The nursery

The nursery is ALMOST finished! We just need to pick up a few last items and we'll be ready! Only thing missing is the baby boy!
(He'll be here soon enough!)

The entrance to the nursery.

Crib with banyan tree (thanks Liz!) We're still missing the mattress, but baby boy will sleep in the Pack n' Play in our bedroom for awhile...

We plan to get a rocking chair where that little rocker is currently.

Changing table (still missing the changing pad). And car seat waiting to be put in the car.

Nappy bag packed and ready to go to the hospital!

Look how many books he already has!

A baby Fu & Beckaboo :)

Keeping busy in week 36 of pregnancy!

This staycation is turning out better than I expected! I've already been hugely productive and I still have an entire week before I head back to work!
Today's project was making a birthing necklace & bracelet. I got together with some friends a few weeks ago and everyone brought a bead to add to a birthing necklace that I can wear during labor & delivery in order hold the positive presence of my friends with me...
Because of the diversity of the beads, I decided to make both a necklace and a bracelet. I also added some beads, like some garnets, which will be our Kebob's birth stone (as long as he's born in January!)
I used to make TONS of jewelry as a hobby so going to the bead shop and making these pieces reminded me of how much I love to be creative in this way!

Some of the ladies who brought beads for the necklace...

Here's how they turned out! I really love them!
Necklace beads from Abby, Sue & Sallyanne
Bracelet beads from Liz, Yara, Sara & Lianne along with some garnets and a few beads I had from Guinea. 

This week I also got a few packages from back home! It's always exciting to open a package, but when it comes all the way from America with special hand-written letters, mixed tape cd's and thought out gifts for our little one...it's even more special.

I keep listening to this song that my friend Dayna put on a playlist for us...songs that she shared with her little boys that I will now share with our little boy...

This past week we also had some maternity photos taken. We decided to have them taken at our house, because we live in a beautiful home and wanted to celebrate it. My friend Liz did some henna on my belly and I used a sari that I got while Fuad & I were in Mumbai to drape around my body...my favorites are the ones taken in the nursery. Here are a few of our favorites...

Things are going well! 

Christmas Staycation in Chiang Mai

Last year we spent Christmas in Hawaii with my parents...

And the year before (2010) we spent Christmas in Bali on our Honeymoon...

Christmas 2008 I spent Christmas day giving to the children and young people at the Fore-Fote drum & dance camp on the island of Roume, Guinea, West Africa...Here they are lined up to receive what the foreigners had brought them.

I've been away from home during the Holidays...but for some reason I'm having a bit of a hard time with spending Christmas here in our home away from home in Chiang Mai. Temperatures are still reaching up to 90 degrees almost everyday, I haven't bought a single gift and it just doesn't feel like Christmas...

So even though we're not traveling (can't travel anyway at 35 weeks pregnant!) and we're not going to be able to spend time with family, we do have a lot to do during this 2 week staycation...like the final preparations for the arrival of our son!

Some of the to-do list includes:

Pack the hospital bag

Tour the hospital

Put the car seat in the car

Hang curtains in the nursery

Make my birthing necklace

Finish setting up the guest room for my folks arrival on Feb. 1st.

I'd also like to put my feet up, read some books and watch some movies!

We also have a priority to spend as much time together as possible, because come late January, almost everything is going to change...

Family picture from Christmas 2009, the last Christmas we spent in the Mid-west.

It's almost time for his arrival...

I feel a blog post coming on...not sure what I want to say, but there's something inside turning & brewing...there's some contemplation going on...some simmering as well...

We're at 34 1/2 weeks now and it truly feels like the weeks are passing faster & faster. As we approach the end of pregnancy I've found myself wishing I had been more active journaling & blogging the entire process. I've been reading so many mommy & parenting blogs and I can relate to their pregnancy journey, but I haven't found the time to document mine in such detail...

Here's a blog I stumbled upon recently, and couldn't stop reading her heartfelt wishes for her un-born daughter...and there's others with more practical information like this one or a fellow yogini mommy whose posts are short and almost always sweet.

What do I want to communicate & remember about this process of growing our little Kebob in my belly? There have been so many hopes & fears along the way, and it's still not over... I know that they won't subside until he's safely delivered into our arms. And then...a whole new set of hopes & fears will become present!

I want to remember the conversations that Fuad & I have shared in preparing for Kebob's arrival....discussions about the "what if's" and how we perceive our lives to change once he arrives. 

I want to remember that this baby boy took 10 flights in utero! He's already a world traveler! I want to remember how my students want to sing hello to him during our hello song in music class....and all the kicks & turns & hiccups that remind me he's growing strong in there...

I'd like to forget that I'm not that pregnant lady who feels fantastic and full of energy...I feel huge, my ankles and hands are puffy, I'm HOT all the time and I'm tired everyday because I'm no longer sleeping through the night!

But...even with the difficulties that pregnancy brings, I know the joy we'll feel on the flip side will make every ache and pain disappear...I'm looking forward to our meeting more & more with each passing day.