40 weeks

Well, today is my due date! And it looks as though it has come and gone. As I'm heading to bed, I figure that even if I go into labor, she wouldn't be born until the 28th.
Overall, I'm actually feeling pretty good today. All things considered, I haven't been too sore or uncomfortable, and I've been in a pretty good mood. It's been kind of up and down the past few weeks with regards to how I'm feeling. I've had sore hips, achy back, swollen feet. Sometimes I have a really hard time finding a comfortable position. It turns out that I really like sitting in our banana chairs. Who knew?
This has definately been the most uncomfortable part of pregnancy for me. Up to now I've had it pretty easy.
People have been asking me for a while, "Are you ready?" I can now say that yes, I am ready to have this baby. I am ready to welcome her into the world. In addition to wanting certain discomforts to end, I'm also feeling more prepared for her arrival. The nursury is ready to go (well, all the needful things - I still don't have any curtains or things on the wall, but that wasn't high on my priority list), and the carseat is installed in the car. I'm feeling more prepared mentally. I've been taking time to read about newborns and infants in the collection of books I've bought while I'm pregant. I know that I'll learn best from experience, but it feels good to go into parenthood with some background knowledge. With all of this time and preparation, I'm also now feeling more ready emotionally.
So stay tuned. Look for a blog post in the near future (we hope)!

Touch-itis

I have contracted an unusual disorder. Its primary target is the left hand. The joints of the left hand become stiff, it hurts to open your hands all the way. You can't grasp things easily. Then your wrist hurts. I had been suffering for several days. I didn't know what was causing it. I was complaining to Christine and wondering what I did to my hand to make it hurt so much. I thought about seeing a doctor. Then I figured out the culprit.---My new Ipod touch, or rather my addiction to my Ipod touch. See, I was holding the touch the same way for quite a while each day. By the way, leaving your hand in the same position for a long time will make it hurt. But while I contracted this new disorder, there are several benefits. Here are few things I like about my new Ipod touch.

• Scriptures - I used to have them on my "Palm", but I couldn't download new stuff because it got so full. Now I have anything the church has published.
• Budgeting - I have found an app that help us manage our budgets. (Mint.com)
• Another one that allows me to scan bar codes and find out how much things cost in several stores.
• All my email is in one place. I have something like 7 email accounts. I just don't know how to get rid of email accounts. However, for some reason my Ipod touch makes everyone who has ever contacted me at my work email be in my contact list, including all the junk mail addresses.
• Free texting - I haven't taken advantage of this one much yet. Mostly because I haven't told very many people that I have a number just for texting. But it should become useful. I have had people send a text to my phone and not know that I don't get texting on my phone. Well, now there is a way. But I don't want to ever become someone who texts a ton, and I am limited to how many texts I can send/receive.
• I found an app for timing contractions, which might come in handy in the next few weeks.
• Then there are those addicting games that you can get for free. This is the primary cause of Touch-itis by the way.
• Weather apps - It is nice to be able to check the weather almost instantly.
• Gas prices - There is an app that allows you to check gas prices by zip code.
• There are some engineering apps that I use too.
• Sometimes it is just fun to browse and find things that you can get for free.
• Music - I have downloaded just about my entire music collection and a lot of Christine's.

My Touch-itis is getting better. If I am going to use my Ipod now, I hold it differently each time. I also set it down and use it. But my left hand/wrist still hurts from time to time. Consider yourself warned about this growing epidemic. I hope Christine doesn't catch it :).

Book Recommendation for Wives and Mothers

Here is a book that I highly recommend to all of you wives and mothers out there. It is called Being the Mom: 10 Coping Strategies I Learned by Accident Because I Had Children on Purpose, written by Emily Watts. A few months ago I was at the DI and picked up a variety of parenting books. This one caught my eye and I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did!
It's a fun and quick read with lots of great advice. As I read it, I felt that she was a kindred spirit - I really connected with what she was saying. Here are some excerpts from my favorite chapter:

"Strategy 9: Be Grateful for the Things You Have to Do"

She talked about the stress and frustration that can come with planning, shopping for, cooking, and cleaning up after meals. I go through cycles where I just don't want to cook, get really frustrated, am tired of "the same old meals," etc. But she really helped me put things in perspective: "The fact that I have to cook each day suggests that we live in a time and place where food is abundant. If I have to plan the meals, all that means is that we have a wide spectrum of possibilities to choose from. I get to exercise judgment and creativity on a daily basis in an activity that helps build unity, comfort, and physical strength in my family."

She also talks about laundry, and how blessed we are to have an abundance of clothing, as well as access to machines that will do the washing for us. I know these are pretty straightforward and simple concepts, but it really helped to put things in perspective.

Let me finish my thoughts on this chapter with one last quote: "I realize that to some people this seems Pollyannaish to the point of gagging. ... But, hey, I just figure that if there's something I'm going to end up doing anyway, I might as well do my best to find some joy in it. The truth is that our greatest blessings and our greatest trials seem to often come in the same package, and if we wish away the trials, we forgo the blessings as well."

I know I've been taught this principle over and over in the scriptures and various Sunday School and Relief Society lessons (and, in case you're wondering, the author is LDS), but it just really hit home when she put it in terms of the day-to-day frustrations we deal with.

Some of my other favorite strategies are:

Strategy 3: Be Discerning: Sometimes a One-Mile Effort is Enough

Strategy 7: If It Can Be Vacuumed Up, Wiped Off, or Washed Out, Don't Worry about It

Strategy 10: Remember That the Years Fly By, Even though Some of the Days Are Mighty Long

A lot of the advice in this book are things I've heard before. But the way she says it and the experiences she shares just clicked with me. I encourage you to check it out. It sure gave me a boost!

Nesting Project - Cosette's Clothes

Since I stopped working a few weeks ago, I have had a lot of energy to clean and organize and get things ready for Cosette's arrival. Everyone I've talked to calls this "nesting." I have been working on a series of projects and tasks each week, prioritizing those that I think are most important (because you never know - Cosette could be early!).

Lately, one of my projects was organizing Cosette's clothes. I first went through everything and made sure my sister's clothes were labeled (she's just lending them to me). I also removed the tags on my new clothes and labeled them, too. Then I washed everything in the baby detergent I bought (5 loads). Here is a picture of the laundry dumped on our queen size bed.

Next, I sorted everything into piles by type of clothing - onesies, pants, shirts, dresses, hats, jackets, bibs, burp rags, socks, bloomers, tights.... I then went through each of these piles and further sorted them by size.

Last, I put everything away in Cosette's dresser. I knew that I didn't want all of this sorting to go to waste, so I decided to use dividers. I bought some for my sock drawer when Jeff and I got married and have loved using them. But with 4 dresser drawers to organize for Cosette, I didn't want to spend a ton of money to buy all of those dividers and organizers. So I looked around the house and used a combination of shoe boxes, scraps of Plexiglas, and pieces of a Wii box I cut up. I am very pleased with the result and have included pictures below.

It felt so good to get all of that put away! Not everything fit in the dresser. A few larger items of clothing went in a bin under her crib, and I'm hanging up her dresses and jackets in the closet. By the way - the hangers I've gotten with the 2 and 3 piece outfits, the ones that have a pant clip attached, are perfect for hanging up the dresses that have a matching bloomer or bonnet.

We are going to have one stylish little girl! Thank you to everyone who has gifted us with clothing. It is such a blessing not having to spend money on her clothing for the first few months.