Pooh Bear

(just assume no baby. Josh will update after he gets here, unless there's actually wifi at the hospital for me to do it myself)

Jasmine and Bekah are getting much longer attention spans these days. Until a month ago, Frog and Toad books were too wordy for them. Now they'll sit through me reading both to them, one after the other.
And they'll listen to an entire Winnie-the-Pooh story, too. Jasmine's started walking around with the book "reading" it to whoever's around...we keep hearing things like, "'Pooh,' cried Pooh!" which cracks us up!! Bekah's ready to jump to a new page shortly before I finish the current one, but she makes it through 85% of the current page before trying to turn it, so she's getting close.

I'm glad they're starting to enjoy them, since those books are my very favorites. I love that I'm giggling about the way the book is written, and they enjoy the story itself. It makes all of us happy!

Ready, Hudson?

I have an appointment with my midwife today, and will hopefully hear "he can come out any time now" from her mouth! I'm 36 weeks (and 1 day) pregnant, so he's in the clear as far as lung development and sucking reflex.

And do you know what's scary? Using the half-pound-a-week growth they say happens to them at this point, if he's born today and is on par with Jasmine, he'd be 6 pounds 12 ounces!! Bekah was born 16 days from now (relatively speaking) and weighed 7 pounds. So she really was a peanut, and not just because she was born 3 1/2 weeks earlier than her sister!

I made a layout of something I'm hearing a lot from Jasmine lately. She's been putting on various Disney costumes (finally! she wouldn't look at them in Disney World!) and insisting that we call her by the name of the princess or fairy.
This is Bekah's costume and a tad tight on Jasmine, but she did look pretty cute! and she wanted her hair up like Tink too, so I put it in a cute little bun.

48 hours and counting

Sending a memo to Hudson that he's safe and very welcome to show his little face in 48 hours!!

I made a layout about something Bekah told me this week. She's becoming a bit sassy lately, some of which I'd like to see go away but some of it's okay. this one I'm fine with, if it means she'll stand up for herself with her name (I know I've always struggled with telling people "please don't call me Char," so hopefully this means she'll be comfortable telling people she doesn't like specific nicknames.

Even less to report

Hudson's still hanging on in there :)

We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner tonight. Dinner was great as always, and it came pretty quickly...but then they seemed to forget about us. Never checked to make sure it was okay, which meant I couldn't get more water...and we sat there, with our plates empty, for a good 20 minutes before the waiter finally came back with the bill. Good thing we weren't in a hurry or hoping to get something fixed!

I have a couple more Disney World layouts to share!




Um, I just saw my titles in a new light. Wow, I think I need to get more suggestions for titles before the next one!

Still here

...nothing much new to report. Hudson's still in the right place, and needs to be there for another week. Then I can pack, clean the bathroom, vacuum the living room, and if it brings on labor, I'll be ready (and excited)!!
It's a very strange place to be in, mentally. Because of the nearly-constant Braxton-Hicks, I'm constantly thinking about Hudson, labor, driving to the hospital...and trying not to wish it would just happen so I could stop wondering how it was going to go (after a super-easy labor with Jasmine and a quick-and-easy delivery with Bekah, so this time I'm praying for the best of both worlds!) But I know that there is no better place for him than where he is right now, so I'm praying hard that he stays put until next Tuesday.
The midwife told me to put blinders on. For the most part, I'm doing well with that. Well, until Jasmine tells me "Bekah's playing with the toilet and it's spilling" (my recurring nightmare, actually, so I had emotions from growing up fearing it on top of the "yuck" of dealing with it!)...but really, most of the time, I've been able to just relax and keep my feet up, knowing that sitting still is the very best thing I can do for him. The girls are enjoying the times when I read to them, and family is really stepping up and helping out in many ways.

So keep praying he holds off for one more week, and then we can meet him safely!!

Trying to keep people updated

Now that I've let people know that I'm supposed to take it easy so Hudson doesn't come too early, I should probably make sure I at least let people know I'm still hanging in!!

He can come in 10 days. I'm continuing to pray that he doesn't come before then, but I'm also praying the way I have been since I first suspected I was pregnant, that he wouldn't come late. This has not been an easy pregnancy, and the thought of going past my due date makes me ever-so-slightly crazy.

The girls can't figure out why I can't do anything for them, but I think it's making them gradually more independent, which is a very good thing since I'll still be taking it easy once he's here! Jasmine is certainly capable of doing things on her own, so it's good to "encourage" that from her a bit more than we have been.

Thanks for the prayers and notes! I love hearing from people, on Facebook or via email or here :)

Baby Update

I found out at my appointment yesterday that I'm 40% effaced and 1 cm dilated. She said some people can stay like that for weeks, but she "doesn't trust redheads," so I'm supposed to put my feet up for two more weeks. She put "couch potato" on my chart. I'm to "act like a queen" (explain that to my two princesses, who think I should treat them like royalty!!) until I hit 36 weeks, when his lungs should be developed enough not to need a NICU stay.

Talk about scary! I had been headed towards putting myself on bedrest for the past week because of contractions last Wednesday, but at that point I had the possibility in the back of my mind that I might have been imagining things. I have a tendency towards being a hypochondriac (just ask Katie, who will kindly agree), so I figured I was being overly cautious.

But to hear that I actually have to take it easy??? That's completely different! I don't want him to have any complications at birth. And I don't want him to have to be born at the high-risk hospital (I didn't have a good experience there after the car accident when I was pregnant with Bekah, and I know of someone else who had problems getting them to go along with her "absolutely no bottles" request, so I want nothing to do with that hospital)

So I'll be keeping my feet up, drinking lots of water, and praying that he stays put until at least the 24th.

Insane!! My mom had all of us late. Justin was a scheduled C-section on his due date, but the rest of us showed up fashionably late. Jasmine was 2 weeks late. It was crazy enough that Bekah came 11 days early, but for Hudson to be threatening to show up 5 1/2 weeks early is just beyond my comprehension!

I didn't sleep well last night, thinking through all of this...and when I did sleep, most of my dreams were about wanting to walk/move things/lift things and realize I wasn't supposed to. I hadn't realized just how contrary I am, but the fact that I was told (twice!) not to vacuum makes me wish I could that much more!!

So I'm thankful for my laptop, since this is where I'm spending even more time these days. Thankful that the girls are old enough to play together now (wishing they didn't think the bathroom sink was the coolest place to play; Josh had to clean up a deluge the other day). Thankful that he's far enough along that he shouldn't have any serious preemie complications. Thankful that it's only 12 days before he can show up. And thankful that everything looks absolutely perfect with him, so in 12 days he can show up and be problem-free!!

Oh, and this probably means we should make sure we have some, uh, clothes and blankets bought and cleaned for him pretty soon!!

Me, Now project

I'm so excited!! TheDigiChick has started monthly projects, making mini-albums on various themes. I jumped in and volunteered to run this month because there was an adorable box I wanted to make. Isn't that a good enough reason??

I haven't taken pictures of the box itself yet because I keep hoping my camera will be done and back in my arms again soon, but here are the first two pages. If you're reading this and a scrapper (paper, digi or hybrid) I'd love it if you wanted to join me!

Here's the front and back of the first one. Just a little bit about me, with current stats :)


And hopefully this will show up animated...it makes more sense to animate it, since it's the front and back and the above one looks like it's two separate pages! That, and this one's easier to read at this size!

March!

I love March. Even though around here it means nothing really changes weather-wise, it means that spring really is just around the corner. Changing the calendars from February to March this morning is one of my highlights of the winter.

And apparently I'm not the only one who's ready for winter to be over. I got this picture from the garden yesterday:
Yes, there is snow in the corner of the picture. I know we could still get dumped on, and we could still see cold temperatures. But flowers are hopeful, so I can be hopeful too :)

Because next month is April, and (hopefully) Hudson's arrival! (I really, really, really hope he doesn't make me wait 'til May to meet him!)

I thought black was supposed to be slimming?

I guess not, at this stage of the game!
Here I am, yesterday, 32.5 weeks pregnant. I think my face looks like it's a bit rounder too, which is funny, since I never had that with Bekah. I sure did with Jasmine, though!!