And the winner is...

Elise! Luis has conceded, and Lily's middle name will be Elise...Here's a bonus-it means "Promise of God". Very cool!

Yesterday, I was having more frequent contractions...nothing to call my midwife over, but enough to make me pack my hospital bag. Just a matter of time...tick tock...

I am officially an insomniac! I have been up since 3:30AM paying all the September bills...I figure that I might as well be productive, since the sandman and I aren't in sync!

No pain, no gain...

Well, the last few days are setting in...I had forgotten how yucky this part was...amazing how holding a new little life has a way of erasing all the bad memories of all that came before it! God is really merciful in that way! As for right now, I am popping the Tums like there is no tomorrow, and I feel like how my Mom remembers the last part of when she carried me...holding on to the walls just to get around. I know it will all soon be a faint memory, and BELIEVE ME, I am looking forward to labor pains at this point!

Pictures of Lily's nursery

We found the sleigh style crib on Craig's list, and bought it from someone on Skidaway Island in Savannah...pretty much everything else was a gift...we have been so blessed! Check out Jonathan practicing his stroller push...could be trouble!



Do you see the little green frog in the picture? That frog was made by my sister Lisa for me probably thirty years ago now...he's one of my prized possessions...and he's held up well over the years! :)

Two weeks to go, and we're still playing the name game...

OK, so we've scrapped Marie for the middle name. I love it as a middle name, for many reasons, but we have both decided that we didn't want it now. I am leaning toward Elise...which I absolutely LOVE! Luis isn't sure yet...but I think he'll come around, especially because he got to make the final decisions on the boys...it's my turn! HAHA Also, we have yet to even discuss a boy's name...I guess we are just banking on the ultrasound being accurate. When we finally talk about it, we are both lying in bed, exhausted from the day, and we fall asleep without ever deciding anything. Too funny. Oh well, it'll all work out in the end!

Anxious

Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks along, and as the days draw closer, I am feeling a bit more anxious about going into labor. It's not the actual labor that has me a little uptight, it's the fact that I have never gone into labor outside of the hospital. Since Josh and Jonathan were both induced, and I was given a date and time to show up at the hospital, it took all the suspense out of it. This time around, so far as I can tell, everything is going so normally that I will not need to be induced. While I am glad of this fact, it keeps me a little on edge. My schedule is in full swing between teaching, and soccer practice for both boys. I keep having this thought that I am going to be in the grocery store buying milk for my two "becerritos", and my water is going to break in the cereal section of
Bi-Lo...can you imagine the humilitation when they announce "Clean up on aisle 2" over the PA system, knowing it was from me!! Oh, the Hampton guardian will probably make a front page story out of it all. I am so thankful that my sister and I live in the same town. Since Luis works an hour away, she will take me to the hospital in case I can't wait on him. I know that will be a "labor of love" for her, especially with the thought of me not making it, and possibly having to give birth in her new Yukon XL, while she assists! HAHA....just kidding Marybeth...I'll do my best to not push until we hit Bamberg! I have been having lots of contractions (although nothing very regular). I am really more excited than anxious, but I would be lying if I said that there isn't a twinge now and again of "How's it going to all pan out". When I'm on the other side of it all, I'm sure there be a funny story to tell, and I'll look back and laugh...but for now, pray that I'm not sitting on the sidelines of Jonathan's first soccer game, giving birth to Little Lily who just couldn't wait any longer to see us all!