It's Electric!

The electricians are officially done with our house. It took about two days longer than planned - one day because they had to re-do some wiring in the pretty room, and then they had to come back today because at the end of the day yesterday when testing circuits, they found two places in the house where the current voltage would trip the breaker if everything on the circuit was flipped on at the same time. So they ended up putting in new breakers and running new wires to the master bath and the microwave/kitchen. The crew that they sent was great and really nice. A lot of attention to detail, a dedication to making it "perfect" and a lot of patience with the changes I asked for as we went along. They cleaned up after themselves throughout the whole process and made sure that I was happy with how everything looked and worked.

The painting however, is yet to be finished. They brought the patching/painting guy out on Tuesday, but his work has just been less than awesome. Of the three non-kitchen-related patches, only one of them wasn't HUGELY obvious. We kept asking him to fix the other two, but they just ended up being bigger and more obvious. The kitchen ceiling itself is still a total mess, and the painter kept on saying that it was fine and once the paint dried it wouldn't show. Umm... the color might be different, but those raised edges are going to show. Turns out, we also need our living room ceiling repainted, but that's on us, not on the painter. SO. They've pulled the current painter off the job and tomorrow Pat is sending "a crew." I've got my fingers incredibly crossed that they can be done by the end of the day, since most of it is only a coat of paint. I am so ready to scrub the heck out of my house. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WALKING ON THE CARPET WEARING THEIR SHOES, FOR GOODNESS SAKE! I also want to mop the floors like crazy. If they can finish the painting tomorrow, then Tim and I have our Saturday fun already planned! (what? Cleaning is fun!)

I'm just ready to have my house back. Getting up at 6:30 and immediately having to start worrying about cat children is hard while also putting the finishing touches on a baby. Today I ended up imprisoning the cats in the baby's room, which seemed to please both of them just fine. Lulu laid on the changing table, which is her favorite perch. Thory got to hide under the bed, which he loves almost as much as hiding in my closet (I ended up shutting him in there for a few hours yesterday - it was easier than dragging him out to jam him in the guest bathroom.) Also, it's nicer for me to visit the kitties when it's the guest bed because then I can lay down and dooze on and off. They both came out from under the bed and snuggled with me off and on. And then, when the guys left and I let them out, they both went back under the bed and hung out there for two more hours. Oh my practice kids, you make me crazy. It doesn't help that Jonesy is coming around in the evening hours lately and picking fights. Last night we had a big hissing and biting fest before bed, and then when I woke up at midnight to use the bathroom, Thor was sleeping on Tim's feet (his usual location) and when I scooped Lulu off the floor, she immediately laid down in between our pillows and started purring. That's my kind of family co-sleeping.

In the meanwhile, I've gotten all of the baby's outfits and blankets washed, folded and organized. I also put together all of my photos and mementos in my baby shower book and my belly book/pregnancy journal. I've got shots of my growing belly week by week and all of the various ultrasound photos all pasted in. Sometimes I wonder what baby #2 will think, because I don't know that I'll be as dedicated the second time around (and hopefully with #2 I'll get less nonsense about my blood pressure, which will mean I won't have to show up every week for an ultrasound.) I'm still in a state of disbelief that in a few weeks she'll actually be here in my arms (and in the arms of all of the people who have loved her over the past nine months.) It's certainly exciting, but I'm still not sure I'm ready to be done being pregnant. It's such an amazing experience (for example, right now she is giving me the butt-jam in the ribs while also hiccuping.) Slowly but surely though, I'm starting to feel ready for the Big Day!

Roasting!

I don't know if you heard, but it's a million degrees in Southern California this week. Yesterday they said it was over a hundred degrees in Mission Viejo. The guys did NOT enjoy being up in the attic. I kept offering them water and fans whenever I could. It was just miserable. But, we're making progress! Yesterday they did our bedroom and today they got most of the work done in the living room. That leaves tomorrow as their last day, to do the touch ups, finish the painting and install all of the bulbs and fixtures. VERY EXCITING. It's made a huge improvement on how the house looks. It's like a real home now, and not a dark lair.

We went from one crappy little square light to four cans! I won't have to turn the light on in the bathroom in order to properly see things in my closet!

Moving on into our bedroom - now we have reading lights over the bed. Before we just had a little desk lamp on Tim's side of the bed (like Tim reads!) And the ceiling fan, which is amazing. We ran it last night and it kept us from sweating to death.

Shot of the half-finished living room! We've got another ceiling fan and then three sets of canned lights. Each set of 2 is controlled by its own switch and dimmer, so we can get things adjusted depending on what sort of activities we're doing.

Here's how it looked in progress. Lots o'ladders. Apparently the space between the ceiling and the roof is only about eight inches, so they spent a lot of time fishing around to make things work.

Lots o'wires also.

I have not been completely without purpose either (though I did not get as sweaty as the poor electricians.) Here's what I did today!

I organized all of her lovely clothes and presents in her little closet. (The other half other closet is still hung with my clothes. She needs to learn early to share. SHARE YOUR CLOSET WITH MY FUR COAT COLLECTION.)

This is the to-be-washed pile.

I also spent some time in Cellblock B with the feline inmates. They both protest mightily when we jam them into the bathroom, but once they can hear the workers outside, they both get bug eyed and a little freaked out. They'll come out when I walk into the bathroom, and they'll both snuggle with me, but they're spending most of the day hiding in the cabinet under the sink, on their blankey.

Observe. This is my poor brown cat, who has gotten noticeably skinnier over the past week, despite my efforts to give him lots of wet food and treats. The good news is that the work should be done tomorrow. The bad news is that Thor remains terrified of overhead fans. He only recently became comfortable walking into the living room if we had our stand fan running. Currently, the living room fan is going strong, and Thor is meowing weakly under our bed. The poor little nugget. He is lovable but deeply, deeply flawed. I'll be very glad when all the work is over, especially for the sake of the poor cats.

Lastly, had my 37 week check up today. The baby is measured around 7 pounds and was reactive on the nonstress test, so par for the course. I still feel great. The doc asked me if I'd been contracting, and I said no and that I thought I was going to go late. I got a quick exam and she confirmed that really, nothing is going on that would indicate that my body is getting ready to deliver the baby. She said that's a good thing and that ideally they want all patients to go to 39 or 40 weeks, unless they have health complications. I asked if she thought the baby was too big for 37 weeks, considering that I'm nowhere near labor, and she said no, because the baby isn't HUGE, she's merely on the high side of average. So that's good. And as I told the doctor, I still have a lot of stuff to do in the next couple of weeks, so I'd really prefer that Sequins wait until her due date. Even in the heat, I'm still having a really easy, comfortable pregnancy. This baby is welcome to live inside me for as long as she'd like. Unless it's like... Christmas or something. I have outfits for her to wear!

Anyways, I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the week cleaning and nesting.

Good night, from beautiful Mission Viejo!

Showers and a Heat Wave.

It was a busy, baby-related weekend around these parts. Saturday afternoon was my third and final baby shower at Eileen's, with all of the Smith girls and the Yorba Linda ladies. Everyone braved the heat during lunch, and was grateful to move inside for present opening. I had such a great time, and Sequins was truly spoiled. Now looking at all of the boxes and bags, I realize how unprepared I am. I still have so much cleaning and organizing to do! Not to mention that I have some diapers (and now a Diaper Champ) but I don't have any of the other supplies to change a diaper - no baby wipes, no butt cream, AND of course, the pad on the changing table is covered in cat fur. Things to put on my to-do list for this week. I have told Sequins that her earliest approved arrival date is now Sunday the 3rd.

After the shower we were off to the Big A for the Angels/White Sox game. Tim's company bought a big block of seats and provided free snacks beforehand, so we went, we ate, we cheered. I spent a lot of the game trying to help explain rules to nerds who had never really watched baseball before. I was slightly ashamed for them, and very thankful that I have a dad who took me to games and taught me the rules. Even the infield fly rule!

Then yesterday I drove up to LA county for Trena's baby shower. It was nice to meet her family and all of the girlfriends I've heard so much about. It's all babies, all the time!

While I was gone, Tim had installed the car seat in my car, and figured out how to work all of the components of the snap 'n go car seat and stroller set. He's so handy! It was especially funny because then later in the afternoon we got our 37 weeks email from babycenter.com and their advice for the week was to make sure the car seat is installed (and yes, I will be going to one of the facilities where cops or firemen check your car seat for safety.) He'd also started the air conditioning, which I really appreciated. WHY must it be 90-100 degrees during my very last few days of pregnancy... and in late September no less? Oh, spare me.

Today it's back to construction supervision. They're putting the cans and fan in our bedroom today, and the paint guy is here to patch and paint. The poor kitties are locked in the master bath, which neither of them like. I went in to check on them and they were BOTH hiding out in the cabinet under the sink. Hopefully it'll all be over by Wednesday and they can get back their normal jerk selves.

Some pictures:

Here's the snap 'n go, all ready to go. Hope baby #2 likes pink as well!

The Beatrix Potter quilt from Grandma also arrived this weekend. I pulled out my baby quilt for size comparison. I really think the great-grandchildren are getting spoiled.

The clothes line of cute onesies at Grandma's house!


The big Smith girls.

The little Smith girls, who were desperate to find out Sequins' name, and also REALLY wanted to see what was in the biggest boxes (car seat and stroller!)

Tim and I at the game. My outfit was chosen not only because I love the Twins, but so that I could taunt White Sox fans in the crowd.

Lady of the House. Captain of the Ship.

Well, we've owned this dump for almost a year, so now it's time to rip it to shreds, right? (just kidding, this place isn't a dump, it's the best house ever.) Wednesday morning the crew of electricians came to begin their work installing overhead lighting and fans in our house. For reference, we have about 1,800 square feet. The only lights installed in our house were in the kitchen (ugly florescent light box), the bathrooms (more ugly lights) and the dining room (nice enough fixture.) Our lighting down the hall mainly consisted of a bare bulb put in the attic, with a plexi glass window. The only fan in the house is in the pretty room. Not in the living room, which gets to a million degrees on a warm day. We've been living by lamp light, and now it's time to get some real lighting in here. It's a little project that's going to make a big difference, and it's a nice thing to do as our first home renovation.

So it's Friday and they've put up ceiling fans with light fixtures in the two bedrooms and then can lighting down the hallway, in the foyer, in the pretty room and in the kitchen. They've done some outlet replacing and done some work with the rattletrap wiring that the former owners did in the garage. Even though the fixtures don't have the right bulbs yet, and don't have their covers, the difference is AMAZING. For one, now when you walk in from the garage, you can turn on a light in the house right away. You don't have to walk into the entryway and fumble for the switch to the pretty room or living room. The dinner I cooked last night looked and tasted better, being made in a kitchen with an abundance of light. The bedrooms look amazing, and you could read in there without going blind.

I know there are Thiels reading this thing, so I know pictures must be displayed. Construction pictures are like crack to a Thiel man.

Baby's room, featuring new fan and light. All of the fans are the same throughout the house, thanks to a last minute trip I made to Home Depot on Tuesday, after deciding (with a little nudge from dad) that the previous fans we'd purchased at Lowes were ugly.

The pretty room, with lighting over the couch, the fireplace and one other light that will be over a little kitchen table at some point. Like, when Sequins learns how to feed her dang self.

Kitchen in progress. Thankfully it looked better than we thought when the light box came down.

Entryway cans.

The construction crew has been super nice and easy to work with. The biggest headache of the whole project (other than the dustiness) is the cats. They are none too pleased about being locked in our bedroom during the day (kitty prison) and I can only imagine how pissed they're going to be on Monday, when they're exiled to the bathroom. It doesn't help that Thor is the biggest, wailing-est scaredy baby that ever was, when he isn't getting miffed and then PICKING FIGHTS with Lulu. They are idiots, but I love them so. Just when I'm getting ready to sell them to the zoo, Thor will come and rub his face against mine, or I'll wake up to hear Lulu purring against my back. I am hoping that once the construction is done we'll have a week to just hang out and calm down before I really screw their lives up by bringing home a human sibling.

In addition to the improvement project, mom's been out of town this week so I've been driving Sara around. And doing some banking stuff. It's hard to be both the lady of the house and the CFO. Thank goodness I ultimately have dad to be the construction supervisor and home improvement adviser. Between that and having a lot of plans with my lovely lady friends, it's a nutty last month of pregnancy. But I'm hoping by late next week we'll have all of the workers out of the house and then I can go crazy cleaning and nesting. And then hibernate!

Another week, another ultrasound.

Baby checkup week 36 completed. Nothing really to report - the ultrasound was really quick, just to check her position (head down!) and her fluid levels (fluidy and good.) However, I did get to watch her take her little arm up to her face and gum on her hand. It was so amazing to see her actually DOING something. She's a real little person! A baby sized one!

They hooked me up to the monitor for the nonstress test and I listened to the baby's heartbeat thump along at 145 bpm. Strong and steady. The only problem is that they need her to move and then react - the big thing is about measuring her heartbeat jump during and following movement on her part. She wasn't moving. She was napping. They finally came in and brought a buzzer thingie to airhorn her. And I had to drink some juice. That finally got her going, and her heartbeat jumped to 165ish. Quick hello with the doctor, and then goodbye until next week.

I'm all pre-registered at the hospital and they sent my medical records over today, so whenever it happens, it happens. The doc did say that it'd be good if Sequins could stay in for another week or so, which I agree with. I want to make sure I can go to the baby shower AND get all of my thank you cards out before the baby actually arrives. Have some manners, Sequins.

Plus Tim has some big project at work that's due to complete right around my due date. AND he wants to go to Blizzcon, so he's hoping I'm pregnant past my due date. As long as he keeps rubbing my feet and refilling my water glass, I guess I'll keep carrying his sweet little baby, even a few extra days.

A Story and a Video.

So, last night (around nine-ish) after the Manning Bowl, I was sitting in our living room with the back slider open. There was quite a lot of noise out in the yard, so I turned on the patio lights, expecting to see ol' Jonesy Bonesy mucking around back there. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted by the glinty eyes of three full grown raccoons. What the hell are raccoons doing in my yard??? Maybe they are friends with the skunk? Either way, there is the best picture I was able to take, before going straight back into the house to avoid potentially getting rabies.

Later, Tim released a daddy longlegs back into the wild. Our house is apparently bordering some sort of wilderness preserve.

Here is a video of me playing what I like to call "the suck in game." I think it's pretty amusing.

Home Stretch!

Yes indeedy, I am now 9 months pregnant and officially full term. If I went into labor, they wouldn't do anything except help me have my baby. So that's a nice feeling. However, I would like her to live inside me until at least next Sunday. I don't want her Grams to miss meeting her right away, and I don't want her to try to attend the baby shower her Grandma is throwing for her on Saturday. I would like it if she made her appearance on a Sunday though - then I could watch football in the delivery room. It would give me something to do.

I think she'll be awhile though. I'm still carrying very high and don't have contractions unless I'm dehydrated (and even then, a glass of water and it's over.) Babycenter.com says that I may start noticing less action out of her as she runs out of room to grow, but I think she must have figured out a way to build an addition inside my abdomen, because even at six pounds, she is still moving and shaking like a jumping bean. The other night Tim was feeling her move and he was like, "is this normal? Is this okay?" and I said, "honey, this is my life. Feed her a meal, feel her bang around in three separate locations. Get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and wake her up, and then feel her dance around for 15 minutes until I convince her to go back to sleep. And this isn't even counting hiccups!" Of course, she is still terrible at performing on command and kicking when someone wants to feel her kick. And I realize that most people don't want to sit around with their hands on my belly for five minutes straight like I do.

One of the things that amuses me is how much she seems to like church. Tim and I have been going to the Methodist one just down the street from our house since July-ish on a semi-regular basis, and the baby goes bananas throughout the whole service, every time. I don't know if it's because she likes me singing, or likes the acoustics of hearing the choir or even just the amplified voice of the pastor, but she spends most of the service moving and shaking. Insert joke about holy roller.

Yesterday mom's friend Jackie hosted a shower for me and Sequins, attended by the gardening angels and a few of my girlfriends. We had a really wonderful afternoon and Sequins and I were truly spoiled. Tim was very excited when I showed him the new "slug costumes" that Sequins had received. Mom and Eileen were the two top contestants in the "how big around is mom?" contest. Sara got a bit overeager and had a string that was almost three times the diameter of my actual belly.

Today Tim's over at Jake's watching a triple play of dumb video game movies, and I am watching the Manning Bowl. Personally, if I was Peyton Manning, I would use my older sibling powers and twist Eli's arm in the locker room until he gave up and screamed, "fine, you win, you win!" I mean seriously. CONTROL YOUR SIBLING, PEYTON.

Here's a few pictures from the last few days:
It's turning to fall around here, so Thory is trying to tan his white parts when he can (yes, we still have the newspaper up on some windows in our house. We should probably take it down though. Jonesy rarely comes by lately.)

Lulee says "yes, I enjoy this new cat carrier you have bought for me. I will ride in it. I suggest you use my former cage-like cat carrier when you have to take your human baby to the vet."

Mom and Tillie at the shower, looking cute.

Sara with the knitters, and the talking baby doll that Jackie bought to use during one of the shower games. I was amazed at how much time Jan and Tillie spent taking care of the fake baby. I think they are lobbying to win more babysitting time.

My coworker Trena and I, who are due within days of each other. She is having a boy (her second.) She has been bigger than me in the belly area the whole time, but I am finally starting to catch up.

Funny to Think

A year ago this week..
-Timmy Joe had just started at Blizzard
-We'd just put in our offer on our house
-And a few days later, did happy screaming dances when our offer was accepted
-We were planning for our trip to Ireland
-And just starting to think about trying to have a baby
-Basically, everything was up in the air.

And now...
-We are total homeowners, even if our yardwork needs work and the floors aren't always clean enough to eat off of.
-We are on the eve of undertaking our first home improvement project. We're going to have overhead lighting installed in all of the rooms, and ceiling fans put in
-Other than that, we've been in the house for almost a year and there's nothing we really want to change about it. It's been a great house for us, and we've still go room to grow
-Tim loves his job and they love him
-I don't know if you all know this, but we are EXPECTING A BABY EXACTLY A MONTH FROM TODAY (well, really, we expect her to come out either at any moment... or in six weeks. Her choice)
-Most importantly, we are happy as clams

Gettin' Prepped.

Remember how it looked like I was never going to do anything important to prepare for this baby? And how I could see the tension building around "is that girl ever going to get her crap together?" WELL, remember how I also said once I got back from Chicago it would be all baby, all the time?

I wasn't kidding! I'm home, I'm healthy, and it's all baby, all the time (except for when I am watching professional football, of course. GO PACK! We have our Packers flag up on our flagpole.)

So here's a list of how we're preparing for Sequins' arrival.
-I packed my hospital bag, so other than throwing my netbook and iPod in day of, I'm ready to go
-I did the pre-registration paperwork for the hospital so it'll be easier when we show up
-I have sorted through the baby's dresser and classified clothes by month. The 0-6 months clothes and all of the blankets have been washed and put away.
-Mom and Dad bought Sequins her snap and go car seat (not that it's in the car... but it's in our house!)
-Tim and I went to Toys R Us and bought her a mattress, a mattress pad and one fitted sheet. Not that we've put the mattress in the bed (we don't want the cats to consider sleeping on it) but the sheets are washed and her bed could be made in minutes!

Oh my goodness, taking Tim to Toys R Us was pretty hysterical. He has a lot to learn about babies. We were looking at the darling little clothes and he picked up a sleep sack and goes "this is cute... but is it something that would damage her development, because she wouldn't be able to use her legs?" I explained that it's for tiny nugget babies who aren't doing much except curling and uncurling their legs anyways, so it's more to keep her warm and happy. Then Tim goes, "I think it looks like a slug costume. Look," and then he made the sleep sack inchworm its way around the clothing rack. I thought my water was going to break, I was laughing so hard. Then Tim goes, "I like this slug costume. It's green and says I love daddy. Can we buy the slug costume for the baby?" And so we did. Her slug costume has been washed, even!

Please also remember, this is the man who insists that I call onesies "speed suits."

So, I feel like we're making some headway. And it's amazing how big the baby is getting. She still hasn't dropped an inch, but she's really turning into a person in there. I'm starting to know what part of her body she's using to kick me, or press into my ribs (hint: it's almost always her butt. And you can actually run a hand over it and feel clearly that it's a set of butt cheeks making a little hill under my skin.) One night I was laying down and Tim and I could both feel her whole little body crammed up on the high side of my belly. It's amazing to think that a few months ago she was just a little grape with paddles for arms.

Today I also spent some time at the doctors, of course. I met with the endo this morning and all is well, we'll continue along with the same medication, and he'll see me a month or so after I deliver, when they'll most likely start stepping me back down on my medication dosage. As far as lifelong conditions go, having a funky thyroid is not bad at all. I met with the OB in the afternoon and all is well there. Sequins is measuring around six pounds, per the ultrasound, and is in the 60th percentile for growth. I'm healthy, she's healthy, and I had a good talk with my doctor about my blood pressure and what I'm hoping for in terms of the rest of my prenatal care and delivery. I'd had some angst about everything, but he was very open to my concerns and we've cut my visits back from twice a week to once a week until I deliver (once a week is normal at this point.) So, all's well!

Kate's Married and We Made It!

Some may say that taking a four hour flight while eight and a half months pregnant is unwise. You know what I think is unwise? Even THINKING about missing out on the wedding of one of my very favorite people in the whole world - my little cousin Katie.

Mom and I flew out on Tuesday morning. I wore kind of a blousey top and no one said a word to me at security or on the plane. I think in this sue-happy world, people are terrified that they might say "are you expecting?" and I might just be fat, and ready to sue because my feelings got all hurt.

Tuesday we went out to Culvers and then hung out and did some wedding planning with the lovely bride. Wednesday the moms ran floral-related errands, I napped, and then joined them for some vintage/thrift store shopping in ritzy communities near Lake Michigan. And let me tell you, ritzy ladies donate GOOD STUFF to thrift stores. Unfortunately, most of these lovely items are still outside of my price range. But man, did I ever want the vintage Valentino velvet and fur bathrobe. I guess my new $16 Target bathrobe will have to do. We also got to go and see Kate pick up her dress - she even tried it on for us. Tears were shed.

Thursday morning Mom and Lisa began their efforts to put together the centerpieces for the wedding. We blasted some jams out in the garage and got to work (I say this like I was super helpful - I was barely a participant.) Thursday was nice because all of our friends started to arrive (including the birthday boy, my sister, and my husband) and so the mood just kept getting more and more festive, including during the rehearsal dinner and subsequent birthday party back at the house for dad.

THEN IT WAS THE WEDDING DAY. I spent most of the morning and afternoon napping so that I'd be fresh as a daisy for dancing all night. Most of our party spent the day in the pool at the hotel, which was also nice.

The wedding itself was really gorgeous. The setting was beautiful with a view of the lake, the Reverend Maren gave a great little speech, and dad's reading was lovely. Kate and James wrote their own vows and it was very touching and sweet. I spent most of the wedding crying into one of my Grandma Pat's hankies, which Lisa let me have (she is a nice share bear.) And then... it was time to PARTY! Well, once we sat through a delicious dinner and some very heartfelt, very humorous, not quite fit for family audience-type speeches.

Sadly, I couldn't get my groove on as much as I normally would - I would dance a couple of songs, then go and get a glass of water and put my feet up, just to be on the safe side. But between the Thiels, the Nollins and the Freifelt girls, the dance floor was generally PACKED. Tim busted out some sweet moves during Thriller, and I showed that big fat pregnant girls can still do the running man. I got the DJ to play family favorite "Navajo Rug" and the Door County crew screamed the chorus together at our darling Kate. We were so happy to be there, dancing and having fun until the very end.

Yesterday was a day of recovery and eating at Greg and Lisa's. There was a 10 foot blow up Bucky in the front yard and a couple of cut-throat games of croquet (which included the new rule that if you break your mallet, you have to then play the rest of the game on your knees, crawling through the grass.) There was also a lot of football watching, and plenty of eating. And some napping (mostly me. Look, I'm big and fat, okay?)

We had an easy flight back today, and now I'm officially ALL BABY, ALL THE TIME. I plan on buying a crib mattress and pad and sheet to get set up, and maybe I will even pack a hospital bag. Mom bought me my carseat before we left, so really, there is very little to do except keep baking my little baby friend (who has her butt crammed up in my ribs at the moment.)

I took very few pictures this weekend, but here are a few choice ones:

Me in a rich lady castoff. SO SOFT.

Anonymous floral slaves.

Our last pre-baby vacation!

Timmy Joe and Johnny Juany doing a little relaxing yesterday.

Flower.

I woke up last night around 1am because I could hear some unusual, cat-related noises coming from the slider. When I looked, I found Thor with his nose pressed against the screen, sniffing furiously. For a second I thought, "oh, maybe he and Mr. Jones are ready to sign a treaty and stop attacking each other through the door." Then I looked at the creature on the other side of the screen, and it was no cat. It was a little skunk!

I've occasionally woken up and smelled skunk in our yard, and have been sort of terrified as to what would happen if the cats saw a skunk, or if the skunk got mad at our cats. I don't need stink squirted onto my bedroom carpet. Thankfully, Thory and the skunk seemed to be just checking each other out, and I slid the glass door closed without anyone getting too upset. The skunk toddled off in the yard and Thor sort of looked at me confused (or, more confused than usual. He's not too bright.) I can't imagine what must have gone through his little head upon seeing this strange, stinky creature.

It's especially funny to me because when we adopted Thor, I wanted to name him Flower, after the skunk in Bambi. Tim shot me down on that call, though he now admits that Thor is sort of a wuss, and would have made an excellent Flower. I guess Thor and the actual Flower were sort of kindred spirits though. Or at least, friendly enough to keep everyone from getting sprayed with stink juice.

The bad news: then I couldn't fall back to sleep for another three hours.

Prepared to Fly!

Hey there folks! I hope not writing for almost a week didn't make you think I had gone into labor. Quite the opposite. I am still very pregnant and loving every minute.

The good news is that they gave me a super once over at the doc's this week and I am all good to travel to Chicago. I have my permission slip, I have a copy of my medical records, and they ran a test on me that helps indicate whether or not I would go into pre-term labor in the next two weeks, and it came back negative (which means that there's a less than 1% chance it will occur.) The baby has plenty of amniotic fluid, a nice placenta to hang out with, and all of my physical signs are right on target for 33 weeks along. In short, and as always, I am a big old pile of pioneer stock, as is my daughter.

The only downside is that I got busted for my Diet Coke consumption, and was told I have to lay off completely, as it gives me dehydration contractions. FINE THEN. No beer, and now no Diet Coke. I suppose this means I am due more frozen yogurt.

Here is a picture of my daughter's cute little button nose. She is worth it.


What else? I had a lovely lunch with my former coworkers yesterday at my favorite restaurant of all time, Bottega Louie. I got lost both driving into and leaving downtown, which is par for the course with my driving. Thank goodness for the Droid's navigation function. Wednesday Judy and I mooched off mom and dad - spending the day floating in the pool and the evening eating their dinner and watching their TV.

This morning I flooded our fridge by refilling our giant Brita and then accidentally leaving the valve open. When I went back to get more delicious, filtered water, I realized I had a problem on my hands. Good news: all of the shelves in the fridge are all nicely cleaned. Bad news: cleaning out the fridge is hard for me.

Lastly, if you are so inclined, here is Baby Sequins' heartbeat from the recent nonstress test. Basically, the nonstress test is me sitting in a cushy chair with my feet up, reading and listening to her be a live wire.



I'm also starting to feel her hiccuping, which they say is normal as babies practicing breathing in utero. Hiccups are like much gentler kicks, and they're very rhythmic in nature. Sometimes, when she gets hiccups, I have a glass of water to see if I can help her out.