Mother's Day is SO much better

Just kidding. But since there were mixed reviews as to my right to celebrate Mother's Day this year (I personally think that, once you've experienced your first cankle as a result of pregnancy, you have the right to celebrate ALL day long), I'll pretend these are begrudging Happy Father's Day wishes to my dad, my brother, and the guy who gets to listen to me complaining about how itchy my stomach is for at least 8 hours/day. Just kidding, Christopher - as I told him last night, he can have anything and everything he wants from the McDonald's $1 menu on Sunday morning. Go crazy!

As usual, a few photos to update the status of the house progress. Despite a glitch yesterday with the county that will cause a few days' delay (they really are very fond of their red tape), the guys have made a lot of progress this week. We now have windows, for example. And a bathtub upstairs. And dry-walling/painting/etc. should be starting next week. We'll be picking out our paint colors tomorrow, which should be a fun exercise in "things you never, ever, EVER thought you would enjoy when you were 22 but now constitutes the highlight of your weekend". We're talking a grayish-blue for the nursery, but if this kid doesn't learn some restraint before tomorrow (I'm honestly not sure WHEN he sleeps anymore), I may welcome him to this world with florescent fuschia walls. Don't mess with a tired, itchy mom, Sparky. You just don't want to go there.

I wish I had pictures of the weather yesterday, as we (and the rest of the country, it seems) are in the middle of a bizarre weather pattern. I sat in one of our conference rooms and watched the sky turn from clear blue to gray clouds in no more than 5 minutes before it poured horizontal rain for the next 10. There have been pretty frequent tornado watches and warnings in the area, which is, of course, old hat for a girl from Kansas, but it's unusual weather for DC. The flash flooding we've experienced pales in comparison to that wrecking Europe (and Prague, in particular - oh does that take me back to 2002 :)), but it's been pretty intense, regardless.

So, 34 weeks and counting. I did get straight A's at my check-up yesterday. My brother will be disappointed to learn that I don't appear to be headed the way of Kim Kardashian (for my parents, she has been compared to Shamu the Whale and is due around the same time as me), but I AM experiencing more ankle swelling these days, which is 100% awesomeness all the time. But looking good, Sparky. Just keep yourself in check for another 5 or 6 weeks - we're not quite ready for you!

Starting to look like a normal house. A house whose owner has zero taste in paint color, but a house nonetheless.

I've tried to convince Christopher that we don't need siding and paint and all of that crap. Dare to be different! But he doesn't seem to be buying what I'm selling.

Looking toward the back of the house, view into the nursery.

Toward the front of the house, the girls' rooms. Molly on the left, Abbey on the right.

Yes, I'm that annoying cat-lady, but I know that Nathan, at least, appreciates Maya.

Clouds this morning (view out of my office window). Not nearly as threatening as they were yesterday, but still stormy.