It's a little slow

Strangely enough, things are just a tiny bit slow right now and I'm a little bored. We've finished preparing things for the baby's arrival, so I can't do any more with that. And there's only so much cleaning you can do to an apartment that wasn't really in dire need of a good scrubbing in the first place.

It's only like this right now because John is having a really long week at work and isn't getting home until late evening. Since he has the only car, the things that I do have to finish can't really be done. I need to get our Christmas cards out, but I have to go to the post office for that. There's still Christmas shopping to do, but unless I want to do it online (and risk it not getting here in time), I have to wait. And this happens to be the only week where we don't have a bunch of things scheduled to keep me occupied. So I guess I should be happy that things are quiet for a small amount of time before they get really busy again.

I just really like having things to do. When I don't, I begin to feel a little sullen and down. I guess I'll just try to take advantage of the quiet week and maybe do some reading or see if I can teach Aiden how to read (he already knows his alphabet!).

Pre-labor and our "holiday" movie selection

I decided to do some Christmas shopping by myself Saturday afternoon. I hadn't been out by my lonesome in a while and John detests busy shopping areas, so it was a good chance to wander leisurely around Target. Traffic was horrible, but I was on no particular schedule, so I was able to keep from stressing out too much (even when I got honked at by the car behind me for correctly waiting to make a left turn instead of driving right into oncoming traffic and even when some guy, who was supposed to be yielding to oncoming traffic (me), turned right in front of me and almost took off the front of my car). Serenity now....

During my walk around Target, I began to get some contractions. Nothing too horrible, just what I would expect from being on my feet for about an hour. Once I got home, they started to pick up and get more intense. They didn't change when I rested, but they were very irregular, so I didn't feel like bothering the midwife on call (it IS a weekend, after all). I tried to stay off my feet for most of the evening and let John talk me into watching the first 2 hours of Schindler's List (not something to watch while pregnant and emotional, by the way).

We stayed home from church, as the contractions were still there and John didn't want me "overdoing it". They've slowed down some, but are still around now. Along with them, I have increasing pelvic pressure and almost constant low backache. Basically, the literature that my midwife has given me and my pregnancy books all say that I am in pre-labor. YAY! I really am excited about it, but they also say that pre-labor can show up anywhere from a few hours to a whole month before labor starts. So I guess I can't get too excited. And I suppose it really does need to wait about 2 weeks until I'm 37 weeks along and considered full-term. Everything else is ready though.

Now, I just need to get up the emotional strength to finish watching Schindler's List. Only an hour and 20 minutes left of it..... And the movie that's planned for after we finish that one? Spartacus. Happy, happy Christmas movies!

Goodbye semester, we will not miss you!

After tonight, John is officially done with this semester. His last final starts at 5:30pm and hopefully he'll be home much earlier than normal for Thursdays. I have been looking forward to this point for weeks. I'm amazed we made it through this term as well as we did. It's definitely time for it to end. Physically and mentally, I'm just about shot. Evenings are slightly difficult anyway, but with John not here 3 nights a week....they got really difficult. I usually end up with a lot of painful contractions in the evening, and it's also when I start to feel really exhausted. Aiden also likes to choose this time to throw some tantrums. It took all I had some nights to refrain from sticking Aiden in front of the TV all evening while I sat like a lump on the couch. But I won't lie, it did happen sometimes.

I am so happy to have reached today. I no longer have to dread Mondays, which will make my weekends much more enjoyable. I named them "Single Mom Mondays", because I was on my own from 8am to 10:30pm. Aiden didn't see John at all these days and I had to put him to bed by myself (not easy to do when he's used to Daddy being there at bedtime). I am looking forward to our evenings being open and hoping that I won't be quite so cranky anymore. :^)

The remainder of this month should be pretty enjoyable. We have a few things lined up to look forward to (John's company Christmas party - Aiden gets to stay the night with grandma!), we will approach our Christmas shopping leisurely, and we have a small pregnancy timeline to keep us focused. A few doctors appointments and a reminder that I am full term on December 23.

A huge source of stress ends tonight. It's almost unbelievable. I can finally feel like I can fully enjoy the holidays. If I can just keep from wondering how difficult next term might be.

It's that time....

Time to decorate for Christmas! We went out Sunday afternoon in search of a U-Cut tree and for those of you who know what the weather was like on Sunday, yes we did get soaked and feel free to laugh at us. It was part of my birthday celebration though, so I didn't want to put it off. We found a great U-Cut place that I think we'll keep going to each year ($15 a tree - any size). They had a fantastic selection and our tree this year is my favorite by far. Once we got home, soaking and covered in mud, we lit our first fire in our fireplace (this is the first apartment we've had with a fireplace) and changed into dry clothes. We then decorated the tree and the apartment.
Aiden discovered the tree ornaments and was trying to figure out how they worked.
And here's our finished product! Since we have limited apartment space, we usually get a 3-4 foot tree each year. This one is about 4 1/2 feet and it fits our home perfectly.

I am very happy to have our Christmas decorations up. I love the Christmas feeling, but this year it also helps to remind me that our new baby is almost here. I'm getting increasingly impatient this time around and I'm trying to find ways to keep calm about it. I am full term in 3 weeks, so I am focusing on that fact and telling myself that this baby could come in 3 weeks. Going the full 6 weeks wouldn't be the end of the world, but boy, am I ready for this kid. I am very ready mentally and things are pretty much prepared for his arrival. I guess I'd like to get the Christmas shopping out of the way first though. But I will tell all of you now: As soon as I finish eating dinner on Christmas Day, I am ready to go. All bets are off and I may actually try to induce myself. Yes, the baby foot in my ribs is getting to me that much! I'm almost there.....why does it feel so far away?