I tried thinking of a hostess gift to give to my sister for throwing Michael’s baby shower, so I stalked her Pinterest boards to see what she would like. I came across a framed button monogram and decided to make her a button Mickey.

Necessities: a frame, buttons, scrapbook paper, hot glue gun.

I cut the scrapbook paper to fit the frame then traced kitchen cups to make perfect circles for Mickey’s face and ears. After gluing a few buttons on I nearly gave up. It looked terrible with the glue coming through the button holes and the strings from the glue were hard to deal with.

But I stuck with it and at the end, wiped away as many glue strings as possible. It turned out alright!

How Far Along: 31 weeks. Holy smokes, the weekly countdown is in the single digits.

Size of baby: A pineapple. He’s delicious.

Sleep: Same. I’ve been really lucky to still get comfortable besides some bathroom interruptions.

Symptoms: A wee bit sleepy this week but still getting things done around the house.

Cravings: A chicken ceasar salad sounded good for dinner. A bunch of things taste weird to me again so if I don’t like dinner, my go-to meal is cheerios.

Gender: Sonny boy!

Movement: I started feeling him kick my ribs but it isn’t painful. One time he was pushing up in one spot, so I pushed back and he gave me 5 quick jabs as a response. I think we have a secret code now.

Maternity Clothes: I’m wearing maternity pants and a mix of regular and maternity shirts.

Best Moments this week: I felt his hiccups for the first time.

Worst Moment this week: Paco’s poop was runny again and the vet asked us to bring a fresh stool sample in. And ya know, because cats poop on command this was really easy. I spent 5 hours guarding the litter box one day and he never went in it before the vet office closed. Oh well, the situation has resolved itself and he seems back to normal.

Funny Moment: We took a birthing class and Bob had to practice coaching me through a 60 second contraction. He was doing well whispering how to breathe. I was quite relaxed. Then he whispered in my ear “You’re probably going to poop on yourself“. And it took all of my willpower to not go into silent/ ugly whooping laugh.

What I’m looking forward to: My sister is visiting for a week in June! I pretty much get to make her my minion, so what projects should I give her to do while I’m at work?

Milestones: Finished our birthing class and hospital tour. I’ll also consider my belly button being an innie and no stretch marks yet to be a milestone as well. Be good to me, Mikey! And Bob told me that he frequently forgets I’m pregnant. I’ll take this as a compliment that I have been completely sane and rational so far.

Dreams: Zach Braff and I were hanging out with a ton of people and he suddenly started to brush his teeth with a pink toothbrush while simultaneously trying to order pizzas for everybody.

I was walking along a sandbar and big waves swept me out into the ocean. I was able to swim back and seek shelter in a beach house until a storm passed. The very next night I had a similar dream, but Bob was with me and wouldn’t let go of my hand as the waves swept us away from shore. After we made it back to land, some college kids were running a Christmas-themed gameshow that we participated in to win gift certificates to local restaurants.

Here is the 31 week belly shot.

I had a lovely time back in Rochester 2 weeks ago and realized it is the simplest things that make me happy. To start off the trip, these lovely ladies greeted arriving passengers at an airport gate. One fella played an upbeat diddy on the guitar and the ladies loudly exclaimed “Welcome to Denver!” It was Delta airline’s Day of Caring to benefit cancer research. They made me smile pretty big.

Doctor Mom got out her stethoscope to see if she could hear Michael’s heart beat. For a simple device, it took us a while to figure out how to use it.

Sitting on the porch doing nothing. If daddy papa is playing a Neil Diamond song on the guitar, even better. (Happy Birthday to dad today!)

Knighthawks Lacrosse! Champions 2 years in a row now- HOORAY!

Cottage camp fires with about 15 family members.

Fishing with daddy papa and Mina. Even if she caught more fish than I did.

Fairly typical moments with these weirdos.

If Bob were there, a girl couldn’t ask for a better weekend.

Mother’s day included breakfast in bed (at 12:00 pm), two loads of laundry washed and put away, house dusted, and a grilled steak and veggie kabob dinner. Followed by dinner dishes getting washed and angel food cake for dessert. That Bob is one lucky fella to have me around to do that stuff for him!

When he did roll out of bed after noon, he helped with yard work for two whole hours. It became quite obvious that he didn’t grow up in a garden.

Rather than set the dirt aside in the garden, he threw it on the concrete steps and had to scrape it back down to the garden. No big deal, I was happy he helped.

He also was unaware of the tiny dwarf roses that are all around the garden. No big deal, I was happy he helped.

He dug up a snapdragon to plant the rhododendron. No big deal, I was happy he helped.

Also, I have the best mom in the world. She rocked me AND her grandson at the same time.

How Far Along: 30 weeks, 75% done!

Size of baby: A cucumber. At my appointment last week he weighed 3.2 lbs and his head measured in the 95th percentile so I’m pretty sure he’s a brainiac. The rest of him averaged in the 50th percentile so we might have a smart alien-looking baby in our arms.

Sleep: Belly and back. Getting up about 3 times a night to go to the bathroom.

Symptoms: I’ve pin-pointed my heartburn and it is the worst when I eat almonds. Figures, my go-to snack while I’m at work, which is actually healthy, causes me discomfort. Random braxton hicks contractions but nothing of concern.

Cravings: Nothing.

Gender: Sonny boy!

Movement: Since I got back from Rochester last week he’s been moving like crazy. I see my belly twitch more and more now too. Bob has been able to feel him move almost every night now.

Maternity Clothes: I’m wearing maternity pants and a mix of regular and maternity shirts.

Best Moments this week: We got to see him on an ultrasound again and he’s still healthy. Also found out I do not need a C-section so hooray! We didn’t get a good glimpse of his face though so we can’t tell whose nose he will inheret.

Worst Moment this week: I was looking for new shirts at Target and saw one I kind of liked. I grabbed the first shirt on the rack and held it up for a better look and it happened to be a size XS. An 8ish year old girl nearby exclaimed loudly to her mom: “Mom! That lady picked up a shirt in MY size!”. For some reason it really bothered me and it took some restraint to not slap my large hand across her extra small face.

Funny Moment: I was planting in the veggie garden and Bob put Shemp next to me to wander around while I worked. I put a small worm on a stepping stone for him to play with, which he ignored. I forgot I put it there and sat on it a few minutes later. Sorry fella, it was a terrible way to die.

What I’m looking forward to: Bob and I signed up for a birthing class next weekend. I’m interested to see how many times he scrunches up his face during uncomfortable moments.

Bob’s sister made us three boppy pillow covers. I made Bob test them out with Shemp. Perfection! Thanks, Leah!

Milestones: I brought a lot of stuff back from the shower in Rochester and hung up all of his clothes and put other stuff away that he received. Planted flowers in hanging baskets and more veggies in the garden.

Dreams: Bob and his friends Jesse and Ben decided to make upscale bars in people’s homes and they wanted to make the bars using recycled and reclaimed wood. So they hung out under the Irondequoit Bay bridge and collected anything that washed ashore.

I let Paco and Shemp outside to explore the backyard while I watered flowers. I suddenly saw a honey badger picking a fight with my sweet Paco. And I kept trying to shoo the honey badger away but he wouldn’t leave. Then I tried to reason with him by saying “I know you don’t care because you’re a honey badger, but you can’t hurt my cat!”. Yeah, that youtube narration made it into my dream.

Here is the 30 week belly shot.