Flattery will get you everwhere

Thank you for all the positive comments about my prego appearance. I just have to say that my last two posts made me smile when I read the comments, so, thank you. I guess I should get used to posting "revealing" pictures of myself so that I can feel good. Just jokin'

On that note, though... I am feeling good. I'm 36 weeks 5 days along at this point. I feel healthy and happy. I have been having new sensations from baby - a lot of extreme stretching and some tightening. These are all good and welcome feelings.

At this point, I am welcoming this little arrival to come anytime. It's kind of a bittersweet feeling to look forward to the actual due date because there are so many different positive and negative things associated with the end of August. I'll try to explain my jumbled morning thoughts...

1) August 27 - baby is due, yipee!!! New baby = so exciting. Hunter is no longer my only child, how will he respond to his brother/sister? How will we cope with two? Sleep patterns will change again... how will I nap with two - with Hunter, I was really good about just sleeping when he slept? Nursing - so excited to have another little one to nurture and love. In general, this is all exciting and fun and I know that everything will be fine and that I will adapt as I need to.

2) August 27 - two more days until Amanda is home. SOOOOO THRILLED. I miss my baby sister. For those of you that don't know (which is probably a lot), she has been away for nine months (the entire pregnancy) on the Canadian program called Katimavik. She has grown and developed into an incredible young woman and I am soo sosososososososo excited to see her again and give her hugs and pinches and kisses. Hunter misses her a lot and I am excited to see her see him again after so long. Thanks to blogging, though, he won't seem quite as different as he was when she left.. until they have a conversation, that is. If baby comes on or before the 29th of August, Amanda won't get to see the baby for a few days (this is not a severely big deal, I know).

3) August 27 - Heather (other sister) leaves to go back to university the following week. That means that if the baby comes on the due date or after, she gets a small amount of time with him/her before she heads off to expand her mind.

4) August 27 - only a week or so before school starts for us teachers. Although I won't be in a classroom this fall ( I do have a full-time position from which to take my maternity leave), and at this point Justin doesn't have an assignment, we know what September is like, even as a teacher-on-call. If J does get a classroom, which we are pretty sure he will, he is going to be very busy because it will be a late-summer appointment and all the planning and preparation involved will be a challenge as our family adapts to life as four. Also, if I go overdue we run into less and less time together before baby arrives. Possible induction date would be the second day of school (I don't particularily want to go this route again) and to leave a brand new class in someone else's hands for the first few days is definitely not ideal in any situation, but... such is life. If J doesn't get a classroom things would definitely be a lot easier to transition through but the bank account will definitely suffer after two months of living off our limited savings with no income. Such is life, we'll just cross that bridge when we get to it.

These are all the things that have been flitting around in my brain, lately. They aren't any points of stress for me, just things that I think about as I look at the next few weeks. I've posted before about the fact that, in my life, I don't like to "look forward" too much because then the moments that I am experiencing are diminished in their importance. I don't want time to go by too quickly, it already does. Did you even realize that I have a two year old? I have been married for nearly four years? I have been in my house for almost two years? I am about to welcome another baby into my life? I am a Mom and a grown up? These are all things that, at some times, feel completely normal and yet, when I think carefeully about it... WHAT THE HECK? Where does time go, anyhow?

Speaking of time, I'm sorry that this was such a long ramble. I'm going to go make waffles and then weed my garden with my little boy. He's a good helper!!
Have a fun-filled, peaceful day everyone. Annnd.. Happy Birthday Grace!!