I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and here's the un-news: I am now TWO tiny centimetres dialated (as my sister Karla encouraged me, only 6 more weeks to go, at 1 cm per week!), my stomach has shrunk from 40 cm to 37 which is GREAT because it means the baby has lowered (not like I couldn't tell by the head stuck in my pelvis) and my right leg is 1 cm thicker than my left, because of the beauties of water retention. It'll be nice to pee that all out. It's pouring rain outside and I've resorted to listening to books on tape to pass the time. Actually, when I'm not hit by waves of impatience or discomfort (like you may have picked up on in my last couple entries), it's been a blessing to have a time of quietness and rest, and time to put everything - my house, my heart, my friendship with God - in order. There's so much peace in deciding to trust Him to bring the baby at the right time - He knows when the three of us are as ready as we'll ever be to have our lives radically changed forever. :) Thank you God!

I thought I had a contraction this morning, but it was just gas. :)

Sorry folks!! No news to report yet. I have officially had one week off of work, and well, I'M READY! I'm bored!! My (very long) "to do" list is DONE! I've thrown out BAGS of stuff (hopefully nothing too valuable) scrubbed the floors, the cupboards, the fridge, baked, cooked, read books, watched a DVD of Trading Spaces, applied for EI...

Get me to the hospital!!

Sanity wavering a bit? Perhaps. :) At least Rob's had reading break all week and he manages to keep me relatively entertained. Anyhow, here's a picture of my suitcase, packed and waiting...

Finally! Pictures! Here is our growing child at 38 weeks. At the time of this posting I have 8 days left till the due date! Yeeehah!

Just a quick apology to all who are waiting for belly photos :) I can't seem to upload them! I took the photos JUST for you all, and at home my computer is too slow, and at work, blogger isn't uploading properly. So you're just gonna have to wait. :) I will keep trying.

Just a little update:

I had the ultrasound last week and all is well! Baby is head down (right down there in my bladder which is a lovely sensation) and WHADAYAKNOW - he or she is a FINGER sucker, just like both Rob and I were. This is definitely our child. (It was so cute, watching him/her suck away at his/her fingers - we got a bunch of photos of it...Sheesh, I can hardly wait to stop this "him/her" business...soon we will know!!) The technician estimated that the baby was already 6.6 lbs! And we still have 12 more days of building up body fat to go! The countdown continues...

Here's me and Hannah, my sweet student of 2 1/2 years. She has taught me so much about God's grace and patience and unconditional love. Am I ever going to miss her! This week is my last week at work, which I'm grateful for, but sad about at the same time. It's been a job I was created for. How many people get to say that?

I suppose I should be trying a little harder to update this page, but unfortunately just when i thought our computer couldn't get any slower, it DID, and it now takes an eternity to download photos. Also, i'm fighting a brutal cold and just can't bear to take a picture of my belly with my head looking stuffed up to kingdom come. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it - it looks as though my belly is about to pop. This Sunday at church was the official turning point where SEVERAL people came up to me saying things like, "You're still here?" or "When's that thing coming out, anyways?". THREE weeks, folks, till the due date! Speaking of which, I have to go for yet another ultrasound this week (us canadians love our ultrasounds!) to check what position the baby is in. I think this is my fifth ultrasound. We're praying the baby's in the good old fashioned, head down position, and not transverse (sideways) which it occasionally feels like it might be! Either way, we can hardly WAIT to meet this child of ours!! Anyhow, we felt so incredibly blessed this week as the Lord's provision began to 'trickle' in (or maybe gush is more accurate): on Tuesday the staff at the school I work at gave me a farewell lunch and presented me with a sweet gift card for Sears to use once we get to Manitoba (so we don't have too much extra stuff to ship out there). On Wednesday I got a cheque in the mail from a dear old friend and was shocked when i read the amount - $500!! WOW. That absolutely blew us away. On Thursday someone I hardly know gave me a book for the baby, yesterday someone gave me a baby album, and both my mom and sister have told me they've sent stuff in the mail that should arrive this week. (People love babies!!) Anyhow, the point of all this is - why was I worried, again? Why do I always forget that He is so very faithful??
Okay, I better go sleep a bit so I don't get in trouble for not resting when Rob gets home.

Yesterday felt a bit like Christmas, when Rob and I set up the bedside sleeper that our landlords are letting us use for the two months that we'll be here in our tiny little basement suite with the baby. Feels so good to have SOMETHING ready, you know, just in case I go into labor next week. Oh! For those of you who have been wondering and/or praying, I had my (hopefully) final ultrasound on Wednesday this week, and the ultrasound technician told me that there is now NO sign of anything wrong with our baby's intestines, and that everything looks 100% normal!! Praise the Lord! Thank you for your prayers!!
(p.s. mom, the three pictures are the ones I was telling you about)

My belly at 31.5 weeks. Eight and a half weeks to go!!
If you look really carefully,
you might see our child kicking my rib cage.