28 days

There are 28 days until my official due date. And I'm shooting for early since Jules was early. I think it's a good way to go :o)

In the next 28 days, I will be

• getting a romantic kid-free weekend away with my Ryan on a quite river houseboat
• enjoying a baby shower with my dear friends to celebrate baby Jackson
• packing our hospital bags - wow, it doesn't get more official than that!!
• working on busy bags and quiet time toys for Julia while I'm nursing
• rearranging Julia's closet and our bedroom room to accommodate a 4th member to our family
• and putting together a little goodie bag for Jules (and perhaps one for Rybo - shhh) for the hospital

I am so excited to get my stomach back, though I know it trades for the price of my boobs :o) But at least I'll be able to see my feet (which, I'm delighted to report have not gotten fat and puffy . . . yet!).

I keep telling Ryan to remind me never to get big because my little bones just aren't meant to carry all this extra weight! My belly is large to be sure!! People at biblestudy graciously use the term "blossoming" . . . perhaps it was the freaking tent that I wore this morning. Seriously, maternity clothes need to come back close to the body after the belly. Who knows what I could hide under there :o) I have a total of three everyday shirts that cover the entire belly. Needless to say, they've been washed quite regularly these past few weeks!

Jackson is a rumble tumble kid to be sure. Every once in a while his kicks make me gasp. They are so strong! It is so exciting to think about how he's almost ready to meet the world!

A couple in CG just had their baby today. Ryan always giggles when another person has their first baby because he feels like they'll finally understand so much . . . haha!

I love how if someone tells you what to expect with kid #1, you never believe them because it couldn't possibly be that bad, or that sleepless, or that there would be that much endless crying . . . but then . . . we all find out what it is really like - for reals. :o) and this is why I'm a little nervous for Jackson - because I actually know what to expect this time! haha! And I know that every kid is different too. My sister finally got a baby that requires a specific bedtime, otherwise they are up til 1am. After what a "character-building" challenge Julia was, we're happy to roll the dice and most likely get a different baby, and by different, we're hoping for E A S Y !!!!!

At last week's checkup, my Dr. said that things are looking good in the nether-region and that she expects, based on the current state of affairs, a relatively quick labor and delivery. (Hallelujah!) I'm so surprised at how good I've been feeling towards the end of this pregnancy. Aside from elusive sleep, my pelvis pulling apart, and getting out of chairs weird, I'm feeling pretty great actually! Yay for our team!!