Still Not Boiling

No news on the baby front. Apparently, this little guy is QUITE happy to remain in his current living quarters. Eviction may be our only option.

This morning, I came up with a theory about why the baby hasn't arrived yet. It goes a little something like this: One of my brothers is on a business trip in Europe and will return Saturday. I'm beginning to wonder if my brother somehow bribed the baby to stay put until he's back in the good ol' U.S.A. Hmmm.... conspiracy? I'm starting to think so! (Troy - if you offer to get bumped or stay an extra day in Europe and actually HAVE bribed this child to wait until you get home, there will be hell to pay!) ;)

The watched pot

Last night, I told Eric that I feel like a watched pot that people are waiting to boil. Our family members and close friends are well aware of the fact that Thursdays are my doctor appointment days. Our phone is generally quiet in the evenings, but last night, we had a variety of family members call to see if there was any news on the baby front. Nope. According to my doctor, there were no changes between last week's visit and this weeks visit, aside from the expected weight gain (which my OB was quite happy about). The baby appears to be doing great and I even had a contraction while at the office. (I felt a little dopey when my OB pointed it out to me and I said, "Oh, I thought that was just him stretching." Apparently, I've been having contractions and attributed them to the baby needing more room instead of the real cause.)

Annika traveled to this appointment with me, due to the fact her day care room experienced a broken pipe and "school" was canceled for the day. She was amazingly wonderful (dodged a bullet there). She happily sat next to me on the exam bed while I had my non-stress test and even got to wear the pulse-ox finger clip after my test was complete; the look of pride and intrigue on her face because of that was priceless! The only "issue" was she kept wanting to pat my belly (aka "baby brudder") while sitting next to me, which would register on the NST - oops! ;)

Full house

We have had one busy household lately! We've had house guests galore over the past three weeks, birthday celebrations two of the past three weekends, and are trying to rearrange the use of a few rooms in order to convert our existing computer/craft room into a nursery for the baby. WHEW! Fortunately, our full schedule has been a lot of fun, albeit a bit hectic at times.

Today, our niece (Emily) and her friend (Amy) will head back to college. They decided to spend part of their spring break at Chez Olson. While we were at work, they did some fun activities, including taking a ferry to Pt. Townsend, visiting Pike Place Market, and going up the Space Needle. Annika loved having the girls stay with us - especially when they let her play with their computers and proved to be very willing audience members for her "aren't I cute and funny" antics. Eric and I have decided they need to transfer to UW so they can be closer. All in favor? AYE!

Last weekend, our niece (Kat) was admitted to Children's due to pneumonia. Fortunately, she is now on the road to recovery and was discharged yesterday. In order to free up my brother and sister-in-law, our nephew (Ian) and their dog (Kirby) also stayed with us over the weekend. Ian LOVES Eric's Legos and playing with Annika, so he fit right in and was quite easy to incorporate into our weekend. Annika idolizes Ian, so I was actually able to get a few things done that I might have otherwise not finished because she was shadowing Ian in his every activity. Gotta like that! :)



Tonight, we'll be back to the Olson Trio. I think the house is going to feel a little empty, but that'll probably help us focus on our "need to get done before the baby gets here" to do list, which is probably a good thing. Vacuuming, dishes, and laundry, here I come!

Baby Update

I had a VERY full day at UWMC yesterday. The a.m.'s non-stress test (NST) went very well. The baby showed no heart decels (always a good thing) and showed off with his many, many, many flips and kicks. The nurse actually asked if he ever stops moving ... nope! I had an ultrasound early in the afternoon to get an estimate on the baby's weight/size. They estimate he currently weighs 5 pounds 12 ounces, which is 3 ounces more than Annika's birth weight. There is a margin of error when estimating weight with ultrasound, but it is nice to know he is growing based off of the last estimated weight! It was wonderful to see his sweet face; it look a lot of self restraint to keep from reaching out to touch his image on the ultrasound screen. The ultrasound was followed up with my weekly OB appointment. My doctor likes what she saw and said she expects I'll go into labor within the next 2 weeks. If I don't, she'll induce me at 39 weeks because while the baby is growing, he is slipping in terms of his size percentile. The big question remains.... when will this little guy decide to make his grand debut?

How we show love

I find myself pondering the various ways we show love to those in our lives - a hug, a kiss, a thoughtful note, a phone call just to touch base, a gift, a wink, a smile (ok - now I have Harry Connick. Jr.'s song in my head!), a special meal just because, and on, and on, and on.

How have I most recently shown my family that I love them more than the air in my lungs and the blood in my veins? I made them banana bread. Yup, I whipped up a batch of stinky, makes me wanna gag banana bread for my husband and daughter. If that isn't love, I don't know what is!!

(For those of you who don't realize by this point, I truly do find bananas to be the worlds most nasty fruit!!)

Oh, Pioneer Woman, I Adore You

I've been singing the praises of the Pioneer Woman for a few months now. Simply put, the woman rocks (if you question that statement - try her pork tenderloin and doughnut recipes. I DARE you to disagree with me after doing that!!). No, I don't know her personally, but her recipe blog has proven to be a fantastic resource more than once ... and her personal blog is also quite a read and really speaks to my inner country girl.

A few weeks ago, we had a brown sugar emergency in the Olson home. I tend to keep our pantry well stocked and rarely run out of the baking basics. Well, mid-recipe for I can't remember what, I realized I was short on the required amount of brown sugar and went to our stockpile of food for the spare bag. We were completely out of brown sugar. I fruitlessly searched high and low to no avail. ACK! Because I had already started the other ingredients, I couldn't simply abandon ship, so I decided to make a "quick trip out" for more sugar. Easier said than done. I went to one store - out. (REALLY??) I went to a second store - none. I went to a THIRD store and the only brown sugar they had was rock hard. I was desperate, so I bought it, brought it home, and then nuked it to soften it so I could actually get the sugar out of the box and into my measuring cup.

Today, I noticed that the Pioneer Woman has a recipe for homemade brown sugar. Who knew you could make your own?? Never again will I drop to the level of rock hard brown sugar (or spending the time for an unneeded run to the store mid-recipe). YIPPEE!

36 weeks today

Our baby boy's official due date is 4 weeks from today. The question on quite a few people's minds is, "will he really arrive then?" Most people seem to think he'll be here before then. In fact, I don't recall hearing anyone say they think he'll be here after his due date.

I have a non-stress test on Thursday, in addition to an ultrasound and OB appointment. I'm quite curious to learn if the NST show any contractions. I've had some pains, but am not quite sure if the baby is just playing with my nerves or if they're actually contractions. Hmmm....