No international traveling this weekend for us!

Johnny sent an email to Japan yesterday informing them that he probably would be canceling his trip. True to form, no baby came last night, so he went ahead and canceled the trip. He got a reply back from a Lt. Colonel in Japan saying that it was a really good idea for him to cancel so he could keep up with things on the homefront. He also said that although this conference was an excellent excuse to get Johnny out there, that they would try to find some other reason to have him come out and visit before we actually move there.

That was *very* comforting to hear, especially for a wife who feels like she's letting down just about everyone now by not having this baby yet!! Thankfully, with some talks to friends, my doula, and my family, I'm feeling less guilt for not having this kid yet! It really has been good having my mom out here early. It's been a good vacation for her, I think, and a good chance for her to bond with Sol before the baby is born.

I just figure that this little girl wants my entire house to be spotless before she arrives. So far today we have totally rearranged all of the wall hangings in Sol/baby girl's room. I'm excited to take pictures because I think we've got a good balance of girly and boyish in the same room. Also, today I have:

• washed and folded laundry
• made a yummy breakfast of Swedish pancakes with turkey bacon
  
• washed all the dishes
• cleaned my room
• sorted and got rid of about 6 pairs of shoes
• rearranged some (very light!) furniture in my room to make a place for the pack-n-play
• organized some of my maternity and non-maternity clothes
  
• got all the boxes of kid clothes that have been sitting in the hallway organized into a closet
• pulled out everything to make a diaper bag/purse
  
• had lunch with my mom and Sol
• put Sol down for a nap

And it's only a little past 2:00!

Currently my mom is cleaning all my bathrooms. {Yea Mom!!!} I got a phone call earlier today from the Ohio Board of Speech-language Pathology and Audiology telling me that I sent in my certification paperwork too late. And that this was my second notice. I have NOT heard from them at all. This was certainly news to me!

Basically the lady said that I had turned in my forms more than 60 days after completion of my CFY. I asked her why that was a problem. She said that all the paperwork was supposed to be filed AT THE COMPLETION of the CFY experience. I told her that I understood that, and I did turn it in when I was done, but where did it say 60 days ANYWHERE??? She honestly couldn't tell me where it said that.

I let her know that a week after I had finished my CFY I went out of town for vacation for close to 2 months and that's why I hadn't sent in my paperwork. She said they were having an investigative board meeting today and for me to explain my situation in an e-mail so she could present it to the board. Can you believe this?? I've already received all my certification from the National Board, and told the Ohio board that I sent all my materials AT THE SAME TIME! We'll just have to see what happens. My bet? They're just looking for a way to fine me. It was seriously sent in maybe 10 days late. Give me a break guys! I'm a pregnant lady that was REALLY sick of thinking about working/certification and needed to take a break. If it's not ANYWHERE on your website or on any of the enormous amount of paper I had to fill out, then how can you hold me accountable for not knowing about the 60 day rule? Sorry about the rant guys...that's what you get with a 41 week pregnant lady!

But, onto the list for the rest of the day...I still plan to:

• start and finish making the diaper bag/purse
• shower!!
• dust my room
• help out with cleaning the bathrooms
• start making baby announcements
  
• a walk??
• HAVE A BABY!!

Although, the last one is still up for debate...I told my mom today that this girl is just a little picky and she wants to come to an absolutely clean house, so that's what we're doing today!

Wish us luck.

New Plans...

It seems like many of my blog posts have started out this way lately, but still no labor and no baby are apparent in our imminent future. If baby girl decides not to make her appearance before sometime tomorrow morning, Johnny will be canceling his trip to Japan. So, no pressure, right?

I have the option to schedule induction on Friday, but as of this minute (it changes quite frequently), I've decided to wait this out until early next week if nothing's happened yet. I've had some really good discussions with my midwife and doula and this seems right for now.

I go in for another non-stress test on Friday, and as long as things are looking good with this little girl, we'll just patiently wait out her impending arrival.

Here's to the virtue of patience! I'm getting quite a lesson in it right now!

Happy Halloween!!

I'll start out by saying, nothing new on the baby front. This little girl is having a good time staying nice and warm in mommy's tummy. At my appointment yesterday they stripped my membranes, but still no active labor. I really wouldn't have even asked for them to do it other than Johnny is getting ready for a quick trip to Japan a week from tomorrow. It is possible to cancel the trip, but I really think he should go! I just would really really really like him to be here for my labor and our daughter's birth, and he doesn't want to miss it either. My mom and sister will be here and Johnny's only going to be gone for 4-5 days.

I had quite a few contractions yesterday during a few long walks, but they quit after I went to bed last night. I slept kind of awkwardly a few nights ago and feel like I pulled my left hamstring up by the hip joint. The walking didn't really help that out yesterday, so my leg was feeling quite sore today.

So instead of walking around like crazy...we made Halloween sugar cookies!

I love how Thomas and Percy are an important part of cookie making.

And yes, they are as yummy as they look!

After lunch, Sol took a nap and we finished up the cookies. When he woke up, we went over to the Booth's house for a rousing game of kickball and yummy chili and soups. My mom and Johnny played while Sol and I watched.

Everyone was quite impressed by my mom's athletic skills. Not too bad for an old lady...just kidding Mom!! She was a great addition to the team.They even let Sol in on the fun kicking part for a little bit.After a little while it got *really* cold outside, so my mom and I took Sol back inside. Poor little guy was freezing and he pretty much cried the whole walk back home. We got him all warmed up, watching Thomas, and snuggling with Nana 'Nise. We thought maybe Sol just hadn't quite taken a long enough nap and was still cranky. Apparently he wasn't the only one who needed a few extra zzz's...
We took Sol out trick-or-treating and he had a very fun time getting candy and seeing his friends.

Our 2 little super heroes!

Sol didn't eat a whole lot at our friends' house, so he was pretty starving during the trick-or-treating. He only lasted going around our block before we were finished. He just wanted to stop and eat all the candy before going on to the next house. It was funny, but also frustrating for him. He had a big bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup, a few cookies, and was ready for bed. All in all, it was quite a fun little Halloween!

Tech Warrior

With all this talk of baby and such, Johnny's been kinda neglected in the posting lately. Back in July, Johnny went to a sort of mini-deployment, aka Tech Warrior.

Here's some fun pics of Johnny's experience this past summer.

Truly every man's boyhood dreams come true...

39 weeks and counting...

{p.s. we got this adorable idea for the ribbon from my photographer friend Nicole's blog.
She does amazing pictures. Check out her work here.}

Ward Trunk-or-Treat

This past Friday night was our ward Trunk-or-Treat. We've been notorious for having bad luck with this event. The first year we were supposed to judge the trunks but ended up being really late. The second year we were picking up my mom at the airport an hour away and ran into the WORST traffic ever. We ended up totally missing the whole thing. This year we made it a plan to actually be there early and we ended up getting there 5 minutes before it started. Go us!

Since Sol has been having napping issues lately, he didn't nap at all on Friday. He wasn't acting tired, so I didn't even attempt to put him down. But by the time 7:00 rolled around for the festivities to begin, Sol was in rare form. Which basically means he didn't want to listen to anything mom or dad had to say, he wanted to run around like a crazy child, tackle any child/adult in sight, and be up and close in everyone's personal space.

Which is why I had him dressed as Superman. I figured that this Halloween would consist of a lot of running from this little guy (which I was right), so what better way to enjoy the running than watching a child run around with a cape on??
He also spent a lot of time like this on the floor.
That poor ladybug doesn't know what's she's in store for!

I couldn't believe we actually got a pic of him holding still!

We dressed up too. I had a bun in the oven and Johnny was the baker.

Our little Super Hero

Carseat Re-covering Project

It seems like at the end of these 2 pregnancies I've had different projects I've just had to finish before the baby came. With Sol it was slings and with this little girl, it's been re-covering the infant carseat. I found a great pattern online to help walk me through it. The carseat isn't necessarily boyish, but it isn't very girly. Here's the before picture.
The carseat After

After finishing with the carseat, I figured I might as well do the stroller to have it match. Since I figure I'll have this baby in a sling quite a bit and have Sol in the stroller more, I used the fabric that was brown with blue polka dots (as it's more boyish). I re-did the canopy and added a little slip cover to the seat. I was sewing pretty much all day last Saturday, but I think it was worth it!

Ta Da!! (as Sol would say)