I've sprung a leak!

My water broke! My water broke! (Yelled in the tone of Jerry Seinfeld's dad yelling 'my wallet's gone!' when he couldn't find his wallet at the doctor's office.)

We're headed in. See ya on the flip side! Wish us luck!
XO

She's gonna blow!

Would you look at that ticker! ZERO day left! We made it!! At last check last Wednesday I was already 4 centimeters, I guess the "Braxton Hicks" I've been having have actually been productive. The problem is, I had them again (faker!) on Thanksgiving and again last night, ten minutes apart (faker! faker!) but they eventually tapered off and I fell asleep. Again. I worry though that if these sporatic contractions are actually working, that I'll be driving down the road at 8 centimeters and have the baby on the side of the road. What to do! I'm about as big as a house now and haven't felt much like writing or doing anything much for that matter, so Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope everyone had a wonderful dinner, wonderful bird, and wonderful family time!

We had a good old fashioned Publix Thanksgiving dinner, didn't really make anything except for a couple a sides and a pie. We just re-heated an already-cooked turkey and all the fixins from Publix and we had mostly paper plates and cups. I know, so very redneck sounding but the key was to lay low this time and if there's any year to do it, it's this one for me. We'll dust off the china next year. So now the waiting. I have to say, if I had to choose between early arrival and waiting, I'll wait. Thank God my little guy hung in there. I figure while I'm feeling brazen I'll post a picture of the alien belly.

And we'll offset that crazyness with pictures of the nursery. I did end up going with Dr. Seuss and it was so fun! I still want a small rug for the center of the room and I still want to paint a small little something over the crib, but other than that, it's done!

Family portrait

It's a few weeks after we made it to the pumpkin patch but I was so excited about it this year because last year Poops was teensy and the pumpkin patch meant nothing to him. But this year, he had a blast running around in the pumpkins. We ended up carving the pumpkins a week before Halloween which was nothing short of disastrous. First, the Poops Pumpkin, which was of the smaller variety was too hard to carve. You couldn't even get a knife in it. We got as far as carving off the top, but drawing on the face. We call it "Sylar Pumpkin" (which makes sense if you're familiar with Heroes and what the villain Sylar does to his victims).Anyway, we successfully carved the Momma and Daddy pumpkins which were very large, and we used a tiny gourd for the tiny baby and put the whole family out on the wall in front of our house. Of course, it hadn't rained in months, but it rained the night I put out the pumpkins and two days later we had pumpkin mush running down the wall. The pumpkins began caving in a day later and sadly, never even made it to Halloween. Oh well! Note to self: put out pumpkins the day before Halloween.

Prayers for Preemies

I can't let this month go by without mentioning that again it is Prematurity Awareness month this month. Ironically for me, or God granted, it is also the same month that I am will be having a full-term baby. Something that at one point in my life I thought would never ever happen. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God and all my angels for the people, the love, and the beauty in my life. Especially for my little preemie and his little brother who will grace our lives soon.

And as I reflect on Prematurity Awareness month, I think about the dear friends and family I have who also have preemies, or once were preemies themselves. I am saddened that millions of other families have and will endure this experience. That a mother must experience the pain and the overwhelming guilt that, for whatever reason, her body didn't hold out for the whole length of pregnancy. That a mother has to fear for the life of her precious baby for however long. That a mother won't get to hold or see that precious little face when it joins this world. That a baby must endure pain and surgery, arriving too early for its little body to exist without it. That a baby must spend its first hours, days, or months alone, in a tiny isolette, without being held or comforted by its parents. I mourn for these families' pain and their personal losses, whether it's a baby or the experience of having a joyful birth experience. I pray that the mommies will realize and accept one day that it was not their fault. I pray that one day we will find out why more babies are coming into this world too early and that one day we can stop it. All of these families are in my prayers this month and every month, every day. Please say a prayer for them today.

Confessions of a pregnant wife

The sexiest thing I've heard from my husband in a long time:

"So, after we put Poops to bed... " (puts his arm around me while standing in kitchen and says lovingly), "I'll run a mop through here."

This more than excited me. I wish I were kidding.

Still no baby

And I really didn't expect one, except that for a second time this week he has kept me up for hours and hours with contractions. He had me so convinced that I started my "labor project" which is baking chocolate chip cookies. The rule is, start the cookies and when they start burning that means it's time to head to the hospital. From 2:30 in the afternoon contractions came regularly, anywhere from 15 minutes to 5 minutes apart, but not consistently 5 minutes apart. So at 8:30 when they got the teensiest bit stronger and about 8 minutes apart, I started baking. I finished baking. I finished watching a movie. I had showered and dried my hair. We cleaned and finished packing. Everything is by the door. I got tired. Fell asleep around 1. Woke up at 9 this morning and not a single contraction for the rest of the day. Faker! Faker faker faker! So now I have rebought chocolate chips and added a package of brownies for good measure which I fully expect to bake while this little guy fakes me out a few more times and my husband and I will gain 20 pounds each from fake labor.

The Pooping Place

Guess it's time to start thinking about potty training. If you look really closely near the chair you'll see a little boy thinking real hard.

Yes, he's doing exactly what you think he's doing. I recognize the pattern now. Apparently a boy needs his privacy.

Update-Still nothing

We thought Thursday was going to be it. I had contractions from 8 pm until about 2 in the morning, but they tapered off and I went to bed. So, nothing yet. Just waiting now. Maybe I will get that 41 weeks I have asked for! Of all the weeks of pregnancy, this one has been the biggest roller coaster. I have never had so much energy and so little energy from hour to hour. One minute I feel like I will literally fall over from tiredness. So tired I don't want to even take the energy to open my mouth and make chewing motions to eat. Then so energetic that I'm racing around finishing thank you cards, the nursery and laundry. I feel like I am going crazy. My mom has been here, so that has been such a huge help. Happy Friday!

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Guess what today is?

It's time to celebrate, we're full term today! FULL TERM! WE MADE IT! Now, I was pretty excited about making it to a full nine months, but all the way to full term is just a dream. I'm going to log off and pinch myself. If only I could give this little baby a high-five.

If I Only Had a Brain....

Here's Poops on Halloween as a scarecrow. He's wearing a costume made by my best friend's mother, she did such a great job on it! Isn't that the life, getting carted around and getting candy thrown at you!