life has been so full lately. in between spending many hours each day training dani, my new studio assistant (who is AWESOME in every way – seriously counting my lucky stars for her), i’ve been doing all of those misc details that you do just before you are due to have a baby: tying up lots and lots of loose ends, washing all the laundry, answering the backlog of emails, writing thank you notes (which i love to do), sending out gifts that i’ve been meaning to send for months (also love to do), tidying up the house, and so much more.

in between all of that, i’ve been having fun in the sun here in portland where we are being blessed with some pretty awesome weather. we’ve been getting out and about, eating at our fave spots, taking walks, and visiting with friends. here i am a couple of days ago with our friends, mary grace + malina, who were here over the weekend visiting from hawaii! they’re big fans of stumptown coffee and so we took them to the stumptown cafe where it all happens (portlanders LOVE their stumptown coffee) which is where this photo was taken. these ladies are two of the most lovable girls around.

i am getting more huge by the second as you can see from the photos. my midwife is predicting an 8+ pound baby. she’s also commented on how his booty cheeks seem to be “above average in size” which totally cracks me up. my sister and i were both 8lb babies so perhaps it runs in the family, though i’m not sure where the big booty cheeks come in – that’s all john, i’m sure of it! sleep has become an enemy. i’m waking up each morning a little tearful at how uncomfortable the sleeping hours were. i suppose it’s good preparation. other than that, i’m still truckin along, staying busy and pretty active, but every once in awhile i crash and burn. the other day i went to bed at 5pm and didn’t wake again until 7:30am the following day.

john is taking such great care of me and has been so insanely loving when it comes to my morning tears, and my moments of anxiety where i want to do silly things like weather strip the basement windows NOW. in between momentary freak outs, we’ve been celebrating some pretty awesome biz news, having great conversations, and just trying to be very aware of these days together.

we are waiting waiting waiting…will keep you posted as i do plan to keep blogging after baby arrives, though i might disappear from this space for a week or so! due date is officially friday.

ps: online shop will stay open (thank you dani!) throughout the holidays and my maternity leave. don’t forget to get your pre-orders in for 2011 datebooks (click the image on this datebook page to see more photos of what the inside looks like) and calendars. we are shipping out what we have in stock now and the rest will ship no later than Nov 1st!