Why there's no Week 2-6...

I was all gung-ho about doing another Project 365, and then a whole lot of reality, nausea, exhaustion, and excitement that couldn't be translated into creative energy hit, and here we are.

Baby girl on the way: Care Package!

I have a dear friend who is bringing a beautiful baby girl into the world in a few months. Putting together a sweet little package for her was so happy! A few things are hand-me-downs (which she knew were coming), but lots of love was put into it.

From top left, spiraling in clockwise:

1. A few fun little maternity clothes.
2. Pride and Prejudice notecards
3. A sweet little notebook for whatever she may need.
4. A darling little outfit for her new baby girl
5. Cherubalm! This not only smells amazing (chrism-scented!), but works beautifully for diaper rashes and eczema.
6. A Little Unicorn swaddle. I love these for so many things, the obvious swaddling, a nursing cover (I don't otherwise use nursing covers, so I like having a lightweight blanket if my shirt is not as nursing friendly as I originally thought!)
7. The Breastfeeding Book. Some of you may recall that I pumped for the first year of my eldest's life. I am grateful I was able to do that for my preemie, but I hated it so much, so I was really, really hopeful that breastfeeding would work with my second babe. This book brought me so much peace! It is incredibly practical, with diagrams, explanations of most common issues, etc.
8. A super simple, soft pilot cap. I just love how sweet these look on little babes!
9. Babylegs. I like to keep a few of these around for baby gifts because they are so fun, and useful! I love them especially for the crawling stages (to protect those little knees) and potty training. They do make diaper changes super simple, as well!
10. A couple pairs of sweet shoes we had accumulated, but never gotten any use out of. I think one pair is pediped, but that's all I know on those.
11. "Count it All Joy" print. I love this so much, I'm ordering another for our gallery wall. My friend having the baby has always found so much joy in everything, it just called to me as being right for her.
12. A teddy... because every baby needs a cozy little teddy. I'm sure she will have plenty of sweet things to snuggle, but I felt like it completed the box.

Mlada's Story

This is Mlada's story... or rather just the beginnings of her story. Even in the almost one month since her birth, she's started to add pages and pages filled with smiles, giant poop explosions, love of having her hair washed, and a million sweet hugs and kisses from her big sisters. I'm getting ahead of myself though.

The beginning: this pregnancy was a tough one. For whatever reason, I was worn out from the beginning and desperate to see her. The *ahem* trips to empty my stomach ended around 26 weeks, but I never quite hit a sweet spot this pregnancy. She is worth every drop of exhaustion. Some days I felt as though that exhaustion could fill an ocean, and it is the same with our love for her.

After my little stay in the hospital just a few days shy of our "due date", Grandma came out to help me recover, and I was hopeful she would be here any day. Every morning I would wake up thinking it may be the day, and every night I would beg for one more night of sleep for my tired, pregnant body. As we inched closer and closer to 42 weeks, every conversation started with a version of, "Are you in labor yet?" I can't blame anyone who asked, because I was wondering the same thing! In those several days before labor began, I would have runs of contractions 10 minutes apart, and would watch the timer, hoping they would start to edge nearer.

As time went on, my body became more and more tired, but so did my mind. I was so anxious thinking about the pain of labor and pushing that I would lie awake at night rather than getting the sleep I desperately needed. Also, the closer I got to 42 weeks, the more I began to worry about dealing with an induction on top of all of that. While the anxiety never completely went away, one of my big sisters who has gone through four inductions talked me through my fears. I also sent a message to one of my dear friends who has had epidurals in her births just to ask her some more specifics about it. Allowing myself to think about those options helped a lot.

Three days before I hit 42 weeks, I was sure "this was it". I had had strong contractions (still 10 minutes apart) most of the day before and previous night, and asked Daniel to stay home from work, hoping we'd be headed in to the hospital at any time. I even cancelled my NST, again, assuming they'd check on the baby when I got to the hospital. Of course, things fizzled out by mid-afternoon, and I felt like we were still getting nowhere.

Finally, since I hadn't slept the night before, I took benadryl at about 7:30 that night, hoping that sleep would come. Two hours into my lovely benadryl-ed sleep, the contractions were so strong I woke up in a sweat, with a surge of adrenaline. Daniel had been working and watching the KU basketball game on his computer, so I tip-toed out and told him it was time to start timing the contractions.

Two episodes of Man in the High Castle later, the contractions were strong, but still 8-10 minutes apart, and we decided to try to get a little sleep. As soon as our heads hit the pillows; though, the contractions got more intense and much closer. It wasn't long before we were waking my mom and calling both my doctor and our (amazing!) friend to come sleep on the couch and listen for our girls. Sometime around three, we were on our way into the cold night towards the hospital.

I was a six when we reached the hospital (I am ridiculously thankful that I don't seem to have trouble dilating, since I've never been less than a five when I hit the hospital in labor), and while I was handling things pretty well, two nights of no sleep meant I was worn out. My amazing husband and mom talked me through the contractions. I would lean against Daniel and my mom would give me counter pressure to help ease some of the pain. Even with all the awesome support, the difference from my last birth and the amount of energy I had was stark (at least to me).

This is where I lose a bit of my crunchy mama card, and I'm okay with it.

I got an epidural. Gasps all around and such, I know. It's funny how confident I was in that decision this time when I was equally confident (and still am) in my decision to have no pain medicine with Colette. Our nurse (who happened to be Catholic, from Kansas where my family lives, and new, but very competent and extremely sweet) sent for the anesthesiologist when I was around an 8, so by the time he made it to the room (several strooonnng contractions later), my guess is that I was somewhere between an 8 and 9. I'm just going to admit it for you all to hear: I loved the epidural. I could feel and move my legs, as well as the contractions, but I could also regain a little joy. I had been so tired, and so fearful, that I had had so little time to contemplate the excitement of this sweet baby girl. It was truly a relief, and I'm doubly grateful that I had no ill side-effects.

I had been at the hospital for somewhere between four to five hours and had the epidural for a little over an hour when the "time to push" came. Three pushes later, I felt that awesome little "pop" of a little body sliding herself right out, and, immediately, she was on my chest. She was quiet and a wee purple and there was some fussing as they made sure she was breathing, but a few minutes and a couple of sweet newborn smiles as well as angry cries at the pokes and prods from the nurses later, she latched right on to eat, and all was well. I remember crying, "She's here, she's real!" I think the longer I was pregnant, the more I was sure I would never get to hold our baby girl. There she was; though, all eight pounds, one ounce of her (which, by the way, is huge by my babies' standards... I love it!) From there, everything was beautifully uneventful. She nurses like a champ, sleeps like a newborn, and my recovery has been the best thus far (though those afterpains are something else... they aren't lying when they say they get worse with each baby!)

And now, because this has been long enough, I'm just going to share a few photos and let the rest be. We are amazed and so grateful we were able to add this little lady to our family.

The Waiting Game

Almost two weeks ago now,  I was in the midst of a random illness. Fever, kidney pain and cough, but nothing showing up in any of my tests. In the doctor's office, both baby's and my heart rate were uncomfortably high (but totally normal blood pressure), so he sent me into the hospital for what he thought would be a quick few hours of fluids and monitoring. The girls tagged along for the first hour as we waited for reinforcements, and managed to only set off one alarm (two-year-olds and beds with lots of buttons just don't mix). Unfortunately, the couple of hours turned into an overnight stay as every single test (including a rather intense sepsis alert) came back negative, but our heart rates and my fever stayed elevated. It was finally, very hesitantly, decided that I had an early kidney infection, and was sent home with some rather strong antibiotics once our heart rates had settled down a bit.

Thank goodness whatever that was seems to have left my system, because now, now it's time for this little lady to make her appearance. We are 10 days overdue, with a 42 week eviction notice coming due this Thursday. While I am trying hard to give her the time she needs, we'll proceed with an induction on Thursday if she hasn't made her appearance by then. Every morning I wake up hoping "this will be the day!" and every night I silently request a few hours of sleep before things get rolling. It's a roller coaster of emotion as I know that there is a lot of work to be done once things get going, and it almost seems surreal that there will be every be another baby in my arms. I must have prayed for patience sometime in this past year, but I am oh, so grateful for this tiny little life and all that she already brings to our family.

Coming this Christmas Eve(ish)...

My wonderful little excuse for spending most of the spring and summer on the couch and not staying caught up on yard work, editing, blogging, cooking, or really... anything: little lady number three! We reach 20 weeks tomorrow, so halfway there(ish)! I keep hoping for that burst of energy I got in the second trimester with Colette. While I'm not spending nearly as much time, ahem, losing my breakfast/lunch/dinner, I'm starting to think that my second trimester with Colette was a myth created out of relief that that pregnancy was not nearly as hard as my first. Either way, this Christmas season is going to be a whole lot of crazy and a whole lot of fun.

Each baby has gotten their own in-utero nickname, here we have our sweet Poppyseed at just under 20 weeks!

Colette's Story

We welcomed our sweet Colette Therese last Sunday (February 24, it's taken me a little while to finish this post up).  It was beautiful, painful, intense, and a completely new experience, despite the fact that this was my second birth.  Miss Colette has been writing her very own unique story since she joined our family over nine months ago.

The day before her birthday, my mom decided to drive out as a second blizzard was supposed to roll into Kansas on top of the previous one that had dropped 14 inches on them.  Because I hadn't had any definite signs labor was imminent, I was worried that we would waste the time we had with my mom just waiting for labor to start (she has 8 other grandbabies to help take care of back home).  Apparently she and my Dad (who wanted her to leave asap), know what they're doing, because she made it with just enough time to get a little sleep before things got rolling.

Sometime around 4 am on Sunday morning, my water broke.  After having a slight freak out because I didn't realize what was going on (my water had to be broken with Anni when I was at 9.5 cm, so I never really experienced it before), we called my doctor and our wonderful doula and headed to the hospital.  The contractions were strong, but definitely not unbearable, and Daniel kept me laughing as we drove through the beginnings of a blizzard to meet our little one.

At the hospital, I was a 6 by the time the nurse checked me.  Our doula arrived soon after, and after getting my first dose of antibiotics (I am GBS+), I was set free to labor as I wished.  This was a dream come true.  My first labor had been (necessarily) tied down as they tried to slow labor to get my little preemie steroids for her lungs.  This time, we started out walking the halls, pausing when a contraction got a little strong, noting where the good coffee was, and chatting about just about everything.  We made it back for my doctor and mom to arrive through the blizzard.  I was at a 7, and the doctor suggested pitocin to speed things along, to which I replied that I'd rather give our girl time to make her way on her own (and luckily both my husband and doula encouraged me that I was moving along just fine and not to worry).  He agreed and said he'd check again in a couple of hours and we continued on our laboring way.  I tried just about every position we could think of for laboring: lying down when I had to (they did fetal monitoring every hour), standing and leaning on Daniel (my favorite by far), shower, bathtub, birthing ball... yep, just about everything.  I had music playing (Pandora's Enya station, because... why not?  Contractions during particularly intense instrumental portions kind of made everyone giggle... to the extent that you can giggle during contractions).  The beautiful thing for me is that up until the doctor's final check, labor flowed along at a really peaceful pace.  It was painful, but I felt in control in a way I was never able to feel in my first labor.  I was able to move, laugh and connect with what was going on with my body.

The next time the doctor checked me, I was still at a 7, despite the fact that things had definitely gotten more intense.  I was a little bit disappointed, but he mentioned that it looked like my water hadn't broken all the way, and if he took care of that, things would probably move along.  Oh, my, was he right!  Within 15 minutes, I moved from a 7 to a 10 and my body started pushing all on it's own. I am so glad my wonderful birthing team (husband, mom and doula) had been coaching me to breathe the entire labor as that was the only reason I remembered to breathe through those (slightly terrifying) last minutes as the contractions just rolled in, one after the other.  Miss Colette was born at 12:55 pm, with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.  Her oxygen had dropped during my last couple of pushes, and they had oxygen ready to put on me for her, but I was so determined to push that I got her out faster than they expected.  Luckily, the umbilical cord was taken care of quickly and I finally had my sweet girl on my tummy, safe and sound.  She started screaming as soon as she was out, but stopped as soon as they laid her on me, staring around with those big, wide-open eyes and throwing newborn grins to just about anyone who checked on her.  I was just so overjoyed that she was there and, honestly, that I was *done*.  While my doctor stitched me up, Daniel and I just soaked in the fact that we had made it.  I breathed and relaxed for the first time and looked at our girl and my husband.  Daniel noticed our doctor just couldn't stop grinning (it's obvious he absolutely loves the baby part of his job) and everyone placed bets on how big she was going to be when they weighed her (6 lbs 13 oz, in case you're curious, smaller than anyone but me expected, though I don't know why I thought she'd be in that range with her being 41 weeks).

A little while later, my in-laws brought Anni in to meet "her baby".  She was a little confused by the hospital itself and clung to her daddy, but knew her little sister immediately and hasn't stopped loving on her since.

It's amazing that this little girl's story is just beginning... I can't wait to see it unfold!

PS The first five photos were taken by my lovely doula... it's amazing to look through all of them from labor and delivery and "see" what was going on from the outside.  

    

Pregnancy Questionnaire

I decided I'd round out my due date week with one last silly little pregnancy questionnaire.  Really, I'm just too lazy to form enough thoughts of my own for a well put together blog post.

How far along: 40 weeks, 4 days

Total Weight Gain/Loss: It has ended up being around 30 pounds - a number I'm totally okay with :).  It's stayed pretty steady the last couple of weeks, though, and I'm just glad that my little gal has gotten relatively good nutrition this pregnancy (although my occasional obsession with pizza in the last trimester may beg to differ...)

Maternity clothes: Honestly, I only wear my maternity pants when I go out now, because the elastic bands tend to slip down now that my belly is, well, huge :).  I'm loving my comfy sweat/yoga/pj pants and my hubby's big t-shirts.  As you can see by the photo (which I'm a little embarrassed by, but also love at the same time), I don't even own a coat that fits me (maternity sweater, yes, which I wear whenever I won't be out too long).

Stretch marks: Oh, yes!  I had several already from my first pregnancy, but the last few weeks I've added some new ones... lots of itchiness, but I know they'll fade somewhat and be much less itchy once this little one comes along :).

Sleep: I've really hit the "it's really hard to sleep" stage in the last couple of weeks.  Between having to go to the bathroom often and needing to switch sides as each one starts to get sore after an hour or so (rolling over is a big production now), I'm definitely feeling a little sleep deprived.

Best moment last week: hmmm... I think just anticipating.  It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster as our doctor mentioned that he would like to induce when I reach 42 weeks (or before, but, despite my timidity with doctors, I was able to get across that I would really like to give her as much of a chance as possible to come all on her own).  We also thought we had found a house on my due date (the sellers apparently really wanted us to have it for a variety of reasons), but then lost it in the same day when another bidder offered far and above the asking price (to the excess that we definitely couldn't compete).  I have loved Anni loving on her baby sister.  Today, I was putting some things away in her room while she worked on her breakfast and she called out, "Mommy!  Can I say 'I love you, big sister?"  (She mixes up who is the "big" sister and who is the "little" sister.)  I came out and she gave big kisses and hugs to my belly... I just love it!

Movement: Oh, so much!  This little girl is a squirmer.  I can tell she's a little restricted on space, but she makes the most of it.

Food cravings: Fresh fruit and pizza-like things :). 

Gender: Sweet, sweet, baby girl!

Labor signs: Lots and lots of pre-labor, even a night of consistent contractions where we thought "this is it", but hasn't advanced enough to head to the hospital. 

Belly button - in or out? It's sooooo close to being out, we'll see if it makes it out before this little one does!

What I miss: Mobility, sleep, and my patience :).

What I am looking forward to: Holding this sweet girl and officially giving her a name!

Milestones: It's time!

I wasn't planning on joining Daniel and Anni in the snow yesterday... but then decided I better just do it while I could!  So, here I am in sweats and a winter coat that doesn't fit, coming in from the snow with my chilled little girls! 

Taking it as slow as I want to...

In my high school days, I was inducted into Quill and Scroll (it's an honor's society for high school journalists).  My Dad showed up unexpectedly, with a bouquet of yellow carnations and a big hug.  That little moment of recognition, of letting me know that he saw me and my accomplishments was a big one for me.  

On St. Valentine's Day, Daniel surprised us by making it home a little early and bringing a gorgeous bouquet of flowers for me and a single, beautiful, white rose and a tigger balloon for Anni.  Knowing that Anni is shown love and respect by the most important man in her life right now gives me hope that she'll look for that same level of love and respect in future relationships. 

 

We're entering the "almost three, I'm a big girl and cannot listen to anything you want/need/ask because that would mean I'm not doing it myself" phase.  It brings with it lots of mommy and daddy desperately looking at each other trying to figure out the game plan is.  However; it also brings amazingly detailed and vivid stories from this little girl's imagination, dance parties like you wouldn't believe and, a healthy dose of, "I yike you, mommy.  I yike Daddy, too.  Do you yike Daddy?"  (The answer is yes, in case you were wondering.)  It's all about hanging onto those moments through the screams of, "No, I DO IT," even if we were perfectly happy letting her do it.  At least, as a 9 month pregnant woman... I can understand irrationality a little, even if I'm not as capable of patience as I should be.

Speaking of being 9 months pregnant (Lil' Bit and I reach our estimated due date tomorrow), Anni and I have been striving for a balance of "Do something" and "Get enough rest so that if this pre-labor actually turns into the real thing one night I'm not completely exhausted."

Valentine's Day went something like this.  Me = very glad I had wandered through the Target dollar aisle a few weeks ago so I had some fun projects for us.  We rolled out some pie crust we had leftover in the freezer and used some frozen raspberries to make some quick heart tarts for breakfast.  I was hoping to use the strawberry vanilla jam my sister sent us from summer canning... but, it didn't want to give itself up (aka, I couldn't open it, I think I've required help the last few times... I've got to find a better way), which probably means it wanted me to use homemade crust, so it is getting saved for homemade mini poptarts for my hubby's weekly "mini poptart time" that he has with a team (not quite his team, but probably the closest he has since he's kind of his own department) at work.    

Then, we rolled onto stickers, window clings and playing with the decorations (again, thank goodness for Target this time). 

Then came afternoon.  No really, that was our morning.  Afternoon was mostly me lying half passed out on the bed, Anni reading books and watching the PBS kids app and then her both having a dance party and throwing fits (they somehow can happen one after the other...) while I made dough for our Valentine's calzones.  whew.  By the time Daniel walked through the door, I may have shed a few tears of exhaustion and happiness that he was there to help.  Have I mentioned that he's just great?

The next day, some of our favorite people came to visit.  I love that my friend made the plans and was perfectly okay that they were contingent upon labor, sickness and general feeling of our household... despite the fact that she has to drive half an hour to see us.  I'm so grateful that we have such sweet friends in our lives!

 Then came the weekend... glorious weekend.  It's funny that a quick house showing and visit to the park wore me out completely and constituted a "busy" Saturday, but I'm okay with it.  I'm allowing myself to take everything as slow as I want, even if every other 40 week pregnant woman is doing amazing things and feeling awesome.  I'm just going to do my best not to worry about what's coming and maybe, just maybe, get caught up on the laundry. 

 

  

PS Was there ever anything quite as wonderful as my hubby having a three day weekend?  Because I'm pretty sure it's the best thing ever right now.

Timing

Last Friday, Anni sneezed a couple of times.  Had a couple small coughs in the night.  With most kids, these things seem inconsequential.  But a mother knows, right?  Anytime she gets a cold, it starts this way, and the next night we're propping up her mattress, suctioning her nose and desperately trying all of our tricks to help her stop coughing long enough for all of us to get some sleep.

Oh, and changing my prayers to a, "Maybe tonight would *not* be the best time to go into labor..."

We had constant nose wiping, sad sick eyes and lack of sleep for a few days, but the last couple of nights have improved enough to where my hopes of heading into labor with this little munchkin have returned (three nights of braxton hicks has only encouraged that).

We still have a bit of the nose wiping and sick eyes, but we were able to make it out today for Ash Wednesday Mass up at my husband's office (major advantage to my husband being a missionary at a Catholic organization with a chapel).  Anni was extraordinarily talkative (which can be a little disconcerting in such a small space), but luckily everyone there is sweet and patient about her sweet noise.  Well... some of it was sweet.  The screaming "No, no, I don't want to!" every time we asked her to use her church voice/ whisper was less than sweet. 
  

However, it was lovely to get showered, dressed, and see hubby in the middle of the day.  In fact, here are my favorite reasons for going to daily Mass at the DSC:


1. Everyone is so patient with our noise, despite the fact that someone's noise seems to increase with the smaller size of the chapel.

2. We get to see Daddy... which makes our whole day a whole lot better.

3. We have a reason to get ready and dressed in the morning (but, thankfully not too early since Mass is at noon). When would I otherwise have an excuse during the week to get Anni all adorable in a cardigan and pearl necklace (she told me it was just like Baba's)?

4. I get to talk to adults in the middle of my day... sometimes even other moms who have their own littles there: it's a great break for Anni *and* I :).

5. We make it to daily Mass.

Tonight has been quiet.  Hubby and I discussed our Lenten plans, enjoyed the fact that there have been no coughing fits from the sweetheart in the room next to ours and fired up the contraction counting app for what is probably just another few hours of braxton hicks (though my back is aching just a little... so... maybe?)  

Whispered Hopes

This morning, Anni gave my belly hugs and kisses and then, poking at my belly button, whispered, "Lil' Bit, you can come out now."

It's good to know she has big sister's permission, I know she has ours.  I've gone back and forth between just wanting to be d o n e and having a little more patience (probably because I've just decided that she's probably not going to ever come).  I think I've hit a happy medium today (hormones knows what will come tomorrow).  While I would be thrilled to go into labor at any minute, I'm also welcoming the time I didn't think I would get to read "Interrupting Chicken" a few more times to Anni, fold a few more loads of laundry and lie in bed when I get worn out, hand on belly, to feel our sweet little one make her presence known.  I'm so grateful not only that this pregnancy has been so much smoother than my first, but that we were blessed at all with a second baby, that Miss Anni gets to be a big sister.  I can't wait to watch that relationship unfold.

So, yes, Lil' Bit, you can definitely come out anytime.  But it's okay to come in your time and not mine.  

Patience

This week, I reached a monumental milestone in my pregnancy: full term!  Since about the second I hit that milestone (and especially once my dearest gave me my very last progesterone shot of this pregnancy), I catch myself thinking, "Come on, baby... let's do this!"  The thing is, I know I'm not ready... I never got our closet cleaned out, our apartment vacillates between respectable and utterly, disturbingly cluttered (not dirty, mind you, unless you count that I can only seem to get one piece of furniture dusted a week) and, well, I haven't finished my birthing book or made it past the first chapter of my breastfeeding book.

But.  (Isn't there always a but?)  Seeing as how I was in no way prepared for Miss Anni's arrival, I feel almost over prepared having a bag packed for baby and I, having started (and even made it through a good portion of) any kind of birthing book, having a doula on call and having contingency plans for pretty much any time of the day or night for Anni's care and keeping while I labor.  Oh... and we did finally make a decision on *where* we're delivering.  Very exciting (and no more concerned and shocked looks when we tell people we haven't made a decision)! 

In the meantime, I'm trying take a deep breath and remind myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and these are the last few days (or weeks) where I get to focus on my eldest little girl all the time.  I shut down my facebook for a little while (I must have very little willpower, I am so easily sucked into spending far too much time on that silly website), got my work email cleared out, and am trying to take each day and its possibilities as they come.

We tried out a little open gym gymnastics class last week... and my little monkey adored it!  I managed to nearly miss the entire class (by misreading my note from a friend we were meeting there a good half dozen times) and didn't manage to get her cute little gymnastics outfit ordered in time to have it... but, she very easily reminded me in her excitement that absolutely none of those things mattered once we were there. 

 

I'm pretty sure we'll be back (and yes, in the cutest little leotard and gymnastics shorts ever).

I've been trying to remind myself to "just be" with her.  To sit down at breakfast when she's taking an hour to eat and chat with her, listen to her silly songs (she made one up today to the tune of "I've been working on the Railroad" about how mommy sat in the chair and on the bed while she read books and played... explains my new lack of mobility pretty accurately) and take in those hilarious expressions.  I only get this exact time with this ever-growing little girl once.  Just once.

I still hope that she'll oblige me with a nap every afternoon... I am 37 weeks pregnant and generally exhausted after all.  Naps only seem to happen about twice a week... but she is getting pretty happily acquainted with quiet reading time (the fact that she empties every single book off her shelf at this time is another story... an adorably frustrating one).

Last weekend, one of my dearest friends (and my first one when I moved to Colorado as a newlywed!), threw the sweetest little sprinkle for our Lil' Bit.  It was so nice to just celebrate our little girl's life... and our Nugget wasn't forgotten either... there were so many sweet notes and little gifts just for the big sister that I don't think she could help but feel absolutely loved. 

That's about it right now.  Just rolling along, trying to decide what kind of Super Bowl plans I can handle (my football lovin' husband is so patient!), and taking some deep breaths and a lot of naps.