Happy New Year - Updates from Florida

I haven't been in the mood to write much recently. I also haven't had a ton of time. Being on my own with a 3.5 year old is a challenge - trying to find things to occupy him without resorting to excessive amounts of television is hard. Especially if you add in the fact that I am at the waddling, lumbering, please-God-don't-make-me-have-to-chase-him stage of pregnancy. We spend a good deal of time at the small playground here at the apartment complex, or at the indoor mall play areas. Oh, and at Chuck E. Cheese. I have always hated Chuck E. Cheese, but this one was recently remodeled, so it doesn't seem as nasty as others I have been in. Besides, I can sit and he can climb up in the tunnels and go down the slide and run around and burn off steam. Bonus!

I have been very lucky that good friends (Heidi, Karen, Julie) have been willing to watch Blaine for me during doctor's appointments and also once to get a hair cut. Who knew getting a hair cut could seem like a luxury? My mom and dad also came down this weekend so I got a chance to go browse at the library for an hour or so, go grocery shopping without hearing "Blaine wants that!" and I also had planned on getting a pedicure. The pedicure plans fell through due to the overwhelming STINK in the nail salon. I guess everyone was getting acrylics and I just could not take the smell, it gave me a headache. I will have to find another place, preferable with better ventilation.

David will be here in less than 2 weeks! I'm very excited to see him again, but I don't think my excitement will even come close to Blaine's. Blaine "calls" his dad every day on the phone, just to chat. He misses him very much, but overall he is dealing with the separation well. He seems very excited about the new baby, proudly showing off her carseat and travel crib to everyone who comes to visit "Come look! This is baby sister's bed! It's pink. Blaine's too big for it, but it's just right for baby sister!" I hope his excitement and fascination continue after she is a permanent, crying, laughing, cooing, smiling addition to our lives. I think it will. As he says all the time "Blaine LOVES babies!"

My due date is 3 weeks from now. Everything is going well this pregnancy. At this point with Blaine I was starting to measure really big, my blood pressure started going up and my feet, by the end of the day, looked like sausages. This time I'm measuring big, but within the normal margin of error, my blood pressure is still fantastic, and I have little to no swelling. Baby is moving good, heartbeat sounds great (according to Blaine, it sounds like a choo choo train "BOOM BOOM" and is "really cool" or so he told my midwife at my last office visit). I'm uncomfortable, but that's to be expected at this stage. I've had discussions with the baby and have told her that she has to wait until her dad gets here, but as soon as his plane lands, she should feel free to give me a swift kick and break her water so we can get that whole labor thing started. We'll just have to wait and see if she is paying attention.

Oh, and we still don't have a name for the baby yet - which you might have picked up on reading this as I refer to her as "the baby" or "baby sister" throughout. We are settled on a middle name, but the first name is a real challenge. We have 2 or 3 possibilities, but nothing has been decided and probably won't be until she is born. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, heh.