ancestry.com addiction while I wait for baby

Well, I am officially on maternity leave from Amgen and have started what feels like a new job.. ancestry.com researcher (Senior Associate).  I told Tim that when I go into labor, he is going to literally rip my hands off the keyboard and drag me to the hospital.  What started as a simple project to look at family names, possible inspiration for baby names, has turned into a full on research project, going beyond documents found on the websites, to DVRing 3 hour long documentaries on US history in the 30's to fill in blanks in my research.. to say I am obsessed is an understatement!  One huge highlight has been getting in touch with one of my mom's long lost cousins in Canada! She has pictures of her mom and my grandfather and their parents!  Its really incredible.. and my mom's side has really been quite a mystery and fully of family treasures that are slowing being reveled.  As of right now, I know our little girl has lots of Irish blood from both sides of the family, Italian blood, French blood, and close roots to Canada and America's Midwest farm lands in Iowa and Indiana.  I am also getting quite the history lesson trying to piece together bits of information I am finding.  Who knew maternity leave would fly by so fast by my new obsession.. now I just need to pack my hospital bag (has been on the "baby to do list" for well over a month now) ....I just need to bring myself to part from my ancestry workstation here!

Aside from little kick, jabs and various baby body rolls of sorts, my body is still feeling pretty "normal" (for being pregnant, that is).  I was wondering what it was going to feel like days before my due date, but really, not much has changed.  In fact, now that I have stopped working (my paid day job that is) the Braxton Hicks "practice" contractions have stopped and I am feeling much more "normal" no real signs or indications that labor is impending anytime soon.  Miss Elle is loving having me home and we are both enjoying our daily walks, playing at the park, and many many daytime naps.  All in all, I am trying to relax, breathe, contain my overwhelming excitement and enjoy this quiet time before our little girl arrives.

Papier- Mache Hot Air Balloon Project

Thanks to a charming Martha Stewart craft project baby's nursery is now complete with flying hot air balloons!

31 Weeks UltraSound

34 week update

Originally I was thinking it would be fun to blog every few weeks about the pregnancy, but in reality, been fun to just enjoy it, and forgot blogging.  I have a few pregnancy journals that I have been keeping up on, and its crazy to read all the changes since the beginning!

I have to say that my employer, Amgen has been amazing during my pregnancy!  The fitness director put a prenatal yoga class on the group fitness calender a few weeks after I requested it, and really supported the idea!  It feels so great to work for a company that truly cares about the well being of its employees. The class ended  few weeks ago, and the yoga teacher was also Tim and my childbirth class instructor (those classes also offered on Amgen's campus).

My tennis league ended a few weeks ago, and (ironically) I had been playing the best tennis the further and further my pregnancy got!  I think the extra belly weight got my momentum going fast to get short shots I typically wouldn't have gotten to.  Since tennis is done, I am thinking about finding the biggest bathing suit ever and swimming a bit with Tim... hopefully the other "serious" swimmers don't mind the slow moving, kick board using, bright purple swim cap and goggle wearing, prego lady in the lanes next to them.

But, enough about me, here's what we know so far about HER, courteous of our favorite ultrasound tech, Paula (P.S. strike one for mother's intuition on the gender).

• 26 percentile for size, Dr. is estimating weight at delivery: 6lbs 12 oz (on the petite side, which is A-okay with me)
• My nose
• Tim's long second toe (passed down from a long line of Malone's with the same) 
• Tim's long legs (well, this one hasn't actually been confirmed.. or even suggested for that matter, but I'd like to think so)
• Large patch of hair at back of head,  a.k.a peach fuzz mullet
• In the "ready position" (head down, chin down)
• Favorite yoga moves: blissful baby and double pigeon

... but enough about HER, back to ME. Fun facts about this stage of the pregnancy:

• Swollen feet
• Cankles like I have never seen before
• Running into things with belly
• Washing dishes standing at an angle
• Feel like a rotisserie chicken at night, turning from side to side
• Pregnancy shirts are starting to look like crop tops
• Oompa Loompa, doom-pa-dee-do days, quite frequently
• Loving that perfect strangers smile at me constantly and wishing their heartfelt congratulations
• She thinks its hilarious to start kicking while I am practically asleep in savasana
• She will follow my iphone light with kicks and punches when I move around my belly 

Before Tim's work holiday party