Still Here-Day 7

Well yesterday went from being a pretty bad day to a pretty good day. It started off with ridiculous phone tag with my provider. I was told I needed a non stress test before my appointment, but no one ever wrote an order up for one. I told this to the receptionist and after talking to three people I was told to just call the hospital and tell them I needed one. That sounded wierd, but I called. Not surprisingly they told me I can't just call and ask for one, that my provider needs to do that. So I call the provider back, get new person number 4 who transfers me back to person number 3 who says that they'll call me back. They called back and said don't worry about it, just come to the appointment.
I also called the hospital to see when the tour of the child birth center was yesterday and they said from 7-8 in the evening. Marisa was planning on coming up, so that was perfect because then Shane could come check it out with me! Hooray! The only bummer was that I had to miss Enrichment.
At 1230 we got a knock on the door...RahRah! Ris had surprised us and come up early. Oliver was beside himself. We pretty much just lounged most of the day and then went grocery shopping. We took a little long doing that so I had to rush Ris and Oliver home and then zip over to my appointment...and I was only 5 minutes late!
So in the appointment my provider checked me and said I hadn't really progressed since the last time I saw her (2 weeks ago), so that was a bummer. Still 2cm and 50%.
Then came the real kicker. She set up my NST and ultrasound appointments for Wednesday and then told me they would schedule the induction for Monday. Now you all know I've been thinking that I would be induced on Thursday. It's not just that I'm impatient. Marisa leaves on her mission on Monday!! She would leave and I would be pregnant, she would return and I would have an 18 month old! I told my provider this whole sob story, and she explained to me that they won't do it on a weekend or Friday and that Thursday was too soon, that they like to be closer to 42 weeks than that. So while she went to order the induction I sat in the room holding back tears, trying to think of ways to break it to Marisa that she was not, indeed, going to be meeting her niece for another 18 months.
This is where the tides turned. She came back with the nurse and said, "Great news! I just asked the nurse if they do inductions on Fridays and she said they do! So we scheduled your induction for Friday!" Sweet miracle of miracles! I couldn't believe it! I was beside myself and thanked them both about a million times. So most likely Lily will be born on 9/11 which I don't mind because it is the mirror of Oliver's birthday (11/9) so it is easier to remember! The only "if" is that I have to call 6 o'clock Friday morning to make sure they're not too swamped. If they get inundated by labors the night before, they won't take me! So lots of prayers for a slow week in the maternity ward, okay?
So I got home, we had dinner, and Shane and I were out the door to go for our Birth Center Tour. Which the tour guide forgot about so we sat there for 20 minutes before Shane informed them that there were 3 couples waiting for a tour. A nurse quickly threw together one, but she was great. She answered all of our questions, and good lordy! that ward is MUCH bigger Laconia. The nurse said that last week they were swamped with births (the week I was due) and that for this month they had already had 30 births! So I'm hoping we missed the wave and that it will be quiet when we go in. When I had Oliver it was only me and one other woman. In the entire birth center last night, I think there were two women in there, so that is hopeful.
Allright, I have to go make my sweetums lunch!

Still Here-Day 6

Shane was so sure I was going to go into labor last night...sorry, love!
Yesterday we headed over to the Hopkinton Fair with Marisa. It was a good time, but we all agreed that we like the Sandwich Fair better. It seems better organized...it could just be that we know the layout of Sandwich Fair better. Oliver got to pet a sheep and a llama and saw all sorts of farm animals. He loved it! He got pretty tuckered out and fell asleep about an hour after we got there and stayed asleep until we left!! We were surprised at how much cheaper the food was at this fair compared to Sandwich. We got fries for $2 and we saw italian sausages for $3! We ended up getting buffalo sausage (our fave) and Marisa got a buffalo hot dog. We also sampled some maple cotton candy and maple bbq sauce. Both were delish! We also saw a 1,000 lb pumpkin! My goodness they had some huge pumpkins! What was crazy is that the 1,000 lb pumpkin was only 57 days old from flowering! Can you imagine waking up each morning and seeing how much the pumpkin grew over night!? On the way out Marisa bought three flavors of fudge (choco walnut, choco pb, and heath bar).
That afternoon Mom and I worked on Marisa's birthday presents. We made several lists of "21", including "21 Family Memories", "21 Movie Quotes", "21 missionary scriptures",and "21 recipes". Mom also made her a 21 themed gift of things to take on her mission...21 hair clips, 21 post it notes, 21 hair elastics, 21 bottles of shampoo (Dad always saves the hotel bottles), etc, etc. It was really cute. We enjoyed chicken curry and chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and mint ice cream. I hope Marisa had a good birthday, because I really enjoyed it!

Giant bull

"A llama!? He was supposed to be dead!"

Aww, sheepsy!

This was on the buffalo sausage stand! Hilarious!
Marisa apprehensively enjoying her buffalo hot dogLily enjoying some buffalo sausage
Ginormo pumpkins
Happy Birthday RahRah! (check out the candles)

Still Here-Day 5

Yesterday was the PERFECT fall day. I wish every single day was like that. Crisp, cool air. Plenty of sun. Blue skies. I made a slow cooker meal so that I didn't have to worry about preparing dinner so I could focus on taking a nap! Lately I haven't been able to make it through the day without a nap. It makes me wonder what it's going to be like when Lily gets here because I'm going to be getting a lot less sleep!
In church yesterday we were talking about what our passions are. I couldn't think of one. I asked Shane later and he said "reading blogs." That needs to change. I'm hoping to clear a spot in the apartment and adopt my mom's sewing machine. I would really like to be able to do some basic sewing.
Today is Marisa's birthday. I was kind of hoping to have Lily today so she could share a birthday with her Auntie, but it's not looking good. Sorry RahRah!
We are celebrating by going to the Hopkinton State Fair. Marisa is missing the Sandwich Fair (an annual tradition for any Lakes Region student/alum) and she wanted to be able to feel the Fair atmosphere so we are taking her to this one. Apparently its a really big one, so it should be lots of fun! Shane and I are going to try to NOT stuff ourselves silly because we are also going to the Rochester Fair and Sandwich Fair this year, but I can make no promises.

Still Here-Day 4

Yesterday I started the morning by leaving Oliver with Shane and did a little yard sale-ing! I hit up about a dozen yard sales and the only thing I walked away with was a little toy Volkswagen for Oliver ($.25) I saw lots of good stuff, just nothing that we need. And of course there was mounds and mounds of junk that you want to ask them "Did you REALLY think anyone would buy this??"
When I got home Shane made up a DELICIOUS breakfast. A belgian waffle covered with Maple Spread from Canada, topped with two hashbrowns, covered with 4 sausage patties, smothered with two eggs, and finished off with pepper jack cheese. Oh my goodness gracious, it was so good. The sweetness of the waffle and maple blended so well with the saltiness of the sausage and hashbrowns. We both woke up this morning craving another one. Now my challenge to you all is to come up with a name for this monstrous creation...I have a feeling it is going to be in our home many many times!
After breakfast Oliver and I took naps. By the time we woke up it was 3pm. We drove over to Portsmouth to walk around and let Oliver run and play in the park. There is a statue of a fish there that he loves to "feed" grass to. It is HILARIOUS. He was also being a flirty mcgourtey to all the ladies in the park. One lucky lady got several fistfuls of grass:) I was feeling pretty rotten the whole time as Lily continues to run out of room and decides to sacrifice my internal organs to make herself more comfortable. After a fresh squeezed lemonade, though, I felt better.
I made pasta with alfredo sauce for dinner. I always forget how delicious (and easy!) it is until I make it! Yum! From that point on until I went to bed (around 10) Lily did NOT STOP MOVING. It wasn't frantic movement or anything, it was just moving back and forth, up and down. It made me wonder if I might go into labor later in the night because she was running out of room or something. No such luck!
Tuesday I have an appointment and I guess we will schedule the induction then. From what I can gather, that will be Thursday the 10th. I will continue the daily updates, but count on that being "the day".

Still Here-Day 3

Last night we spent the evening walking around Portsmouth. It was so nice. I'm trying to change my perspective, and just focus on these last precious moments where I can have Oliver all to myself and not have to divide my time and attention with another baby. He has really been behaving so well lately. He is more patient in stores, more pleasant in front of people, sillier when we're playing. He is just a dream come true for any parent. Shane and I often discuss how Lily can compete with such a wonderful little boy. He has been so easy to parent (aside from sleep issues), we've really been spoiled with him. I'm sure Lily will find a way to steal our hearts though:)
This morning I'm going to do a little yard sale-ing before coming home to do a little cleaning. Then its Saturday Morning Breakfast! This is a tradition that Shane started up about a month ago. He spoils Oliver and I and makes a big breakfast for us to enjoy. This morning is waffles, sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns...I can't wait!
Marisa and I are a little obsessed with this group called Metronomy right now. We can't get enough of their song, "Radio Ladio." Its a pretty good song, but a HILARIOUS music video. So here it is for your enjoyment...

Still Here-Day 2

So at Chilli's last night I ordered a side of hot sauce. I dipped my fries in it, smothered my corn in it, then DRANK the rest of it. It did not work. Luckily I didn't have any ill side effects either. This baby just doesn't want to come out. I'm doing some shopping this morning, then headed up to my parents for the rest of the day; we'll see if they can persuade Lily to make an entrance!

Still Here

I have a request to update every day that I am NOT in labor. So here I am. NOT in labor. boooo. My tenant just became a squatter (which, incidentally, I've been doing a lot of to try and get her OUT!) Marisa and Mom are going to Connecticut to visit Grandma and Gabriel this weekend, so I will probably have the baby then. I need to keep my mind off of it, but that is much MUCH easier said than done. All of a sudden, movements the baby has always made seem different. WHAT IF IT WAS A CONTRACTION? IS THE BABY GETTING UNCOMFORTABLE? SHE'S NOT MOVING AS MUCH, MAYBE SHE KNOWS LABOR WILL START SOON! All this and about 300 other hypotheses go through my mind everytime Lily moves...or if she doesn't move! I'm driving myself crazy! Oh well, one day at a time...I have to savor the time I have with Oliver.

In other news, yesterday I had a mini nesting session. I made chocolate cheesecake, pear pie, and baked enchiladas. They were all delish. I may make another pear pie later this week! We took the desserts over to the Cameron's and watched Wipeout. That show gets funnier the more people you have, there were 7 of us, so it was more hilarious than usual! Even though Oliver didn't want to sleep through it (which is what we were hoping for) he still behaved really really well.

I'm super excited about tonight. Marisa's coming down. We're going out to Chili's. We're splitting dinner so we have room for dessert. And then...PROJECT RUNWAY! Oliver has been chatting about "RahRah" since yesterday, so I'd say he's definitely excited:)