Random Thoughts

• I went to my last doc visit this morning. I will go back on Thursday for an NST, but not to see the doc. BP and sugar are still doing great! The doc said my bp was lower than hers!
• Baby comes in 7 days. Ready or not!
• I finished the top of the quilt, just have to put borders on so I can quilt it.
• We have really been enjoying Benjamin these last few days. I don't if we subconsciously realize these are his last days as the baby, but he has just melted our hearts all over again.
• Paul Jr took Sam to see Toy Story 3 last night. It does my heart good to see my older kids going out of their way to spend time with their younger siblings.
• Paul has lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks and looks fantastic! He is doing it without any cravings, without any pain and without really thinking about it.
• Goodnight.

Updates

These are not the best pictures, but will give you kind of an idea of where we are. This corner is where the back door used to be.

Paul and a bunch of other men/young men sheetrocked all day yesterday and mudded and taped today.

The new french doors.

Emma's quilt. I was hoping to finish the top tonight, but too much unsewing. (ugh)

Can you see my big mistake I still need to fix?

I will be working hard on this the next few days. Nine days till she comes!

My Baby Shower

Last night, I was thrown a surprise baby shower! What a great time it was! We had a wonderful turnout of about 30 women, who were all friends of mine. What a shock to walk in and see all my friends (well, maybe not ALL my friends) sitting there, yelling surprise! The cake was so cute and so delicious!

Some of the ladies who attended.

Cute little bib!

I received so many beautiful and cute clothes for Emma.

More of the ladies and gifts.

The girls and I were so excited to go through all the stuff today! Here are some of the socks we received. Up to this point, I had no girly socks. Now, she has plenty!

A beautiful crib set and beautiful diaper bag. How nice to carry a girly diaper bag after carrying boyish ones for years!

The laundry basket is FULL of clothes and blankets, ready to be washed. We received so many cute, cute things that Emma will be the best dressed baby in Georgia!

Soaps, Shampoo, lotions, etc.

Diapers and Wipes. I think we counted over 540 diapers!!

She received so much more than I could fit in these pictures and so many cute outifts that I'm sure you will see on this blog in the coming weeks and months.

13 more days and she will be here and we are making some serious progress on the new room. Paul and another man got the door in today, which was the hardest part of the room. Tomorrow and the next few days will be sheetrocking and then priming and painting and then moving the kids around. Exciting stuff! I'll post some pictures tomorrow of the progress being made.

Doctors appointment in the morning. As always, I pray she will cooperate and move- alot- and that I will be in and out of there! I've much to do at home!

A boy and his dog

I'm not sure what was going on in these pictures, but I do know that Schnitzel was being very patient with Ben. (And being a very bad boy for being on the couch!)

The Dog Days of Summer

It's been so hot here lately that all Sheba and Schnitzel want to do is dig holes and lay in the dirt.

Big Baby

I had a growth scan yesterday to make sure the baby is growing properly. I knew she was; this was for the doctors. It seems by their best guess she currently weighs 7 lbs., 4 oz, and is measuring a week ahead of schedule. If she gains the estimated .5 lbs a week, she will weigh around 8 lbs., 4 oz, when she is born. Smaller than what I expected.

I am glad to hear she probably won't be huge! and it will be interesting to see how close they came to estimating her weight. 2 weeks from right now, I will no longer be pregnant.

Happy Father's Day

I'm blaming it on the pregnancy, but I'm having a hard time blogging. I didn't want to let Father's Day pass without a mention though, so I'm re-running these posts from last year.

Paul

My Dad

What we've been working on...

22 Years

Today we celebrate our twenty-second anniversary. Well, I use celebrate in a loose way! I am unable to move much. I think Emma has dropped considerably and today, every step was painful. We did go out to an early dinner, but I was unable to eat very much. It was nice to spend time alone with Paul, but honestly, I was thankful to get back and lay down.

Another reason we didn't really celebrate was that we have a houseful of men working on our new room. Paul is furiously trying to finish the room so that we can move the kids around and have room for the baby, by the time the baby gets here. He had a crew here this morning, and when they left, we ran out to eat, and when we got back, the next crew was arriving. I'm not complaining, mind you. I'm glad the work is getting done.

That's real life. I mean, it's great to really celebrate and do something very special and we generally try to do so. But this year life interrupted us with a baby and a room, and that's ok. We chuckled when we thought back to our young naive selves 22 years ago and wondered what we would have thought back then, if we knew at this point, we'd be expecting our seventh child and finishing a room to house them all. The more we thought about it, the more we were glad we didn't know way back when!

So Happy Anniversary Paul! There's no one else I'd rather take this journey with. You're a wonderful husband and have made sure I've been taken care of during this pregnancy. You've given up (at least with any consistency) of knowing there are clean socks in your drawers and clean shirts in your closet. You've put up with a messy house and meals made by novices. You've understood when I've not been able to do much of anything for so long. Thanks honey. You're the best.

She will arrive...

on Tuesday, July 6th at 9:30. Woo-Hoo! 3 weeks away! Now that the date is set, it seems so close. My birthday is July 5th, so it seems we will share birthday parties, much like Paul and Sam do.

I have been wavering between excitement and anxiety all day. Well, really all during this pregnancy. Excitement that I'm finally going to see this baby and hold her and enjoy her. Anxiety about the c-section. I do not like having a scheduled c-section, at all. But it's really not the c-section that fills me with anxiety. It's the anesthesia being administered. I had such a hard, scary time with Ben that I just can't help wonder if it's going to be like that again. I would appreciate your prayers, both for the procedure and for peace of mind.

3 weeks.

21 days.

504 hours.

You get the idea.

(Benjamin at 4 days old. Sweet baby)

Sunday Randomness

• We had a great service this morning, but our attendance was very low. Not sure why, but Paul preached a very interesting message on keeping the Sabbath. Lots to think about and apply.
• Hot, Hot, Hot. Oh my. Temps have been in the mid 90's all week and as far as I know, they will be that way this week also. It's only June- it's still supposed to be "mild".
• Emma Grace's official due date is one month from today- July 13th. Of course, she will be born before then. I will find out tomorrow if she's coming in June or July.
• Ben is doing great in potty training if you don't count this morning. He had a few accidents at church, which were really not his fault.
• Sam swam in the big pool for the first time without floaties on! He was so proud of himself.
• Anna returned home from teen camp and jumped right back into the routine of things around here. We sure did miss her.
• Paul returned from his Preacher's meeting also. I told him he is not allowed to go anywhere else until Emma arrives. (grin)
• I am hanging in there, some days by a thread. I am feeling every one of my 43plus years. My body just hurts. It is painful to walk, to sit for any length of time and actually, just to move. I think these pains have come on a little early this time around.
• My sister commented on my previous post (10 pet peeves of pregnancy) and told me she was surprised I only had 10. What she doesn't know is I picked the 10 nicest ones. I have many, many more and some not so nice ones. Somedays, really, I shouldn't be allowed out of the house. Somedays I am a little surprised at what irritates me.
• I finally got the baby clothes put away and organized. We are still in the middle of finishing the other bedroom, so I'm not quite sure where Emma's clothes will finally end up. I ended up just putting them in the armoire in my room for now. I feel so much better now that that is done.
• I told the girls that this week is quilt week. If I don't get her baby quilt done this week, I doubt I will finish it before she arrives.
• Doctor in the morning. Nst in the morning. Please Emma. Move. Alot.
• Check out Paul's blog. He's embarking on a weight loss journey and he tells it all. You'll find his blog on my sidebar- Boundaries and Bridges.

Top 10 Pet Peeves at 35 weeks Pregnant

• Touching my belly. Hands off, please.
• Talking to my belly. 2 people at the doctor's office did this today. One was a nurse.
• Asking me if I'm ready to have this baby. Actually, I was ready about 5 minutes after I found out she was coming.
• Being woke up to use the restroom. All. Night. Long.
• Being hot. Not good seeing as it's the middle of June and getting hotter.
• The gel they put all over your belly for an ultrasound. It just makes me uncomfortable this time around.
• When I'm old enough to be the doctor's mother. Very weird.
• Being told I "waddle". You would not believe how hard I try not to.
• Emma not moving for the NST when she moves continually all other times.
• Not being able to do much when there is so much to do.

35 Weeks

I'll be 35 weeks along tomorrow. Everything went well today at the doctor's visit. I was expecting them to set the date, but they wanted to wait until 36 weeks. Ok. I figure it will be June 29 or July 6. Either date is coming right up.

It was a hard day today. I was very aggitated all day and I couldn't even tell you why. (Other than the obvious!) I'm getting tired and weary. I know I'm in the homestretch, but the days seem long when doing anything requires a huge effort. I'm trying not to complain and just be thankful. Yesterday during church we had communion and God really convicted me of not being thankful that I am pregnant. I am thankful- I just forget sometimes. I know I'm blessed. I know many, many women would give anything to be 35 weeks pregnant in a healthy pregnancy. And I know it will be worth it all when Emma Grace is placed in my arms. I just have to keep reminding myself when the going gets tough, as it has been.

Ben did great at church yesterday not wearing a diaper. He is a champ! My first four children trained the same way at about the same age. Samuel was determined to be different! But even he was fully trained by 3. The girls are enjoying a break from diapers before it starts all over again. But there is no comparison in changing a newborn's diaper vs. a 2 year old boy's diaper!

Goodnight all.

Thursday

It seems all I write about anymore is my doctor's appointments. I had another one today for my twice weekly NST. Emma did ok, taking about an hour to do what they wanted her to do. The big news of the day was my blood pressure. It was 110/68, extremely low for me when I'm not pregnant, unheard of when I'm 34 weeks pregnant. This is the third time in a row that it has been this low. I almost let myself believe the first time or two were flukes, but today I'm pretty much convinced it's the supplement I'm taking. That is the only thing that is different this time around. By this time in my pregnancy with Sam, I was on bedrest. By this time in my pregnancy with Ben, I was on 3 meds, trying to keep the bp to manageable levels. So for me to not be on bedrest or not be on 3 meds (or even to up the meds I'm on) is amazing! I'm on the same level of meds that I started on way back in January!

Ben is doing wonderful in potty training! He's still going to the potty on his own, with no one asking him every ten minutes if he has to go. Woo-Hoo! The big test will be when we take him out of the house with training pants on- but I have a feeling he'll do great. Last night at church, Anna couldn't find him (a regular occurrence!). She finally found him in the bathroom, shorts off, diaper off and on the potty, using it. Go Ben Go!!

Anna goes to teen camp next week and is very much looking forward to it. I'm glad she can get a little break before the baby comes. She and Ellie do so much around here, especially right now when I'm pregnant and not feeling well. She deserves a break! Although, she is very much looking forward to her baby sister getting here.

We had a nice Memorial Day Picnic at Sherry and Phil's house. I only stayed for a part of it before I needed to go lay down at home. But the food was great and the kids loved swimming and the fireworks. Can't believe it's the start of summer.

I should find out next Monday the date for Emma's birth. It's getting so close and I am getting anxious about the c-section, specifically the epidural/spinal part about it. With Ben, they had such problems getting it started that they ended up knocking me out. I would almost they rather start with that then go through trying to get it started and it not working. I would appreciate all prayers for peace!

Thanks!