All that's left is the waiting...

Waiting is SO hard!! I hate it. When I was dating Patrick, he went on a two-week mission trip and I thought those days would never pass. The hardest time of our engagement was the last three weeks before the wedding. There was nothing big left to do... but wait, and I literally thought the time would never pass. That's how I feel again. I'm just waiting for the baby to come.

I feel like the waiting is harder this time. I'm more excited about this birth than the others. Not that I wasn't excited or waiting for Daniel and Caleb... there are just a few things different this time. For instance, there is no anxiety with this baby's arrival. With Daniel, I was anxious about whether or not I was going to be a good mom. And there was so much going on around his birth -- the purchase of our first home, Jeff's illness, hurricanes galore! With Caleb the anxiety came about whether or not I could handle a second one. Now, with this one, I know that I'm a good mom (most days) and I'm pretty sure I can handle multiple children. So, there's just excitement about meeting the little guy.

I have decided that knowledge has made things harder to wait for. It's hard because I know that he is "in position." My midwife says his head is as low as it's going to go until he decides to be born. (hope he doesn't have a cone-head from being wedged down there so long) And I'm 3cm already! But I could walk around like that for a couple weeks. All it means is, three down, seven more to go! Maybe it's be better if we were like people in the Fore tribe of New Guinea who really don't have a due date, check head position or dialation and the baby comes when the baby comes. But they also have their babies in a dark hut with a dirt floor, and I don't think I'd like that too much.

And I've had a feeling this little guy is going to make his appearance early. I have absolutely nothing to base that on! Wishful thinking? So each day I wake up and go, "darn, there's still a kid inside me." Oh well, I guess I just have to trust that God's timing will be perfect in his birth. I know. I know. He'll come just as soon as I stop wishing for it! It's possible he won't be born until we have a name... still looking... any suggestions??

The good thing is that the waiting has motivated me to get everything done and everything is ready for the arrival! The diaper stacker is full on newborn diapers. The crib has clean sheets on it. All the burp cloths are sitting in a neat pile in a basket. The bag for the hospital is packed, complete with a toothbrush and clean underwear for Patrick. So... we wait!!

I pulled out a bunch of baby toys, which Daniel and Caleb have found to be quite entertaining.

I call this Consoling Corner. We're preparing for many hours of rocking and feeding. Those are special times!

So! I guess you're waiting with us and I hope that one of my next posts is pictures of our beautiful, baby boy. I had a 4D ultrasound of him on Friday and he has Caleb's nose - or I should say, a Rose nose that comes from my mom's side of the family. My brother, Brent has it. Caleb has it. And now it appears Walnut has it. Can't wait to squish it!