The date is set.....

If something dramatic (labor!) doesn't happen within the next few days, then Maeve Elizabeth will be born on Tuesday, May 3rd around 1:00. We have to arrive at the hospital at 10:30 and the c-section is scheduled for 12:30. I'm so freakin excited. I just want it to all be over with. The anticipation is killing me! Last time a c-section was such a punch in the gut for me. I never thought that I'd have one although Kyra was huge! I was in denial. Not this time! Put me on the schedule and "get r' done"!

We had to wait till Tuesday because Monday's spots were already taken. Oh well, it's just another day to rest and wait!

She'll be here soon! I promise!

Kid funnies.....

-Kyra can count to 30! Well, sort of. We were counting the number of cars that were on the train the other day. I heard her say, "twenty-eight, twenty-nine, twenty-ten, twenty-eleven...." LOL! Cute, huh?

-Kyra knows that my name is Kim and daddy's name is Richard. She even knows that La La's name is Lisa and Grandma's name is Debbie. However, she DOES NOT believe that Papoo's name is Charles. She totally disagrees when you tell her and she gets MAD! Silly girl!

-The other day, Kyra found the huge bin that was in the backyard that holds her outside toys. She was hot, so she dumped the toys out, filled it with water, stripped down, and jumped right in! LOL!

-She's freaked out by birds. We went to Hill's the other night and ate outside. There were birds flying around and on the tables and she flipped out. We thought it was funny though. ;)

-There weren't a lot of people sitting around us in church tonight, so when it came time to shake hands, Kyra walked out of the pew and shook hands with various people in other pews. That's my girl!

-Kyra came home the other day and said, "Daddy, we have a new pope!" He obviously hadn't watched the news yet and couldn't understand her because he thought that she wanted a new Coke! LOL!

Things I don't understand right now.....

-I don't understand how on earth Scott and Anthony are still on "American Idol". They suck.

-I don't understand why my daughter keeps repeatedly putting her shoes on the wrong feet. Seems like she would have learned by now. I keep telling her that Dora likes to look to the "outside", but she puts her on the "inside". *sigh*

-I don't understand why my husband had both his phone and his pager on "silent" today. Um, your wife is 39 weeks pregnant for goodness sakes! Grrrrr!

-I don't understand why they are putting a light by the HEB on Loop 4 here in Buda. Could that area be any more congested? A light there is going to back things up even more!

-I don't understand how I've lost 3 lbs. within these last two months of pregnancy.

-I don't understand why the lady across the street spends more time at home than with her husband at the hospital. He had heart surgery the other week and still isn't home. The other day I saw her outside on her porch swing eating McDonald's. :(

-I don't understand why Mia keeps following me around the house all day.....just isn't like her.

-I don't understand why I had so much cramping last week and am only dilated to 1 cm. with no thinning of my cervix. I thought something was going to happen soon. That was over a week ago. *sigh*

-I don't understand Michael Jackson. Period.

-Lastly, I don't understand why my husband planted a garden in the backyard and planted tomatoes, pickles, and okra. He doesn't eat any of that!

Pregnancy dreams....

Ahhh....the dreams of pregnancy. They are so nice. Yet, they are so unrealistic. LOL! I hate that I'm dreaming like this so close to the end. I want it to last forever! When I was pregnant with Kyra, I dreamt great all the way through. This time, it's been different. Those crazy dreams only happen once in a blue moon. Last night, I had a really LONG kiss with someone very special. I never kissed this person in real life, so I guess it was destined to happen in a dream. And that's fine. It was very nice and very genuine....almost as if it were happening for real.

Then I have the major "off the wall" dreams. Last week, I dreamt that I gave birth to a bug! LOL! Don't see that happening anytime soon!

I can't wait to see what my next dream holds!

Stop the emotional rollercoaster.....I wanna get off!

It's getting closer to D-day and I'm getting VERY anxious. I just want everything to go smoothly and for my little girl to arrive safe and sound. I have no idea when it's going to happen, but I'm ready.

Maeve weighs about 7 lbs., 2 oz. as indicated by ultrasound last Monday. Now, Kyra had an ultrasound at 37 weeks as well and measured 8 lbs., 13 oz. What a difference! Kyra was born at 40 weeks and weighed 9 lbs., so it's usually safe to say that ultrasounds measure the babies to be a little bigger than they really are. But, sometimes they measure smaller too. It varies. I can't believe that Maeve is so much smaller than Kyra. I'm almost excited though. Kyra grew out of all of her clothes very quickly. I think she wore virtually NO 0-3 month stuff!

Since Maeve is smaller, my doctor has agreed to let me go till 41 weeks. If I don't go into labor on my own before then, then we'll do a c-section. I'm VERY happy about that. I am 38 weeks today, so I have some time to work with in order to get this show on the road on my own. I'm dilated to just 1 centimeter right now. I hope that'll change from week to week! Pray that my cervix thins out as well.

Amidst all of the excitement, I also had a few lows this week. I'm not going to go into them directly. There are a few of you that know what happened. I pray that God watches over us and I pray for the happiness of my family right now. I think it's important to be at a good place at this very special time in our lives. I'm not proud of the events that took place this week, but I feel like they are yet another lesson learned. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

We are all very anxious right now. I think that Richard and Kyra are more excited than I am. They are ready.

Richard started walking Mia on a leash this week. Kyra goes with him. He said that Mia does really good! She's getting sort of stocky and when Maeve starts eating table food, Mia will be her best friend. She'll be down below waiting for the "leftovers". So, we figured that we'd start walking her. I might try it in the morning. I hope my allergies aren't acting up too bad. That's why I've strayed from staying outside too long.

Speaking of dogs, we DO want another one some day. I figure that we'd wait till Maeve is at least 2 and knows that she shouldn't hurt a puppy. My goal is to get a dog for my dad first. He's *this close* to getting one. He's worried about what he'll do with him/her when he goes somewhere, but he can take the dog along. He can get a little crate and the dog will just go where he goes. Can't you picture it? If all else fails, he'll have PLENTY of dogsitters in Victoria too. I can think of a few people that would step up to the plate and help.

That's all for now. Hope you're enjoying this lovely weekend!

The bun is done......

That's right. As of Saturday, April 9th, I'm 37 weeks. I don't know if many of you know it or not, but after 37 weeks, a baby is no longer considered a preemie and hardly any babies born after this time have major health problems. So let the wait officially begin! My due date is April 30th and I'm hoping to go into labor on my own before then. Here's the thing. Since I had a c-section with Kyra, I cannot be induced. An induction would mean labor being brought on fast and hard and they don't want to risk uterine rupture. By going into labor naturally on my own, the risk is lowered because it's your body making pitocin and not the actual drip itself. So, two things could happen. I could go into labor on my own or end up with a c-section. I'm hoping to deliver before my due date because after that, the baby will be bigger and there will be more talk of a c-section. Last time, I endured 22 hours of labor before resorting to a c-section, so we'll see what happens this time. Kyra was born with a HUGE head that my body didn't want to deliver. When I got a glimpse of her for the first time, her head was cone-shaped. I knew that she had gotten stuck in there and my pelvis wasn't big enough for her to come down. So, she was probably destined to be a c-section baby. Then again, she grew like a weed because I ate everything under the sun and gained 40+ pounds. I'm MUCH smaller this time and have only gained 26 pounds. So, a 7-8 pound baby would be nice. I go in for an ultrasound on Monday to find out just how big Maeve is. Of course the rate of error on an ultrasound is something like 15%, so she might not be as big as they think she is. We shall see.

Until then, just say a prayer that the baby comes out healthy and happy. That's about all I'm worried about right now.

There's no quick fix.....

Seems like all I hear or see these days are commercials on products that provide a quick fix to any ache or pain. Today I heard one on the radio about curing back pain. Now I empathize with people that have back pain. Shoot, I have it now. But I'm pregnant, so I almost expect it. I know once the baby is born, it'll be gone. Right now, I exercise in order for my back to feel better. And you know what? It works! If half of these people would quit going after every pill or potion out there, then we'd save a lot of money. There IS help for these people. It's called DIET and EXERCISE. I had chronic back pain till I started exercising. I couldn't even kneel in church because it hurt my back so badly. Shortly after starting to work out, I noticed a heck of a difference. It felt so much better.

Exercise also helps things like high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and numerous other health hazards. I just wish that more money was spent by people joining gyms, buying bikes, buying treadmills, etc. These are the things that will save your life! No pill in the world will be good forever. I just want more people to get active. Sitting around and eating whatever you want and taking a pill or getting surgery for whatever is wrong ain't gonna cut it. I'm really proud of my dad. Since retiring, he walks a mile a day and has really started eating healthier. He cut a lot of red meat out and has even started reading food labels! It's NEVER too late to make a difference. Your body will thank you for it.

I don't have a problem with those that decide to medicate AFTER dieting and exercise don't work. But, they should really try to do more natural things first. Yeah, there are things that I'd like to change about my body, but I want to see where dieting and exercise will take me first. I could very well get to my goal and be very happy with myself. I really hope that's the case.

Hooked on a feeling.....

Richard's friends at work got him hooked on a show on Spike TV called "MXC". The ball kept rolling and now I like the show. It's a dumb show....purely for entertainment purposes only for sure. There's no story or "plot". It's more of a reality show. Well, it's NOTHING but a reality show.

It's set in Japan (can you tell where I'm going with this?) and there are two teams competing against each other. Tonight, it was the "Outdoorsmen vs. Educators"...meaning that people that "fit" into those categories compete against each other in numerous obstacle courses. The trick is that they make these courses so difficult that there's no way you or I could do them. So, watching these Japanese people struggle and wipe out is of course the "entertainment value" of the whole show. Some of these people fall so hard that I would think that an ambulance would have to be on standby to take them to the hospital if need be. Ouch! Oh, and another thing. They put English words to the audio to make it sound as if these people are speaking our language, but clearly they aren't. I guess that's supposed to be funny too. At the end, they go over the top 10 eliminations. This showcases the hardest hit people throughout the show. Again, ouch.

Here's a link if you want to know what I'm talking about.
http://www.spiketv.com/shows/series/index.jhtml?seriesID=10774&refID=mxc
I so could see this show branching out farther than Japan. They need to try stunts like that in Mexico or perhaps in the US. I can't imagine what it would be like if they'd make drunk a$$ people do obstacle courses like that. Like I said....it's all for purposes of pure entertainment. :)