7 more weeks!

These past 2 weeks have been great!  The weekend before last we had an awesome baby shower.  Britt from Paul's lab group hosted it complete with great brunch food and a lot of people from ETH.  We are so thankful to have so much support around and know life here would be so much more difficult for us without them around.  We got really nice gifts and had a great time mingling with everyone.

The next Monday Paul and I both took off work.  We woke up early and made our way to IKEA a few minutes after they opened.  I look forward to these times because I have a good idea of what we are getting so I can just throw things in the cart and shopping for so much is so fun.  In less than 2 hours we picked up all the baby furniture, baby things, and a little bit of Christmas decorations.  Then we picked up an IKEA van and while Paul picked up the crib from the warehouse I picked up a small baby swing/seat that was on sale from ToysRUs.  We made it home super fast and easy which was so awesome compared to the last time we tried to find our way home, and we dropped off the van within 1 hour so it was super cheap with our IKEA Family card- ha!  We had lunch there and made our way back into town for more errands- applied for Swiss drivers licenses and started the renewal process for our residence permits.  One full day but it was SO productive.

We got our licenses a couple days later so now we can still drive in Switzerland next year.  Who knows if I'll ever drive but it's nice to have and never expires!  One night during the week I put together the storage chest for our room and Paul put together the side table/cabinet thingy that now holds our internet and desk/extra things in the living room.  Tues night we 'babysat' Lizzie which basically just involved sitting in our apartment listening to the baby monitor just in case she woke up next door- which she never did- until Robert and Kerstin got home from a concert.  Wed night/Thurs morning we did not have a toilet and that was NOT fun.  Luckily Robert and Kerstin gave us a key to their place and we used it before we went to bed and unfortunately I needed it at 2 am- thanks to baby pressure.  :)  They said everything should be finished by Fri but we wouldn't be surprised if it lasted until next week.  I just hope it gets finished asap because half of our apartment is not useable and filthy which is not ideal.  This was our 'Mexican prison cell' of a bathroom (as Paul says) for awhile but now it at least has some tile in it...

Friday at work I actually went with a couple of the guys I work with down into the shop area where the tanks are built and we tested the software I've been developing on one of the guns.  For the huge changes I've integrated it worked pretty well but there are still some small bugs to work out.  The main point was that the gun tracked where we told it to go and was able to change modes.  It was a really great feeling but it made me miss the flight simulators even more- I love planes so much more than guns.

This past weekend was great too!  I dont sleep in like I used to for some reason so by 8:30 on Sat we were up.  We put the dresser/changing table together and then the place looked like a disaster area.  So it was great to put the clothes somewhere other than our couch and I organized for the rest of the day.  The apartment looks SO much better and it is making me a lot more excited!  The next thing will be to get rid of the desk so we can put the crib together and we will be finished!  That night we went next door for St. Martins Feast- basically a 4 kg goose and other German side dishes complete with dessert.  We had a fun night with Robert, Kerstin, a French guy, and 2 Georgians (the country) and it is always so great to be able to walk across the hall and be home.  Sunday was a beautiful day so we walked around downtown, listened to some bands by the lake, I splurged on a 8 SFr Starbucks frappuccino while Paul got himself a brat and bread from a 'famous' stand.  Nice and relaxing day.

Only 2 and a half weeks left of work and then things will start happening fast I think.  We still have a few things we need to feel completely ready for the little guy's arrival but we're getting there.  One important piece is insurance.  It's not as easy as we thought it was going to be so now we have to start searching.  Not fun but a necessity.  Anyway, here is a picture of what I've been addicted to lately- I never knew how amazing these things were and when it's made especially to be sold in Switzerland the chocolate melts in your fingers and mouth... soooo amazing.  :)

9 week countdown!

Sorry it's been so long.  Life is chugging along and we are trying to enjoy our last couple months of 'just us' as much as possible.  I'm at 31 weeks now and time feels like it is flying by.  It's getting hard for me to roll around and get out of bed and Im definitely feeling the weight/no room for my stomach but I havent had any swelling or uncomfortable symptoms.  So Im really grateful!  And Im getting used to my belly.  So looking down I dont feel so big- I just dont look in the mirror too often.  :)  Paul's been really sweet to me and Im so thankful I have him to lean on.  He makes this experience so great and we've become even closer as a couple (even though I thought we were super close before!).

Friday night we went to a halloween party and had to make some last minute costumes.  So a couple hours before the party we were cutting and gluing to transform our shirts and played off the youtube video double rainbow.  Most people got it and we were able to incorporate our little guy which was fun.  It was great to just sit down and chat with people and even meet some new ones.  Can you guess which one was mine?  :)

Sunday we decided to get out and see a new part of Switzerland.  We ended up in Mürren, a cute little town in Bernese Oberland.  It had obviously already snowed there but it was melting that day and super windy.  We ate at a local restaraunt where Paul got a beer and I got hot chocolate (or ovaltine as they do here) but the warm milk was definitely raw straight from the cow.  I could barely drink it.  Then Paul got a fancy Rösti and I got a huge calzone with a surprise raw egg inside... Still not sure if it was supposed to be raw but I didnt eat that portion.  We walked around the town and Paul took some 31 week pictures of me in the fall colors.  A passerby even took a picture of the 2 of us- very thankful for that.  The pics will be throughout this post.

Today we had a check up and they had some emergencies so we felt very rushed.  But everything looks good with his size.  They estimated him at almost 4 pounds already which is kinda scary to think about.  The hospital has been really awesome and sent us tons of paperwork to fill out and read to get prepared.  It's not so easy to read since it's in German but I got the jist and translated what I needed to.  And I made one last attempt to find a midwife for postnatal care (insurance covers 10 days after the birth) and I finally found one!!!  I seriously email/called at least 10 people and almost gave up.  She immediately replied via iphone with loads of exclamation marks so she seems really happy!  And all we have to do is let her know when we go home.  Sweet!  Tomorrow our bathroom starts getting torn up.  It will be really dusty and not so clean but in a few weeks we'll have a new bathroom!  Im super excited.  We're pretty sure they'll be getting rid of the tub and just putting in a shower.  So I took one last bath this weekend.  Bye bye tub.  :)

Only 7 more weeks til my family comes!  Im really excited to finally see everyone in person instead of through skype.  We'll see if they'll be around when things get going and hopefully they'll be able to meet our little guy!  My best friend, Jenny, just found out that they are having a boy too!  So happy for them and now whenever we get together our kids can be playmates!  We also found out that our neighbors (the ones who got/gave us this apartment) are having a boy!  He is due at the end of Feb so we're hoping they can be best buddies and maybe ours will even perfect his german with him.  :)

Otherwise, things are going well.  I have one month left of work and then who knows.  I kinda like not having a concrete plan.  Here's to a new week and month!