Keeping Busy

It seems like all I've really been doing for the last week or so is waiting to go into labor and have this baby already. In fact, I've had false labor 4 times in the last 10 days - it's getting seriously obnoxious. For anyone interested (possible TMI coming up), at my doctors appointment yesterday I was between 3 and 4 centimeters dilated and 75% effaced, and my doctor stripped my membranes for me. So he should be coming soon! Actually, my doctor was surprised to see me come in and said she had expected to see me earlier than that - at the hospital having my baby already! Apparently I have a stubborn body and/or baby. I'm due in 2 days... any guesses as to when I actually will give birth? By the way, I have an induction scheduled for Wednesday the 8th if I haven't had him by then. Funny thing is about a month or so ago when Ben and I decided to guess when I'd give birth, I guessed the 8th. :) I hope I'm wrong, I'd really like to go into labor naturally, minus the Pitocin this time.

We actually have been keeping busy while we wait for our next little one to get here. Last week we spent an afternoon at the mall, just walking around and then letting Lily play in the kids area on the third floor (of Bellevue Square). And last Thursday Ben and I went to a Brian Regan Concert in Bellingham. It was really really fun and hilarious. For anyone who hasn't heard of him, he's this awesome comedian that Ben and I have loved for a few years now. One of the reasons he's so good is that he doesn't have dirty/skanky material or swear a lot, which we really appreciate. This was his second concert we've been too. It was great, and his opener was really great too - a guy from Seattle by the name of Kermet Apio. We definitely recommend people listen to some of Brian's stuff if they ever get a chance, it's great.

Also, last week I finished Michael's rag blanket that I started back in February. I got a good start on it when I first bought all the fabric, and then got tired of sewing/cutting real quick and took a long break. I'm glad I was able to finish it before he got here. I suppose I got into a sewing mood, because right after I finished Michael's blanket, I started on an apron for Lily and after only about 4 hours, I had finished that as well. I'm super proud of myself with the apron - I didn't have a pattern and basically winged it, and I think it turned out really good. I'm got pictures of it, but not the blanket yet as it was still in the wash getting all raggedy when I took the apron pictures.

This slide at the play place in Bellevue Square was probably her favorite.

This is the "I can't go until I can hold at least one of your hands" position.

Spin!

Bad lighting here, but I really love her expression. She was having a lot of fun.

Just playing at home. I love doing her hair in a little top ponytail like this - she calls it her "pretty" (she calls lots of things "pretties" actually - fingernails, earrings, hair things, bracelets...) and knows that she's not supposed to touch it. :)

Ben and I at the Brian Regan concert.

The best picture we could get of Brian Regan - he moves around so much that all the others are really blurry!

Lily's new apron! Kind of hard to see, but those are bumblebees all over it. At first she wasn't too thrilled with it, but now she associates it with cooking and thinks it's pretty awesome. By the way, Lily is obsessed with cooking. She asks to cook with Ben or me at least 4 times a day - often it's one of the first things she asks for when she wakes up. She's her Mama's girl!

Side view to see the polka-dot ribbon that I sewed on for the ties. All in all, I think it turned out pretty good, especially since I didn't really know what I was doing.

Real quick before I'm done - I really really love that Lily is such a girly-girl. It's so fun! She loves to dress up, she loves anything that she thinks is pretty, she can be very picky about which clothes or shoes she wants to wear. In fact, the other day she insisted on wearing her brown shoes that are getting too small even though it almost made her cry as I tried to put them on her feet because they are too tight. But she definitely wanted them on and was very happy once they were on. She already likes to cook (granted, that doesn't have to be a girly-girl thing, but it sure seems to be sometimes). She likes to have pretties in her hair, even though she's very likely to pull them right out again so she can look at them in her hands. And lately, she's insisted on wearing one of my necklaces all the time.

The best thing about all this is I don't feel like I've pushed her to be like that. She's had a very strong personality ever since she was born and Ben and I noticed early on that she seemed to have a preference for girly-girl things. Being a bit of a girly-girl myself, I think it's really fun and I love helping her and encouraging her. It's so much fun to be her Mom. :)