Week 34. Slowing Down.

3 more weeks until we make it to full-term! I'm doubtful I'll be going much past that with the way the contractions have picked up this week, but we'll see what the doctor thinks. I'm still resting a lot and making it a point to limit my outings. One a day is all I can handle!

The silly things going on around the house are forcing me to slow down too. We're waiting for a part for the dishwasher, so every day I'm washing and laying out the daily dishes. It's actually quite relaxing sometimes, if I'm not having contractions, and the kids aren't climbing on me, whining for a dessert, or hurting each other!

Along with the broken dishwasher, we've got the broken icemaker. Using the ice trays isn't quite the time consuming job that handwashing dishes is, but still that extra step is forcing me to slow down a little. Then there's the Carbon Monoxide Detector which needs replacing and starts to beep every 10 minutes until we silence it for another 36 hours. It's quite annoying to be woken up in the night, but just makes us laugh about all the things that seem to be going wrong!

I've been trying to stay on top of making homemade meals, folding laundry, and some other small chores around the house. We're having to limit the visits of "My Maria" these days...it was so nice to have the cleaning help this summer but just isn't in the fall budget, at least as often as before. Mary Clare has really been a wonderful help though. She has been good at picking up rooms when I ask, getting her schoolwork done on time, feeding the dog, entertaining her siblings, and she even finished her CAT test yesterday! She definitely deserves the Big Sister award. PaPa (my dad) should also receive an award for his help with the lawn while Steven continues to recover from his back problems!

Ellie and Steven Joseph are being a bit of a handful, so I'm wondering how things are going to be when the baby is here! Ellie has been very opinionated, whiny, and dramatic these days. I have to ask her about 10 times to do something before she actually focuses enough to complete the task. She seems to have her head in the clouds a lot! But she's doing well with her schoolwork, enjoying her dance lessons, and for the most part playing well with her siblings.

On most days, Steven Joseph throws several crying fits. Usually it's about a food or drink item he wants, but sometimes it's something like wanting the tag cut out of his pajama shirt. He's still unsure on the whole baby thing. The girls were giggling and feeling my belly tonight while Baby was flipping around. He was not amused. Last night we read a story at bedtime about a new baby. He seemed interested and looked the book over a second time himself. He stated that he would not be holding his baby the same way the big brother in the book was! He's still very opinionated that the baby is a BROTHER.

He has learned to spit, and has used this talent on a little girl at Mass, on his Mommy at the dance studio and while frustrated at bedtime. I'm afraid that we're going to see a lot of these attention-seeking behaviors after Baby arrives, so I need to prepare myself! Last week I had fun walking around the mall with him for a bit while the girls were at a Build A Bear party. I was surprised at how quickly he was bored with the indoor playground. He wanted to spend the whole time at this pictured area with all the ride-on toys. I love that my kids all enjoy sitting on these without needing to pay to ride them!

Tomorrow I have a Little Flowers meeting (it starts next week!), an OB appointment on Thursday and then we'll be approaching the long 3-day weekend with Daddy home, and his birthday on Labor Day! Steven was actually born on Labor Day, which at that time was also the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. That's where his middle name of Joseph comes from. We're hoping to see his family this weekend and maybe we'll hit a pool again before they all close for the season next week.

Thanks for all your encouragement and prayers the past few weeks, on the blog, Facebook, for my article yesterday, and those who I see in real life. My nerves and anxieties about the upcoming delivery are getting more pronounced as it approaches, but as I read tonight on Abigail's Alcove (a new blog I found linked tonight, she just had her own 4th c-section!), I'm slowly learning to give it over to God and do my best to live in the present moment and look to the future with hope and joy. It will be a daily challenge, but I know I can do it!