Snow is falling in Prescott and it's a chilly 37 degrees outside.

I am loving it.

I can't help but pray that today would be a wonderful day for our little boy to come. Wouldn't it be great to be able to tell him he came on a freezing cold October day with snow flurries and cloudy skies? I sat in the waiting room at my doctors appointment and just watched the snow dance around like teeny tiny marshmallows.

Last night I woke up at about 3am and couldn't fall back asleep. I went to my usual "second bed" ie the lazy boy and tried to fall back asleep. I couldn't, however, because I heard rustling above me. Squeaking in fact. My eyes nearly shot out of my head. The scratches came and went, but all I could imagine was the movie An American Tail. Hundreds of families of mice in the space above me and I couldn't bring myself to want to kill them, I just didn't want them there. I could imagine them talking and planning on how they would investigate the house and eat all of our food. They were so cute.

Then, my dear John insists on us having a space heater. A Lasko. Which he loves. I mean, loves. He loves the remote, the oscillating feature, the automatic shut off, the whole bit. But I am still 9 months pregnant and that thing makes me wake up in sweats (or is that those hot flashes....I'm not quite sure.) Either way, I spent a lot of the night fiddling with the dear Lasko to shut it off. ....Then turn it on again.

Needless to say, when it was light outside I realized the squeaking wasn't hoards of mice families, but only a tree branch gently scraping against the window.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and maybe it will bring with it a little boy.

Last Minute Purchase Before Jack Comes

Although I've had this CD for a few years, it takes on a whole new meaning listening to it as a soon-to-be mom.

These songs are precious and sung by one of my favorite artists. One song has been spinning in my head again and again...

"When you reach the proper age
I will teach you to read and you can turn the pages.
How to dress and tie your shoes
Your one plus ones, and your two times two's


And you'll teach me
Of hearts and dreams
And all the most important things
And all that i have lost along the way
And I can't wait

As you grow, I'll show you things
How to ride your bike and kick your legs out on the swings
To fold your hands and bow your head
How to say your prayers before you go to bed
And you'll teach me
Of hearts and dreams
And all the most important things
And all that I have lost along the way
And I can't wait...."

Fall keeps tricking me. It's like it can't make up it's mind. Do I stay or do I go? I guess I need to remember that we do live in Arizona.

Thankfully, I do believe it's finally cooling off for good. And Prescott falls are simply beautiful.

We went to a pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago...and it was hot. The lovely Arizona sun was adamant on showing it's face that day and what else can you do, but try to enjoy it?

Check out THAT pumpkin! I'm nearly as big as the ones on the ground!

Yesterday we had our 38 week appointment! How incredible to think he could be arriving any day now! The doc says I'm 2 cm and 75% effaced. Praise God!

Our little Jack is doing great and getting ready to make his way into this world. The only bummer is our doctor.

She's always been a nice lady. It's a typical wait-in-the-lobby-for-30-minutes and see-her-for-5 kind of scenario, but she's never been really sassy.

Until yesterday.

We took our birth plan to her, knowing it might not go as well as we hoped, but still hoping.
She proceeded to go through every single detail and respond to them with statements such as, "Well, that doesn't make sense." "Did your doula write this for you?" "Why would that even matter?" "Let me tell you why I don't like birth plans..." "I don't care what you do after the birth, that's the pediatricians job." and so on.
It was insane.
But we stood our ground. And prayed for grace because somewhere along the way she decided she did not like birth plans.

Not only was she reacting to simple requests (not demands, but requests) in a completely emotional way, but she was acting as if we hadn't paid her a nickle for her service. To top it off, she decided to try to "mix things up" when doing an exam and attempting to strip the membranes, after we had spent 20 minutes discussing how we wanted a natural delivery and onset of labor.

When she was finished with the exam John asked her, "Did you just strip the membranes?" In which she stuttered to reply, "Well, kind of, but I couldn't quite reach it. I find that a lot of girls get to their due date and nothing has happened, so I like to help it along a bit." Such a procedure was not one she asked permission to do, nor did I want it done.

We went to Subway after that and I got to finally eat a bag of Cheetos. That helped.

But thankfully, I'm not feeling any more contractions than normal. A friend of mine had her membranes stripped (without permission, by the same doctor) and she was in labor the next morning. Thankfully, God knows what's best for little Jack and he's not quite finished cooking yet...though I have to be honest when I say that I can't wait to meet him.

We're having a doula aid us through the labor and I couldn't be more thankful. She'll be there during the early stages at our home and through until the end. We're also doing a type of birthing called Hypnobirthing which I'm really looking forward to. It's all about techniques to aiding your body to relax and go deeper into relaxation as the birth progresses. We're praying for a healthy and safe delivery!
...hurry up, Jack! We can hardly wait!