He's coming soon!

I've had a lot of contractions this week but they are inconsistent and, for the most part, not uncomfortable.  Last night I thought it might be the real thing though, because I could really feel them and my lower back was really sore.  I could tell a contraction was coming because it would start in my back first.  They went on for about an hour and a half, but again they were really inconsistent so I finally gave up and went to sleep.  Well, I had a doctor's appointment and she checked me and sure enough, I am making a little bit of progress!  My OB said that her "crystal ball" (hah) tells her that Arthur might arrive on my birthday tomorrow, and probably will be here in the next week.  Of course we both know he could still wait a few weeks, but all signs seem to be pointing towards him arriving soon.  I am ready!

Except, if he does arrive tomorrow, he needs to wait until the afternoon.  I have a massage scheduled tomorrow morning at a spa that gives you a free massage ON your birthday.  I want my free massage first.  ;)

Blanket Baby

After Eleanor's bath one night she referred to herself as a "blanket baby" since she was all wrapped up in the towel.  The term stuck, and now every night she says "want to be the blanket baby" and tells Hunter "want to show the blanket baby to Mama."  (He gives her all of her baths these days since I can't lean over the tub.)  We pretend that she's a tiny little baby and she thinks it's hilarious.  So, here are some pictures of our silly little "blanket baby"!  

Dropped?

Has he dropped?  Or just gotten bigger?  What do you think?  And I'm wearing the same outfit on purpose...I do own other maternity clothes.  :)

(Yes, this is very scientific, I know...)

I think I'm ready

For the first time, I think I can say that I'm ready for Arthur to arrive.  Our floors are DONE (!!!), which was definitely the biggest thing.  The last pieces of furniture can go back in place tomorrow, so our house will finally feel normal again.  We still need to order a new rug, but we can certainly live without that.  Here's what else I have accomplished in the past 2 or 3 days - yes, I actually had all of these things written down on a list.

• Sweep and mop the entire downstairs
• Clean all bathrooms
• Set up the swing
• Set up the cosleeper (more like a bassinet)
• Organize the garage
• Dust
• Clean the kitchen sink
• Clean the microwave
• Finish all of my applique projects for other people
• Freeze some meals - I now have 4 casseroles, 2 bags of soup (each enough for one night), two bags of chili, and 2 meatloaves in my freezer.  There were some cookies too, but those didn't last long; I blame Hunter... ;)

Of course, I still have stuff I want to finish, but at least I feel like the house is presentable and clean.  Now, the question is just when will Arthur make his debut?

In other news, here are some sweet pictures of Eleanor.

Reading the Berenstain bears and holding a balloon.  Because of course you need to hold a balloon while you read.

(Our floors were still a work in progress!)

Not the greatest, but still kind of cute

All worn out after a long day with no nap.

That's a rat, her "Osito", Curious George, and Corduroy in bed with her.

Full term!

I am 37 weeks pregnant now, which means I am officially full term!  I think somebody told Arthur too, because last night he was squirming around like CRAZY and kicking like I've never felt a baby kick before. I was already in bed for the night, but if I had been up with the lights on I'm pretty sure I would have actually seen the outline of his foot kicking me.  He's trying to break out!

Then around 2:00 I woke up and I had a contraction.  I've had a lot over the past few weeks, but they're just Braxton Hicks because they are never consistent and usually I don't feel any discomfort.  Well, I felt this one, and another one 20 minutes later, and another one 20 minutes later.  Of course I was wide awake at this point, trying to figure out at what point do I wake up Hunter, who do we call first about taking Eleanor, etc.  Then I realized I wasn't having any more contractions, it was past 3:30 in the morning, and I should just try to sleep.  If it was real labor, I decided, it would wake me back up.  Well, I didn't wake up until 6:15 and there haven't been any more contractions, so I guess it was just a few more Braxton Hicks.  Still, I think my body is getting ready!  

Hunter is convinced that Arthur will be here in the next week or week and a half.  I've told Arthur that he's not allowed to arrive until at least the middle of next week.  ;)  We're having new floors installed in our living room, dining room, bedroom and closet.  (Yes, we waited this long after deciding to do this back in May or June!)  So, right now there are two couches, a bookshelf, and a table in my kitchen (NOT an eat in kitchen!), a buffet blocking the closet with all the cleaning supplies, and a bakers rack and 6 chairs in my bedroom in addition to the bedroom furniture!  (The bedroom is done.)  Oh, and the majority of our clothes and shoes are still in our bathroom.  We've been sleeping on an air mattress in the playroom all week.  It hasn't all been as disruptive as I feared (I planned really well for this!), but I am READY to have my house put back together.  Tomorrow we should be able to move all the furniture back at least into the right rooms, and by Monday it should be all done!

Personally, I think Arthur is going to arrive on my 30th birthday next Saturday...  ;)   I'm celebrating a week early, just in case!

Anybody want a cat?

Of course, I don't really mean that.  We love our cat, Penny.  It's just that lately we've developed a love/hate relationship.  Ever since Eleanor became mobile, Penny prefers to stay outside.  Unfortunately, if we leave her food out there it attracts raccoons, so we keep it in the kitchen just inside the back door.  I should add that this is about 4 feet from my side of the bed.  Here's a typical day with Penny:

5:45 AM - Penny eats

5:50 AM - Penny meows, loudly, to go outside.  I get up and let her out.

5:51 AM - Eleanor wakes up thanks to me opening the sliding glass doors.  Eventually we both go back to sleep.

6:00 AM - Hunter's alarm goes off

6:40 AM - Penny sees Hunter in the kitchen eating and meows to be let in to eat.

6:43 AM - Penny eats three bites then meows to go back outside

7:30 AM - I get up and go in the kitchen.  Penny sees me and meows to be let in to eat.

7:32 AM - Penny eats three bites and goes back outside.

7:45 AM - Eleanor gets up

7:55 AM - Penny meows to be let in.  I open the door, Penny somehow senses Eleanor's presence, and walks away.

This last scenario repeats about 10 more times throughout the day, no exaggeration.  Occasionally she actually comes in to eat for a minute, but that's rare.  The frequency increases throughout in the day, peaking around 5:30 when she sees me fixing dinner and meows loudly for about 20 minutes while I'm cooking.  Will she actually walk inside the house and eat?  Of course not.

8:00 PM - Eleanor goes to bed

8:02 PM - Penny meows to be let in and eats.  Occasionally she'll come up to one of us and purr sweetly for a couple of minutes, reminding us why we keep her around.  Then she goes to sleep under our bed or somewhere hidden, and the cycle repeats the next day.

*Sigh*  We've had Penny for over 9 years now, since she was a tiny little kitten, the runt of the litter abandoned by her mother.  Of course we're not going to give her away.  Hunter actually used to joke when I was pregnant with Eleanor about what would we do with the baby if she turned out to be allergic to cats?  (Meaning, where would we send Eleanor because of course we'd be keeping the cat.)  She's an important part of our family, even if she is a pest sometimes...

Eleanor's Obsession

Eleanor is currently obsessed with Curious George. She LOVES to "read" a George book out loud and usually cries if we don't take a book in the car whenever we go somewhere. Here's just a little example of her telling George stories. And yes, she is throwing some Spanish animal names in there. Kind of random.