A light at the end of the tunnel!

Well, as I guessed, everything is fine with Baby T. Plenty of fluid, no stress, lots of movement. I'm just not having contractions. Like, not at all. So weird...I had lots with Jack, for weeks before he was born, but none now.

In any case, there is a light at the end of the tunnel....even if it's just the little light on the IV pump as it drips pitocin into my arm. Induction! So unless I go into labor on my own beforehand, I'm scheduled to be induced on Saturday at 4pm. Either way, I'll be holding a new baby this weekend! Yahoo! Now quick, go vote for April 12th!

Check out this cuteness...

I feel a little sorry for this new baby. Sure, he or she will be cute, in that way that babies and puppies and kittens are cute, but can s/he possibly be as cute as Jack? I can't imagine it!

Jack hugs things. Not just people, or his stuffed animals, but trees, leaves (his new favorite things), the circular puzzle piece that has Thomas the Tank Engine's face on it.... He just picks something, waves to it, and cuddles it to his chest, saying "Aahhh" while turning himself from side to side. It's adorable.

When he sees a phone, he immediately asks to talk on it by holding his hand to his ear and saying "Oh?", which means hello. In fact, here's a little video of him pretending to talk on our phone.

And have I mentioned his feet? They are so sweet. He sits in his highchair for every meal with them crossed at the ankle. Here's a picture

It's so hard to believe that these were once the feet that were digging into my ribcage, and that now there's a new set of cute feet I'll get to meet!

Today, I have a visit to the doctor's with an ultrasound to make sure that everything's going okay with Baby T. I'm tempted to hope that it's not so we'll get to meet him/her sooner rather than later, but based on the Dance Dance Revolution sessions that happen in there every night around 9pm (how is there room in there to move at all??), I'm guessing things are fine.

Another belly shot

Whoever voted for 4/14....just brutal! Two babies ten days late does not a happy mommy make.

The idea is to vote over to the right for the dates, and just post a comment with the weight. I know I made it a little complicated with a two-step process, but you guys are pretty sharp - I know you can do it!

Here's a belly shot I took yesterday that may or may not help you with your guesstimate of the weight. Of course if you didn't see me while I was pregnant with Jack, you don't really have a comparison, but I'll tell you that I feel a little bigger in the belly this time around. And I'm a little surprised at myself for mustering up the courage to lift up my shirt - though I kept the pants riding high to cover the stretch marks - but I thought that when the shirt was down, it didn't look as big and I wanted to give you a fair shot for your guesses.

Ok, keep the votes and the weight guesses coming in the post below (and on the side), and we'll see if we can't come up with a little something special for the winner....maybe I'll type your name in a FANCY font!

Time for a new poll

Ok, so since we've got nothing going on over here, I thought we could make another game out of it. The new poll is for the actual birth date of this little latecomer. When do you think he or she will make an appearance?

You should know that I have had about five contractions in the past three days. FIVE. (This is not a lot, for those of you who don't know.) But, people have had their water break before having any contractions whatsoever, so theoretically, it could happen today!

If we want to throw another game into the mix, leave a comment with your guess of the weight. The person who comes closest will get...well, you'll get your name posted on the blog as the winner of the game! Jack was 8lbs, 5oz., and I do feel like this baby is going to be at least a little bigger, judging from the brand spankin' new stretch marks I've developed over the past week, but I haven't had any estimations from the doctors.

So what's your guess on weight and date?

Still waiting....

Yes, folks - once again a due date of mine has come and gone without incident. If they're going to be off in their calculations, it really would be so much easier if they were too late, wouldn't it? Barely a cramp, scarcely a contraction in sight, save for a few minor ones here and there, and we all know....that ain't labor.

So thanks for checking in, we appreciate your prayers. We'll let you know when Baby T makes an entrance.

And in the meantime, does anyone know where I go to file eviction paperwork?

Over the weather

Is that an expression? If "under the weather" means you're feeling ill, is it fair to say that "over the weather" means you're feeling better? If so, then Jack and I are both decidedly over the weather! Thanks for all your prayers!

Not a whole lot of news to report, much to our chagrin. Baby T is still in utero, with a due date of FRIDAY! I'm hoping it doesn't drag on too much longer. Of course, it's all relative...the 10 days after the baby comes go by in a blur, but the 10 days beforehand are the slowest days ever. Jack just spent a couple of days at Nana and Pop Pop's house, allowing me to nest some and get the baby's room squared away, which is nice even though he probably won't be in it for a few months.

The only picture I have to leave you with (because the camera has been packed in my hospital bag for the past two weeks), is this view from our living room. We have a retention pond that fills with water after a big rain, and this is from a few weeks ago when it had poured for a few days.

How amazing is this sunrise that we get to see every single morning? We love it!

Bugs, bugs, go away!

It's like an infirmary around here these days.

Jack and I have both had some kind of stomach bug that has left us keeping buckets handy and eating the BRAT diet. It's so sad to see your baby sick, but he is such a sweet boy that he can be vomiting one second and smiling the next. We've watched a lot of Thomas, The Wonder Pets, and Blue's Clues (Jack asks for this by saying "Boo" and opening and closing his hands like Steve does when he sings the song). He's extra cuddly and has been giving lots of spontaneous kisses and hugs. He likes to say "Awww" while he gives a hug - it's the cutest thing. I'm praying that for his part, he's over the worst of it and will start getting his appetite back.

For myself, I thought I was over this bug when I had it a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it came back in full force. I'm 9 days away from my due date, and as if there were a "good" time to get a stomach bug, I have to say that this feels like the absolute worst possible time to be hunched over a toilet!

Please say some prayers that we're all feeling better soon - and that Patrick doesn't get sick at all - so that we can be rested and ready to welcome Baby T into the world!

Sixteen days!

Sixteen, people!

I'm so excited. Last Friday, I thought I might actually be starting labor - I had cramps and pressure and pain at the tops of my legs for hours. I had such a hard time getting comfortable in bed and thought for sure I'd wake in the middle of the night with contractions, or from my water breaking. But no - I woke up the next morning at 7am. Still pregnant. Oh well. Maybe I dilated some, as if that means anything really (it doesn't).

Jack has just been learning in leaps and bounds. Here are a few of the words he's started saying lately: "bubble", "mama" (finally!), "tinkle", "treat", "baby", "bee", "ball", "blocks", "apple", "circle". If I write the letters ABC on his little Magnadoodle, and point to them one by one, he can name them (this blows me away). If I draw shapes on there, he can point out a circle, a square, a triangle, and a star. If I draw a big square and a little square, he can show me which is which. If I ask him how old he is, he holds up one little Bugle finger. (I call it his Bugle finger because it's shaped just like those little Bugle snacks - fatter at the bottom than the top and I just want to eat it, it's so cute). He can show me where his eye, ear, knee, elbow, feet, fingers, hands, arms, hair, chin, teeth, cheeks (the face ones), belly, thumb, nose, mouth, and tongue are. It is just so fun to teach him new things and to watch him making connections and learning things!

We've also been gradually introducing the idea of the potty to him. I figure since I'm going 100 times a day lately, I might as well tell him about tinkling on the potty. We got him a little one that he sits on while I'm sitting on "Mommy's potty". He loves it, though he has yet to actually DO anything in it other than drop his toys in there. Here are a few potty pictures to make you laugh:

That's what's been going on around here recently. Now if you'll excuse me, my handsome husband just came home from a three-day conference in Connecticut and, well, I really missed him!

Belly shots

Now that we're just over three weeks away from...well, possibly from nothing more than a date on the calendar that could come and go without incident, I thought I'd put up a few more belly shots. I really envy those people who have the wherewithal to take a photo of their growing stomach every week throughout their pregnancy. For some reason, I tend to reach a point where I think , "Oh yeah, I guess we should take a picture for the baby album" followed soon afterwards by the thought, "Oh yeah, I guess I need to get a baby album."

Before we see any shots of MY belly, Jack wanted to show you guys where his belly button is:

Is there anything cuter than a kid trying to look at his own belly button? He's actually gone face down in the bath water in search of it. His favorite time of day is in the morning when I'm getting him dressed and I give him a little diaper time between jammies off and clothes on. He runs around the living room as if to say "Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!"

Ok, so now for my belly. These are from Friday at 36 weeks. Now, I have an online friend who is pregnant with her second baby, and still has the nerve to lift her shirt to show off her beautifully bulging belly. I wish I did, but I do not have that nerve. Not only do I just feel funny doing it, but an interesting thing happened to my stomach during my pregnancy with Jack: For the entire 40 weeks, I had no stretch marks whatsoever. As I went overdue, I ended up getting one smallish one just beside my belly button and actually thought it was kind of cool that I got one. When I went into labor, ten days overdue, that was still the only one that I had. When I took a shower after delivering, I looked in the mirror and shrieked. My entire stomach was covered with reddish-purplish stretch marks that looked as if somewhere between the delivery room and my regular room, I'd been mauled by a tiger. I have no idea how it happened. Maybe my hips separated during the delivery just enough to stretch my skin to its breaking point? In any case, these same stretch marks, that had just faded to a silvery hue before I found out I was pregnant again, are now back in their full reddish regalia.

So without further ado, here she is:

I not only cleaned the mirror, but I also brushed my hair this time! And did I mention my $13 haircut from the Cuttery? Hello!? I love it! If you live near the Park City Mall in Lancaster, go see Amanda there - she does a great job.

My belly button is not sticking out in those pictures - that's the knot in my sweatpants. I never seem to "pop". I seriously think it has to do with that extra-long torso. I don't really stick out too far, it's all up and down. I can just picture the baby in there, legs stretched out, ankles crossed, kickin' back. What I do like, though, is that my waist is actually narrower from the front because all of my rolls are pulled forward. It's the only time I don't have any semblance of a "love handle" lately. Yeah, after this baby, it's time to get in shape, Eileen.

So there you have it, folks. Not much longer now until we meet this new babe. And I see that we got some more boy votes, so for the first time in the history of this poll (since my initial boy vote on day one), the ratio of girl to boy votes is less than 2:1. The suspense is killing me!

What's in a name?

You're probably wondering why I haven't posted any pictures in a while. The fact is, I need to get a new memory card for my camera. I filled a 1GB card with pictures from Jack's birth through about two weeks ago, and truthfully, I just can't bring myself to delete them. I'll have to just get another card for this new baby because even though I know they're on the computer, or on my external hard drive, there's just something about having them on that little card that I can put in the strong box, that makes me feel better. So as soon as I get a new card, I promise I'll take some more pictures of Jack and post them.

So....names. We're now about 4 weeks away from meeting Baby T. and, of course, we have some names picked out. I love our names, I mean really love them.

A boy will be a junior - Patrick Joseph - after his daddy, and we'll likely call him PJ, though I just love "Patrick". A girl will be Fionnuala Jane. Fionnuala (fi-NOO-la) is an Irish name that is probably one of the more phonetically easy Irish girls' names out there. Names like Siobhan are beautiful too, but just a little tougher to look at and pronounce in English. We'll call our Fionnuala "Nuala" (NOO-la). I just love the way it looks and sounds.

We have had a few negative responses, though. Has anyone else had negative reactions to their choices in baby names? How did you respond?