and so the WAITING begins!

Last Saturday, September 8, I crossed the "Full Term" mark! Parker made it to 37 weeks! I can't believe that I am saying I am 37 weeks and 3 days. I feel like John and I were just saying how hard it was to keep our exciting news quiet until we made it through the first trimester and here we are, waiting for Parker to arrive any day! Now, although time has flown by, my body would disagree, as I definitely physically feel like I have been pregnant for 37 weeks and 3 days :) I never knew that getting out of bed would be hard, or ever imagined that I had to think which two cars in a parking lot I could walk between. I could always get through any two cars and never thought twice about it!

Most people, I would think, try to relax and "nest" before their baby is born. Well, in the last few weeks, John and I moved back to our condo, we pre-signed on our closing of selling our house (by God's grace, our sale will be finalized this Friday!!), I went back to work (sadly, summer vacation came to an end), and we became an AUNT and UNCLE!!

Saturday, August 25, my amazing sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Kennedy Grace Spicher! To say that it has been hard not holding or meeting Kennedy in person is an understatement! I knew I hated that Nicki and Nick moved to Arkansas, but not being able to see and meet Kennedy has made me wish even more that they would be moving back to Ohio soon!!



So, relaxing and nesting have not even crossed my mind. Rather packing, unpacking, figuring out where a "house full" of stuff will fit in a condo, making trips to Goodwill (I like to get rid of things when they have not been used in a few months and John likes to keep things....he gave in to his pregnant wife for the most part!), writing lesson plans, and trying to establish routine and expectations with 21 5-7 year old first graders before I leave for 3 months has been at the top of my list.

Today I found out that I have increased to a little over 2 centimeters dilated and am about 70% effaced! John keeps asking me when I am going to pack my overnight bag for the hospital. Two weeks ago, I told John I wasn't packing my bag because my mom was not in Ohio (she was in Arkansas with Nicki, Nick and Kennedy and I wasn't about to have our son without both of my parents being present). Now that my mom is back in Ohio with my dad, I have still not packed my bag.... well, maybe this Sunday I will pack it. My OBGYN is only on call on Mondays, and although he says I will not care who delivers our baby, I think the world of him and only want him to deliver Parker!

Every day at work I smile with at least one student (not just a first grader) asking me "Are you going to have a baby?" John's smart answer is, "no, she just ate a lot!" Obviously I am not going to say that to a student!! It's cute how many kids want to touch my belly and ask when he will arrive.

I have been very blessed with WONDERFUL co-workers. So many have offered to take my duties or switch me duties (the heat has been rough and our building was without working air conditioning), give me close in parking spaces, come to check on me to make sure I made it to work, caught me climbing on desks to hang things on walls, "yelled at me," and hung the items for me; yes, this has happened more than once, and given me advice. I truly work with loving people, who are like a second family to me, and will miss them when I am at home!

John and I are anxious to meet Parker and for Mercedes to have a little brother! We are so blessed that my pregnancy has been relatively easy and smooth! We can't wait to see what the next hours....... days....... weeks have in store for us!