home stretch

Endless hours on the couch often leaves one with endless hours to reflect (a little too much, actually!) about everything under the sun. And as time continues to pass, Ive thought to myself, "what do you have to show for the last 3 months on your back?!"

Some part of me believes I should have several tangible things to prove my productivity and worth while on the couch but I'll be honest, I just don't have that many. In fact, only one. But, I've certainly ventured into almost everything thats come to mind.

So, here you go. Some of the ways I've kept myself busy and attempted to remain sane the past 12 weeks.

TV: I began here and after a week of binging, I was done. For awhile at least. But here's what I've started and/or finished since week one. Consider most of these a recommendation if you find yourself stuck to a couch or in need of a little guilty pleasure.

-Greys Anatomy: previous fan, but started over at season 1 for fun, making it all the way to 5 before cutting ties.
-Alias: skipped through several episodes in each season but I finished all 5 seasons netflix offered
-Lost: another series previously watched live, but started over for fun. Skipped around to the good episodes. And by that I mean, the ones involving heartthrobs Jack and Sawyer. Duh.
-Orange is the New Black: (netflix original series). Beware! grossly inappropriate, but such a great storyline and hard not to fall in love with the characters. One season completed in 2 days.
-GIRLS (HBO): another fairly inappropriate show and not really for me but I watched several episodes to tide me over a few days.
-Revenge:  Just as good, if not better than Scandal. Approaching season 2 this week.
-Parenthood, Downton Abbey, and Mad Men all received my attention, too but I have yet to complete a full season.
-And then there's the random things I found myself into at times like Storm Chaser tornado specials, CNN crimes of the century, Dateline stories and HBO sport specials. Just because I'm a dork like that.
-MOVIES: I'm not sure it's worth naming them all, but I've essentially watched every suspense movie available on the HBO go app and Netflix, as well as several romantic comedies.

BOOKS: thankfully we have access to Grants library at school (online and hard copy), the Memphis Library, ibooks and my nook. Several sweet friends gave me iTunes gift cards and I used them to purchase a few books. I've finished these so far and recommend them all. If I were you, I'd go for the Amanda Knox Memoir first. I could not put that thing down- 2 days y'all! (thanks to my friend, Jesse who clued me in on it's goodness!)

                     


                  

And I'm still working on these:

                       


                                                        

I've also taken an interest in knitting and crochet but there's not much to show for it, other than a dinky little hat that I'm pretty sure I'd never let our baby boy wear! Grant has taught me a few things about the ukelele and I've been practicing with his Beatles book occasionally. But don't expect much from me in that department, either. I can barely play one song. But, it sure has been fun to practice!

What's really kept me going are the gracious friends that have stopped over for lunch, an afternoon visit and several times for dinner. I don't know what I would have done without these moments.
When my family is home, I don't have to rely on any of these things for entertainment but for the many weekdays and occasional weekend days that have passed, these things have kept me from having a nervous breakdown.

However, in the past 2 weeks, I've come pretty close to losing it, people.  As I near the end, it's become surprisingly harder to remain calm and positive. The anticipation of freedom is killing me and the desire for some kind of normalcy in my life adds to my lack of patience these days.
But, I can't believe it. I'm less than 3 weeks away from getting off this couch and 2 weeks away from knowing just how much I'll be allowed to move around.

We found out he was breech at 30 weeks. A surprise to us all, as he has been head down for all previous (and numerous!) ultrasounds. If his position does not change by next week, I'll likely be looking at a C-section birth and a little less freedom before he arrives.

But! A change back to the right position will allow for the original plan to remain in place: stitch removal in less than 3 weeks and FULL freedom (at home-- no return to work) until
James Isaac Burke decides to make his debut. (Yes, we finally have a name!)

We are overjoyed with how far we've come and thankful the Lord saw fit for our little Isaac to
keep growing in utero. We're praying He can help us get through this week, allowing us to reach the second milestone on Sunday---35 weeks!