Due Date

Well, I am looking and feeling "uber pregnant" as Jim would say (except he won't say because he would be too afraid of my wrath!) We are having nightly talks with our little one, trying to tell her that if she is feeling so crowded she should come out into the big, cold world for some wiggle room. We promise to love her and be nice to her and Jim even tried bribing her with chocolate, but so far she seems conent where she is. So, if she has not come by her due date, December 2, we will be making an 8:00 am trip to the hospital for something we like to call "Operation Ready or Not You ARE Coming Out!" (A.K.A. induced labor). Everything is ready for her, the nursery, her well stocked closet, even a new diaper changing station in the bathroom. Jim built a beautiful pink shelf for all our cloth diapering needs! Now we are just missing a baby! Anyway, it looks as if her first Thanksgiving will be NEXT Thanksgiving. This year it will be Jim and me, and some company that we are looking forward to. My mom and dad are coming down with Trevor, Madison and Travis, just for the day, though I tried to convince them that they didn't need to, since they will be turning around and coming back for Michelle's birthday! (It is possible I didn't try very hard, since I do miss them terribly and would LOVE to have them here! Still it is raining now and is supposed to be snowing by tomorrow night! I'd rather have them safe than have them here.) But they are planning to make the trip, no matter my protestations. We also will hopefully have our friends Brandyn and Jacqui with their 2 little ones over for dinner! A full house-my favorite and Jim's LEAST favorite. I tell you, sometimes I don't know how we ended up together with all the differences! He must REALLY love me! I know he does, because he is going to be doing a lot of the meal preparations to feed 11 people for Thanksgiving when he would probably rather spend it in the car listening to football on his Sirius Radio.

Christmas Spirit

It's no big secret that I am crazy about Christmas. It is the most wonderful time of the year, after all! Jim usually reigns in my jubilance until Thanksgiving, but this year, I tricked him! Hee, hee, hee! :) I convinced him that since the baby could come any day, and he doesn't want to be setting up Christmas alone, that we needed to get it done early. So, we got out the decorations Monday and have been setting up a little every day. We are nearly finished . . . at least, as finished as we are going to be for this year! I guess when it comes to Christmas decorations, I am never really finished because every year I find more to add! I really want one of those GE symphony light shows, but that might have to wait one more year!

Be careful on the edge of that roof, Jimmy!

MOST of the lights are working!

Finally all done for the year! It's so beautiful!

Baby Shower

Honestly, I can say I did not expect a baby shower. Jim and I do not know a lot of people here very well, and with me just changing jobs this year, it made it even less likely. However, a very sweet woman in our ward, Kira Brewer, took it upon herself to organize a shower for me. It was very considerate. And it was a lot of fun! Sometimes I forget how much fun it can be to talk to other women. People gave generous gifts--a lot of very cute clothes and a couple of nice, warm blankets for the cold winter months ahead. We ate some delicious treats, and I found a new craving for pineapple!

I also saw the doctor. He says everything looks perfect and the baby can come any time now. I agreed! If I haven't delivered by week #39 he says we will choose a date to induce, so that is something to look forward to, if nothing happens before.

Childbirth Class

It was a long Saturday--but it was worth it. Jim and I spent Saturday (9:00-5:00) at the hospital. This trip was not for the real thing, or even a false alarm, it was for education and practice for the real thing, and also helped us learn how NOT to have false alarms. We got to take a tour of the area where we will be spending some time (hopefully in just a couple more weeks!) The hospital is brand spanking new, at least the part where we will be is new. In fact, it is still under construction on the upper levels. That is the sad part. One of the levels is supposed to be the new Postpartum unit with individual rooms, but it isn't supposed to be open until December 2. So likely we will be in the old part with double occupancy rooms. The teacher told us that Dads are welcome to sleep in the second bed as long as there isn't another occupant. But if one arrives in the middle of the night--guess who gets kicked out!

Anyway, the class helped us feel A LITTLE more secure about what we are about to face for the first time--childbirth! Me being the ultimate wimp I still worry that it will hurt too much and that as a result I will do something wrong for the baby. But people assure me this is not likely. Besides, if all goes well with the epidural, the pain shouldn't be TOO unbearable. My doctor seems confident anyway, and I trust him.

The closer we get to the big day, the more unprepared I feel. But ready or not, here she comes! Can't take it back now! One of the girls I serve with in the primary is putting on a baby shower for me this week. I thought that was incredibly considerate of her, since I don't really know any of the girls in our ward (just my visiting teacher). We really do have a great ward! I wish my family could be here for that kind of stuff . . . the drawback of living so far away. Still I am thinking about all of you and will be thinking about you at the shower, I am sure! We look forward to seeing everyone as you are able to make it to visit and see the baby!

I am becoming . . . MY PARENTS!!!!!

Do you ever think you are becoming like your parents? Sometimes I do--and last night was one of those times. When I was growing up it used to drive me nuts how my dad thought a vaporizor could heal any ailment. Whenever one of us got sick it was "make some orange juice and get a vaporizor going in your room." I honestly never thought I would own one!

I have come down with a pretty nasty cold, and as I am pregnant there is nothing I can take. That means sleeping is almost impossible, and the best solution is humidfying the air to make it easier to breath. So last night Jim went to K-Mart, and guess what he went for . . . You guessed it!

I suppose there are worse things than becoming my parents. They are pretty darn good parents! We all turned out okay--vaporizors and all!

Autumn Time and Halloween Visitors

This is Jim's usual spot lately. He is really enjoying becoming a small time chicken farmer! He spends a lot of his time "taking the birds for a walk" or feeding them, or putting them up for the night. He's so thorough!

Someone else enjoyed the chickens this weekend. Two very good friends from college have moved to Reserve, NM--only 2 hours away from us. They came to visit this weekend and their son, Kadyn, was practically joining the chickens in the coop! He chased them and ran with them and was all around having a good time. We had a good time too, with Brandyn and Jacqui and the kids. It is always fun to have visitors! We went to the stake "trunk or treat" and dinner. We have never done that before and it was enjoyable. Certainly there were more trick or treaters than we get at the house. (A total of 2 this year).