The Wall.

Okay, I've finally reached it.

I swore it wouldn't happen this time...but I've officially reached the point in my pregnancy where I am OVER IT.

I've hit the wall.

I am 38 weeks pregnant.  I am terribly uncomfortable and tired of waddling.  I wonder if my wedding rings will ever fit again.  Heck, I wonder if my SHOES will ever fit again.  (Don't even get me started on my pre-pregnancy clothes...)  My poor toddler wants to go outside to play, but all I want to do is prop my feet up (not that they even look like feet anymore) and pray that another episode of "Henry Hugglemonster" will somehow make up for the fact that I simply do not have the energy to pick up 48 different colors of sidewalk chalk from around my front yard (again).  I'm still working four days a week, though I move slowly and forget EVERYTHING.  (I never had pregnancy brain with Gavin -- but this little chickadee has sucked the intelligence right out of me.)  In short, I'm a mess.

It doesn't help that we put off a lot of baby prep until the last minute, and with an active little boy, two working parents, and Stephen taking a handful of difficult classes to boot -- last minute is a virtually impossible thing to pull off.  Take, for instance, scheduling a carpet cleaner.  Our carpets were disgusting -- it's incredible what nineteen months worth of milk stains can do.  So we decided that before Baylor made her arrival, we had to get these carpets in order.  Easy enough, right?  WRONG.  Our house is 95% carpeted, so we had to find a time where one of us could take Gavin out of the house not only while the carpets were being cleaned, but for a few hours afterwards (to let them dry enough to avoid instant re-staining).  To complicate things further, carpet cleaners give a THREE HOUR arrival window.  Three hours!  So our first appointment was with Stanley Steemer last Saturday morning.  The arrival time was between 9 am and noon.  We woke Gavin up early, fed him a quick breakfast, and Stephen took him to the mall.  At noon, three hours later, they still had not arrived.  We were quickly approaching Gavin's nap time, so I called Stanley Steemer, only to be told that they wouldn't be able to get to our house until nearly 1:30 because of a broken down truck.  (Uh, thanks for the phone call, guys...  Nice.)  With no other choice, I cancelled with them and had Stephen bring Gavin home for nap.  A grand total of four hours...wasted.  Carpets?  Still dirty.  Unfortunately, that meant we had to do the whole routine again.  This time, we went with Widmers, who not only showed up on time, but was super pleasant and efficient.  Stephen still had to take Gavin out for the evening and it still took quite a bit of orchestration to work around naps, meals, and other commitments...but it got finished, our carpets look wonderful, and one more thing is thankfully off our to-do list.  Also accomplished this week?  Fan installation in Baylor's nursery, another ultrasound/OB appointment, kitchen cabinet reorganization, and packing the hospital bags.  Somewhere in there, my parents also bought a new car and traded in my Mazda.  (I'll now be driving my mom's 2007 Honda Civic, which is not only in much better condition, but is slightly larger for carseats.  It has as many miles on it as the Mazda, but feels a whole lot safer.)  Oh, and the rock n' play and bassinet are officially set up in our bedroom, ready for Baylor's arrival.  Peyton and Eli are keeping them warm until then.

So it's time to break out the pineapple and yoga ball.  It's time for the spicy foods and acupressure.  It's time for all those things I know (from experience) do NOT work to induce labor...but at least make me feel as though I am being somewhat proactive towards accomplishing my goal to get this girl OUT.  We can't wait to meet her, of course...but I also can't wait to be able to put on my own shoes (and preferably, those shoes will actually fit.)  Little Miss has two weeks until I officially serve her an eviction notice -- but goodness knows, I wouldn't mind holding her in my arms (and not my belly) sooner rather than later!

Father's Day

Father's Day was this past weekend, and we are blessed in this family with some great fathers to celebrate!  Though there was a teeeeeeensy tiny part of me that thought Baylor might choose to make her appearance in time for Stephen to celebrate with both kiddos, I was thrilled that we were able to sleep in, make a leisurely breakfast, play together as a family, and see both of our dads on Sunday.

 

Gavin's friend Dru came over to play for a bit!  Gavin wasn't big on sharing his sidewalk chalk, but Dru didn't mind...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the great dads out there, but ESPECIALLY to my father, my father-in-law, and the father of my children!  

37 Week Update

Alright, we're almost there!  We've got three weeks to go, and we're making the most of the short time we have left before meeting our beautiful girl!  Here's my belly picture from last week --

She's definitely dropped, and I'm making good progress as of my last OB appointment.  I now see the doctor weekly and was told to get my hospital bags ready -- so we are coming to terms with the fact that we will be holding Little Miss very, very soon!  We still have SO MUCH to do in preparation -- fan installation, carpet cleaning, whole HOUSE cleaning -- but somehow we'll make it all work.  Gavin is busily preparing to meet his baby sister as well --

Heartbreakingly cute, right?

In other baby news, our niece Eva Capri arrived last week!  Doug and Mindy welcomed their daughter on June 6, weighing 6 lb 10 oz and 18" long.  She's a peanut -- a gorgeous little peanut!  We were able to visit her a few days after her birth, and while we are terribly sad they now live in New Albany, Indiana, we feel so blessed to have welcomed a precious new baby niece into our growing family and can't wait to snuggle with her more.

Gavin, meanwhile, has been enjoying daily playtime with lots of other kiddos.  Whether playing with his cousin Quinn or splashing around with his many, many neighborhood friends, he's definitely wearing himself out during the day -- this kid is PASSING OUT by the time bedtime rolls around!  Here's hoping he continues to sleep this well when his baby sister arrives!

TROUBLE.

We also started Gavin in BabyBees at Kids First this past week (a gym class for toddlers).  We were hoping that there would be lots of other kids Gavin's age and that he'd get to work on his social skills (i.e. SHARING), but as it turns out, he's the only kid in the class!  He doesn't mind -- he loves the extra attention and it's a great way for him to run off some energy when it's 90+ degrees outside and his pregnant mommy can't chase him around at the park.

And that about sums it up for the Linford Dowds!  We have Father's Day coming up this weekend, and then prep prep PREP for baby girl.  I know things seem super crazy now -- but in July, we will have THREE BIRTHDAYS in this household to celebrate!  Holy smokes.  Game on.