow. This little girl may come earlier than we thought. JD and I are so excited, but of course, you never know what babies are going to do. We are, however, making sure our hospital bags are fully packed just in case.

Hope you all are having a great week!

We decided on the darker leaves so they would show up better on the wall

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway! Deadline is Tuesday, July 27.

So I can’t even tell you how excited I was when Andrea contacted me last week and said she wanted to help me with my first giveaway! She is a ridiculously talented graphic designer with the cutest shop on said Etsy called Paper Republic. I personally ♥ the monogrammed enclosure and note cards — the “Anderson” and “Slate Thanks” are two of my favs — and she has a whole new set of prints that I think would look fantastic in any room.

The "Anderson" -- photo courtesy of Paper Republic

And because she is so awesome, Andrea has agreed to give one lucky winner their choice of one item from her site! That’s right…YOU get to decide, peeps. All you have to do to enter this fabulous giveaway is visit her shop, come back to this post and leave a comment about which product you’d love to have as your very own. How easy is that?! Bloggers, if you mention this giveaway on your blogs, and let me know you did, I’ll count that as one entry as well.

I will randomly choose a winner Tuesday, July 27. That gives you a whole week to enter, and tell all of your friends and readers to do the same. I’ll even take more than one entry per person if you want to increase your chances with ol’ Lady Luck.

Many thanks to Andrea for sponsoring this giveaway! If you have any questions, please contact me at twopounds2@yahoo.com.

Best of luck, guys!

I do think we will have the room done before baby girl arrives. (Especially since I think “nesting” has kicked in for me a bit early.) There are just a few little odds and ends now that need to be placed or hung. I ordered this wall mural from Etsy yesterday, and I am beyond excited to see this latest addition to the “birdie” paradise.

They even used the bedding we have for the pic -- it was meant to be.

Have you bought anything from Etsy before? I couldn’t believe the amazing stuff they had. Some people are so creative. I made a “C” in home ec, so you can probably guess how crafty I am (not). We had to make a pair of pajama pants, and I think mine fell apart the first time I washed them. Ok, I’m lying…they fell apart BEFORE I washed them.

So what about my eating and exercise plan? Well, it’s been up and down. My appetite is all over the place right now. Some days, I have to force myself to eat, and others, I’m shoveling food in my mouth faster than Joey Chestnut. I have been eating more dark greens, red meat and beans to up my iron count. I made a really good tomato, corn and black bean salsa last week that I will share in another post.

And with extra weight on and a baby cutting off my air supply by snuggling down on my diaphragm, it has been difficult for me to do more than a few slow elliptical workouts or walks a week. But that’s still an effort, and with aching legs, no sleep at night, swelling like a blueberry and insane hot flashes, I’m pretty proud of myself for that.

I thought for sure when I found out I was pregnant that I would continue to count calories, and work out six days a week and become preggo of the year by the end of it. But as I’ve said before, I quickly learned that carrying a child is a roller coaster ride, both physically and emotionally. I know there are women out there that are running 5 miles a day while pregnant, but I’m not going to compare myself to them. I feel like I’ve done the best I can. I’ve resisted many, many bad cravings. I’ve given in to a few. I’ve worked out, and I haven’t. It’s all part of being human. And I’ve never claimed to be Wonder Woman. (Although I wouldn’t mind having her hot boots and supernatural capabilities. Ha ha!)

STATE OF THE BLOG

So, to switch topics here, I’ve been thinking about this little blog a lot lately. I know that I don’t update as often as I used to, and I do wonder how I’m going to write at all with a full-time job, a newborn and other duties of life going on. I’ve considered giving it up completely a few times, but then I go back to my first blog entry almost a year ago (July 29 is my blogiversary!), and I remember how excited I was to have an outlet to express how I was feeling through trying to lose weight. How encouraged I was when I received my first comment, and how humbled I was when people I never met before were supporting me (and still do!) like my own friends and family.

I may not have a million readers. I don’t have companies banging down my door to promo products on my site. I haven’t had a giveaway (yet). But I have made some wonderful friends and gained so much joy through my blogging experience. So for that, I thank you, and I will do my best to keep Two Pounds a Week afloat. I want more than ever to get to my goal weight, and be a healthy role model for my daughter, so I definitely need all the support I can get!

Did you get a sneak peak at the wall color in the picture? I absolutely love it. It goes beautifully with her bedding, and Terry did such a good job painting. There wasn’t a streak or bubble in sight.

I couldn’t get the best pictures since I didn’t have any natural light, but here’s another picture of the wall color. I’ll have to take some better ones in the daytime. I am absolutely in love with the birdhouse hanging in the corner! We are ordering a wall mural of a tree with birds flying around, and we thought this piece would be so cute with it.

We got the crib bedding washed and put on too. The toys and stuffed animals wanted to crash here for awhile until we find them a new pad. Ha ha!

I wish I could show you the wall art we made for her and hung over the changing table, but since it has her name on it, I’ll have to keep that piece a secret for a few more weeks.

The room is definitely a work in progress, but I’m so happy with the way it is turning out. I can’t wait to see it all finished!

It was back to work today, and the husband and I are exhausted after such a busy weekend. He fired up the grill for dinner, and I sauteed some fresh, organic spinach (good source of iron!) to go with our baja citrus chicken and sweet potato chips.

So good!

We took a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood after dinner. Tex was happy to get out and stretch his legs, as was his mom.

I’m off to finish cleaning up the kitchen and then it’s lights out for me. Hope you all have a great, healthy week!

We have been grilling a lot lately, mainly to keep the heat out of the house, and tonight was dubbed hot dog night. We saw organic, nitrate-free franks at Earth Fare and thought we’d try them out. Add an organic green salad with homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers, and an ear of our latest crop — corn! — and you’ve got an awesome, healthy summer meal.

What toppings do you like on your hot dogs? I love raw chopped onions on mine, plus organic ketchup and mustard. We bought some whole wheat buns at Earth Fare that are so delicious — soft and flavorful, and no artificial ingredients. I even ate one by itself with a salad last night for dinner. Ha ha!

I’ve been feeling so much better now that JD and I have been stocking up on more organic foods. I also cut out all artificial sweeteners when I found out I was pregnant, and I can definitely feel a huge difference. I rarely have headaches like I used to, and my skin looks and feels a lot healthier. No Diet Cokes in my future!

Speaking of drinks, I’ve been craving slushies like mad this past week. I did give in and get a lemon real fruit slush from Sonic, but then I thought about all the crap and sugar that’s in it, and decided to make my own. So into the blender went several handfuls of ice, some Simply Lemonade (made with all-natural ingredients) and a bag of these:

Plus the “meat” from half of this:

Blend

And down the hatch it goes! Real ingredients, and around 100 calories for an 8-ounce glass. JD REALLY  liked these…I think he polished off the rest of the mix within a day. Ha ha!

So what else? Well, I went to see my doctor yesterday, and I found out I’m slightly anemic. From what I understand, it’s pretty common in pregnancy because of the increased blood supply the baby needs. I have to get my iron count up by my 36th week of pregnancy (tomorrow I’m 32 weeks), or I have to start taking pills. So lots of dark, leafy greens, beans and a little more red meat will be incorporated into more of our meals. Even if that means turning on the stove.

I am so psyched that this weekend is a long one! My brother-in-law is going to paint the nursery for us Saturday, and Sunday, we’re having a 4th of July BBQ with our families. I still can’t believe the year is half over…and that I’m going to be a mom in 8 weeks!

Hope you all are having a great week! Do those of you celebrating the 4th have big plans?

Reader Andrea left me an awesome zucchini recipe recently that I can’t wait to try. As soon as I get some bread crumbs and parmesan, I may just be cooking once again!

I was craving spaghetti Monday night, but didn’t feel like boiling noodles. So I decided roasted veggies would be the perfect base. I even cracked open a new pasta sauce I got from EarthFare (the best store in the world. I’m so in love.) It had all-natural ingredients, and no high fructose corn syrup. I really liked this marinara!

I browned some lean, organic turkey with onion and added it to the sauce. Plus a few shakes of oregano and basil.

And scooped some over zucchini and squash straight from the oven.

Sprinkled with some organic cheddar. So good, and even better the next day at lunch!

I couldn’t bring myself to heat up the house again, so the past two nights, I’ve made my go-to staple — organic eggs. Only a couple of minutes on the stove, and dinner is served.

With whole wheat toast frosted with a little bit of cream cheese and organic strawberry conserves. Plus, more veggies from our garden:

Cucumbers with a dollop of ranch for dipping

I guess this may be a strange combo, but it sure was delicious. And my air conditioning isn’t about to have a stroke.

My sweet husband is on his way home as we speak from DC, so I’m going to spruce the house — and myself — up a bit before he gets here. Hope you all are having a great week, and are staying cool.

P.S. — I’m 31 weeks today — only 9 more to go!