Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Happy St. Valentine's Day/ St. Cyril and Methodius' Feast Day (especially to you, my dear brother, on your feast day!)/ Thursday.  I hope there's lots of love and happiness in your day!

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.

Friendship

My dear friend came to visit for a few days.  It had been nearly two years since we last saw her (army, babies, cost of travel... these things make it hard!), so I was beyond thrilled that she was willing to just hang out with a very pregnant me for a few days.  

As she helped me pack my hospital bag (I get to actually *decide* what things I'm bringing to the hospital!), played with Anni as I passed out in pregnancy-induced exhaustion and made us delicious Venezualan arepas (oh. my.), I mentally thumbed through all of the milestones we had seen each other through.

We met second semester freshman year when she transferred to the college I was attending.  Okay, we actually met first semester when she visited, but we met *again* second semester and became friends (see us below... the baby faces in the front row after a dinner of pasta and lots of laughing with friends in our dorm kitchen). 

A couple of short years later, we were at different schools and she had her sweet, sweet baby girl.  I was utterly blessed to be at the hospital only moments after the birth and get to see the very first time she held her daughter and then snuggle her just a little myself.  For so many reasons, those moments are written on my heart.  I was able to see beautiful strength that day in my friend, and she has only continued to amaze me with that strength in the years since.

A few short months later, I was able to watch her graduate from basic training.  Let's be honest, there were few people I'd drive 10 hours in less than 24 hours for... I was so glad to be there, and so proud of her determination.

She then surprised me by coming to my college graduation less than six months after that (apparently we were lacking in the photo department on pictures together that day) and, four months after that, standing by my side as one of my beautiful bridesmaids as I made my vows to Daniel.



The next summer, she made the trip out to Colorado to hold my sweet little Nugget and take me out for pedicures and ice cream before she shipped out for her tour in the middle east.  I don't know that she will ever know how wonderful that pampering and time with a friend felt after the time in the hospital, oxygen tubes and brand new parental fear... especially when I should have been pampering her as she headed out for a year long tour. 

I'm so grateful that somehow our friendship has survived an insane amount of life changes over the past seven years. 

This time, she made the trip out again and made my little girl giggle like crazy.

 

 There was good food (seriously, she has added a whole new food to our worlds... soooooo good),

early morning sneaking around as Anni whispered, "shhhh... Tara's sleeping," all while yelling half of her words.  Hopefully the waffles made up for the lack of sleep.

Anni was pretty sure she didn't want Tara to leave, and is still proclaiming that she did not get on an airplane and go back to her home. 

I have a few drawings already waiting to be mailed out, and requests for us to see Tara again.

We allllmost didn't even manage a picture together, as I forgot my camera as we rushed out the door to Mass before we dropped her off at the airport.  Thanks to her handy dandy iPhone, there's proof that we saw each other... and no one will doubt that Lil' Bit was there, too!

Friendships are good... in fact, I recommend them.