Several things are over.  This week, for one.  Praise be to Jeebus.  Can I get an AMEN?  It wasn’t a hard week by any means, but all the weeks now are kinda just pissing me off and I long for a perpetual weekend.  At least until my husband gets on my last nerve and I actually want him to go back to work.  But that sort of occurrence is rather rare around these parts, I’m happy to say.

The second thing that’s over is FEBRUARY.  Now, I’ve never had any specific problem with February.  It’s generally inoffensive to me and to be extra kind, is short.  The shorter the month, the better, right?  But this February just didn’t know when to quit.  Yes, I’m looking at YOU, Leap Day.   That and everyone was sick all month long.  Not in this household, thank goodness.  We managed to avoid the plague.  But it seems like everyone else in creation got walloped by the Big Nasty.  And the weather was atrocious.  I think we can ALL agree on that.  What the heck?  I see a light at the end of the tunnel though, as it got to nearly 70 degrees today (!!).

While we’re at it, the day is just about over.  It was a hard day, by any definition of the word, but it was the sort of day I’m not entirely unhappy to see the backside of.  Fridays are always better after 5pm anyhow.  All the hours leading up to then are just “biding your time”, am I right?  I did some grocery shopping today.  I wouldn’t have been able to do it myself, I think, at this stage in the game.  So I picked up Kile from work and he made it an “extended lunch”.  We grabbed some Taco Bell (Yo quiero Chalupa?) and headed to Walmart.  It was what we refer to as a “non-grocery grocery trip”.  Meaning we get everything BUT food.  We also picked up “Wii Play” because we’ve determined that Harry needs his own Wii Remote and the extra games would be nice.  We also spent a goodly amount of time in the baby department and picked up some receiving blankets and onesies and the like so that we feel a mite better prepared.  Finish it off with some cleaning supplies and paper towels and we were out of there.  I dropped Kile back off at work and Liam crapped out in the backseat.  Of course, I felt like fried doo-doo by the time we got home.

Anyhow, before I go I wanted to address a couple of things.  Firstly: We have joined the land of the living and now subscribe to both HBO and Cinemax!  We got a card from the cable company in the mail this week offering a full year of HBO and Cinemax for just $10 a month.  For BOTH.  How could we pass that up?  Especially since I’ve been wanting HBO anyhow.  And I’ve now officially discovered the delights that is HBO On Demand.  Kile and I both figure that in the months ahead we’re not likely to be able to get out much so having quality programming on TV at home will be of the utmost importance.  I love that he knew that without talking to me first too.

Secondly, I don’t know if you’ve heard but Lizzy from house of h is getting a virtual baby shower!   I think this is such a fabulous idea and I definitely plan to get involved.  She’s had a rough time of it this year and we’ve all been there and know what that feels like.  Plus, you know, she totally deserves to have some lovely girly things for Alice this June, right?  Anyhow, if you know and love Lizzy, you might want to stop by.  Even if you don’t know her, but if you have some extra hand-me-down baby girl stuff laying around, you still might want to join in.  It’s a great cause for a great lady.  And there’s something about a baby shower (virtual or otherwise!) that makes me want to go SQUEE!!!

You all have GOT to check this out.  Do you see me on this list?  Oh yes.  Yes, you do.

Check that out!  Is it wrong that I’m pretty danged excited to be on the same page as some of these fantastic ladies? (And, OMG, so many more but my linking finger is all tuckered out!)  And I’m beyond honored that Guy Kawasaki felt that my little blog should be included in the list.  I don’t know if you’ve heard about his new site, Alltop.com, or what it’s all about it.  It’s basically a giant list of listings for all things blog.  So, you know, a big YAY for me and another big YAY for the Moms directory on Alltop.com because now I can easily scan the recent headlines at some of the coolest blogs out there and perhaps find a new read or two.  And who doesn’t love to find a new blog to read?  This site really makes it super easy because all you have to do is mouseover the headline to get a little sampling of the story.  You can’t tell me that’s not awesome.  So why don’t you join in with the cool kids and drop by and check that site out.  Even if you aren’t into mom blogs, Alltop covers so many subjects that you are bound to find something to tickle your fancy (provided your fancy likes to be tickled).  And, you know, stop by the Moms directory and check out my blog listing there because it is The Cool.

So I had my first (of several) non stress tests today. And since I hate typing out “non stress test” all the time, from now on they’ll be referred to as “NST”. Sound good? We all on the same page? I don’t want to have to repeat myself. Don’t make me come down there.

I dropped Liam off with Kile at work and headed downtown to my doctor’s office. It was strange going by myself. I don’t think I’ve parked in that parking garage by myself yet. Is that pathetic? I’m pretty sure it is. At any rate, I made it there on time and didn’t even have to sit in the waiting room too long before the nurse called me back. First off? Getting weighed. GAH. 2 pounds up from last time. How wrong is that? How much weight have I gained so far? I’m scared to ask. I haven’t been keeping track, of course. That would be far too depressing. Next it was the ol’ “pee in the cup” routine. Which, believe it or not, I have no trouble with. When I was pregnant with Harry, I had a heck of a time. Half the time I didn’t have to pee enough to put anything in the cup, the rest of the time I had a hard time actually getting anything IN the cup as opposed to ON my hand. Now? I’m a freakin’ expert. I attribute all those fertility and early pregnancy appointments I’ve had over the years. Let’s face it, I’ve had practice. So that? Was a piece of cake.

Then they took me into the NST room and got me set up on their cushy recliner (ooh la la) with the fun-fun monitors set up on my belly. It’s the height of fashion, I’m told. I took a (very blurry) cell phone picture so you all could see just how fashionable it is. I love how it coordinates with my lovely stretch marks there above my belly button. Ooh la la, indeed. Anyhow, this NST was different from the ones I had with Liam. There, they gave me a little button to press when I felt movement. This time? I just had to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. I sat in there for a good while, even. Shoot, I could have taken a nap. I totally should have taken a nap. It was very warm and very cozy. Maybe next time.

And Evie was SUCH a good girl for the NST too. I remember Liam was pretty stubborn and lazy with his NSTs and the nurse would often have to come in and poke at him. Not Evie. She kicked the monitor like a good little girl and had the appropriate heartrate accelerations. Her kicks were so strong that they regularly showed up on the contraction monitor. But no other contractions, thank goodness, which pleased my doctor quite a bit. She called Evie’s heartrate very “reactive” (which I keep wanting to replace with “radioactive”, but that’s something entirely different)(maybe SuperBaby?) and that’s what they like to see. So, you know, good news all around.

I go back next week for another round with the monitors and I also see my perinatologist on Tuesday so I’ll get an ultrasound too. I can find out if indeed this child is still breech (who are we kidding? She totally still is). I can also (hopefully) find out how big she is so far. I mean, I know it’s not written in stone that she’ll be a puny runt, but I can’t help but think there’s no way to avoid it. Anyhow.

So that’s what’s new with me and how my NST went. Thrilling, no? I knew you’d think so.

GAH.  How did it get to be Thursday AGAIN??  Didn’t we just have one of these?  Like, last week?  You know what this means, right?  It means I officially have three weeks until this baby is HERE.  As in, not in my belly anymore.  As in, needing to wear clothes and diapers and such things.

It’d be helpful for her to have her own room somewhat ready by then.  But I’m starting to make peace with the fact that it might not happen.  Liam might not be moved into Harry’s room by the time Evie is here.  Because having him in there is only really important to ME, apparently.  Kile has said (and I quote), “If he’s not moved into there by the time the baby is here, it’s not the end of the world.”   So it doesn’t really matter that I thought him not being moved by the time Evie is here would, in fact, signal the end of the world. He said it wouldn’t so I guess that’s that.  Who me, bitter?  See, it’s more than just having a chance to decorate Evie’s room (which I’m literally itching to do), but I wanted to get Liam established before the baby is here so we could minimize possible trauma.  We’re foisting an awful lot of change on the poor fella.  And I thought having him situated in his new room before the baby was here would be the best possible idea.  Maybe then he wouldn’t associate the change with the baby, you know?  Also, it would eliminate guest room issues having him moved.  Kile’s parents and particularly his mother are going to be here when the baby is born and for a short time afterward.  If Liam were moved in time, then they/she would just stay in the guest room, no problem.  However, if Liam is still in his room, thanks to him being a picky sleeper, we would probably have to have them/her sleep in OUR room.  Which would be fine, of course, but our room is a STY still.  It would require cleaning the room, bathroom, etc.  And if we don’t have time to clean Harry’s room and rearrange furniture in order to move Liam in there, then we certainly don’t have time to clean our room.  See my point?  GAH.  But anyhow.

I’m also sorta spazzing out because we are missing some essential baby gear.   Now, I knew this would likely be the case after my baby shower and knew we would have to go get some things.  But on the other hand, I know my husband and I know rounding up these things will be akin to pulling teeth.  (How is it that after all this time he has no concept of a nesting woman?)  I desperately need a Boppy cover.  Not just becuase this baby is a girl and she shouldn’t have to recline upon a blue alphabet Boppy, but because after all this time it is FILTHY.  And no amount of wiping with a wet washcloth is going to help here.  I also want to have the baby book by the time she is here.  Because I know how it goes.  It’s not the first child and if I don’t get on this sort of thing sooner rather than later, then later sort of becomes NEVER.  There are other things we need too, like more newborn and 0-3 month onesies, washcloths, diapers, a snuggle nest to keep in our bed for her to sleep in (because we aren’t even pretending not to co-sleep this time), the letters E, V, I and E for her wall, some Born-Free bottles because I still don’t know how feeding will go and even if breastfeeding goes great, we’ll still need some for expressed milk, a changing pad cover that will go with the new room decor and certainly more wee little outfits to bundle her up in.  Right now, everything we’ve been so generously given looks so huge (and at 3-6 months, it pretty much is though even the 0-3 look a lot larger than I suspect she’ll be) and remembering Liam, I’m fairly sure there’ll be some desperate trips to Babies R Us to procure more preemie and newborn sized outfits.

I know you’re all right.  I’m worrying and obsessing too much.  This stuff will all take care of itself in time.  Not having it taken care of now is stressing me out, though.  And I have a non-stress test in a little over an hour from now and I don’t need any more stress than that. Heh.

I’m one of those people who HAS to have a watch.  At ALL times.  If I ever am to (*shudder*) LEAVE the house without wearing my watch, it throws off the whole rest of the day.  My life, believe it or not, is thusly ruined.  Luckily, I’m not terribly picky and don’t have to have super fancy watches all the time.  Shoot, anything that can halfway reliably tell time is good enough for me.  I do have a fondness for Fossil watches, but am also practical.  Sometimes I just need something that tells me if it’s 2:00pm or 2:15pm (and yes, it matters) and any old drugstore watch can tell me that.  As long as it looks halfway decent and doesn’t turn my wrist green, I’m good to go.

I got my most recent watch at Walmart last year, shortly after Christmas.  My previous watch (which happened to be a Fossil) kicked the bucket shortly before and we just didn’t have the money in the budget for a new Fossil.  And time was of the essence (har), and I had to have a watch, like yesterday.  I wasn’t feeling particularly picky.  The watch did the job well enough too.  It was a metal band with a pink face.  The band was a little loose on me and the clasp had an annoying habit of coming open at inopportune moments.  Luckily, I was always able to catch that the watch was loose(r) and/or had fallen off.  That is, until today.  After MOPS and a nice lunch at Applebee’s, we stopped by Babies R Us to do some scouting out for more baby stuff.  On the way into the store, I thought I heard a clinking noise, but I knew there wasn’t anything in my purse that would make that noise so I dismissed it.  We browsed at cute clothes, checked out Boppy covers (NEED ONE, omg, you have no idea), saw they now have our double stroller in stock, checked out wooden letters to spell out her name with and made sure they had our baby book in stock (they do).  We were in there for about 30-40 minutes.  On the way back out to the car (hands empty, of course), Kile saw something on the ground of the parking lot.  It was… my watch.

GAH!!!  The face was all smashed, all the glass gone with just some jagged bits around the edges.  The band was bent on the one side.  Plainly put?  This watch was screwed.  It had met it’s destiny with the tire of someone’s car and that’s all there was to that.  And I could even see what time it had been run over too.  Despite not noticing that my wrist had been awfully naked for the last half hour, I now felt a desperation creep up.  I had to have a watch.

Luckily, my husband knows I’m a neurotic mess when it comes to my watches so we stopped at Walmart on the way home.  I ran in real quick and picked out a new watch.

What can I say? I’m not one for variety.  But give me some credit here.  I saw my exact same watch in Walmart but resisted getting it in favor of getting something (slightly) different.  And the important thing?  I have a watch again.  WHEW.  That was a close one.

Liam couldn’t handle the excitement, however, and crapped out on the way home.

Someday, someday, he’ll understand just how important it was to hunt down a new watch for his mother.  In the meantime, he better watch out.  Cuz if he keeps looking this cute, he’s just going to get up getting eaten.

^{OMG, the cheeks, ya’ll.}