More Rissa stories, and 40 weeks

• "Mommy, I ate all my cereal, and I didn't make a mess or anything!"
  

• "The lights didn't work at church, and it was dark, and I cried like this..." and then she imitated herself crying. This is by far her funniest thing lately. Her imitation of herself crying is quite accurate, and she scrunches her face all up as if she's actually crying.
  

• Lately, she's been coloring tons of pictures. Since we moved some toys down to the basement, she's gradually getting used to playing down here when I'm on the computer. Her crayons and coloring books are also down here. She'll color a picture, and bring it to me, grinning, after she finishes using each color. Then she'll go back and use a different color on the spots she missed. And she'll just keep going until she feels like she finished. I'm kinda surprised at how she actually aims to color just the picture on each page! Yesterday she was coloring a Veggie Tales coloring book, and she said "Look, Mommy, these look like green beans!"
  

• The other night, when Dan and I were getting ready for bed, we both went into her room to check on her (like we usually do), but she was sitting up in bed, obviously not quite fully awake. We kissed her, and told her to lay back down and go to sleep. She laid down, but then asked for more water (she MUST sleep with a full cup of water - probably not a good habit, but it's fine for now), so I went to fill her cup in the bathroom. When I brought it to her, she was already starting to fall back asleep, but she took it from me and said "Thank you." This was at 11pm at night, in the middle of her night of sleep! I just was so shocked that a 2 year old could remember to say thank you in the middle of the night - I love my girl!
  

• Marissa's teacher at church wasn't there on Sunday, because her husband is dying of cancer. I'm not sure if they told the kids she was sick, or if Marissa just assumed she was. But every time we pray before nap/bed, she's been praying: "Dear God, help my teacher friend Pauline to get better soon."

We didn't do anything special for Valentine's Day. I made a yummy dinner, and we rented a movie (The Women - not the greatest, but it was girly enough for the occasion - plus it was funny that it ended with a [very fake] birth - I was hoping to end the day that way too [with a real birth though]). We have always gone to Bravo (Italian) since we started dating. I think this year will be our 8th year in a row (if I'm doing the math right). Anyways, we are still planning on going to celebrate Valentine's Day, but we decided we would wait. To hire a babysitter for Marissa just adds too much $$ to the night. So as soon as I'm up to it after Arianna is born, we will get our date. And I'm sure there will be some grandparents (or an aunt!) that would love to watch Marissa for free! And Arianna will be easy enough to take with us (I hope - Marissa certainly was way back then).

Well, I'm officially due today. Crazy. I didn't really think I'd still be pregnant right now. I just keep telling myself I won't be pregnant forever! But I'm back to sleeping horribly, which is annoying. I wake up every 2+ hours, either dying of thirst, or about to pee my pants. I'm also sooooo hot at night, which is still soooo unlike me. Last night I ended up changing into shorts and a tank top! I even almost went downstairs to make sure the heat wasn't malfunctioning!

I had my 40-week appointment today. I'm starting to worry about getting to deliver in the tub/natural section of the birth center. They will only let me if it's before 42 weeks. But it makes me nervous to wait that long! And they don't do inductions in the birth center. I could easily say "induce me now" and go for a regular (even natural) delivery, just not in the birth center/tub. But I've been planning a water birth since I got pregnant and had my first miscarriage, way back in August 2007. I don't really want to just give it up! Anyways, I'm finally starting to "get ready" down there. The doc said 2-3 cm today, definitely a change since last week! So we'll see - maybe soon!

Guess that's all...I'll have Dan take a 40-week belly pic when he gets home from work. I think I'm going to make some cookies now!