36 weeks-heavenly honeydew

Along: 36w0d--I cannot believe we're at 36 weeks! We're definitely to the point of saying "4 weeks or any day now". Sheesh!
Size of baby: Sweet Pea is the size of a honeydew melon--close to 6 lbs and 19 inches long.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I gained 3.5 lbs. since my last visit, so I'm at 26 lbs total. I quipped that they're my "chocolate cake pounds", but it's got to be a combination of that and the fluid. :) I read today that all Cara has to do until she's born is practice her skills and reflexes like sucking/swallowing/blinking/moving and putting on those adorable baby fat stores. She'll gain about an ounce a day, or half a pound a week until she's born. Wonder how big she'll be???
Maternity Clothes: The joke around our house is saying, "I've given up," when I put on Chance's t-shirts. I don't go out in public in them, but I have 1 pair of athletic shorts and his t-shirts for lounging and sleeping. If I have to venture into the heat outside, I still have some shirts/dresses/shorts that will work. Not much longer!
Gender: It's a girl! Cara Beth Connell
Movement: My What To Expect app called this the month of fewer kicks/jabs and more squirms. That's exactly what it feels like. Baby girl is ALWAYS squirming around. My belly bulges from the outside, gets hard on one side, or ripples across the surface. I know she's running low on room--I am too! My skin feels stretched and sore/itchy--but no stretch marks! My pregnancy has been fairly easy until lately, and this is going to be what I miss most about being pregnant. I love feeling her move at all hours of the day.
What I miss: The same from last week still applies: sleeping on my stomach, sleeping comfortably on my back, sleeping through the night (sensing a trend here?), bending over, moving quickly, not being hot, not feeling random aches and pains throughout the day, seeing my inside ankles (those are the ones that disappear when I get swollen)
Cravings: milk, chocolate milk, iced tea, Sonic slushes, sno cones, Slurpees. I'm still susceptible to suggestions for food, rather than having independent cravings. All this talk of Chick-fil-a this week made it sound good, so I had a chicken salad sandwich and lemonade today. Nana's chocolate cake still hits the spot, and our weekly ice cream date after childbirth class has been great!
Symptoms: feeling tired, getting HOT and not being able to cool down, sore feet, sleep-deprived, jittery brain (I can't turn my mind off when I want to sleep)
Best moment of the week: Meredith's showers and our 10-year reunion all went off without a hitch! We had a great time doing dinner and dessert/presents on Friday night, throwing a lovely brunch shower Saturday morning and having dinner and socializing at the reunion. It was such a whirlwind weekend (capped off by M&D's A/C breaking and them getting us a hotel room Saturday night so we didn't have to keep sweating--PTL! We cranked the air down to 65 and left it all night.), but I made the most of my travels. Now I can't leave Waco until I deliver, so everyone has to come see us!

Looking forward to: Finishing my lessons--I'm halfway done! I wrote 10 weeks of lessons for my regular classes in an organized binder, and all I have left are 10 weeks of pre-AP lessons. I knocked the first half out in 3-3.5 days, and my goal is to have everything done by next Friday, if not before. The pre-AP lessons will be harder to write because they're new to me, but they're also broader in scope because the rigor is higher. It's a trade-off.
I'm also looking forward to 2 more showers this week! My sweet church friends are hosting one on Sunday afternoon, and my English teacher friends are having a "books and bows" get-together Thursday night. We are a crazy bunch of friends, and I'm excited to have fun with them and stock my library.

I hope to have a post about the nursery soon (it's done!!) and my shower recaps. And maybe an update saying we're at the hospital at some point soon. :)