Not Much to Report On

Elijah's Surgery News

Things here are good. Elijah has not complained any more about his hernia, and we are hoping to keep it that way. We have a consultation with Children's Surgery Center on July 18th. I am assuming we will then set up the surgery date. I'm guessing that since the appointment isn't until July 18th, the surgery won't be until late August or September. Who knows, though. Even if they could do it earlier, though, I have a feeling I won't want it to be much earlier than that. ... I'll let you all know when the surgery is and if there's anything you can do for us.

Pregnancy - T minus Two Weeks

No, Dad, this is not an update to say I'm in labor. Braxton-Hicks all day long, but no labor. We are hoping to avoid all labor until the safely scheduled 21st. That's less than 2 weeks away, so I think we'll probably make it.

Go Mode!

In terms of how I'm feeling. I have hit the final go mode (nesting just sounds so weird to me). I have cleaned the house from top to bottom about 5 times. I think I have used an entire roll of paper towels cleaning every piece of glass in the house. I keep looking at things going, "This is dirty. I MUST CLEAN IT." It's compulsive and weird and I will be glad to put this stage past me. I think Rob will, too. I worked him hard yesterday cleaning and doing things. But, because I'm in the Ready For Baby Stage, it means I have a little more energy. So I feel better now just before baby than I have for at least 2 months. I can handle that.

Having said that, I don't have much energy at all. And on top of that, my body still can't handle a lot. We went to the store as a family on Friday. Intended to go to another store, too, but I just wasn't up for it. I have been avoiding the sun and going outside at all costs. The sun and heat drain me really quick. We went to a BBQ last week for 2 hours. I came home and slept for 2 hours. There's a picnic next Sunday that we're all invited to. I'm sending Rob with Miciah.

P's Baby Blessing

We had company today, and that was a lot of fun. Our good friends the T's had their baby the first week of June and the baby blessing was today. They have a little one bedroom apartment, so we invited the whole clan over to our house so they could all be in the same room together. It worked out well and it was a lot of fun to have company that brings their own food! Rob and I worked really hard to clean the house, but they didn't leave a mess when they left, so it's still clean now. That's the best kind of company. Brings their own food and eats off paper plates. :) They were here for a few hours, but it was more draining than I assumed it would be. Rob and I both just chilled for a few hours after they left. My body obviously was a little stressed, but hey, it was worth it. And their little baby is really cute. It's been weird to hold their little one and think, "I will have one of these very soon." But we're ready for it.

The Secret Baby Name

We have picked out a name, but we have decided to keep it until he is born to announce. Seems like if we've waited this long, might as well keep it till the end. We went through 25,000 baby boy names from a baby book and to top it off, the name we chose wasn't even in there! How's that for funny? But we've been using the name amongst ourselves, so it's finally feeling like his name. So that's a comfort. For a while it seemed like nothing would sound right except Baby Robert. And Elijah says the name really well, so that makes me happy, too.

Last Ultrasound

We had an ultrasound for week 36 on Monday. It was fun to see the baby so big! He is still a boy, so no worries there. Everything looked good. The doctor predicted that he would be just over 7 lbs. (like 7 lbs. 2 or 3 oz.), and have a full head of hair as well as hair all over his back. :) It was really cool to see this hair floating there. You really could see it! It was neat. About the hair all over his back, Rob said, "See, dear, we ARE having a monkey." Great. Maybe he'll be blonde-white like Elijah and you won't be able to see the hair on his back. :) It'll be fun to see what he looks like.

We're excited to have the baby and see everyone soon. Hopefully we can keep things calm between now and then. The next 2 weeks of my calendar are clear, which is a nice feeling. It will be nice to not have much to do.

Thanks for all you guys do for us. We love you!

Tamra and family