35 Weeks: are we there yet??

Whew, 35 weeks today!  That means 5 more to go- give or take.  People keep telling me "its just around the corner" but they are wrong.  Five weeks feels like an eternity.  Physically I am still feeling fine.  I get more worn out getting up and down on and off the floor playing with Phoebe, but I can still do it just fine.  She wants to be held and picked up ALL the time.  It is getting more uncomfortable to pick her up and hold her for long periods of time.
More than anything I am just mentally and emotionally ready to have this baby and not be pregnant anymore.  I would like my body back and the sweet baby inside of it to be out and in my arms.
(Sorry we snapped these pictures real quick this morning to try to get a 35 week belly shot and the sun was awful!  I didn't realize it until just now when I uploaded them.  And for the record I have NO IDEA how to edit pictures so all pictures on this blog are raw...)

Aversions/Cravings-  None, although I still eat a lot of ice cream and blame it on the baby :)
Movement-  All the time still.  Certainly more than PFB.
Pregnancy Symptoms- The itching is still a bit out of control.  If I bath in body oil and shea butter it helps a lot, but the dry skin and eczema is insane.  My energy level has taken a hit.  Whereas on my last update 5 weeks ago I was still taking spin classes and exercising a fair amount- it is pretty much only walking now.  I get out of breath and my heart-rate shoots up pretty easily these days.  Although I did "hike" up Kennesaw Mountain today with some friends.  
More varicose veins.  Yuck.  I blame my dad and bad genes for this one.  Looks like I'll be checking out a vein clinic post-pregnancy...  And honestly I've tried to be good about wearing support hose, but if you've ever tried on a pair you know that 1- they are so tight it is a battle to even get them on and 2- they really are not comfortable.  So you are trading one discomfort for another.
The Braxton Hicks are in full swing.  Nothing painful, but I do notice them.
Sleep-  I am starting to have a bit of trouble falling asleep, but once I get to sleep I sleep just fine.  I do wake up frequently to pee, but have no trouble falling back asleep after that initial time.
Sex- Ok y'all I have sworn up and down this whole pregnancy that this is another girl, but I am starting to second guess myself now.  EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE from co-workers, to friends, to random people in the grocery store are telling me I am having a boy.  Literally I cannot think of one person who has said girl...  It is starting to sway me.
And have you heard of the Chinese Gender Calendar?  I had not.  But I have a friend who swears by it and apparently according to it this baby is a boy...  More on the Chinese gender calendar later.
This whole gender surprise thing is really starting to get more exciting.  I am very anxious to find out now if it is a Ridley Thomas or an Ava Grace!!
Weight Gain- 24 lbs.  It is starting to get to the point where Chris' t-shirts don't quite cover my belly.  That is bad.
Randoms- I'm going to the perinatolgist today for an ultrasound.  I'm excited to learn about how much he thinks the baby weighs.  
Still not really thinking about labor, but I'm sure I will start those thoughts in the next several weeks.  Frankly I don't want to think about it.  Ignorance was bliss the first time around.  I had wanted to take a Bradley class when I was pregnant with PFB, but they are very time intensive.  It is a 12 week class, and by the time I started thinking about birthing classes (well I didn't want to take one so by the time Chris convinced me that he needed to take one...) it was too late.  I did however read a couple of his books and now I'm trying to remember some of the exercises and recommendations he had in terms of preparing for labor at this point in pregnancy.  
There is a new doctor at the hospital who is sharing night-time and weekend call hours with my OB.  He was there last weekend when I was working so I did stalk him a bit to get the scoop.  I think he'll cooperate with my plans ;)
We have started making preliminary plans for Phoebe and back-up plans for her for when I do go into labor and we need to go to the hospital.
We should probably think about getting the cradle down from the attic sometime over the next couple weeks and finding the cradle sheets to wash.  I'm pretty sure I have a stash of newborn diapers somewhere too that would be helpful to find.