It's not the end of the world. It's the end of the world as you know it.

Okay, baby, enough with the false labor. Already this is becoming an exercise in patience and letting go.
Things Dave and I have done to get ready for BDB:

1. Went to Thailand
2. Went to New Orleans
3. Completed Advanced Open Water Certification (me--miserable. stung on face by jellyfish in frigid water)
4. Had back fence and inside of house painted
5. Weekend at Stephanie Inn (no one under 12 allowed)
   
6. Took a digital photography class (me again. what has Dave been doing?)
   
7. Lots of time on porch with girlfriends and restorative cocktails (okay, me again--before we were expecting baby, of course)
8. Poker night (Dave)
9. Finished the Man Cave (Dave--great job, Dave!)
10. Life insurance!
    
11. Trip to Hawaii (babymoon?)
12. Hired a kitty shrink (www.catbehaviorclinic.com)
13. Started more rigorous bike commute routine (Dave)
14. Convert junk room to nursery
15. Lots and lots of sleeping late
    

It's going to be a whole new world of fun once you're in it!

No big deal

Week 38 1/2: Maybe Big Dutch Baby isn't so big, after all. Well, Dr. Adams estimates maybe 8.5 lbs--that sounds healthy, not scary. So rather than for-sure plan to induce soon after my due date she wants to wait and see how it goes. I told Dave the baby can't come until after the house is clean, so he hired a cleaning service (maybe I will write a post waxing rhapsodic about my husband and how wonderful he's been...because those of us who know Dave know how he loves fawning and attention). So now the house is clean...time to go to Powell's, pick up a couple of good books, sit back, and remind myself that BDB will come when she damn well pleases.

The Elements of Style

So mom and Aunty Em have been asking for nursery photos, and I thought this would be the perfect reason to take our new snapshot camera for a spin! It's not nearly as gargantuan as the SLR. There is apparently an "edit html" thing on the blogger site that lets you put in captions to photos, but that's waaaaay too advanced for me. My favorite thing about the nursery (besides that right now it smells like Dreft) is that most of the stuff in here reminds me of all the grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, and friends who will be in BDB's life. The nursery is about done, but the next project, should I choose to accept it, its to hang up photos of said family, especially since a lot of them are far away.

Oh, by the way, the book I received for my birthday is called The Elements of Style. "Strunk and White" is just what we in the know call it.

Go Hogs

So in one of my many pregnancy/childbirth/newborn books (you can never have too many) I am advised to pack large T shirts to wear in the hospital. The problem is that, well, nothing fits anymore. All the big T shirts are too, too small. Enter mom and her wonderful care packages! Thanks to my mom Dave can be seen rocking Razorback wear all over Portland. Note to mom, though: DMB may be my Big Dutch Husband, but he's not a size XXXL, so I found this brand-spanking-new Hog shirt languishing in his dresser drawer.

This has saved me a trip to Target, and the hospital bag is now packed!

Baby, you may be a quarter Dutch, but you're half Arkansan. Wooo, pig sooiee!

In other news, today was my last pre-baby birthday! It's really good to be alive. I hauled in some good loot and some post-baby wardrobe funds, plus The Illustrated Strunk and White, but more than anything I was just reminded that I couldn't ask for better family and friends.

Plan to see nothing but improvements in my grammar/sentence structure from here on out. First question: can T-shirts really languish?

Cankles

CRB: D, look at my feet. They're huge. I can't fit into my cute black boots anymore.
DMB: Cry me a river. My feet were twice that big.

So much for sympathy from the guy who's had two broken feet.