I'm not really in the mood to type forever, so I think I'll do a bullet post:

• We had our last meeting at the birth center on Monday. All the paperwork is filled out, so when I go into labor, I won't have to worry about that while I'm in pain. Marissa went to the house of the family that will watch her when I'm in labor - and had a great time! So I'm not as worried about that now (although their kids were sick, and get sick a lot, so hopefully that doesn't become an issue when it's time!).
• It's been kinda a long week for me. It seems like Dan has had a lot of stuff going on this week (some of it work stuff), so it makes the days stretch out longer. But at least Marissa is obsessed with books - reading on the couch is fine with me!
• Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment, and she checked me - NOTHIN'! She did say the baby is down pretty low, but other than that, no signs of "open for business"!
• Tuesday-Wednesday we got a HUGE snow/ice storm. Tuesday morning when I woke up, my ears seemed weirdly clogged. I mentioned it at my appointment, and she looked in them and said one was full of fluid and the other was full of wax. So I went to Walmart to get Sudafed for the fluid and drops for the wax. I came home and took both, then took a nap while Marissa napped. Gradually, throughout the afternoon, my right ear (the one supposedly full of wax) got worse and worse...til it felt like someone stabbed it with a screw driver and was twisting it around and around. I was in tears, it was so painful! I took some Extra Strength Tylenol, and it didn't even touch the pain! By 8pm, I had Dan look up the nearest Urgent Care (I had already tried to get a regular Dr. appointment - but since I would be a new patient, they couldn't get me in til Friday) and we were about to head out into the ice storm to see what they could do for me. I did call the midwife on call, to make sure there would even be any medication I could take (being pregnant and all), and she assured me they would be able to find something. But since the roads were so bad, I decided I could try to wait til the morning to go in. But I told Dan we'd be going for sure in the morning. I had a really hard time falling asleep, since it hurt excruciatingly to lay on either side (and I really can't sleep on my back), but once I did, I slept straight through the night. Dan woke me up as he was leaving for work, and I was shocked to find that I had absolutely NO pain anymore! Weirdest thing to ever happen to me, and I'm SO glad it's gone. Now I completely understand why babies scream bloody murder when they have ear infections!
• Today my friend Susan and her daughter Ingrid came over for the morning. I loved watching Marissa and Ingrid play together (they are only a month apart), and it was so nice to chat with another adult. I love being a SAHM, don't get me wrong! But I am really looking forward to better weather, and not being pregnant anymore, so we can do things like playdates, library story time, etc. more often. I don't necessarily like being stuck inside the house every day all day!

Well, I guess that's all. I completely missed taking a 37 week picture on Tuesday, since I was busy writhing in pain. But here's a pic from today, at 37 weeks, 3 days:

Still here

You would think that since I'm home all the time now, I'd have more time to update. But apparently that's not the case. It's been such a wonderful week at home with my girl. I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday (Day Of Change - that's all I'll say about that), and afterward we went to Elder Beerman to exchange a Christmas present from my mom. Marissa is finally getting used to all the ladies at my doctor's office (gee, it only took her a year and a half!) so it's fun to watch her talk to them. This week, she informed the entire staff that she knew mommy's and daddy's full names in case we're "missing". They thought that was pretty funny. While we were shopping after my appointment, I was waiting at a customer service desk for a while, and she rearranged a display of little kid cameras ever so carefully. She got really upset when I was ready to go because "There's still one more spot left!"

Wednesday, we made another attempt at potty training. It takes a huge amount of effort on my part to be calm and patient and not let her catch on how grossed out I get by the messes. I thought I did pretty well too. But she just isn't getting it, and only knows she needs to go as it's happening. I also had to bribe her to even put on the undies in the morning. So basically, she's not ready, I'm not ready, and we're going to wait until after Arianna is born. I'm so completely exhausted, and sore, that it's hard for me to do much anyways, and there's no need to stress out over it yet. I'm disappointed that we couldn't get this over with, but now I can focus on enjoying our time together alone, instead of stressing over going potty.

Wednesday night we had our Waterbirth class finally. It was scheduled for December, but the instructor never showed up. Then it was rescheduled for last week, but it snowed too much. So we got to attend for free (because the instructor forgot in December) and we were the only couple there! It was a little awkward, but the lady was super nice, and I got to share Marissa's birth story (which she was totally in awe of, a 3 hour labor, and now wants me to call her after this labor to see if it's short too). It was an interesting class, with a few good tips and instructions related to waterbith, but overall it was more like a sales' pitch to convince us that waterbirth is amazing. But I already felt that way, and am already planning on having one if I can, so it was kinda a waste of time! We would have been really ticked if we actually had to pay for it, but since we only had to pay the babysitter (I have discovered that when the babysitter is here, Marissa is the boss! Didn't really see that coming! Should be interesting to find a way to tell the babysitter that it's ok to tell Marissa "No!"), I guess it wasn't so bad. The funny part was that we told the lady about Dan passing out in childbirth classes for Marissa, so she said she would warn him about pictures/videos that were gross. But she totally forgot, and in one video they were even studying the placenta! He didn't pass out, but distracted himself with some snacks. Lol.

Some funny Marissa stories:

• Dan really likes to watch cooking shows on the Food Network, so some evenings we all watch together, while Marissa plays. Well, when Marissa had that slight fever last week, and only wanted to cuddle, I had to occupy myself somehow, so I started watching some too. Now, she begs and begs to watch cooking shows! Today, after Rachael Ray was over, and someone else was on, she asked for "that lady who made pasta" (RR) to come back instead of the other person! She really gets into each show too, and continually asks "What is he making?" "What's he cutting up?" or "Yogurt in pasta? Nooooo!"
  

• Because we've been watching these cooking shows together, she's gotten her first exposure to commercials too. Food Network is at least decent though. Anyways, last night at dinner, she started telling us this story about a monster jumping down onto a road and the car stops and the lady gets out and says "Bunco!" at the monster and he runs away. We just laughed, because we know how her imagination gets sometimes. Until I realized she was telling us about a commercial! It's the one where the lady is driving down the road, and all the fast food signs chase her down the road, til she gets home and holds up the mostly-prepared-steak-dinner-in-a-box and yells at them "Back off!" Her memory of details just astounds us!

• Yesterday, a package came in the mail from my parents and grandparents full of tiny cute little winter outfits for Arianna (since all of Marissa's tiny outfits were springy) and a few goodies for Marissa too. It's so fun to look at those clothes and imagine cuddling a tiny baby in them! I can't wait! One of the goodies for Marissa was a plastic locket and mirror from my grandma. Well, since I opened it up for her, she has spent countless hours putting the necklace on herself, taking it off, putting it on me, taking it off, and every time we have to look at ourselves in the mirror. It's hysterical, and she works so hard getting it on and off!

Since I've been so exhausted and sore sometimes, I've spent a lot of time on the couch this week. So we've been reading books like crazy! Over and over, every single book in sight! It's so much fun, and we just cuddle together under our favorite blanket. I can't begin to tell you how much I've been enjoying my daughter this week. It's such a special time, and although it will obviously change drastically, I don't think it will be too upsetting for her when we have a baby around too. She's just so enjoyable, and happy, and cuddly, and loving, even when things don't exactly go her way.

I guess that catches me up on here. We've got a relaxing weekend planned, and Monday we have the final class/meeting required at the birth center before I could go into labor. It's also our "trial run" with taking Marissa to the friends' house where she'll be during my labor, so hopefully all goes well. Tuesday I have another doctor's appointment, where we will definitely be talking about how to deal with my positive Group B Strep result and my desire for a waterbirth - grrr. Then it's the homestretch, and I'm ready for a baby! The good news is that I'm finally sleeping better - last night I only woke up once, and didn't even stay awake for a long time! It was so nice to wake up refreshed after sleeping like a normal person! I'll leave you with one last Rissa story:

• She has a pirate eye patch that she loves to wear. There are several pirate episodes of The Backyardigans that she loves (I must mention how proud I am about how little tv she has watched since being home all day!), so she loves to wear her pirate patch around the house. She dances around, swinging one leg into the air, singing "A pirate, a pirate, a pirate says ARRGGGGHHHH!" several times in a row, then stops, lifts up the patch to peek at whoever will listen, and says "Ahoy there 'maybe'" - it cracks us up every time because she thinks it's "maybe" instead of "matey" and she says it sooooo pirate-like

Next time I post, I will be "FULL TERM"!

36 weeks, 1 day

U/s, potty talk

Wednesday night, Dan went to a basketball game with some friends, so Marissa and I dug out tiny baby clothes and put them in a dresser. It was so fun to look at all the tiny clothes, remember Marissa in them, and think of Arianna in them! But we discovered a problem: NONE of the clothes are winter clothes until 6-9 months! So the only newborn/0-3 month long-sleeve, warm clothes we have are 2-3 pairs of pjs! For some reason, I thought the end of April was still cold enough for us to have tiny winter clothes from Marissa. But I guess it wasn't, or else we stayed inside long enough for it to turn to spring before we ventured out much. So yesterday Marissa and I headed to Target to see if we could find some clearanced winter tiny baby items. I managed to find 2 warm outfits, but they didn't have much clearance for tiny babies!

Thursday morning I had my final ultrasound. Because of some weird placenta stuff, we've been monitoring Arianna's growth on a monthly basis. She's been growing steadily and consistently, and weighs about 5 lbs 10 oz now, which they said was about the 40th percentile. So they are not concerned about her growth at all! It reminded me of 35 weeks with Marissa, where they started being concerned about her growth, since I was measuring consistently small. Anyways, Arianna is definitely head-down and ready to go! I also got to watch her eyes blinking, and her face scrunching up. I'm soooo excited to meet this little girl! I'm also ready to be done, since I'm still not sleeping (I might as well wake up every hour with a cute baby to hold instead!) and can't really ever find a comfortable position to do anything in, for any length of time. We went to Ikea last night, and I quickly realized it's not a good store for pregnant women! Well, unless you don't mind resting on every couch in every room. Lol. But Dan wanted to get in, get what we needed, and get out, and it was already going to be a late night for Marissa, so we pressed on. It was fun, but I'm definitely not doing that again for a while!

This morning I decided that since our busy week was done, we would give potty training another shot. So we got up and she put princess undies on. Shortly after breakfast, she had an accident in the kitchen (yay for on vinyl floors), so I cleaned it and her up (very calmly, I might add - I tried SO hard to be patient and relaxed about it). She was dry for another hour, then had a complete meltdown over something totally unrelated and trivial, then started begging for a diaper on. Then when I picked her up, I realized she was burning up. After several (failed) attempts at taking her temperature [Butt: screams, 104, can't be right; Mouth: wouldn't even let me put it in the right spot; Under arm: 101 but had to stop because she was freaking out *Guess I need to invest in one of those expensive ear or forehead ones, huh?] I gave up and just cuddled with her all morning. She actually took a nap on my lap, which convinced me she was NOT feeling herself. So we'll try potty training another day. Lol. I'm starting to think it's never going to happen, and I really wanted to get a good start on it before baby-time. UGH!

Well, that's all for now. She's still sleeping, so I'm off to rest myself. Sitting in the same position for a long time is excruciatingly painful for some reason, but when she was cuddling, then napping, on me, I just couldn't make myself move. At least she's hardly ever sick. The last time was probably last January, and before that, only once or twice, which is also why I've never thought I needed a fancy thermometer!

35 weeks?!

Holy cow. How am I possibly 35 weeks pregnant already? The first few months dragged soooo slowly, but the last few have just flown by! I am ready though. Really ready to be done. I haven't been sleeping well for over a month, and it's only getting worse. I have horrible heartburn at nights, plus I just toss and turn (which is no easy task these days!) and wake up in the middle of the night for no reason! I've been having muscle pain everywhere these days, and even cute little kicks are starting to hurt! I had a doctor's appointment today, and I have another ultrasound on Thursday. Things are looking good! I start going every week now, and they said I would be getting the Group B Strep test at my next appointment. I'm really hoping it's negative, because I want to avoid an IV if at all possible, since I want to be in the tub, and that would just be annoying.

We moved a dresser into the guest/baby room, so now all I have to do is get tiny clothes out of the bins and put them in the drawers! And now that I'm home during the days, I can get that done soon! Yesterday was our first day home, and it was wonderful! We had to pick up the living room toys, and vacuum, and I had to clean our master bathroom/shower, and I completely and totally kicked my own butt. It was ridiculous. So I ended up on the couch for a while afterwards. But Marissa was wonderful, we read tons of books, she helped pick up the toys, and it was still a really fun day. Turns out stickers can entertain her for ever! On that note...

• Rissa has this story that must be told, minimum, once a day. Usually, 3-5 times a day. Here is how it goes:
  "Mommy, remember when I ran on the sidewalk in my brown flower shoes, and I fell, and got two boo-boos, and Ra-ra and Mommy put two band-bands on my knees?" (band-band = bandaid)
  And it has evolved since our recent visits with relatives and their boo-boos...
  "So Aunt Kathy's problem is she has a tiny boo-boo on her finger, so she needs a tiny band-band. And Granny's problem is she has a boo-boo on her finger, and she needs a band-band."
  ("______'s problem" is from the PBS show Super Why, not something we usually say)
  

• Every day, on our way to work, we used to pass a big building with big pillars across the front. After we visited DC with Dan's parents, every time we drove by that building here at home Marissa said excitedly "Mommy, we just go there with Granny and Pop-pop!" because it looks like the Lincoln Memorial!
  

• On our way home from work, sometimes Marissa would start to doze off in the car. I'd try to keep her awake by saying "Wait, Marissa, it's not naptime yet! Don't fall asleep!" and she'd reply through half-closed eyes "I'm not sleeping, Mommy, I'm just watching the cars driving!"
• Sunday, on our way home from church, Marissa told us the best story ever. We didn't even have to ask her how her class was, she just volunteered the following:
  "Mommy, today in my class, Cooper gave me a hug, and I hurt my 'fumb' (thumb) and I got a boo-boo, and my teacher cleaned it, and got a paper towel and the paper towel made my fumb feel better, and my teacher gave me a hug, and Cooper said he was sorry and he gave me a hug."
  I just couldn't believe she told us that entire account without any prodding from us about more details. When did my baby get so good at expressing herself? I love hearing about her class at church (or if we have a babysitter) since it's the only time I'm away from her, but I still get to find out everything that happens! (Like when she woke up the morning after an evening with a babysitter, and her diaper was on backwards? I was making fun of the babysitter in my head, because, seriously, DUH, but Marissa told us that she got to put her diaper on all by herself. Lol.)
  

Well, my alone time is quickly going away, so I'm gonna go rest before Marissa wakes up from her nap!

DONE

I'm done working! No more working at all (I mean, no more working and getting paid for it - lol)!!!
WOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!