Ready & Waiting...

Believe it or not folks, at 39 1/2 weeks, I'm STILL preggers! I guess I shouldn't complain that I'm still pregnant because I made my poor mother wait an extra two weeks before I decided to be born- but really, it's FRUSTRATING because I've been sitting between 3 and 4 inches dilated for nearly 3 weeks now, and yesterday when I went in for my doctors appointment he said the baby hadn't moved position- he was still dropped, head down and I was still just 90% effaced! Ummm, yeah that's good progress for most women, but I was 90 a week ago and 80 before that- I haven't changed! I would have SURELY thought that with all the heavy lifting (by heavy lifting I mean toting around our heavy weight Ian- he's a nice solid 26 pounds), baby chasing, swimming, cleaning, & walking that this baby would have dropped out by now!!! No such luck. I suppose I'll have to wait until Thursday morning when I'm scheduled to be induced at 6:30.

I will admit, I didn't really want the baby to arrive any earlier than this weekend- I hadn't nested and I definitely wasn't ready AT ALL for it. In an effort to make up for my lack of preparation, my weekend was CRAZY BUSY! The boys swim lessons ended last Thursday- they had such a great time and Spencer and I enjoyed taking them to classes; I'm thankful I could survive the two week course of swimming with them without having the baby. I believe I spent ALL DAY FRIDAY shopping... or running other random errands. I hit up at least 8 stores, dragging BOTH BOYS along. I had grocery shopping to do at a couple of different stores, I visited the mall to do a little exchange at BABY GAP and grab a chocolate vanilla ice storm from Nordstroms Cafe (those things are SO delish!), we went to Baby's R US to stock up on newborn diapers, the car wash, the Scooter Lounge to buy Spencer his Father's Day gift which happened to be a new cool helmet since he just bought himself last week a brand new VESPA... yeah, I went pretty much every where around town with the boys on Friday. It was EXHAUSTING!

My in-laws (Spencer's brother and his family) flew into town Friday morning from Uruguay, but I was gone most of Friday & Saturday so I didn't get a chance to visit with them until Sunday evening. Both my parents were also in town this last weekend; they flew up to watch my sister's 8 kids while they were away for the weekend in Florida. I had the chance on Saturday to go to the mall again with my mom and nieces-I packed both of the boys along for this trip too. After visiting the mall, my dad met me at my place and we went over to Best Buy to buy a new digital camera since our Canon is shot. My dad is a camera guru, and knows A LOT about camera's, so I wanted his help with choosing one. I ended up getting the NIKON D-60 (I'm super excited Spencerfinallylet me buy one)! I'm thrilled to have a new camera- I LOVE new gadgets like camera's and other electronics- I need to get on the ball and read the operating manuals (they're the size of an encyclopedia I swear!) that came along with the camera now so that I know how to use it for when the baby's born and other important events. I think I'd even like to take a photography class- but who knows when I'll ever have the time to do something like that with 3 little ones running around!

My parents visit to Utah was brief, but I'm grateful I got to see my dad at least on Father's Day weekend. Noah and Ian had a GR8T time seeing my parents as well. Ian REALLY gets excited any time he sees my dad- he's instantly drawn to him! Maybe it's because Ian looks A LOT LIKE MY DAD.

After church on Sunday, we drove my mom up to the airport, (my dad's flight left earlier in the afternoon before my mom's flight)- during which on the ride back I started to become slightly concerned I was going into labor because my contractions were getting pretty heavy. I panicked in my mind over the thought of giving birth on the side of the freeway- I didn't tell Spencer of course though- I didn't want to worry him or cause him to drive erratically. I worried a little because we'd just sent my mom off on a plane home and she won't be back until this Wednesday afternoon to help with the boys- she would have felt terrible flying back home only to find out an hour or two later after she'd left that the baby was born! False alarm though- no baby. We got home just in time to eat barbecue with Spencer's family. The boys had a FABULOUS time playing with their cousins- Noah LOVED having company around to wrestle with and chase after.

I started having super heavy contractions again on Sunday night, so I thought it might be time to have this baby, but after some time, they quit. I was slightly relieved I wasn't heading off to the hospital yet to have this baby, because in my mind I still had a million other errands and chores around the house I needed to finish before this baby could be born.

Monday morning I did some serious cleaning around the house- I hate not knowing when I'll have time with the new baby to clean the house again. I washed and folded multiple loads of laundry, packed my hospital bag, and visited the store again to pick up the last few items on my list I'd forgotten about over the weekend. Another busy day, but I think it suffices me to say, I FINALLY FEEL LIKE I'M READY & PREPARED FOR WHEN THIS BABY ARRIVES! So now, I'm just WAITING. I plan on taking it easy these next two days before Thursday- just enjoying time with the boys. It's been so stinking HOT here recently, I would throw on a swim suit and head off to the pool with the boys, but it worries me going alone with both of them this close to having the baby, so maybe we'll just enjoy the kiddie pool or the sprinklers out back on the lawn this afternoon. Who knows, there's always the possibility I'll be in the hospital by this evening having this baby if he decides to arrive earlier than his induction date!