Amber Waves of Grain

Today was my 37 1/2 week doctor's appointment . I'm dilated to 3cm but the baby hasn't dropped yet. I'm still scheduled for an induction on Tues, March 8th if I make it that long. So..... here's your chance to make some predictions!! Winners will get total bragging rights . Anyone want to guess the date we have the baby? How about the weather ? (Remember, Keegan was born during a blizzard like snow storm and Kennedy during an ice storm). How about the baby's name ? Feel free to leave your guesses in the comments! We'll try to give the winners a shout-out from the hospital if we remember!

Besides a few small details, we're pretty much done with the nursery. I've kept this room really simple. The lighting was bad so just use your imagination on this one. The changing table is up and the mirror ($5 garage sale find) got hung. I had to hide the baby's initials on the walls with the white rectangles in some of these pics. The name is still top secret! Art made from 60 cent scrapbook paper and using old frames I already had: I bought this cubby hole shelf at the Christmas Tree Shoppes ($13) and then just put some more scrapbook paper behind the holes. I still need to find some treasures to put on these little shelves. Don't you wonder what initial I'm hiding!?!? Now we just need a baby!

Just a quick pregnancy update! Yesterday was my 36 1/2 week appointment. Here are some recent highlights. 1). Peeing into a small cup should be getting easier..... but it's not 2) I'm dilated to 2 1/2 cm which could mean nothing.... or something 3. I never can remember whether it's 'dilated' or ' dialated .'. 3) They want to induce me because I've been known to go into labor very quickly and suddenly once I reach a certain point ( I pushed for under 3 minutes with Kennedy.... need I say more?) . However, hospital policy will not allow them to schedule an induction prior to me being 39 weeks pregnant. Therefore, I am scheduled for induction on Tues, March 8 th ...... but there is a good chance I won't make it that long 4) There is no such thing as modesty at the OB/ GYN's office when it comes to having your 3rd baby. 5) I'm so swollen that I can no longer fit into my wedding ring. Unmarried & knocked up...... ...

It was recently the 10-year anniversary of closing on our house . Nathan & I had our house built while we were engaged. Why not plan a wedding AND build a house at the same time, right? Surely that couldn't be stressful...... oh, wait . Here we are on our lot before they broke ground. Here are some pictures taken right after our closing in January 2001. I'm not sure why they're in black & white. I promise we're not so old that they didn't have colored film. Bare walls, very little furniture. No kids, no cats. Not a single Elmo toy in sight. That's a lot of white. Nathan didn't move in the house with me until 2 months later when we were married. I made him hang mini-blinds for me so I'd feel more safe at night while I was there alone. We closed in the winter and they didn't even have our sidewalks or outside work done. We entered our house through wood planks we put down over the snow and later mud. This would have been our first or se...

I saw this cartoon online today. It's from the London Times. That's right, I'm internationally known.

Keegan got a much-needed haircut this week. We've never been too adventurous with his haircuts because up until recently, haircuts have been a nightmare due to his sensory issues ( he can't stand to have his head touched by the clippers, etc ). But, he's done great the last few haircuts and I think we're finally done putting him in a headlock at Sports Clips. Anyway, here is the before and after! BEFORE : AFTER : Look out, ladies!!!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade . When life gives you a big ice storm, make molten lava cake . For those of you who aren't local, we are in the midst of a big ice storm today. We woke up to see this on our back deck: The city is practically shut down. And, an even bigger ice storm is happening now and will last through the night. Everyone else is preparing for possible loss of electricity tonight with their flashlights and kerosene heaters. I thought that making a molten lava cake would be a better emergency plan for our family. So, here is how you make a MICROWAVE molten lava cake. That's right, folks.... I said MICROWAVE. And, with only TWO ingredients . This was originally a Pampered Chef recipe but they want you to buy their rice cooker to make this in. Balderdash ! You do not need their fancy-pants rice cooker! So, here we go.... First, occupy your toddler by giving her a big bowl of icicles from the back deck to play with. Then, get out a box of cho...