progress

I've been putting off an updated post because a)it's too much effort to upload pictures from my camera these days, and b)I'm hoping to get more accomplished. Sadly, that's not happening in the next 2 days... so here's what I should have posted back on Monday :-)

(Before I forget, there's an update on Benjamin and an update on Rutabaga.)

I had a bunch of tasks on my to-do list for the weekend, and while I was secretly hoping to accomplish them all, I'm happy to say that ANY of them were crossed off. On Friday I had a sewing day with the lovely Anna-Lisa, and I watched in wonder as she managed to create (from her very own head!) an adorable quilt for little Rutabaga. She pulled out material and a sketch of what she wanted, then she began cutting, pinning, and sewing away as though it were no big thing. Meanwhile, I was meticulously measuring, tracing, remeasuring, aligning, and cutting pieces of fabric to make some burp cloths... By the end of the day, she had completed her quilt (with the exception of some small ties in the front) and I had completed 4 burp cloths. Woohoo! I say that with mild sarcasm, because really the burp cloths were beyond easy, but I did spend about an hour of my time trying to figure out the behemoth that is my sewing machine. (Seriously, the thing is a beast!) It was my mom's -- I've been carting it around to various places for years, and I finally decided to pull it out and give it a whirl. I had about 80% success in getting things set up, but the tension was all wrong and my thread kept snapping. I gave up after an hour and just used Annie's machine -- and now we're debating whether or not to get rid of mine.

(burp cloths -- so easy!)

On Saturday we were Benjamin-free thanks to my friend Farnosh, so naturally I planned to shop, prepare several frozen meals for October, paint, organize, read for my class, and take a nap. In the end, I lazed around with Corey for awhile, went around the corner to the $3 theater and saw Kung Fu Panda, did a quick grocery shopping, and managed to read 3 pages of my book. Not quite what I had envisioned, but we had a really great time! As we were leaving Farnosh's house I started to feel some strong braxton hicks (contractions that aren't really doing much to get the baby out) and I was even joking with Corey about how hard my stomach was getting. I've been getting braxton hicks (BH) for months now, but never very many and never very strong. I had about 3 sets before we got home, felt some more (about 10-15 minutes apart) while feeding and bathing Benjamin, and then continued to feel them after putting him to bed. I realized that they were beginning to spread around to my back and actually become uncomfortable right around the time that I realized that they were getting closer together (two of the big signs of labor), so I lay down and drank some water and prayed they would go away (the joke here being that I'm tired of feeling pregnant and I'm ready for Rutabaga to come NOW, but I had a paper to finish before class on Monday...) Anyway, the BHs slowed by 10:30 and stopped entirely sometime during the night, and while they've been making their usual rounds since, I've yet to feel them as consistently again. (Now that my paper has been turned in and I have 2 weeks until another is due, I'm pleading with my body to just go into labor already. Go figure.)

This is already waaaay longer than I was planning and waaaay more involved in the details of my weekend than anyone could have been looking for, so I'll stop here. Suffice to say, there's no baby yet but I'm getting more prepared (and apparently my uterus is as well)... and I still have a heckofa lot to do before October 9th!

(I took pictures of what WAS accomplished this weekend... mostly because it was a good way to avoid writing Monday's paper):

I *did* find time to make some caramel apples as a thank-you to Farnosh...
(and after eating 3 myself just sent my boy to the store to get more supplies!!)

the book I was supposed to be reading...
Yeah, I've got strange motivators.

Benjamin, wondering why Mommy is typing and not playing with the ball

EDIT! Aha!! I knew that putting off posting would reap benefits ;-) My to-do list is now a little slimmer, thanks to my boy and his hammer --

(not actually sure what to put in them... any ideas??)

(obviously, I haven't been painting... but it's on the wall taunting me either way!)


(evidence of the car seat cover in the wash)

(and of little guy's fascination with all of the baby things reappearing.
He's spent the better part of today trying to figure out the car seat latch, but we're trying not to show him how to use it in case he tries to "let Baby out" as we're driving down the freeway...)

And though there's no picture, I DID get my lasagna assembled and into the freezer last night. Whew! Isn't baby prep fun??