Good morning. No March baby for me I guess. We’re both still here.

Shopping was fabulous yesterday, and I’m still feeling more or less patient. Olivia isn’t, however. The first thing she did this morning was come into my room and complain that the baby wasn’t born yet.

We’re all waiting.

I am having some pain this morning. It’s focused on the sides of my abdomen, and across the top of my low back, and it comes in waves. I haven’t been timing it. If it progresses, I might pay more attention, but for now, I’m ignoring it. It’s happened a few times in the last few days.

Health Group-

what’s going on out there? Anything? I’ve only gained about 10-14 pounds, depending on the day. I figure that when the baby comes and I lose all the extra fluids, I’ll weigh less than I did before the pregnancy. I’ll enjoy seeing the scale, but I’m sure I’ve only lost muscle mass, and probably increased in flab.

That’s not going to be pretty.

But before we get into that, here’s a picture.

This is the wild fireplace I mentioned yesterday. I know some of you will hate it. That’s fine. We like it. It has grown on us.

No stinking contractions. No stinking labor.

Yesterday, I bounced on my exercise/birthing ball. When I got tired of that, I rotated in circles while sitting on it. Then when that got old, I did laundry. The laundry actually did more for tightening the abdomen than the other stuff did. Still, nuthin’.

I was grumpy yesterday. Today, I don’t really care. Maybe it’s because I’ve given up on trying to shoot for a time my doctor will be on call. Maybe it’s because I’m a little more patient.

Or maybe, it’s because I’m going shopping today and therefore have something else to think about.

I’d like to think I’m growing as a person and have attained a higher level of patience in the last day or so, but really, we all know it’s the shopping.

Tonight and tomorrow, I’ll most likely be bouncing on that ridiculous ball again.

I THINK we’re good on the internet situation. Poor Nate spent over 2 hours on the phone with Verizon trying to get the router and the modem to talk to eachother. Bleh.

Haha. Yes, the diamonds are a topic of dispute among many. The previous owners had a lot of Asian, African, and Southwestern decor. It didn’t blend, but it was one of those things where it was SO bizarre, it worked in its own way. If you like that sort of thing.

We love bright colors, so we kept the wall the same background orange, but painted over the diamonds. We have a lot of art to cover the walls, so having the wall solid is a good thing. They did some crazy stuff with Saltillo tile on the fireplace, the two kitchen islands, in the floor, and on the walls in some places. We’re keeping it on the fireplace and islands, and on the entry floor, so the orange paint helps it all blend. It is SO coming off the walls and out of the hardwoods though. I’ll show pictures.

Last night, I really thought I was going into labor. I was having contractions that wrapped all the way around into my back while I was laying down. They were about 12 minutes apart, and I made myself go to sleep, figuring I’d wake up in the wee hours once they got more intense. At the 1:30 potty break they were a bit stronger, and then when I woke up this morning at 7, they were gone.

I think I need to stop relaxing.

Now that I’m moved in, I’m taking jacuzzi baths,

(Yup, that’s the belly. Notice there aren’t any new stretch marks? How’d that happen? I’ve had new, bright red stretch marks every pregnancy until this one)

sitting in the hot tub, and laying on the couch. I should be more active if I want to get things going, but I’m tired and I don’t want to.

Thanks for the comments and well wishes on my earlier post. It’s very sweet.

Apparently, membrane stripping isn’t too painful when the baby’s head is really low. It wasn’t much more than brief discomfort. Still no labor. The doctor said that Junior’s head is at -2. I don’t know what that means, but his head is low. He also said that I’m more effaced, and while I’m still a “2”, he can stretch me to a “3”.

The internet came up, and went down, and came up again at the house this evening, so I’m taking the opportunity to post some pictures now, as I don’t know how reliable our DSL is going to be for awhile.

Oh, and to fill you in, instead of the houses closing on Monday and Tuesday of last week like they were supposed to, they closed on Thursday and Friday. I’m relieved it’s all done now, and grateful we were able to get in on Tuesday night.

We’ve been busy. Painting, drilling, unpacking, rearranging, buying stuff, etc. Our main priority was the living room area upstairs. Want to see why?

Yes, those are 8 foot painted diamonds. And on the other side of the room…

There are a lot of funky, diagonal things going on in the main living area upstairs. Those two were the most critical. The diamonds are gone, no picture yet, and the diagonal is mostly gone.

It would be ALL gone, but we didn’t have white primer, only orange for the diamonds. If you stand right in front of the wall where the diagonal was, you can still see a little bit of the gray peeking through. But not much. We might leave it because by the time we’re done doing what we’re going to do to that wall, it won’t be detectable at all, and it’s pretty obvious that it won’t get any better without primer.

That’s Nate and my mother-in-law tackling the job. Oooh, and you even get a little peek at some of the new furniture!

I don’t have a good, 9-months-pregnant picture for posterity yet, but Veronica took one of me on the couch this afternoon. It’s too dark, because I’m in front of large windows, but you can still see the big belly!

I think it’s kind of cute.

Hi again. Junior’s still cozy in my belly. We’re getting more settled. The phone company didn’t bother to tell us until after we got in that it will take over a week to get DSL up and running. That SO sucks. I miss posting. They claim that we’ll have internet service on Friday, but that’s a big “wait and see.”

Veronica and I are heading out to my doctor appointment right now, where I was planning on having my membranes stripped until I read your comments just now, and now I’m nervous.

But I’m ready for labor.

Monday, I bought a little bassinette/cradle, a boppy pillow (my first ever), and a nursing bra. I’m set.

So, I totally have to go, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but I’ll try. Thanks for the comments. I haven’t seen my email in almost a week, and I won’t be able to until at least Friday, when I’m hoping to have a baby home with me!

Oh, and I HAVE taken a bath in the big tub. Two actually. Mmmmmm. And the hot tub is now cleaned and hot. We sat in that last night. Mmmmmmm. And I CAN’T WAIT TO SHOW YOU PICTURES!!!!

TTLY. I’m so totally late.

Hey. Did you miss me? I’ve been away from the computer for two days as it’s still in the old house for now. Things have been crazy, as I’m sure you can imagine, and I don’t want to re-live the stress by reciting it all. Plus, it wouldn’t be very interesting to read.

BUT, I will tell you that Tuesday so completely sucked. We did finally, thanks to the kind sellers and our brilliant and completely awesome realtor, get permission to move in to the new place before closing. The house was supposed to close Tuesday, but because the sale of our house was delayed, we couldn’t close on the new one on time. But I had no bed, our kids had already been farmed out for a night, and we really needed to get into our home.

5:30 Tuesday night we were given a key and told we could move in. We moved our mattress and some clothes, and slept. Wednesday, we unloaded the truck. I’ve been unpacking and contracting ever since. (I have pictures, but I left the camera at the new house, sorry). Our furniture was delivered this afternoon, and it’s great. I think the sale of our house closed this evening, and our purchase should close tomorrow morning.

Sighs of relief all around.

What a pain.

My doctor appointment on Wednesday was uneventful. I haven’t progressed any further, which amazes me because Junior’s been pushing on my cervix. Hard. It honestly feels like he’s trying to force his way out, uterus help or not. And I contract a lot when I’m standing or walking. Still.

But it’s all false labor, and the doctor said I could go into labor without progressing any further. Which is true. I’ve never dilated more than a 2 before water breaking or something.

He asked if I was ready for the pregnancy to be over, and I answered absolutely NOT! Not this week. He was going to offer to strip my membranes, so I’m glad we got that cleared up.

Next week.

Just stay in there ’til next week.

Our sale didn’t close yesterday like it was supposed to. We’re still here, waiting to hear if both houses will close today or not. We had to put off the movers that were supposed to help Nate unload the truck this morning. We had to put off the movers that are going to move my weights.

Waiting around, with nothing but anxiety to entertain.

I want to go shopping.

A zillion things to do. I seem to be getting a little more capable of standing and walking as the morning progresses. Earlier, I thought I’d have to sit in the one chair we left in the house to watch Nate finish up packing and cleaning by himself.

We have to be out of here at 9 tonight.

Last night, I photographed our last bedtime ritual of stories and scripture reading in our house. It isn’t usually held in the dining room, but that’s where we did it.

I’m so ready for this to be over.

Good morning.

We are busy over here. I’m packing the remainder of the kitchen. It is now at the point where I’ll pack half a box, then I have to sit for a few minutes, then I pack the rest of the box, and sit…. It’s tedious.

I reserved our U-Haul truck two weeks ago, and last night, they left a message on my cell phone saying the truck wasn’t available. We’re still waiting to hear whether or not they’re going to be able to do anything for us. That is SO lame. Particularly because if I’d called and cancelled last night, I still would have been charged something. So reservations only work in THEIR favor, I guess.

Last night, I went to the mall and bought some new jammies and undies for the hospital. Because I wanted to. Then I went to the Body Shop and picked up a full compliment of their extremely yummy Vitamin E skin care line, and their Warming Mineral Face Mask. Say it with me, “Mmmmmmmmmmm”. I really like the stuff, and have been out of it for several months.

Also, I stopped by the Motherhood Maternity store, which had just closed, so I was talking to them through their gate. At the shower yesterday, one of my friends had the most fantastic diaper bag, and she said she got it at Motherhood. So I asked them to show me the green one. It’s quite ugly in that photo, but it’s really, really pretty in person. I want one.

I have to be getting exercise today because I’m breathing very heavy with the smallest exertion.

That’s my lead-in to Health Group. How’s it going out there?

Fantastic, U-Haul just called. We can’t get a truck today. I hate them.

I really, really hate them.