When you have a minion for a week, I suggest taking full advantage. For example: make said minion push your cart just because you can. This isn’t exactly a chore because Amanda and I actually love to grocery shop.

You should also make your minion build furniture so you don’t have to get frustrated following directions and somehow end up with extra screws and pieces.

It is important to take care of your minion. If you make her pick up dog poop, you better treat her well or that dog poop could easily end up in your pillowcase. So, each day I planned an adventure for her.

Day 1 we went to the Denver Zoo where I made her pose like this because the animal name made me giggle like a 14 year old.

Then we got ice cream.

On day 2 we went on Banjo Billy’s bus tour of Boulder and she was so excited to ride on this hick bus.

She was even more excited to ride in the saddle seat the whole time. Yeeehaw!

Then we went to Ben & Jerry’s for ice cream.

On day 3 we went to old town Louisville for lunch and to walk around because it is a charming old town. Then we got ice cream. I was supposed to go to a first aid class this night so I dropped Amanda off at a local mall that has a Disney store and Crocs store so she was happy. Class got cancelled after I already showed up in the classroom, so I met up with her at the mall for shopping.

On day 4 I took her mini golfing. You’d think that we’d be better at putting considering we worked at a golf club for at least 6 years and got free golf. But no. Where did your ball go Amanda?

That’s right. Alligator pond in Pirate Land.

After golf I took her to 3 Margaritas for…FRIED ice cream! And two other desserts and a margarita.

On day 5 we went for a pedicure at a local beauty school. I’ve never had a pedicure before, and still don’t think I did! My beautician rubbed lotion on my feet and painted my toes and that was it. I think (s)he was afraid of inducing labor by hitting pressure points on my feet. My beautician had a dark ponytail and long speckled pink nails. I thought she was a slightly chubby homely girl until I noticed a 5 o’clock shadow. And he spoke about 3 octaves lower than me.

Also on day 5 we saw a movie called Spirit of the Marathon (my minion’s one and only request) so I obliged. Of course we got ice cream before this.

On day 6 she drove into Boulder with me and I told her to take a hike. I was sick of her. Seriously, I dropped her off at Mount Sanitas trailhead at 6:00am and said “It goes in a loop, you’ll find your way!” (She got a little lost. oops). Then I drove away and went to work. When she finished her hike I gave her a map of stores to check out in Boulder and told her to keep walkin’ since I still had to work. Then we got ice cream.

On day 7 we went on a tour of Celestial Seasonings Tea factory. We got to wear hairnets and sample over 90 types of tea. I don’t like tea, but minion does.

And I saved the best ice cream place for last: Glacier Ice Cream. I forewarned Amanda that all flavours were amazing and she HAD to ask for at least 3 samples before deciding on a flavour. Know how many she sampled? At least 7. She wanted everything.

Between outings I taught her how to cook several new meals that are easy to freeze and prepare ahead of time. Amanda loved trying the new meals at dinnertime because we have a tradition in our home: Shemp joins us for dinner. I call him the professor because he has great posture and is very polite. I want to put a bowtie on him.

Shemp knows which chair is his and politely sits in it while we eat and hopes we share some food with him. Amanda referred to him as our “mystery dinner guest” and snuck him food.

Thanks, Amanda for all of the help around the house!

Size of baby: A coconut.

Sleep: Still on my belly and back without any pillows.

Symptoms: It seems like my belly grows an inch a day. I also feel like I might be retaining more water because my face seems extra puffy these days. Although my wedding ring still fits so perhaps the swelling isn’t all that bad. Or it is all in my head.

Cravings: Nothing. But with my sister in town we had ice cream daily so she could try local places.

Gender: Sonny boy!

Movement: Yes but smaller movements because he’s crammed.

Maternity Clothes: A mix of both. The skirt in the photo below is a regular skirt from Target.

Best Moments this week: My sister was in town to babysit me in case I went into early labour while Bob was out of town. I got to go on many new adventures with her! This will be a whole new post in itself. Amanda even made me a hospital gown!

Worst Moment this week: Bob was at the WWDC conference for 6 days. Just think “Apple Developer Nerd-Fest”. I missed him.

Funny Moment: Wellesley had just eaten poop outside, then came inside and burped in Amanda’s face. She wasn’t very happy about that.

What I’m looking forward to: Monsters University comes out on Friday. You betcha Bob and I will be there on opening day!

Milestones: Amanda sewed sailboats for Michael’s mobile.

Dreams: Something about having a celebration for my cousin Carolyn on a yacht driven by actress Sarah Hyland from Modern Family.

Here is the 35 week belly shot.

Do you see the hilarity of this photo? She’s hard at work picking up stinky dog poop on a hot day. At this moment, she was unaware that Coda was droppin’ a load of fresh nuggets directly behind her. Keep it classy, Coda.

Smear peanut butter in the cat’s fur.

Then send in the dogs and let the dogs bathe the cat for you!

Shemp’s bath was complete within moments and we had two very happy dogs and one mildly annoyed cat.

In case any dummies need a disclaimer, of course this isn’t recommended for every cat and dog. We know their personalities and they all love each other. Don’t blame me if you try this with an aggressive dog that eats your timid cat.

Size of baby: A butternut squash. At my appointment he was measuring 1.5 weeks ahead of schedule but that certainly doesn’t mean he’ll grace us with his presence early. And it could have just been his position for the day.

Sleep: Same.

Symptoms: Nothing for me, but Paco has changed. He’s been so needy and clingy lately. I think he realizes his time as my favourite child is coming to an end and he will be bumped to 2nd place in a few weeks.

Bob’s new App t-shirt. He has 6 of these, so he no longer wears a LoHi Labs t-shirt every day. I get a variety of 2 different shirts now!

Cravings: Nothing.

Gender: Sonny boy!

Movement: He’s been way up in my ribs this week but that is ok because he helps me improve my posture when he stays there.

Maternity Clothes: A mix of both.

Best Moments this week: I told Bob that baby can recognize simple songs now. He rested his head on my belly and sang You are my Sunshine to Michael. Amanda is in town now and we haven’t murdered each other.

Worst Moment this week: Nothing.

Funny Moment: I took a CPR course at the hospital and told Bob about it when I got home.

Me: If you’re doing CPR correctly you need to realize you’ll break ribs.

Bob: Eeeek! I don’t think I can do that.

Me: So if your options are to let someone die or break their ribs, you’d want them to die?

Bob: I just… I can’t…break ribs?!

Worth Noting: My boss had a low-key shower for me on Friday with just the girls in my department. Megan was so sweet to make this blanket in the colours of Michael’s nursery. She even put sailboats on it! SO incredibly thoughtful.

What I’m looking forward to: July.

Milestones: I got certified in CPR.

Dreams: Mariah Carey wanted to look like a domestic diva and wanted to impress people with homemade frosted cookies. I had to make the cookies for her and she pretended she made them.

Here is the 34 week belly shot. He’s really making himself known this week:

After the fellas were wet, stinky, and tuckered out we drove into Rocky Mountain National park to cook lunch over a fire pit near Sprague Lake. I pre-made pizza bagels wrapped in foil and Bob had burgers.

I know what the observant folks are thinking. “Two pizza bagels and four burgers for just the two of you?!”. We fully spoiled the dogs on this particular day so they of course got hamburgers for themselves.

Sprague Lake was peaceful and quiet.

Well, peaceful and quiet until a moose wandered within 30 yards of the picnic area and Coda urgently alerted everybody that we had a large animal near us.

On Memorial Day I wanted to check out Boulder Creek Festival. Each year there are vendors and rides but I really wanted to see the rubber duckies race down the creek. Event organizers release around 10,000 sponsored and numbered yellow ducks and they race down the creek for prizes. I was positive the duck race was at 10am so we left early to find parking. This took a while because the Bolder Boulder race was going on and 40,000 runners caused most of the streets to be shut down.

We finally got to the festival site and saw this:

Have you ever seen carnival rides shut down and silent? Kinda creepy. I misread the duck race start time and it wouldn’t be for several hours later so we hung out long enough for a fried dough stand to open then went home.

Size of baby: A durian. What the?! Anywhere from 4.5-5.5 lbs and 17-18″ long.

Sleep: Same. Up for the bathroom every 2 hours though.

Symptoms: Nothing new. Still easy breezy!

Cravings: I don’t know if ice cream counts because I ate it a few nights a week before the baby was in my belly.

Gender: Sonny boy!

Movement: Yup. He had a very lazy day on Thursday which worried me, but my personal on-call 24 hour nurse told me it was normal.

Maternity Clothes: Both. The shirt and sweater in the photos are both regular tops. I wore this outfit during my 6 week photo. Big difference!

Best Moments this week: Forgot to include this last week. I found a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag in a thrift store for $9.99. Actual retail value: $200.00! I snagged it and will re-sell it.

Worst Moment this week: Bob has a lot of work on his plate so I haven’t been able to get him to help with the nursery. I guess I’d rather him work like crazy now so he can spend more time with Michael when he arrives. And so help me if anybody asks him to work within 7 days of his son’s birth.

Funny Moment: We had our friends and their kiddos over for dinner. I filled water balloons and told 2 1/2 year old Liam to help me water the roses by throwing water balloons at them. He loved it and was giggling so hard and couldn’t get enough of it! He also LOVED chasing Shemp around and Shemp actually didn’t mind and seemed to enjoy the attention.

What I’m looking forward to: Amanda comes to visit next week and Bob and I are taking her to the zoo. And leaving her there. We’ve never been to the Denver zoo so it will be a fun adventure for us!

Milestones: All of the bottles are in the kitchen cabinet now. I washed the crib bedding and all of his clothes and arranged them by size in his closet. Hospital bag is packed. I mowed the lawn and people wonder why I’m still doing that when I’m 8 months along. I’m pregnant, not disabled and my husband has been busy working so I like to help him out while I still can.

Dreams: Bob rented a $3000/ month apartment in Manhattan on the Hudson river. We looked out the window and saw a stolen seaplane land in the river and the fugitive swam to shore next to our building. Bob went outside to check out the commotion and I was worried the fugitive would hurt him.

Dreamt the baby was weighing in at 13 pounds and we still had 7 weeks of growing to do. I told the nurse it was impossible because I still use 8 pound kid’s bowling balls when I go bowling so there is no way I could carry a 13 pound baby.

Here is the 33 week belly shot. P.S. One of my co-workers didn’t know I was pregnant until a week ago and seemed genuinely shocked to find out. Do I really just look fat?

When my sister and I were little, we would ride our bikes over to grandma and grandpa’s cottage to deliver hand-picked flowers and in return we were given lemonade and offered sandwiches. One day we found a few shiny, three-pointed green beads with a hole in the middle underneath the maple tree in their yard. With no explanation for how the beads got there, Amanda and I concluded that the beads grew on the tree and fell from the branches. When we looked up at the branches and couldn’t find any beads we logically decided it was because the tree was magical. Over the next few visits to their cottage we found even more beads on the ground so we collected as many as we could find.

We realize now, many years later, that it was grandma and grandpa tossing beads underneath the tree for us to find. This special couple gave us an amazing family and made us believe in magical trees.

Happy anniversay, grandma and grandpa! We love you so much!

Size of baby: A squash. Which is fitting because he’s starting to get squashed in my belly.

Sleep: Same! Bob tells me I should probably stop sleeping on my belly. Doctor says I can keep sleeping on my belly as long as it is comfortable. If it doesn’t hurt me, it won’t hurt the baby. I’m listening to the doctor.

Symptoms: An expanding belly. My sense of smell is sensitive again.

Cravings: Nothing really. I get full really fast now since there isn’t much room for food to go.

Gender: Sonny boy!

Movement: Lots. He even makes my laptop move when I rest it on my belly. Here he is with the hiccups and making my belly dance.

Belly Bumpin from Bob Spryn on Vimeo.

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

Best Moments this week: We packed up the dogs and ventured out to Estes Park dog park so they could swim and play. Then we went to Rocky Mountain National Park and Bob cooked us pizza bagels and burgers over a picnic area fire pit. It was nice being in the fresh mountain air all day.

Worst Moment this week: Bob was out of town for 2 nights so I didn’t sleep very well.

Funny Moment: Bob crawled into bed after midnight one night and kissed my cheek and said goodnight. I usually sleep through this ritual, but I woke up and said “Why did you put nail polish remover on your face?” He had just put a cough drop in his mouth but I am still convinced it smelled like nail polish remover.

What I’m looking forward to: Being done with work for 2 months.

Milestones: Made a list of meals so I can try freezer cooking. General never-ending yard work.

Dreams: All of my childhood photos of my friends and I turned into goth photos. We were still elementary-school age, but our faces were very white with heavy black eyeliner around our eyes.

Fruit trees were in my front yard and the fruit was already bunched up and bagged and hanging from branches. It naturally grew that way. I wanted an apple so I pulled down a 3lb bag of apples.

Here is the 32 week belly shot.

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!