The waddle

I told Jon months ago that I was not going to waddle — I was going to be “a very graceful pregnant woman.” That worked until about 36 weeks. It’s not that I waddle all the time, but the resident within my belly needs to shift around a bit when I get up and change positions, so I just *have* to waddle a little bit at the beginning. Waddling is a necessity when you have someone’s head pressing against your bladder. But I don’t think I’m waddling all the time. The rest of the time I look like a very graceful ballerina hippo.

can’t stop this train

Last night, I was awake and fussy at 3 am. I had a snack, sneezed several times, and wandered around the house for awhile. I realized that, despite all of my preparation for and reading about labor, I am feeling a bit nervous about the process — what if it totally kicks my butt? I talked with my good friend Deborah about it today, and we agreed that a) I’m pretty well-prepared, b) I have a lot of resources to labor successfully, and c) no matter what, this baby is going to come out!

Daddy-o

Top five things Jon says to the baby girl in my belly:

5. “When are you coming out???”
4. “I am the Papa!”
3. “What are you doing in there?”
2. “Fat, fat, fat for baby’s brain!”

and, my very favorite:
1. “I want to know what kind of ice cream you like and who your favorite team is.”

Isn’t he cute? Here is my favorite quote from him today about me:
“You’re so awesome. I love how bulbous you are.” (I take this as a compliment!)

Mona Linda

Today was the funeral for a fellow church-member, Mona. Her kids did a great job telling stories about her life and her mothering. Susan said that every time they went to the grocery store, her mom sang all the way there. Dan said that he thought theirs was the only family who regularly prayed for the current Supreme Court Justices. It made me think a lot about what kind of mother I will be — I hope to sing and pray a lot too! But funerals aren’t easy. I keep praying that Jesus will come back before too long so we can stop having funerals. “Pastor Deb”:http://gracechurchchicago.org talked about the hope of the cross — out of death, we have hope and life and glory. It is true, but it doesn’t make life _here on earth_ any easier when death happens.

Big belly blog

Jon set up this great blog for us. We anticipate writing a lot about the creature that will come out of my big belly in the next few weeks. She keeps sticking her elbows and knees into me, but I don’t really mind — I have a lot more room to move than she does.

When will she arrive??? We can’t wait! I think she wants to wait until April so that she gets a diamond as her birthstone. Classy Baby Boyd.