Due Date's Tomorrow- and holding

I'm not feeling very well. But nothing that having a baby cannot fix. In 48 hours, we'll have our new angel to help us ring in the new year.

I go to the MD tomorrow morning- then need to finish packing and get ready to meet this little man.

Bets on size? Eric says 9 pounds 10 ounces. I am thinking about 9 pounds flat.

No Baby Today

Would have been just fine with me if today had been the day- BUT- doesn't seem as though we are getting there.

We did have a great day and I've got a ton of Christmas pics to post- Vake slept until almost 8:30- so sweet- last night as his father was putting him to bed, he said "Daddy, that was too much Christmas." and I actually think he was legitimately exhausted- so much excitement in one day I think had him totally worn out.

I tried to let Eric sleep in some- but by 10:00am my philanthropic impulse had passed and we woke Eric up. Then Vake rode his bike for about a hour and a half, which made for a GREAT nap for him this afternoon, which in turn meant that I was out cold until about 4:30 myself.

We're going to have leftovers tonight and hopefully everyone will get rested. Both Eric and I have to go to work tomorrow and Wednesday- and then on Thursday we go to St. Mary's to get this baby one way or the other!!!!

Still Pregnant

What a boring post title. But here we are. Now the big goal is to make it through Sunday lunch. I figure any time after that is fine to get the baby party started.

I vote for Monday, December 26, 2011.

2011 In Pics!

Another slideshow design by Smilebox

Still Pregnant

Just for those of you who are interested in our gestational status, I am sitting here at the end of week 38- tomorrow will be 39 weeks.

No progress yet. Dr. Hirata, who is super patient and understanding, is willing to just play it by ear with the hopes that I don't wind up in labor on Christmas Day. Famous last words, right?

The Christmas Pageant

So today was the GHTC Christmas pageant. Sunday School this morning was the rehearsal- an unqualified disaster for Vake- he must not have slept well because he was just a cranky mess by 10:15 this morning (a fact, incidentally, probably not helped much by the fact that his Mother is his class' teacher).

So, I called Eric on the way home (by 11am) and Vake was in bed taking a nap by 11:15. He slept until after 3pm. When he woke up, he was in an appreciably better mood- and again talking about being Gordon the sheep who says "baa."

And it is at points like this that you realize that the Christmas Pageant moments in life are for the parents as much as they are for the little ones. But anyway.

Here's the little man all decked out in his Christmas pants (a size 5- can you believe he is already there? I thought we'd get a slight reprieve once we kicked diapers to the curb).

"This is me with Raffi on my head."

The little boy in desperate need of a haircut. Hopefully this week while things are slow around the office.

Here's my little sheep- the church actually has a good system worked out- they buy and keep all the costumes- and all the little ones are animals- this year the costumes came from Oriental Trading Company and were cute.

My little sheep. Baaa.

He did pretty well sitting with the other children in the pew- it was all timed pretty well to keep the little ones from getting restless.

When the time came for him to go up and participate, he decided he'd prefer to watch- but he was pretty brave about not trying to come back into the pew where I was sitting. Of course by this time he'd shed the sheep hat- too hot.

The Audi is a total loss and I am still pregnant

I talked to the nice people at USAA today- they are still working on figuring out how much the Audi is worth but it confirms my belief that the Audi's not coming back.

Had a great visit with Dr. Hirata yesterday- I am measuring big (big shock) so she's trying to maybe squeeze me onto the calendar for next week. I'd rather not be in the hospital for Christmas but also could be done being pregnant right now. The sweet technician took pictures of this baby's face for me- continues to be amazing how much he looks like Vake to me.

I'll keep you posted.

This morning's docket stinks for me- but after this one only two (really short ones) left!

YAY!!!

Two Weeks Left!!!!

What a wild and wooly couple of days we have had! The good news is that by TWO WEEKS from tomorrow, we will have baby Gil with us!!!! The REALLY good news is that I managed to hold on through today, when Eric finished up the work he was doing out of town.

It's been crazy over here. Monday night (of course when MS is out of town) I started feeling a little sick and by 1 am on Tuesday morning I had what turned out to be a little stomach virus. YUCK. Toughed it out through court on Tuesday, though and then went home and took a rest.

Today was just an odd day- the lowlight was going to view the wrecked Audi at the tow yard. I've been to more than my fair share of them in my life but there's something uniquely horrible about going to view your OWN car and realizing how lucky we all were to walk away from that crash totally unscathed. The great news is that Nationwide has accepted liability, so now we're just waiting to see what they'll do. I've got to tell you, my car looked B-A-D.

I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow at 12:45- will be interesting to see what she says- but I can honestly gut it out until the 29th if I have to...

Sibling Class

From the file of things that are extremely funny.

So, we hadn't gone to pick up the white Chevrolet Impala that USAA has provided me with while they figure out my car situation so Eric had to go with us to the sibling class at St. Mary's this morning.

Let me preface this by saying that I am married to possibly the most patient man in the United States of America. He has the patience of Job with his family.

So we arrive at St. Mary's at 9:35- the class is starting. There's a nurse who is the teacher and 3 other little children and their parents.

The entire curriculum has just been rewritten and it is not all that effective- every "lesson" is set to a nursery rhyme that the parents sing to the children. It was a LONG session. And Eric just sang along with the whole program as Vake got more and more restless.

I will say that Vake really seemed to like looking at the baby who was in the nursery asleep. So we've got that going for us.

R.I.P. (we think) Audi A6

What a strange day.

I went to the MD this morning at 7:45- I would have guessed if you had asked me that based on the amount of downward pressure that I've been feeling that the doctor would tell me just to head over to labor and delivery. BUT goes to show you how in tune with the old body I am at this point. NO progress in 10 days. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

So I'm leaving work this afternoon to run home and pick something up. I've got a green light and the next thing I know, a guy comes flying out in front of me. That's right. Tragic end to the Audi. Poor guy who hit me, who TOTALLY conceded 100% liability at the scene, was not belted and looked as though he had seen a ghost when old fatso rolls out of the car and says, "I'm 38 weeks pregnant- I don't think I am hurt but can you please call 911."

An ambulance later, let's have a moment of silence for the 2001 Audi. Damage to his car was minimal. Cannot say the same for the poor old Audi. Good thing I have the rental coverage (or it has turned out that way this year!!!!). We'll pick up the rental in the am and take it from there.

Poor Eric who had to get all my stuff out of my car. Aargh.

20 More Days

We are on the final countdown. Full term yesterday. 20 days left until due date. 21 days until SOMETHING is scheduled to happen. Thank the Lord.

Other stats:

1 bassinet in our room that Vake thinks is hilarious to climb in and out of;
2 finished little boy rooms;
3 carseat bases in need of installation in various and sundry automobiles;
4 more appointment days left at my office;
5 (after today) dockets left to work in traffic court;
7.5 predicted size of this baby.

I've left out packages to wrap, baby announcements to address and pound gained by mama- all too depressing!!!!!

Getting Closer

I am now roughly the size of a VW beetle but we've only got 23 days until SOMETHING'S going to happen, according to Dr. Hirata.

Thank God the finish line's in sight. I am not sure that I am inspiring a lot of confidence with my clients right now as I can barely catch my breath. Very unsettling to be represented by the huge woman who cannot breathe.

Yikes. And on top of it all, I am now forgetting where I park my car in the lot. Yep. Time to be done.

I go to the doctor again on Friday. Would love it if they told me this pumpkin's going to be early. I think I mentioned that at the last visit they were estimating weight (at 35.5 weeks) at 7.5-8 pounds. Egads!

Vake REALLY still does not like Santa.

So yesterday we were the guests of the Mullens at a Santa brunch- we arrived and Huff was already in line to get his picture made with Santa- we watched Huff- who did just GREAT and was having the time of his life explaining to Santa that he wanted a frog.

Eric stood in line probably for 35 minutes- it was a long wait- and then Vake again refused to speak to Santa but the new twist was that he wasn't even willing to pose with Mom, Dad and Santa. So we wound up sitting in Santa's chair, with Santa hovering creepily behind us.

Happy holidays!!!!!!

Waiting For Santa...

So I thought we were doing so well yesterday. We got Vake and Huff to the Museum early enough that they could see the elves and the Snow Queen and listen to people telling them about Santa. I got them a seat in the front row.

And they were pretty happy to sit and watch.

And they were rapt when they heard that Santa's reindeer were on the roof- they listened to the hooves and the bells.

But I should've realized we were in trouble when Santa came down the chimney and Vake started backing up towards me.

But he was even willing to wait patiently in line. Shortly after that, friends, it all fell apart. Oh well. Better luck next Christmas!

At least we made up for it with a ride on the Holiday Train.

Vake STILL does not like Santa.

That is all for now.

Thanksgiving Weekend!

What a GREAT Thanksgiving weekend we had- and I do think that I am a little sunburned, too- the weather here has been really amazing- sunny, not humid and highs in the low 70s!

We started out the holiday weekend right- Vake's first ever parent-teacher conference was Wednesday- he's doing really well according to Miss Laura. The whole thing was pretty intimidatingly formal but Vake's doing just fine.

Then I ran into work for part-day (until the courts closed) and Mom watched Vake- we had a small hiccup when Mom and my bedframe (!) had a difference of opinion that sent us to the emergency room but FORTUNATELY it was a big no harm no foul- we were in and out of there in less than two hours- pretty amazing.

Thursday was marvelous- our friends the Morses came up from Williamsburg and we had MF, Dennis and Anne in town.

Eric worked like a dog and we were all so psyched for dinner!
I wish I had gotten a better close up of the turkey- it was delicious- so were all the sides- and Eric made the most amazing biscuits- what a challenge because biscuits are NOT easy.

Here we are getting ready to eat- please don't mind me in all my huge glory- it will be over a month from now, thank GOODNESS!!!!

So we had a great meal and today we started to get to work on our Christmas decorations. Vake was very excited to help his Daddy by using the hammer.

And my funny little monkey likes to take the occasional break to check himself out in the mirror!

And we finished off the day (no nap!) by starting to put the decorations on the tree and by putting out the creche (Vake called it a dollhouse).

Of course, as we enter the home stretch, I am increasingly tired and Eric's not only busy at work but is picking up the slack for me at home too.

We get an ultrasound on Tuesday so that they can tell us how big they think the baby is- I'll let you know!

Thanksgiving Hawk?

Don't know if you will be able to see this, but we woke up to turkey day to find a hawk guarding our front porch. Our little urban toddler immediately identified it as a seagull. Eric thinks it is a Cooper's Hawk.

Compared to the city birds we usually see, it was humongous.

Thanksgiving Preparation

What a full kitchen!

It's about to happen- holiday feast 2011. Eric went to three stores on Sunday and stocked up- it is time to get psyched for the annual Chexmix celebration!!!!

Gil's Room- Progress Pics

The room is SO close to being done now- yippee!!!! And it looks really great!!! Here is the quilt that Mom made sometime in the 70s- got it framed at Ben Franklin and they did an amazing job- the light's a little weird in this pic because I took these pics at night- I will have to take more once I finish off the room.
The dresser/changing table got moved from Vake's room to Gil's room- Vake just got a bigger dresser.

Detail from the quilt- it is Noah's Ark- so sweet and I love the bright colors with the soft baby blue- makes for a very good little boy room I think and I really love that you don't feel as though you're going to see this quilt everywhere you go!!!

So here are the roman shades- could the colors coordinate any better?

And the rug worked out so well here- only disappointment is that it is not super soft- and I sort of thought it would be- oh well...

I'll get the room tidied up and then take good pics of it "done"!!!!

Vake and Mary Frances in Living Color

So it is not as easy to get a picture of the two of them as you might think. Last night, everyone put on their holiday best (ok, everyone except me, mostly because I am reduced to a wardrobe that is mostly stretchy fabric now...) to go to an event for the Children's Museum.

Vake was the first to get dressed.

He's been very sweet with baby Mary Frances- he's not quite big enough to really hold her, but he's very willing to try.
This was probably the most successful picture of their interaction.

And here I prove that I have the ability to take a pic where NO ONE is looking at the camera!!!!

And talk about a sweet, tolerant baby.

Vake got to give MF a bottle.

And then we went to Santa night. Vake was SO polite- "Excuse me Santa Claus, may I please have a raft for Christmas?"- in a Thomas DVD that he watches, Thomas is on a raft. The part that he didn't understand is that Santa doesn't immediately hand over the presents- and Vake, who was already tired, just lost it.

Full on temper tantrum in the parking lot of Saks. Awesome.

But at least Mom, Anne and MF look good.

Hoot and a half!

We've been chillin' with baby Mary Frances this weekend- pictures to follow.

You'd be hard pressed to find a sweeter or easier baby that MF.

Mom and I are ALMOST done with the advent calendar- anyone who's crafty should try to make it- the kit is awesome...

Halloween Preparations with Rockstar Daddy

Eric was in charge of the Jack-o-lanterns while I handled the costume. Eric and Vake selected 4 pumpkins (somehow this year we didn't make it to the pumpkin patch- I don't really know what happened- the timing was just never right...) and they set to work.
Vake's getting to be so much fun now- he really wants to participate in activities now- he'll ask, "Can I help?"- very sweet.

Here's the finished product.

Vake of course made scary faces to match the scary pumpkin faces (all of a sudden, "scared" is definitely part of the vocabulary- didn't use to be).

Hard to believe that at this time next year there will be two boys up on the porch with their Dad!!!!