Any Day Now...

Mini watermelon. That's what they call a 39 week grown baby. When I told my sister that yesterday she looked at me wide eyed and said in her squeaky little voice, "And that mini watermelon has to come out of your vagina!?"

...yes...yes it does. <gulp> Thanks for pointing that out little sister.

Every sign under the sun says she's gearing up for arrival. Yet, inside she stays. There must be a reason. She's obviously just not ready. Or she's stubborn. I haven't a clue where she would've acquired that quality...so I'm gonna go with, she's just got more cookin' to do. :)

I've seen enough in 30 years to know a baby staying inside and growing all 40 weeks isn't a bad thing. It's when they get too anxious and try to jump start life on the outside that trouble starts.

Let's face it, life on the inside has to be pretty good. You are all snuggled nice and tight. It's climate controlled. You get fed without the trouble of actually eating. All of your needs are taken care of without you even asking. It's when you get out here that things get a little hairy. There are so many attitudes, moods, feelings and motivators in this world it's hard to cope sometimes. Plus it's cold right now. Like wear your moccasins around the house cold.

Yeah...I don't know if I blame her for hanging out as long as she can.

I'm finally better though. I have two pills left from my prescription and then I'm finished. My mouth is returning to normal. I can almost eat again without something cracking and bleeding. Maybe that's what she was waiting on. I asked her to wait until I was healed...well baby girl, I'm nearly there. Now my aches and tears come from pains that seem to be located progressively lower each hour, and from knobby knees and toes that find that perfect spot to prod me in the ribs (by the way on the outside, ribs are ticklish, from the inside...not so much).

Parker baby's daddy is so ready to meet her. He's been a saint. I can only imagine how tough it has been to not only have a 9 going on 10 month pregnant wife (and all that that entails), but a 9 going on 10 month pregnant wife who has also been sicker than she's been in years, not to mention during the holidays.

As crazy as our dating/marriage life started, we have grown into such a beautiful rhythm. As teenage girl icky as it probably sounds, I look at him sometimes and thank my lucky stars God sent him to me. We are both so darn excited about the life and family we are building we can hardly stand it. We can't wait for Parker, but at the same time it's pretty amazing how much we just like our life together. I mean, I woke up on New Years Eve to the guy planning to take me out to dinner just because he wanted us to do something together. While at dinner we planned a Super Bowl party (simply because we are anxious to get together with all our friends) as well as plotted for what we could do for New Years Eve next year. It's pretty incredible to have so many positives in your world that it makes dealing with the kinda mean, ugly manipulative things easier. When I'm upset his instant response is, "Who cares what they think?" or "It's not even worth it." He is 100% supportive and to have someone like that is a breath of fresh air.

Come to think of it, I have a few people in my life who are that way. As someone pointed out the other day, this baby growing has drastically changed the relationships in my world. Unfortunately some are not as strong...but others have grown despite the lack of effort, emotion or energy I've had to put into them. My sister is going to be an amazing Aunt. The girl has gone through some crap this year, but she has gone on more one store shopping trips, pedicure dates and McAlister's/Chili's lunches with me in the past 9 months than we've gone on in the past 9 years. I have a few friends at school whom I have grown to sincerely believe I can count on. They aren't the type of people to say, "It's OK" or "Who cares if you need a sub, go home" if they don't really mean it. They have my back, help in any way they can and are willing to nail someone to the wall if they hear anything being said they feel is unfair or untrue. It's kind of a beautiful thing. When you aren't a beat around the bush/I need to manipulate or lie to you to get what I want kind of girl, it's refreshing when you build true friendships with those same types of people.

Parker is going to have an incredible life when she gets out here. She has so many family members who are excited to meet her but what's just as beautiful is she just a whole assortment of friends who are just like family that she doesn't even know yet. Heck, I don't know some of them yet. Mike and I counted the other day, there are 6 or 7 babies set to be born this Spring to people we know. That's pretty darn exciting.

If there's anything I could tell this little hippo baby it would be, "Life is good, Parker. Not always easy. Not always pretty but simply being born into a home where your Mom & Dad love you more than life itself and would do anything to protect you from the ickyness of this world, sets you up pretty nicely."

Now get your little booty out here. :)