Thirty-Seven Weeks

The Baby: Little Sprout is pretty firmly wedged in there now. Her movements are more rippling and rolling and wriggling than kicking. She is the length of Swiss chard now (ha, love these food comparisons) and making Momma's tummy stick out further and further. At this point, everything is fully developed so she can make her entrance into the world at any time.

Me: I am just patiently waiting for her to come - really not in a rush except at night, when I am a lot more uncomfortable. My maternity clothes are getting tighter, and I am just about ready for this pregnancy to be over. Otherwise, I feel pretty good and am trying to use what energy I have to get ready for baby and enjoy the holiday coming up.

The Siblings: My family and friends just threw a nice baby shower for the Sprout and me, and the house is now full of cute baby things. With all these reminders lying around, the kids are now constantly talking about the coming baby. The Drama Queen and Beast are very excited and can't wait to help out with Little Sprout; while the Spud is adamant that he doesn't want a new baby and that she can just stay at the hospital when she is born. Poor little guy - I know he will come around, but it's tough when your position as youngest is being usurped. :)

The Plans: As I said, I was blessed with a wonderful baby shower the other night. Little Sprout now boasts a wardrobe more stylish than her momma's! I am grateful for the gifts of diapers, bibs, wipes, blankets, and other essentials for sure. One thoughtful lady even gave the Nerd and I some money for a date night. Super sweet and super thoughtful! I didn't expect a lot of people to come - after all, it is baby number four for us; so I was humbled and amazed by the great turnout. My mother-in-law and my friend Dawn worked hard to make it a big success.

The guests all took turns sniffing a variety of diapers to guess what melted candy bar was inside.

It was so fun to talk and catch up with friends.

Three teams worked to decorate their "baby" with toilet paper - the one with the drinking problem on the end was the winner!

The little guests had fun too - maybe a little too much cake!

We're ready! Come on, Little Sprout, you can come any time now!

Thirty-Two Weeks

(happily unbalanced)

The Baby: Little Sprout is moving around like a little crazy woman. Now the size of a large jicama (3.75 pounds), she is certainly making her presence known. Complete strangers have stopped to stare at my shape-changing belly, and a few have even asked if they can "feel it." Um, no. It's crazy enough when you're sitting in church and your friends are pressing on the side of your belly to make the baby dance. Babycenter tells me that I should be gaining about a pound a week now, with half of that going directly to Little Sprout. At that rate, we will no longer be able to call her "little"! If all goes according to previous pattern, she will be my biggest baby. The Drama Queen weighed in at 6 lb 3 oz (she was three weeks early though); the Beast was 8 lb 8 oz at birth, and the Spud was 8 lb 12 oz.

Me: I am doing way better this week emotionally than last week. For the rest of this pregnancy, I am sure I will be putting "tired and hurting" as my status; but it is not too bad. Despite the much cooler temperatures now, I still run our air conditioner every night to stay comfortable. Whatever that is. Insomnia has also kicked in - so Netflix and my Kindle have been keeping me company in the wee hours of the morning. Well, that and the ever faithful bathroom. We are good friends lately.

(me playing around with our three-way mirror in the bathroom and avoiding the kid knocking on the bathroom door and shouting, "Momma, are you peein' in there?")

The Siblings: The Drama Queen is really ready for her little sister to come join the family. She has a baby dolly named "Jennifer" that she takes with her everywhere, stopping frequently to change her diaper, bathe her, and feed her. Last night she informed me not to worry if she was up a lot during the night because Jennifer wasn't sleeping through the night yet. Looks like I am going to have one awesome helper!

The Plans: I finally retrieved our infant car seat from a friend who had been borrowing it. It makes me feel better that that is ready to go. I also spent some time this week thinking about all the details - where the kids will go when all the action starts, what vehicle we will use, etc.

As of today, I technically have 54 days to go. It sounds like a lot still, but with the thousand and one activities we have going on at this time of year, I know it will speed by. After all, thirty-two weeks have already flown by! (and speaking of thirty-two, a certain momma will be turning that number just a few days before her due date.) hmmm.