41 and 2

I have reached 41 weeks and 2 (almost 3) days gestation. I don't know how far dilated or how much effaced I am (my midwife and many others of the natural childbirth profession don't do many vaginal exams because they don't actually say much, and they increase the risk of infection). Yes, I've had signs such as increased braxton hicks and lower back pain (as well as others, which some of you may consider too much information, so I'll spare you), but I have come to learn that there are not any signs of labor that actually mean anything other than that something is happening. There are plenty of women, who walk around for over a month dilated to a 4 or greater and others who hardly dilate at all until labor actually starts. Some babies are born completely healthy at 37 weeks, some at 42 or even 43. Every woman and every baby is different. There is no way to know when exactly a baby will be born. Well, nothing short of a revelation from God, and while praying and studying have helped me not go completely crazy this last week or so, the Lord has decided to teach me about patience and faith rather than speeding up the process or telling me when my baby will be born.

At this point I would like to very politely and cautiously, expressing no anger and meaning no offense, ask you to stop asking me about the baby and how I'm feeling and what signs I'm having. I don't know any better than you do when this baby will be born. I've had some reminders of the miscarriages that I didn't expect to have, which have made waiting a lot harder, and the questions don't help. I know that those of you who have been asking are just excited, and that if you didn't care about me or my baby, you wouldn't ask at all, so I thank you for your show of love but ask you in all kindness to stop asking. I'll make sure you know when it happens, and we can all be happy about it together, but for now, I need to just let it happen and not worry about it. Thank you for understanding.

I've had people say that they were praying for me, and I greatly appreciate all the prayers that have been given on my behalf and would certainly be grateful if they continued.

Baby Stuff

So we've finished the baby's room! I must say I'm very excited about it. It's the best room in the house right now. It's fun to have green walls; all the other walls are white and drab, but that's okay: our baby can have the best. As you can see from the presence of a bed in the room, it's not just a nursery but a nursery/guest room/studio (I don't think I got any pictures of it,but Joseph's potter's wheel is in there as well). We only have so much space, but I think it works well; the baby can sleep in our room when we have guests.

My Grandma made this quilt, and I like it so much!

I love this mobile. It's on the swing if you couldn't tell.

Bingley has been a very happy kitty since we've gotten the room done; he seems quite certain that we've done it all for him. He's spends pretty much all his time either outside or in the room now. Luckily he hasn't gotten in the crib; I've had a little difficulty dissuading him from the play yard (in our room), but not too much, and he's kept out of the crib: good kitty.

I take no credit for this next part except that I watched, allowed it to happen and took pictures . . . It was Joseph's idea; I didn't think Bingley would like it. Joseph put him in the swing to see what he would do (and because we can't put the baby in the swing yet, so we may as well put the kitty in; he's also been in the stroller a couple times, which he liked until we started moving it around). Well, he liked it, a lot. He was a happy kitty in the baby swing. I thought he wouldn't like it when we turned it on, but he did . . .

What a happy kitty! Of course, he wasn't so happy when he decided to jump out, and the swing came back and hit him. He ran away real quick after that! Poor kitty, but it was funny.

And here's my pregnant belly. Almost 39 weeks.

Unity Award

I was working on the pictures that I took for the Neighborhood Works Gala that took place this last March 18. My dad is on the committee, which is how I got the job as photographer for the event. I have to tell you that I was quite sick that day and didn't want to be anywhere but in my bed, but I'm so glad that I went anyway. Had I missed it, I would have missed something that I probably would never have known about otherwise: my dad receiving an award from the mayor. That's right; my dad received the mayor's Award for Unity for his work with neighborhood housing. Not only that but the first award given in this administration. Yay for my dad!

Receiving the award.

I know the cropping is terrible in this picture, and I may not give it to the committee, but it was the only one with them shaking hands that actually worked.

And here is my dad giving the mayor an "award." They both surprised each other that evening and presented awards to each other. Funny how these things happen.

P.S. I know everyone wants to see pictures of my belly, but we're going to let it grow a little bit more; my friend asked me the other day when I was going to start to look pregnant . . . I thought I already did . . . Anyway, when I get up the courage to take pictures of the TV, I'll post the ultrasound pictures, and by then, I'll hopefully have belly pictures for you too. (I have to take pictures of the TV because the ultrasound video they gave us was much better than the pictures, and they didn't give us any digital files.)

New Blog

I know, this being the first time I've updated my blog in more than three months I should be posting more than this. Hopefully I'll do that soon; there are people who haven't seen the ultrasound pictures yet. For now, I'm just informing you of this: I've started a second blog, which I'm dedicating to my artwork in hopes of getting more exposure. Along with that I'm planning to make this blog private, so if you'd like to keep reading it, I'd recommend you send me your e-mail address so I can invite you to it. You can send it either through facebook or my e-mail, or if you want to put it in a comment, that's fine too (I just figured most people wouldn't be terribly comfortable with that, but if you are, go for it). And about my profile being all professional now: I did it for the other blog; if any of you know how to have different profiles for different blogs, let me know. Thanks!

Three Criteria

They say that the third time is the charm. Quite a nice phrase and often true, I suppose, but we decided that with this specific third time, we wouldn't trust the phrase too easily (especially since, it may well have only been invented to convince those who tried some particular task twice and failed both times to try again . . .). We decided on three criteria before discussion on the topic.

These criteria were:

1) 13 weeks had to pass without mishap.

2) We had to be witness to clear, audible evidence post thirteen weeks.

3) We had to be witness to clear, non-audible evidence post thirteen weeks.

Anyone guessed what it is yet? If the introduction didn't clue you in, the criteria probably did, especially the 13 weeks part. I'll stop making the rest of you guess now and tell you that I am pregnant, and more to the point, based on the completion of each criterion: having completed the first trimester, having heard the heart beat, and my lower abdomen bulging a bit (not enough for anyone else to notice yet, but certainly enough for me), it seems extremely likely that I'll be having a baby. We couldn't be happier!

I am currently thirteen weeks along, and incredibly happy. Joseph is very happy about it too. The baby is due May 21. Sorry, no pictures yet; I'll post ultra-sound pictures when we have them, as well as some pictures of myself when I start to look pregnant.

SMOA Religious Show

Every year the Springville Museum of Art has a juried religious show. This year I decided to enter, and my piece was accepted! I must admit to being very excited. If you live in the general vicinity, go see it; it's much better (and bigger, thanks to Joseph) in person. The show is open now until December 27th. The museum is located at 126 E 400 S Springville (P.S. the freeway exit there has some pretty ridiculous construction right now and appears that it will be there for a while, so I recommend taking Provo State Street [not to be confused with Orem State Street] down to Springville. Let me know if you need directions).

I decided not to include the image in this post because I want people to go see it for real. I'll post it after the show closes for those who live out-of-state.

Here's a couple pictures of our nice cat instead. He likes it when we take naps. :-D

Work II

Here's some more of the project I've been working on, as per request.