Last Post of 2008...

36 weeks, 3 days

And last doctor’s appointment of 2008!! I had an appointment this morning and all is well. She is head down and her heart rate is still perfect. I had my first internal exam (ouch!!) and I am dilated about 1 ½ cm and 70% effaced. I told the dr. that I was planning on having her in a week and a half, and he doesn’t think that’s likely, but it’s possible. I keep telling her that is when she is coming, so hopefully she’s listening to her mommy!! Everything else is pretty much the same. My hands and feet have been swelling, but my blood pressure and protein are still good, so nothing to worry about at this point. I just can’t believe that I will be meeting this little one in less than a month!!

New Car for the New Year

I finally broke down and agreed with Josh that it was time to get a new car. We really weren’t planning on buying until January, but we came across a Buick Enclave and fell in love, and next thing I know, we’re in the dealership signing paperwork last Friday. I do have to say, though – I love this car!! The only thing it doesn’t have that we want is leather seats – I’m a firm believer that with a dog and a child, leather is a must-have!! – so we will be having leather put in. Now the only problem is that there is a problem with the door locks that the dealership is having a hard time figuring out, so the car has been there since yesterday and I won’t be picking it up until tonight, so the picture above is not our car. It stinks to have a car payment again, but we traded in one of our cars and will be selling the other and putting that towards the Buick, and Josh is determined to work hard this next year and have it paid off before the year is over. Josh is feeling really relieved, because he would always worry about me out driving, especially since winter is here and I’ve been driving the CRV. It’s got over 160,000 miles on it, and he always worries about me breaking down or being stranded somewhere. And now with the baby on the way, he’ll be able to not worry when I am out and about.

I have a few New Year’s Resolutions for this year, but I’m hoping to do a 2008 review and a look forward to 2009 tomorrow. But I hope you all have a wonderful evening and a Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!

First and foremost - Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday!!

I was laying in bed last night, and couldn't sleep, (which is becoming a normal thing these days!) It was just past 2am, and I started thinking about Christmas and my memories of Christmas. And I'd like to share one with you today. It's not one I talk about often, but it is probably the one that has had the most impact on my life.

I can't even remember how old I was. I was just past the age of believing in Santa Claus. I don't think I knew it at the time, but my family had several times when I was growing up that we did not have a lot of money. My parents are wonderful and as a child, I never saw that stress in them, but looking back now I can see the signs. This particular Christmas must have been especially hard. I don't remember the details, but an anonymous person had given my parents a money order for $1.000. I really think without that gift, we probably wouldn't have had a Christmas that year.

One day I was with my mom in the car - it's funny the things the mind remembers. I remember we were driving through the parking lot of Safeway - and my mom asked me if I believed in Santa Claus. I was a little embarrassed, because I didn't want to admit to her that I knew the "secret", so I sheepishly told her that I knew that Santa wasn't real. I don't remember the exact words she spoke at that time, but I will never forget the feeling or the look on her face, as she turned to me with tears in her eyes and told me that yes - Santa Claus does exist. He exists in people, like this anonymous person, who bring happiness and joy into the lives of others. There are lots of Santa Clauses out there, and they are a big part of Christmas.

As I was remembering this moment in my life in the early hours of Christmas this morning, a huge sense of gratitude came over me for that person. Here it is - probably 20 years later, and I still think of this person every Christmas. I'm sure they haven't thought about it since that Christmas, but it has really affected me and how I view Santa Claus. I wish I knew who it was so they would know how their one act of kindness affected someone forever.

Into my mind this morning popped the phrase that is repeated often, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." I looked it up online this morning, and realized I had never read the whole letter before, or maybe I just didn't remember it - so I thought I'd post it here. The middle part is especially meaningful.

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and remember the reason for the season!!

34 Weeks

34 weeks, and me in all my huge glory. Man, I don't know how I can get any bigger!!

Nothing really exciting to report about the 34 week appointment. Everything looks good - she was awake and kicking when they did her heartbeat, so it was really strong this week, and I'm measuring at 36 weeks. The nurse said that measuring within 2 weeks either way is considered normal, but I'm still determined to have her 2 weeks early. They said my protein was a little bit low, but nothing to worry about, just something they want to watch over the next few weeks.

At this point, I'm mainly struggling with the normal aches and pains of being 8 months pregnant. But, lucky me, I do have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome in my right wrist. It has been bothering me for weeks now - my hand keeps going numb, and it's quite painful. I thought it was my back being out of whack, but a trip to the chiropractor didn't help any. I asked my dr. about it this week, and he said it's carpal tunnel. He said in most cases, it goes away after you have the baby, so it's nothing I have to worry about, just something I have to deal with for now. Not fun. I have a hard time even brushing my teeth in the morning, but I'm mostly functional half way through the morning. But it sure does make it hard to sleep! My only other "odd" pregnancy-related pain is a numb spot I've had at the top of my belly for most of my pregnancy. Dr. once again says it's normal, and up until the last couple of weeks, it's mostly just been annoying and itchy. But now it's burning. Like I have a really bad, really deep sunburn. He says it's the nerves, and once again, something that should go away within 6 months of having the baby. Ugh...

The nursery is painted, but I have some touch-ups to do since it didn't turn out as perfectly as I hoped it would. I need Josh to go and pick up the crib, and I need to go and buy a mattress, but once it's set up, I'll post pictures. Hopefully we'll go get the crib sometime this week or weekend - as long as it stops snowing!

It's Beginning To...

look a lot like Christmas??? I have to admit, I'm really having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Maybe it's because it's been so warm lately. The forecast is for 3-6 inches of snow today, but so far, none of it is sticking here at my house. And as much as I want it to snow so that it feels more like Christmas, I guess the warm weather hasn't been so bad since I can't fit into any of my shoes except for flip flops. Yeah, I had to go to Costco today, and there I was, with the snow coming down, and me in my flip flops. I'm sure I looked like a dork...

I haven't even done any shopping yet, mostly because I don't know what people want. I know what I'm going to get Josh, I just have to figure out where to hide it so he doesn't find out before Christmas. And we finally got our tree up and decorated. We went and bought it last Friday, and I kept waiting for Josh to help me decorate it, but he has been working so much lately that I finally decorated it by myself on Wednesday. Christmas fact about Josh and I - I have always decorated the tree by myself. I was hoping it would change this year, but no such luck. But it will be a family affair next year, especially since our little girl will be with us.

I'm sure Christmas will change next year since we will be parents - and I'm excited to see it through the eyes of a child. I guess for now, I just need to go turn up that Christmas music and make some cookies or something!!

**I have my 34 week appt on Tuesday, so I'll update any baby stuff then. Plus, the nursery should be done next week (crossing my fingers) so hopefully I'll have pictures of that!**

32 Weeks

I know it has been a long time since I've updated - I can't believe how busy I've been, and posting on here just hasn't been a priority. So I'll try not to cram too much into one post, but maybe start posting more regularly!!

I'll post about the pregnancy first, since that is what has occupied most of my thoughts as of lately!!

• I have a big baby. I had an ultrasound done at 28 weeks, and she was already almost 3 pounds then. The average is between 2 - 2 1/2 at that point. I just had an appointment today, and the nurse told me that I'm measuring between 33 and 34 weeks. So maybe not huge, but she's a big girl already!
• I am determined to have her on January 11th, so everyone send out their positive thoughts for me. She's due the 25th, so the 11th is exactly 2 weeks early. I figure that shouldn't be a big stretch since she's already big. I'm measuring about 2 weeks ahead, so hopefully she'll come 2 weeks early and be a normal sized baby! Plus, I thought it would be fun for her birthday to be on 1/11 - since our anniversary is 11/11 - we'd be a family of ones!
• I did find out from my ultrasound that my placenta has completely moved, so no worries of a C-section right now. I wasn't too worried, since they say 90% move, and I didn't have any bleeding.
• My family threw me a baby shower a little over a week ago, and it was so much fun. I got some really cute things - this baby is going to be very well dressed!! I'm working on getting her room done - hopefully it will be painted and set up in the next 2 weeks so I can take inventory and figure out what else I need. My plan is to be completely prepared by the end of the year, so that I can just relax when the beginning of the year is here and just wait for her to come!!
• The above picture was taken this morning before my doctor appointment. I feel so huge! I can't imagine what I'm going to look like in 6-8 more weeks before she comes. I think she's out of room already! But no stretch marks on the belly so far. I'm really hoping it stays that way, but realistically, I know I'll probably end up with some. Oh well, it's not like I go around wearing belly shirts or anything!!
• I've had a pretty uneventful pregnancy so far, which is a good thing. I'm so glad I'm not working right now, because I'm starting to get extremely uncomfortable, and I can't imagine sitting at a desk for 7-8 hours every day at this point. I admire those who do/have!
  

Once I make some progress on the nursery, I'll start posting pictures. I really am in love with the bedding I chose - so I think everything will be really cute!