SSC - 37

SSC 37 seems like a flight number, not a person and an age!  Today I have to stop and think - am I really 37 today?  When did that happen?  I am in my late-30s now, approaching 40, which seems impossible.  Nausea inducing really.

So happy birthday to me!  I got breakfast in bed and the boys were VERY eager for me to open my presents.  They had all 4 gone to McD to discuss what to do for my birthday.  They all talked about it (well, not Nick, he just sat there), and decided they wanted to get mommy a book (Art picked The Help), and some eggs filled with chocolate m&ms - my favorite.  Art was able to oblige. I will also be getting a bicycle and baby seat for my birthday (thanks for the cash Oma/Opa/Nana.), and a hammock stand (thanks Poppi/MeMa).  Pretty good haul! :)  I made banana nut muffins (w/ chocolate chips) to take to bible study for my birthday.  I MIGHT have also iced them with homemade (not mine) buttercreme frosting. YUM!
 Here is a picture of my birthday wishes from Art:

Happy Birthday Shayna (in M&Ms), Love Art (in recees pieces)

Baby celebration!

In lieu of a shower - I've got all the boy stuff I need! - I picked a paint-your-own-pottery activity.  Several ladies came to paint or at least chat. Of course I forgot to take pictures during the actual event!  So this is mainly just a written record so I don't forget it happened.  The attendees: Stephanie W. (organizer), me, Laura W., Kristine H., Molly A., Kristen F., Emily A., Laila B.

Some of the finished pieces:

Laura's Easter egg

Emily's pot

Kristine's plate

Happy 29th Birthday Shayna (for the 8th time)!

Happy 36th birthday to me!!

The day started out with Art bringing me breakfast in bed...BUT, not his usual toast this time.  Today he went all out and made pancakes!  However, I nixed the "in bed" part due to ginormous belly discomfort and the unmatchability of syrup and my bed. 

I had switched preschool carpool day so that I would not have to rush to get ready and get Zach out the door, nor deal with the stress of picking up two wild boys in the locker room after swimming!  I finally showered later in the morning and made it to Stephanie's house for playgroup.  It was a short one so I did a few errands (paying for a library book that got ruined, depositing checks at the bank, etc) b/f returning home.  I had pizza for lunch (yum!), which Zach nagged me about "your lunch is better than ours", to which I replied - tough, it's my birthday! :)

Boys took a nap, I took a nap.  Lovely.

Then off to Zoba's for my birthday dinner.  We met Art there, who showed up bearing gifts: a card that everyone decorated while we waited for our food, yummy chocolates, and a set of stacking espresso cups that I'd seen at World Market that were so very cute.  I'd brought a bottle of Jewel's finest sparkling red grape juice that we drank with dinner. 

After dinner, we dropped the boys off at the M. family's who had nicely agreed to watch the boys on Tues night instead of the regular Thurs night, despite the fact that Ben had to do it all alone as Steph had a meeting.  Art and I went off to the Wilmette Theater to see Kings Speech.  Tuesdays are discount movie days ($4/ea) at that theater and I was worried that it would be packed.  We were about 5 minutes late.  Ummm, no worries.  Including us, I think there were 5 people there.  Enjoyable movie, enjoyable evening, enjoyable day, quite a nice birthday!  Thanks to all those who helped make it possible!

Shayna in 5 Words

Art's brainchild, and source of great humor.
Shayna: Barefoot, Pregnant, in the kitchen.
This phrase makes the maniacal Artemis Prime giggle profusely.

Shayna barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen - SIGH!

It must be noted that this was a *bit* staged.  At least the barefoot part.  I was wearing slippers w/ no socks and Art asked rather nicely, with just a few giggles, if I would please take off my slipper so he could send "an awesome picture to Joel".  He did indeed email it to Joel, who's response was "is she cleaning up after having fixed you a pot pie??".  Boys.  Can't believe I'm going to have a house full of them.  Sigh.

28 weeks pregnant!

28 weeks always seems like a milestone.  It is the date that most babies can survive if they must be born this early.  Plenty of issues and time in the NICU, but survival is good.

These pictures do not accurately show how big I feel.  Looking at them makes me think that the camera actually subtracts 10 pounds, not adds it!

28 weeks

Knight Zachary (see the cape & telescope) reluctantly hugging his brother

2nd Annual Sister Trip

Last year, the 4 sisters took an overnight trip to Nashville, TN on New Year's Day.  This year we planned a trip to Helen, GA for a low-key relaxing evening of pizza and movies.  Unfortunately, a great deal to Guatemala came up, so we lost Joanna on the trip, but Joy, Staci and I still made the trip.  Around 2pm or so, Staci met Joy and I at Leisure Dr, and we took off from there.  We had some drama b/c the lodge (we stayed at Unicoi Lodge) does not have a dvd player in the room.  I was going to take our portable and hook it up to the tv, but I didn't bring the cables for it.  Dad had extra cables, but nothing worked.  Luckily, staci brought a dvd player that she was giving to Art and I so we thought we'd take it with us and hook it up in the room.  Fingers crossed that it would work!

Staci drove the three of us up to Helen, slowly because of the heavy heavy rain.  We checked in with no problem, and entered our room...which was like a SAUNA.  We had to open the windows to cool it off, and we were all 3 sitting around in tank tops.  Staci called around to a few pizza places to check and see how much the pizzas were, including the recommended NaCoochie Grill.  I messed and messed with the dvd player, trying to attach it to the tv, but the tv was just too old.  So we finally decided that we'd try to attach the dvd player to the tv downstairs in the common area, by the fireplace.  After some serious tinkering (including calling the front desk to ask where the remote was!) finally SUCCESS!  Then we took off, in the rain, to the NaCoochie Grill and had some YUMMY pizza.  We also bought some cinnamon rolls to take back w/ us.  We stopped at Betty's on the way back, a Helen institution, and got some goodies...including my favorite Stewart's Cherries and Cream soda.  Mmmm!  Back to the lodge!  We turned the common area into our own personal living room, pulling 3 big comfy chairs up in front of the tv, and two ottoman.  We changed into jammies and brought blanket downstairs.  I doubt we would have been more comfortable if we were in our own room!  We snacked too much (who can resist dark chocolate M&Ms though?!) and watched 2 movies.  After that, it was after midnight, so we put the common room back together and headed upstairs to bed.  Sadly, we had to set the alarm so we could make it for breakfast in the Lodge in the morning.  Our Winter Special Rate included 2 breakfasts, so it would be crazy to skip it.

Morning came too early, and we got to breakfast just in time, at 10:30.  The power went out during breakfast, which was odd.  Food was plenty good.  I wanted waffles, but w/ the power out, the waffle iron would not work, so I settled for French toast instead.

We packed up and headed to downtown Helen to walk around the shops a bit.  It is so interesting that we all loved to go in every shop when we were little and see all the cheesy gift items, etc, and now, there are very few shops that honestly interest us.  We all got some goodies at the Dutch store.  We also spent some time in a glass store where I bought a ring.  We went in a few other stores, but were not intrigued by much.  I'm sure it's because Staci and Joy had the OUTLET MALL on their minds.  We bit Helen adieu and headed back toward Leisure Dr, making a stop at the outlets first.

St, Sh (with the HUGE belly), Joy browsing in Helen

Let me say that shopping while pregnant is not so much fun.  No trying on cute clothes, and even shoes can be risky.  I found one shirt at Ann Taylor that I liked and thought I'd risk it...I had Staci try it on so  could see how it might look on me after BBC3 is born.  Staci and Joy had luck at several stores, and we just browsed in several others, grabbing a quick snack lunch (it was around 3pm) - slice of Sbarro pizza for me, salad for Staci, Chinese for Joy in between shopping.  It was SO COLD outside.  Mainly because we did not want to lug our coats around with us, and left them in the car.  As the sun went down, it got more and more miserable to be outside w/ no coat.  Still, worth the hassle.

Then back to Leisure Dr!  A fun sister outing!  We missed Joanna...maybe next year!

Ladies Night!

"Oh it's Ladies Night, and the feelin's right.  Oh it's Ladies Night, OH WHAT A NIGHT!"  by Kool and the Gang (though Jon Lovitz's rendition in Wedding Singer is just classic)

Our Small Group had a Ladies Night In, complete with jammie pants, pizza, nail painting, foot spa, cookie baking (and eating), a make-your-own-lip gloss project, and World's Most Dangerous Catches!?!  Whaaaa?  Yes, Gentry was watching the Discovery Channel marathon b/f he cleared out for ladies night, and for some odd reason, even though there were about 15 girl movies we all brought, that show remained playing in the background.  In the odd tiny lull in the conversation, somone would look at the massive tv and comment on the deep sea fishing "gross!!".

A good group of ladies attended: me, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Alicia (w/ baby Gwyn), and wonderful hostess Colleen (who has a covetous master bath!).  We missed the ladies that couldn't make it, but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves...as evidenced by the fact that we didn't leave until after 11pm!!  Grossly late for me!

Candid fun:

Alicia multitasking -nursing Gwyn & getting a foot spa soak

Elizabeth's turn - while filing her nails for polish

Ladies chillin' and chatting

Having fun - and Gwyn getting 1 out of the 5 diaper changes in 6 hrs!

Steph the resident nail polishing expert did everyone's nails!

The lip gloss making project went beter than I expected.  I had bought it as an activity for Staci's bachelorette, but we never got around to it.  It was fun tonight though!

My Fellow Harry Potter fans...

Get READY!!

www.universalorlando.com/harrypotternews


I'm as giddy as a school girl!

2010 Begins!

Our 2010 began in Chattanooga, TN, at the home of Staci & Creed.  Our boys were in Dunwoody with Poppi and MeMa.  Art and I enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast of crepes/pancakes with Karl, Staci, and Creed.  Karl then took off to enjoy New Year's Day with Laura while Staci and I did a Jillian workout.  Joy and Joanna were coming up later that day for the start of the 1st Annual Sister Trip.  All 4 of us made plans to take an overnight trip to Nashville, TN (a first for me) with just us - no parents, husbands, kids, boyfriends, etc. 

J&J roll in late afternoon, and we get mobilized.  In the meantime, Creed and Art prepare for their overnight with no wives by queing up as many Matt Damon movies as time would allow.

Staci drives and the rest of us choose seats (shotgun!) that we will, for some reason, keep for the next 30 hours.  2 hours and one gas station stop later we are in Nashville, headed toward our hotel. First impression of Nashville:  COLD COLD COLD.  Must strangle Jackie who said "you can wear open toed shoes even in the winter". Thx to Staci and Joanna who did all the research for the hotel!  We lie around a bit, watch some tv, shower, then get ready to go out to dinner.

Sh, Joanna, Joy, Staci - dinner at Tin Roof - so cold!

Ok, dinner lasts a few hours, and by then it's still embarassingly early...too early to go to a live music venue (can't bring myself to type bar or club).  So where can we go???? Hmmm....Starbucks it is.  Art would die a thousand deaths.  We are all TIRED, COLD, and lethargic.  I am throwing out hints that I am too old for this and we should head back to the hotel and watch movies in our pjs.  Joanna, wisely, keeps the momentum up by reminding us that we'd be horrified in the morning if we drove up here and never went to hear any music.  Pretty slow going at Starbucks.  Joanna had brought along THE WORLD'S LARGEST crossword puzzle...or at least a really big one from the ATL paper, so we worked on that for awhile.

Staci, cold and draging at Starbucks

Joy, cold and sleepy at Starbucks

Joy shooting daggers at the paparazzi

Back to our assigned seats in the car...still cold.  BTW, that hat went straight to the Goodwill bag after this trip - I could feel the wind on my head between the color seams.  Not good!

Perhaps we would have been warmer on the FreeAtLastPartyBus??

We park and walk the block down to broadway to the MUSIC VENUE that Staci and Joanna went to last time they were in town.  The Stage.  Ahhh...warmth.  Joy did this nature-defying, amazing, trick with her coat.  She walks up to the balcony, says "Portable coat check" and shoves her winter jacket into her tiny purse and walks on.  WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!  {editor's note: I tried to get her to repeat it, so I could video it, later in January and again in March, but to no avail...she did not want to share her sorcery with me}.  We were able to stake out 4 barstools ( I HATE standing) and had a great view of the band.

Happy and WARM!

The band, the crowd, the crowd at The Stage

What I really liked about this place, besides the bar stools (again, HATE standing), was the variety in the crowd.  There were young, sorority-row types with their flouncy, revealing clothes.  There were older couples (yes, older than ME), there were cowboys, there was even one guy, mid-50s maybe, who was seriously rocking out, traveling the breadth of the venue - he even ended up on the balcony next to us, and we could barely contain our excitement.

Ok.  It's near 2am.  I really am tired now, and basically decide we're leaving.

The view of Broadway.  Ahhh yes, IT WAS SNOWING!!  As I recall, I left Chicago to get away from the snow.  So cold.  Back to our assigned seats and off to the hotel.  But not to bed.  Oh no, tall 4 crazy girls watched 2 episodes of Law & Order b/f finally going to sleep around 4am.  Yikes.  We all woke up around 11am and had about an hour to shower and get out of the room.  Coffee.  I hate to embarass everyone but it must be documented.  We watched one, maybe two episodes of...can I type it??...Full House while getting ready.  Oh my.


It's noon, but I'm desperate for breakfast food, not lunch.  We ask the lady at the front desk where we can get breakfast.  She is little help.  Staci's Blackberry is much more useful.  We find a pancake place, but when we get there, yikes!, there is a line out the door.  We call a neighboring place, Fido's, and find out they "do" breakfast.  Saved!  A long line there too, but at least it's inside!  Food was excellent.

Here we are at "breakfast" at nearly 2pm.  Cold here too!

Joanna took a picture of her food

Now we're thinking we'd like to 1) see the Grand Ole Opry and 2) see some attractions of Nashville.  We did after all drive all the way up here.  Joanna had the foresight to print out some stuff for us to do.  Then we made her get out at the visitor center and get some maps & suggestions.  We called the Opry and were told they don't do tours now.  K.  And the Country Music Hall of Fame was seriously expensive.  For the record, I know almost nothing about country music, nor do I particularly care for it.  It's alright.  So I don't care too much what we do.  We ended up driving down some road that has all the famous music label record companies...never saw anyone famous.  We drove around Vandy a bit - beautiful campus.  Then off to the Parthenon.  Very cool looking.  Too cold.  We made Joanna get out of the car and read us some of the informative plaques.

Accurate, detailed replica

Joy, consenting to roll down the window for a picture

Later Nashville!!  We're off to the Opry!

Lifesize nativity scene

A bit of getting lost, driving through restricted areas, we find this...still nowhere near the Grand Ole Opry, but this is fun to look at.

More lifesize navtivity scene

Finally, after some serious driving around the OUTLET MALL (I am still irked that the Opry is smack dab in the middle of an outlet mall...not sure why, but definitely am.), we spot the elusive GOO, or Grand Ole Opry.

Opry shot 1

Opry shot 2

By this time, it's getting to be pretty late, nearing 4pm, and we still have a 2hr drive back to Chattanooga, so off we go to a small gift shop, talk Staci out of buying cowboy(girl?) boots, and hit the road.  We have to stop at a MASSIVE fireworks place for a pit stop and called Art and Creed, asking them if they want to meet us somewhere for dinner.  Creed informs us that he and Art have already started dinner, WHAT GOOD HUSBANDS, and we'd be having grilled chicken and salad.  YUM!  Well done boys.  After dinner Joy headed back to ATL while Art and I agonized over whether or not to stay another night.  We wanted to go to church w/ mom in the morning, which means leaving at 8am.  Back and forth and back and forth, we finally decide to stay, as does Joanna (whom we will drop off at Joy's to get her car and meet Joy at church).  Fun night of looking at style books and watching a movie (a Matt Damon one!): Bourne whatever-the-last-one-is...ultimatium maybe?  Alarm goes off at 7am, shower, Joanna showers, Art showers, down some coffee and bagels, and drive to ATL.

What a fun trip.  I hope it can be an annual thing!!

Fun Ladies Event

The ladies of my Small Group bible study had a fun even on Dec. 4th.  A cookie swap party.  Everyone was to make about 45-60 cookies and bring them with them...or bring the ingredients and make them at the party. Then everyone would take home 4-5 cookies from each different one.   It was such a fun idea!  I brought the ingredients to make fudge - SO EASY - but never did get a chance to make it.  The oven and stove were commandeered the entire time.  So I made my fudge - 2 kinds, one w/ peppermints, one w/ green & red sugar sprinkles - on Sunday and brought it to Small Group.

One of the massive cookie tables!  Yum!!

Jackie Swale, Katie Satrom, and Evie Davis all at the cookie decorating station.

Most of the ladies were able to make it, which made for a great turnout: me, Alicia (who hosted it at her house), Stephanie, Jackie, Katie, Robin,  Elizabeth, Colleen, Carolyn, and 2 foreign exchange students Alicia knows.  It was such a fun time, that we had to drag ourselves away around 10:30!  I took Colleen home and got home well after 11.  Art wasn't thrilled, since he'd waited up for me, but at least I came bearing treats!

Fun time!

My Freedom: Day 1 - 6

My work-week of freedom started earlier than planned. MeMa and Poppi arrived on Thursday to spend a few days with Art and I before taking Zachary and Wyatt on the long driving trip back to Georgia. It was a good time with them here. Wyatt took a day to warm up to them, but Zach was thrilled to see MeMa and Poppi again. Friday we took a trip to the library to get Zach's free book (he completed the 9 hours of reading required this summer), then met Art for lunch at the Lucky Platter (ham and brie sandwich - yum!). Earlier that morning Zach and Poppi took a trip to Home Depot to get Art his birthday present: a Weber Grill. Saturday Art and I took a date to go see the 6th HARRY POTTER movie! That night for dinner we broke in Art's new grill and his new coal chimney with burgers. That's when things started going downhill for me. During the movie, I *somehow* ate an entire box of Jr. Caramels (makers of Jr. Mints) because Art REFUSED to share with me. After the movie I had a stomachache, which I assumed was because of the candy, but it did not get better. I was up from about 3:30-5am with cramping and bathroom issues. Art left this morning at 7am, (he had a conference in NH and I could no go since they were staying in the dorms of a boarding school) and I was still not better. Went to church w/ the boys and MeMa and Poppi. I wanted very much to go to church today b/c it was our first day in the new space at the Music Institute of Chicago. Closer to our house too! Still not feeling great, so Poppi and MeMa decided to take the boys early. They were planning on leaving Monday morning, but since I was sick, they thought it would be better to get the boys out of there so I could get some rest.

So off they went. I have been looking forward to this for a good long time, but it was still upsetting to watch my babies get driven away, knowing I won't see them for 11 days. I had a good 10 minute cry then embraced the quiet and solitude.

I have spent the rest of the day either in bed, or laying on the couch, save for one trip to Walgreens to get some Immodium AD. HUGE HELP! I'm feeling much better now. I'm very relieved that the boys were not here while I was feeling so badly and in and out of the bathroom.
So day one of my rest and relaxation was not exactly as I would have liked it. 5 days until Art gets home, and 11 days until we see the boys again.

Day 2 - Monday Still feeling ill today. Much better though. Highly recommend Immodium Multi-symptom. I did not do much at all today other than lie on the sofa. I ate very little and moved very little. I found Season 5 of The Office on the internet and very very badly (b/c Art and I are to be watching them together) watched a bunch of episodes. They are like cheese puffs - I think that I can just have a few, but then they call to me all day long. And since I was sick and not eating cheese puffs, then The Office had to do! :) By evening, I finally felt good enough to get out a bit. Target had some Netbook sleeves on sale last week. We got one for our new dvd player, but I did not get one for my Netbook b/c I had not yet purchased one, and wanted to make sure it would fit. So tonight, despite feeling a bit ill still, I took off for some shopping. First, I thought I should stop by Unique Thrift Store since Mondays are 1/2 off everything. Apparently, though not feeling well, I was still able to find a few new shirts for me and a pair of shorts for Zach (poor boy only has 3 decent pair, but summer is nearly over). Then off to Target. No Netbook sleeves on clearance anymore. I got a few things at Target but mainly just browsed. Back home for more relaxing.

Day 3 - Tuesday Feeling much better but not great. After a morning of preparing a lesson for our FBOW group, I finally got going. Walked up to the church office to turn in a long-overdue tithe check. Continued walking to visit a few more Thrift stores for some shopping. For some reason, the Jr. League Thrift store was closed, but I made it to a few others. Also made it to the library to return a bunch of things and get a few more. I had to beat it home, b/c Art was going to Skype me. He has no cell service at his conference and the only way we can stay in contact is through Skype. What a wonderful thing Skype is. After a quick dinner, I got everything ready for the FBOW ladies to come to my house for the lesson. I even made cookies.

Day 4 - Wednesday A morning of cleaning the house...after finally getting out of bed around 9:30. I was expecting our upstairs neighbors for lunch around noon and needed to make sure I had everything in order. The kitchen was a disaster since I had not yet gotten it cleaned since Dad/Faye/Zachary/Wyatt left on Sunday. No small task. I also got a bunch of stuff organized to go down to the basement. Did a big project with Zachary's old clothes, organizing them a bit better into different bins. Today was mainly for cleaning and organizing. At noon, Judy came down for lunch and we had the yummy crossants I've been eating for 4 days now, with BLTs. It was a fun visit, and she stayed for about 2 hours. After she left, I got myself together and dropped off some stuff at Goodwill then finally went to the Jr. League thrift shop again. Found a few cute things, including a onsie for Wyatt that says "I'm kind of a big deal". Funny. After dinner, I had a nice evening with Stephanie M. I went and picked her up at her house, and we went to the Skokie movie theater. Art and I have a $5 Club card that makes any eligible movie only $5 (instead of $9.50 I think). She and I saw The Proposal. Much cuter than I thought it would be. My only issue is that the movie setting was a bit inconsistent. It was set in Sitka, Alaska, during the long days of daylight - which is in the summer. However, people wore long sleeves and sweaters. IN THE SUMMER. As someone who has actually BEEN to Alaska during the long days of daylight, it is not cold. And Sitka is in southern Alaska - not even in the Artic circle, where it could be cold. Enough ranting. Still a funnier movie than I expected. Anyway, a fun time.

Day 5 - Thursday A day of errands. Had to take the glass bottles back to Jewel, drop off some more library books. I also finally mailed Maddy & Jake their XXL Ziploc bags. Then off to the pool finally. The weather has been a bit crappy - not at all the beach/pool weather I was expecting. I got to the pool around 4pm, and was cold. I only stayed about an hour. What is the point of being cold? Sadly, I never did go on the water slides or swim or do anything that I normally cannot do w/ Zach and Wy at the pool...well, I did lie down on a lounge chair reading or listening to my book on mp3 for an hour. Off to home for PIZZA! Since Art was not there, I got to have Ultra Thin pizza. Pretty yummy. It's POSSIBLE I should not have eaten the entire thing. I spent some time working on the blog and watching tv. Also started pulling out all the stuff we would need for the next week of camping. The office area looks pretty crazy now w/ sleeping bags, a tent, and sports chairs all over the place.

Day 6 - Friday - last dayTalked with Art when he was at the airport this morning and he said he was going to attempt to catch an earlier flight, which would put him in at 3pm instead of 5:30pm. So that nixed my idea of seeing a 12pm showing of Harry Potter (a second viewing). I still had a bunch of work to do getting us ready to be packed, plus dishes, getting the sheets off the bed in the playroom, etc. THEN, turned out that Art did not get on the earlier flight. He did not get home until nearly 7pm. We went to Zoba's and he went straight to bed. He had an ear infection that started in New Hampshire, but did not have his ear drops w/ him, so we did not get them started until Friday night. Tomorrow we have a few options. We'd like to go rent a canoe or kayak on the Chicago river, or take our snorkel gear down to the beach, or who knows. It depends on the weather, and if Art needs to go into the office or not. It looks like it is supposed to rain, so we'll see. Should be plenty hot though - 92 degrees. We need to leave the house by around 2 or 2:30 on Saturday to get started on our adventure - begining with Matt & Jackie's wedding.

Overall assessment: It is a bit scary how much I enjoyed being alone. I really loved it, and was not really ready for it to end. The last time I had a good portion of time just for me was when I was about 30+ weeks pregnant with Zach and Art went camping. Dad and Faye were great at keeping me informed on Wyatt and Zachary's goings on, so I didn't feel anxious about them. So really, I was totally selfish and missed no one! I should not be allowed to do this too often! :)

June 1: 40 weeks pregnant

Ok, have made it through Zach's 2nd birthday and now our last InsideOut lesson without the baby coming. So NOW we are ready. Art's parents arrive on Monday, June 2, so I'm ready to get this party started! If I look more like an aircraft carrier, I might just throw myself down and cry. Today at church, Art made me stand by the road until someone pulled over to give me a ride to church. The walk through the woods would have taken me about 25 minutes instead of our usual 8-10 minutes. Then, thankfully, Ray and Amanda (from our homegroup) gave me a ride home!

May 23, 2008: 39 Weeks Pregnant

So close now!! That is good because lots of my maternity clothes are no longer fitting - the shirts don't come down far enough to cover the entire belly, and the pants are getting too tight as well. I am still hoping that he stays put until at least the weekend. June 2 would be great! :) I say this, but I am pretty miserable, and the smallest tasks are getting to be such a chore. I am grateful to my friend Shebah who has come to pick me up and take me to the grocery store once a week! Shopping is the worst. We are busy trying to put the last little bits into place, getting ready for our little guy. We are still struggling with a name, but we'll get there. I will be sad to see my built in table gone.

May 16, 2008: 38 Weeks pregnant

One word: Uggh.
Our appointment went well this week - blood pressure is back up to normal, the baby is doing fine, and is a perfectly average size. The Dr. expects he will be about the same size Zach was when he was born ~ 7 lbs. I am feeling more and more cumbersome and taking longer and longer to complete tasks...though I can nap like a professional! :) Keep praying that the little guy (still no name as far as I'm concerned, though Art is set w/ his 'final selection') stays where he is until June 1st or after. I have a new pregnancy must have. For awhile it was Vla - the yummy Dutch pudding-like dessert. I still love the Vla, but I now cannot go a few hours with munching on some (generic brand) Fruit Loops. Hmmm, just thinking about them, I think I need a snack break. Some may recall my obsession with Toaster Strudels while pregnant with Zach. I do sometimes thing about them, but since I've never seen them here, it is pointless to dwell. It is odd though, because when we lived in the US, I did not like Fruit Loops at all. I never bought them, even though they were often on sale.

BTW, we have also been taking naked belly (NOT naked body) pictures for ourselves...but if anyone is particularly interested, I'll send you some. I think they make the belly look about twice as big.

Interesting story: Earlier this week Zach was looking at some pictures. He looked at one of me, then looked at me, then back at the picture, then patted my belly and did his "I don't know" shoulder shrug. I told him not to worry, that pretty soon, I won't have this giant belly anymore. Unfortunately I don't think that is good news for Zachary, since he does love to rest his head on my belly, and use it as an arm rest.

Our next appointment is not until May 28th.

May 9, 2008: 37 Weeks Pregnant

37 Weeks down, 3 to go. Three of the longest, most miserable weeks I can imagine at the moment! Uggh. I am generally uncomfortable all the time - sitting, lying down, lounging, walking, etc. Basicially, if I'm awake, I'm uncomfortable. The baby is getting big enough so that when he moves, it is borderline painful now instead of just interesting or uncomfortable. It is taking me forever to get to the stores and back b/c I walk so slowly. But hey, what else have Zach and I got to do? :) So, even though I am ready for this baby to come out, I am still hoping he will stay in the full 40 weeks, and even a few days past that! Yes, everyone thinks I am crazy for that. I am starting to get nervous about labor & delivery, my stay in a German hospital (language issues), and the effect on our family of adding another little guy. So you could keep us in your prayers for that - peace and even excitement for all of us.

Again, I am disappointed that these pictures do not reflect how large I feel. Perhaps I am being over-dramatic....perhaps. However, at our bible study this week, it was discovered that I can no longer tie my own shoes. Good thing it is now warm enough for slip-on shoes!

Zach is very helpful, and always helps me off the couch or chair. He grabs my hand and pulls with all of his weight. I think it is very cute, even if it is just barely helpful. His heart is in the right place! :)

I do feel badly for Art. He is taking on a much larger burden of household duties. I just can't get everything done, and he is been wonderful at taking up the slack - with no complaints even! I am trying to give him longer Civ playing privelidges to make up for his extra work.

My next appointment with the Dr. is on May 14th.

May 2, 2008: 36 Weeks Pregnant

Here I am at 36 weeks pregnant. My last doctor's appt went well. She said that while the baby is putting a lot of pressure on my cervix, that he is big enough and lungs developed enough that if I go into labor at any point now, the doctors will not try and stop it. She said if I want to make it to 40 weeks (which I do), then I need to continue to be careful lifting and carrying heavy things.

I feel like a beluga whale. I know that I feel much bigger than I look - mainly because I am disappointed that these pictures do not seem to adequately project my immense largeness. I think all the walking and chasing after Zach has kept me pretty fit during this pregnancy, but has also kept me more tired and sore. Pros and cons to everything.

Zach is still very interested in the belly, and likes to put his head on it when it's time for cuddles. If he is being rough, and I have to say "be gentle to mommy", he always rubs my belly and hugs it. Of course he is too little to understand what is going on.

Feb 2008 - 6 Months Pregnant

Ugghhhh.....I feel like a whale! I am 24 weeks pregnant, and I am seriously starting to feel it. However, I am very grateful, because I really have no serious ailments and we have some friends right now that are having serious pregnancy ailments. So I'm more just complainy.

This baby boy is already very different from Zachary, and he's not even born yet. For example, during Zach's ultrasounds, he would rotate his body to wherever the wand was and spread his legs wide - enough so that they technician said "yes, we know you are a boy, but I need your arm measurements". Baby boy 2 however curls inwardly and shys away from the wand. The most noticable difference between the boys is the amount of movement. Zachy was a serious mover - very hyper (surprise right?), and zooming all over the place. Baby 2 is more subdued. He moves around a bit, mainly after I eat, and he likes to poke/kick me in the same place over and over to the point of annoyance. I generally end up giving him a little shove so he'll move to somewhere else. I think he does it on purpose to irritate me. :)

The pregnancy is going well thus far and they are pleased with where everything is.

On a side note, I realize these aren't the best ever pictures, but I claim that I have been sick w/ a cold for the past 4 days. I have been feeling very guilty that I have not taken any pictures of this pregnancy when I have one a month w/ Zach. So I will try and do better.

Also, I have been looking back at very late pregnancy pictures from last time, and have decided there is NO WAY that I can possibly stretch that big, and I will just refuse to get that big. Hruumph. Seems impossible that the human body can do that.

Zach is intrigued with the belly. When he can't get my attention, he has figured out that a hit to the belly gets immediate results. When I tell him to "be gentle to mommy", he then pets me, as though I am Dexter. He occasionly will just walk up to me and gently pat the belly or rest his head on it (neither of which he did prior to it being humongous).