4 of 18

4 days down, 14 to go. That's almost 25% done. I'm only counting work days here...it sounds better, first of all, and second of all I would spend most of my weekends at home anyway. I may be more active - but I'd still be at home. So it's only 18 days that I have to overcome.

I've gotten lots of comments from people saying how great bed rest would be. I've heard comments like "you mean you have an excuse to stay in bed all day?", "do you know how many books you could read in that time?", "in 2 months you will be begging for a day in bed", and "I'd give anything for my doctor to force me to do nothing". My cousin referred to days like this as "relocation days" - moving from the bed to the couch. I assure you all that while it may sound wonderful, the glamour wears off after about 2 days. It is true that in 2 months I will probably be begging for A day in bed. not 18 though. Oh well, I'm done wallowing.

One thing I thought I might be able to accomplish while on this sabbatical from work was blogging. Then I realized that with not much going on in my days, my blogs would be pretty boring. This was what I envisioned a blog would consist of:

Woke up at 7, said bye to Austin. Reagan whined, I went back to sleep. Woke up again at 9, watched Regis and Kelly. Reagan whined, Layla went potty, I drank water. Got tired of TV and started scrapbooking. Reagan whined. I went potty. Layla went potty but really didn't need to and just wanted to play in-and-out. Reagan whined. I whined. Austin came home for lunch. Yippee half a day done. Reagan whined.

However, my day was slightly more exciting than that. I beat 8 levels on Super Mario, watched Regis and Kelly, the Price is Right, and 3 episodes of Desperate Housewives. During the tv episodes I made a really cute birthday card for Brian with my cricut and worked on designing William's birth announcement. The one element that I was able to predict above, though, was Reagan's whining. I think when I go back to work I might set up a tape recorder or something to see if he does that just when I'm here or if he is neurotic enough to make those noises regardless of who is listening.

Have I told you about my cricut yet? I don't think I have, so, here I go - it is WONDERFUL! I had never heard of it before I started working at Western Union, but one of my coworkers has one and a few other coworkers had cricut-envy. I tried it out one time...and it was so fun! It's a die-cut machine that, along with various cartridges, can cut literally almost anything your heart could desire. I told Austin about it awhile back, but the cheapest model was $200 and I don't go out and spend $200 on anything...well, except at Costco occasionally...so I figured I'd never buy one. Not like its a necessity, life goes on right? Austin found it on sale at JoAnn's before Christmas though and he bought it...I was so shocked on Christmas morning! It came with a font/basic shape cartridge so I was able to cut out letters/phrases/shapes...and I did for hours. I made a few pages for William's scrapbook - here's page 1. It is sideways...oops, iPhone...but you get the idea. The space in the middle will be for one of his first pictures

After I had a few days of fun with the cartridge it came with Austin found a Sesame Street cartridge on eBay for $30. Usually they're about $70 or $80 full price, so $30 was a good deal. I had some fun cutting out characters like cookie monster, oscar the grouch, and elmo and I got excited thinking about what I can do for birthday invitations for William, birthday cards, etc. THEN my boss gave me a $40 gift card to JoAnn's for Christmas, and on New Year's Day they had their cartridges on sale for $39.99...so...I got another one! This one will come in handy over the next year or so - it's called "new arrival" and it cuts out all sorts of things related to a new baby. There are some baby shower phrases, bassinets, strollers, rattles, bottles, pregnant moms, "bath time" - all sorts of baby type things. I used that to make William's birth announcement yesterday and I got it designed and have a sample ready to duplicate. I am going to have to send Austin to a craft store to get me some more cardstock in the right colors, then I can get to work cutting and assembling all the announcements - all that will be left is inserting a picture in the envelope and writing his birth details.

So - my day wasn't too bad. I did get bored and stir crazy and wanted to clean my house, but I didn't lay in bed crying out of boredom all day either. So that's a good start. And when else would I have had time to make all these birth announcements? Certainly not once he's born...so I guess sometimes there is a silver lining.

As for today - I've already accomplished the first few tasks...waking up, Regis and kelly, and I'm working on the Price is Right. After that I'm sure it'll be scrapbooking, quilting, or playing Wii. Just waiting on my mom's recipes and Kaila's recipes to arrive so that I can add a little spice to my day by organizing recipe binders...

Be very jealous.

I'm not a Restful Person

I used to have a picture frame that said "It's scary when you wake up one day and realize you've turned into your mother." Growing up I remember thinking it was always so odd that my mom couldn't ever sit still or relax - we generally watched TGIF as a family (remember those great shows? full house, family matters, etc...) but other than that I don't think she ever sat still. It baffled me - how could you not WANT rest? Well - years later, I'm not too far off from that. If there is a football game on I can generally sit and watch it...but I also do laundry in the process, cook dinner sometimes, or I think of other tasks that can be done during commercial breaks so that I don't miss the game. So am I really resting? Probably not. If there is a good movie on TV or if Austin puts in a good movie I can USUALLY sit to watch it...no guarantees I won't get up to change laundry, have laundry in front of me to fold, or fall asleep...but I try. I spend most of my free time either cleaning, cooking, running errands, or doing crafts - none of which are generally considered "rest".

So I'm sure you can imagine the extreme struggle I have been going through since Friday when my doctor told me I needed to "rest" for 3 weeks. let me back up and catch you up.

Last weekend I started experiencing some lower pelvic pain. At first it wasn't too bad, it came and went through the days and it was definitely manageable. Monday the pain started to get worse, and Tuesday it was pretty constant and nearly unbearable. I had researched "pelvic pain" on google to self-diagnose myself, like I know doctors love, and I read that it could be one of two things: SPD, which is when your body releases too much relaxin and your pelvic bone expands too quickly in preparation for labor, so it causes discomfort and sometimes can be so painful that people can't walk. The other possibility was a sign of preterm labor. I had my 33 week appointment that afternoon, so when the doctor came in I mentioned it. She said she'd like to "take a look" and see if anything was going on, just to be sure. The nurse had asked me at the beginning of the appointment if I had been having contractions, and I said yes but I assumed they were just braxton hicks contractions and they didn't even come once and hour, so nothing to worry about. After the doctor's exam she determined that I was having real contractions rather than braxton hicks, and she said I was "slightly dilated", which I later learned meant about 1 cm. She ran a test to see if I had protein build up which is a sign that my body would be beginning the stages of labor, and she was going to have the emergency lab tested that evening (my appointment ended after 5:00). She let me know that she would call me after the results came in and if they were positive we've need to go to the hospital that night to have labor reversed; if the results were negative she wanted me to take a few days off work and go back Friday for more testing. Luckily the results came back negative, so I let my boss know that I would at least need to take Wednesday and Thursday off work, and I'd let them know the results of my appointment Friday morning.

Wednesday and Thursday were boring enough. And I wouldn't even say I followed the term "rest" as well as the doctor probably would have liked! I sewed some on William's quilt, made a couple cards with my Cricut, made a few pages for William's scrapbook...I may have cleaned a LITTLE...and I was still pretty miserable just sitting here.

Then it was time for my follow up appointment Friday morning. I got there and they said we'd be running an NST. I don't know what the acronym stands for, but it is a fetal monitor to check his heartbeat, his movement, and my contractions. I had that for about 20 minutes and the doctor said the results were great - his heartbeat was steady and healthy, his movement was what they'd expect, and in the 20 minutes I had one small contraction and nothing else. The doctor then checked again to see if any more progress had been made or if my body had reversed the dilation on its own from my rest. She found that I was now about 1.5 cm dilated, and said that her main concern was not the dilation or even the contractions, but was William's position. In her words "his head is just RIGHT there". THAT is the root of my pelvic pain - she let me know his head was causing pressure on my pelvis and any movement, especially vertical movement, would be uncomfortable essentially until he is born. He isn't going to move farther up, so the pressure of the weight of his head that low is just going to be uncomfortable. Yay! The doctor said "sometimes little boys are ornery" and I said "funny, so is his dad" :)

She asked me what my company's policy is for maternity leave, bed rest, etc. When i let her know that if I were to go on bed rest I'd file for short term disability she was pleased that I had the option of not entirely losing my income, and said that was her recommendation. She did say that there is no true way for a doctor to predict preterm labor because "we lose our crystal balls when we graduate from medical school", but she said that from her experience and everything she's seen it is her professional opinion that without rest and with too much movement I would end up in preterm labor in the next couple of weeks. She said that if I make it to 37 weeks, which is Feb 1, I can return to work until he does come because at 37 weeks he will be considered full term and there won't be any concerns at that point. If I go into labor before 37 weeks and it is not too far along, she would prefer to attempt to reverse it using medication, and if it were too far along we would have our baby a few weeks early. 37 weeks is also convenient for my personal calendar, because it is after the birthdays and the anniversary of my dad's death like I mentioned before. I realize William does not care one bit for my personal calendar, and probably never will...but if he could just hang out for 3 weeks I'd be a happy mommy.

Today we are 34 weeks along - so he wouldn't be terribly premature, and it wouldn't be anything that hospitals and doctors aren't fully trained to handle. However, it is obviously still not ideal. So for the next 3 weeks I am to spend as much time laying down as possible. She said she isn't calling it "full bed rest" at this point, which means I am still able to get up and move around if necessary, but she'd like me to rest as little as possible.

As bored as I am - it isn't too hard to force myself to at least sit still because it's pretty painful to move around! The issue for me is between horizontal vs. sitting upright. I can do things sitting upright, but laying down is just miserable. So I'm trying to compromise with myself and at least recline slightly if possible. Austin is going to move some of my crafting supplies in the living room and create a temporary work-station for me so that if I want to do scrapbooking or quilting or something for a little bit I don't have to get up and walk to the office, and I can lean back slightly while working. Then I'll also be closer to the kitchen in case I need food or water, or if Layla needs to go outside.

So for the next 3 weeks if you have anything you need done...really, anything...feel free to ship it my way. The post office has flat rate boxes that you can ship up here for about $13 and you can shove as much in those boxes as you want! I can make cards, invitations, birth announcements (hey THERE'S an idea...), organize bills...I can do lots of things. I'm transferring Kaila's recipes from recipe cards to a recipe binder, so really...I'll do anything :)

Other than that I'll spend 3 weeks trying to learn what the true meaning of 'rest and relaxation' is. I'll let you know if I learn anything. For now, I'm going to try to keep myself from going upstairs to do some laundry. :)

Warm Fuzzy Feeling

Although I generally try not to blog about personal conflicts - this is more the happy resolution stage of an ongoing personal conflict, so that's ok right? I don't think the person this is about reads my blog anyway, so not like any harm would be done.

It's no secret that my oldest brother, Brandon, and I have dealt with strain in our relationship in the last...decade or so. Brandon went through some personal struggles that he couldn't face with me, and that I was probably too rigid to have compassion for. The combination of the two, mixed with other emotions and family dynamics I'm sure, lead to what was at one point truly a non-existent relationship. It was sad, as any loss of a sibling relationship would be, and it was also puzzling.

Growing up Brandon and I were much closer than Brian and I. I don't think I'd be going out on a limb by saying that Brian resented my existence for my first 15 years. If he didn't resent my existence, he definitely didn't enjoy it. I was the pesky little sister he never wanted to have around - the pesky little sister who also always wanted to be around. He picked on me, slammed my hand in doors trying to get away from me, beat me in the shin with a wooden baseball bat, tried to poke my eyes out when I was a defenseless infant...the love was not always abounding, I'll say that. But Brandon and I didn't have many issues. The biggest fights we ever had were over the telephone...which my dad resolved by getting me my own phone line. That may have actually just fueled Brandon's fire, as he felt I was spoiled and he should have been the one to get his own line...but that's neither here nor there; the phone line ended the dispute. (PAUSE: children these days don't even know what it is to fight over a phone cause they all have their own damn phones now. geez) Anyhow, that was the extent of the conflict between Brandon and me until he went to college.

I will admit that I, at times, have been told that I have "too high" of expectations of people and that I don't "allow" people to make mistakes. I don't really think I understand what this means - just to defend myself a bit. How can you have too high of expectations? Is it too much to ask that people make good choices? Be considerate of others? Essentially follow the "rules" of life? And how could I have the power to allow, or not allow, people to make mistakes? People will do what they want regardless of what I think right? Nevertheless, I've been told both of those things on more than one occasion and my guess would be that didn't help my relationship with Brandon while he was going through his hard times. Not to defend the choices he made or say that where we ended up was entirely my fault - I don't think I need to remind you that he spent my wedding day in jail - but I'm sure I could have been slightly more forgiving at times.

Despite all of that, though, Brandon and I have been attempting to rebuild what was once a valuable relationship for the past 2 years. It required more effort on his part at the beginning, as I was not anywhere near willing to trust him, and as time has gone on it has required more forgiveness and more effort on my end. We haven't both always put forth the effort needed, and we've still had our issues, but we are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were 2 years ago. And I wish I could have expressed to him yesterday how very touched I was when he told me what he's giving up to come see William in March.

Austin and I are touched anytime people want to come visit us - it really means the world to us. Whether they're in Colorado already and just want to stop by for a quick chat or they're coming in solely to see us - it doesn't matter, we're touched either way. That doesn't even compare to how special it is to us when people tell us they want to come up to meet William. There is a lot of scheduling involved, I get that, and it isn't always feasible all the time for everyone...so we don't hold it against anyone if they can't. But we sure love it when they can! So when Brandon originally told me that he and Dana would like to come up sometime in march to see William, that in itself warmed my heart.

Yesterday he exceeded my expectations though when he told me that he had passed up on Dallas Cowboy season tickets for this Sunday's game against the Eagles because they will be buying their tickets to Denver. To some people that'd be a no brainer - I'm pretty sure my mom, Alexis, Maizeanne, and plenty of other football-non-lovers would jump at the opportunity to pick a flight (to anywhere) over a football game. But Brandon LOVES the Cowboys. When I say LOVES - I mean past the extent that most people love any sports team. And the playoffs? I would have never guessed he would have passed up on a playoff game for anything...and he's picking my baby over the game? I apologize for being so cliche here...but my cup runneth over.

2 years ago I would have wondered if my future children would ever even know their uncle. And now he'll be one of the first to see William's precious face. I know we're nowhere near perfect, but I couldn't be more thankful for where we are.

The Only Job I'll Ever Miss

I had a bad night last night. And you know what happens when you go to sleep angry? You wake up angry. I guess that's why the Bible tells us not to huh? Unfortunately there's nothing that Austin or I could do to make me un-angry last night, so the only option was to fall asleep. But then, just as I knew I would, I woke up angry. And you know what happens when you wake up angry? Nothing goes right. First of all, Reagan's morning howls for food were unbearable. I've dealt with them for 5 years now but on mornings like this, they are just too much. Then clothes don't look good, your hair won't work, there's nothing for breakfast...its just a long spiral downwards.

However, as I was walking towards the door to leave, my eyes caught a glimpse of something that had the potential to make my day better: my new Taylor Swift cd! It was in my stocking on Christmas and I loaded it on my computer that day but I hadn't listened to it yet. Taylor Swift can put a smile on anyone's face I think (or at least mine) so I grabbed it and decided that she was going to turn my day around. She was going to brighten my mood so I wouldn't walk into work with my head hung down. I inserted the CD, got all excited for the upbeat music on track 1, and about 1.5 minutes into the song I realized there were no lyrics. Tried track 2. Same problem. Track 3, 4...ok I give up. Not even Taylor Swift can work for me today.

At this point I wished I were standing rather than driving, and I wished there were someone standing in front of me to witness my emphatic decision, complete with crossed arms and a stomped foot, to go to Starbucks and get a white chocolate mocha. 500 calories or not, no one was going to stop me. But, I had to just envision myself playing that out because I was, in fact, already driving.

While at Starbucks I realized something: I miss working at Poor Yoricks. Being a coffee barista is by far my favorite job - not that I've had boat loads of jobs or anything. But it was a blast! In order to get through the rush all the baristas are on hyper-mode, which for us occurred in between classes all day...so on monday/wednesday/friday our rush came every 40-45 minutes and lasted 20-30 minutes. Tuesday/Thursdays were a little easier because classes were 25 minutes longer. Running around, singing along to fun music on the radio, steaming endless pots of milk, shouting out various coffee drinks that I never understood how we were able to remember...it was all part of the fun. And the best part: the customers. Customers love their coffee makers...its like they think you're a miracle worker if you can produce the perfect latte/cappuccino/mocha/etc. If they didn't come in with a smile on their face, the frown is instantly turned upside down when you hand them the warm cup o' joe (or whatever it is that they ordered).

The BEST customers are regulars. Like Professor Casey, for example. Set aside my and Alexis's crushes on him - we were juvenile(and he wasn't a REAL proffessor, he was a grad student so back off) :) Despite the crushes, he was a delight as a customer. He'd wait in line no matter how long it was, never letting go of his morning optimism, then he'd greet us all by name as he approached the counter. He already had his change counted out, Luis already had it rung up, and Alexis and I already had his large skim cappuccino, lots of foam with 2 sweet n low packets, prepared for the taking. Some days we'd even deliver it out to him as he waited in line (that part MIGHT be attributable to the crush)

Regulars or not, grumpy or not, the customers made the job enjoyable. To be able to bring that sort of happiness to people on a daily basis made Poor Yoricks a very rewarding job. Even if I was working for a measly $8.50/hour (which, at the time, was BANK)

So this morning as I watched the Starbucks employees mimicking the scenario I just described for you, I made a decision; If Austin makes it big in the business world, or if we win the lottery or in some other way come across money, I am going to be a coffee barista from 5am-10am. Then I can go home, relax, do crafts or some other hobby to occupy myself while Austin and the kids are gone and get ready to serve hundreds of warm cups of joy the next morning. And that thought, in itself, had the ability to slightly turn my morning from sour to ok.

Stupid Tony Romo

Maybe I was doomed to not win the jackpot at fantasy football; maybe the fantasy gods were getting back at me for all the bad mouthing I'd done. If so, I had it coming. But I don't believe in fantasy gods, therefore I blame Tony Romo. and reggie bush, matt schaub, and a few others. but mostly Tony Romo. You see, somehow in both my leagues I managed to secure a first round "bye" in the playoffs. So 2 weeks ago I sat comfortably on my couch knowing I was still alive for another week, regardless of how well my players performed.

Then last week all I cared about was winning the game in my "big" league. The first place prize is $700 and second is $300, so I would have been happy taking the $300 (and splitting it with Dottie, my coworker who Austin and I teamed up with). So, if I could just win ONE MORE GAME in that league, I'd have at least $150 and possibly $350. But, last week our decision to bench Peyton Manning came back to haunt us as the Colts did NOT bench him, and he had one of his more productive Fantasy scoring weeks. Had we played him, we could have won our game and moved on to the championship. But, no use in crying over spilled milk - I did win in the smaller league and was happy that I still had a shot at $200. So Friday night when Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans scored more than Vince Young and Antonio Gates combined (I knew Vince could pull through for me and have 3 turnovers...love Vince Young) I thought I was sitting pretty nicely to win the $200. I already had it spent in my mind.

Then yesterday came. Most of my players during the early games did decent...Andre Johnson had a wonderful first half and if Matt Schaub would have tried THROWING THE BALL in the second half rather than handing it off to Ryan Moats for 2 yards every play, maybe Johnson could have done even better for me. But, he did his part so I was pleased. By the end of the first round of Sunday games I had all but one player done, and so did my opponent. He had the San Fransisco defense (who lit it up against Detroit. Then again, who doesn't) and I had Miles Austin. All I needed was for Miles Austin to perform like he has for the past 6 weeks and I'd have $200.

Instead, I watched all night as Miles Austin got himself open and available, and Tony Romo looked past him nearly every time. Romo to Witten. Romo to Williams. Romo to Witten. incomplete. Marion Barber. You heard all sorts of Cowboys names flying around last night, but one that was announced too few times was Miles Austin. Romo's bread and butter for the last 2 months - but he couldn't do it for ONE MORE GAME?

Like I said, stupid Tony Romo.

So, rather than celebrating my big winnings of $200 (a profit of $140)I am stuck with a whopping $40...and in case you can't do the math, that's a loss of $20 on the fantasy season. Wahoo. Excuse me while I go celebrate.

A Soldier or a Baby

This morning as I was driving to work I had my Brad Paisley Christmas CD playing. OK, blaring. Call it what you want. Anyway. On the CD he has a song that he wrote and performed when he was 13 and breaking into the music industry. The song is titled, "Born on Christmas Day" and it is pretty amazing that a 13 year old could come up with the lyrics that he did.



It was a cold and dark December night

But a star still lit the sky

Away in a manger you heard a baby cry

It was the cry of the Son of God

A little baby boy

Born in that manger to bring the world joy

(chorus)

So hush up little baby

You know not what you'll do

You'll bring the world peace and love

And teach them while you do

You have nothing to fear because you know

God is with you all the way

That little important baby

Born on Christmas day



Many people soon gathered round that tiny run down barn

They knew not of what they saw

Then came three all dressed in fancy robes, silks and furs

This was the first indication of the importance of his birth



Chorus



We expected a soldier to save us from our plight

All dressed in shiny armor, ready for a fight

But instead he sent a little baby boy

All filled with love and happiness

To bring the world Joy


Chorus

I grew up hearing the story of Christmas my entire life; I've probably heard it nearly 50 times already. But I got something new out of it just by listening to this song. The third verse really made me think. Maybe it's the real-life application for me right now that brought on this new element, I'm not sure, but the first line of that verse just really got to me. "We were expecting a soldier to save us". That makes me think of Austin - a big, bad soldier who protects me from harm whenever possible. If I were awaiting the first coming of my Lord, I believe I would be awaiting someone who was bigger, stronger, braver, and tougher than me - because the idea that I need someone to save me implies that he must be all of those things. If he's not bigger, not braver, and not stronger than I am, then why do I need his help anyway? "But instead he sent a little baby boy". That makes me think of William - and how it is my job to protect him. I've been protecting him for the past 7 months, and no doubt that job continues once he's born.

So how humbling a thought that God sent a BABY to save me. All this time I've been focused on the mere fact that God sent someone to save me, but a baby? Yes - we were (and still are) that much in need of saving that even a baby can fit the bill. It doesn't matter how strong we are, how brave or even how close to perfection we think we are - we still need God's grace and to be saved by his little baby boy.

I hope you all are able to be stricken with a new realization of Christmas this year in your own way too. I hope your Christmas is blessed with love and family and the joy of that little baby, and that you have a peaceful and restful holiday weekend.

God Bless Us - Everyone!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

Just like the ONE that I once knew. :)

Christmas 2006 was the first Christmas in nearly 100 years when Denver had snow FALL on Christmas day. And I was here to see it :) It also happened to be part of the worst blizzard in Denver history since sometime in the 1930's - so my prayers for a white Christmas were answered abundantly. God was probably getting a good little chuckle out of it. Weathermen (and women) are not predicting snowfall on Christmas day, but they are predicting roughly 5 inches on Wednesday and they expect it to stay cold enough to still be on the ground on Friday. YIPPEE! It seems weird to me that even having snow on the ground on Christmas day is rare, but Denver is a rare snowy city. Anyhow - I'm excited that I can open all the blinds and see white in the backyard all day on Christmas :)

Our weekend was pretty uneventful - which was nice. Austin's battalion Christmas party was Friday and it went well - definitely geared more towards families, but it was nice. I don't know how many times I heard little boys running around screaming, then was quickly approached and asked "Are you ready for this?" Luckily you get to gradually get there right - I mean they have to crawl before they walk right?

Saturday I got my hair cut and got my massage - what a spoiled girl I was that day! I told Austin that once we win the lottery, I'm hiring Danica to come do my hair every day. Or at least a couple times a week - she always makes it look so good, and that scalp massage...that's worth the $ right there! After my massage I went shopping for a little bit while Austin wrapped presents, then we watched the Cowboys whoop up on the Saints - how 'bout them Cowboys huh? Pretty crazy...I never would have expected them to win. BRANDON didn't even think they'd win, and he's the fan among fans!

Sunday we went to the 8:00 service again because Austin had to drop Rick off at the airport at 10:30. I think I like the early service. I don't enjoy waking up early, that's for sure, but after I had gone to church, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the bedroom, and the guest bedroom, I looked at the clock and it was just 11:45! I felt like I still had the whole day ahead of me. I had big aspirations of more cleaning, but decided...no :) I have a 4.5 day weekend coming up and we'll have to do cleaning when we take the tree down, so no use in over doing it now right? So the rest of the day was spent watching football, tooling around with my sewing machine (I have limited thread and fabric, no straight pins, and nothing really to make...so it really was just playing around at this point), and then before the stores closed at 6:00 we went and got our stroller!!! I wanted to take it out of the box and go on a walk with it, but I thought maybe I'd be made fun of :) But I'm so excited about it...even MORE excited for the baby to put in it!

The baby who, according to the doctor, is "perfect" :) That's right - I reached perfection today. Perfect blood pressure, perfect weight gain (which she was especially impressed with given the time of year!), perfect baby growth measured by my belly size, perfect baby positioning - and no blood was stolen! I told her it was a great early Christmas present and she said "Well, as long as you behave we don't have to steal your blood any more!" So that's my goal :)

I'm so excited for Christmas I can hardly stand it - and I don't even know what part I'm so excited for! I love giving Austin presents, so that'll be fun, and I'm sure he got me some fun stuff to play with...but mostly I'm just excited to have 4 days at home with him with no obligations and nothing to do. It'll be heavenly - maybe the best reminder of the reason for the season huh?