is my belly.

Yes, it does get in the way at times (like when I was painting and inadvertantly ran into the freshly painted board getting a nice, grey line on my shirt). But over all, I really like my belly. It has its usefulness. I can hold a book on it, I have a place to put my hands, and I have been known to balance a plate there while I eat. When I run my hands over my belly I can feel the bumps and ridges of the child that I carry. Sometimes he/she sticks out a foot or elbow or something really pointy and I can tickle it. As he/she searches for the right position, I enjoy watching my belly turn into waves of movement, proving to me that there is a living being inside me.
Yes, I will miss my belly.
But I will enjoy seeing my child even more.

The latest addition to our baby room is D’s favorite piece of baby gear. We have no diapers to put in it yet, but it still makes throwing away any type of trash fun!

She put a map and a tube of lipstick
In an old Winn Dixie sack
She pulled her Firebird out of the driveway
Without ever looking back

By the time she got to Georgia
It was nearly half past eight
She bought a ninety-nine cent breakfast
At the Stuckey?s by the interstate

And she don?t know where she?s going
And she?s really not sure why
But she?s got to try and find a way
To live before she dies

She might see Rock City
She might see Ruby Falls
She might change her name to Marilyn
And drop her southern drawl
She wants to climb Lookout Mountain
And see all seven states
She wants to feel the wind through her hair again
Before it gets too late to see Rock City

Well she stopped in Chattanooga
And called her mama?s beauty shop
She said I won?t be home for supper
Give my love to Bo and Pop

And her mama knew the reasons
Without even asking why
A woman?s got to try and find a way
To live before she dies

She might see Rock City
Oh she might buy a souvenir plate
She wants to feel the wind through her hair again
Before it gets too late to see Rock City

By Kate Campbell/ Walt Aldridge

That’s what I would like to know.

Yesterday, D and I were organizing the baby stuff that had been dumped on our house and among the items was this hooded towel. On the hood part of the towel it said, “What does a tiny turtle eat for lunch?” And nowhere does it give the answer!

Yes, we are now overrun with the items from 3 baby showers and the hand-me-downs and we are desperately trying to find the order in the chaos.

Baby showers are amazing. People love to give you things when you are expecting your first baby. It makes me feel so blessed to have all these people around us wanting to help us get together all the things we think we need to raise a child.

And sometimes they give us stuff that we don’t need to raise a child. Which is why there is a little invention called the “returns desk.” (Ask D how many stuffed bears we really need to raise a child.)

I am happy to report that we are pretty much done with the baby’s room. This weekend brought the inlaws with the crib (which D put together in about 20 minutes, only having to correct one mistake) and other items from the Montgomery shower and hand-me-downs from the SIL. We purchased a glider at Wal-Mart (thanks to a gift card and a few returns) and that is now my favorite place to sit in the house. We still need some items like crib sheets and covers for the lighting, but over all I have a sense of peace about our preparedness.

Now, if I could only bring myself to pack for the hospital.

“It’s time for Floridians to seriously pay attention,” said Eric Blake, a meteorologist at the hurricane center.

Good grief, can’t they get a break? And, I would like to ask, when have Floridians not been paying attention? How many days until the season is over?

To: My boss
Subject: October 8th

FYI- it is still on the department calendar that I am working the 6 pm shift on October 8th. That is my due date. I am pretty certain, even if there is no baby yet, that I may not be here and a plan B should be in effect for someone to work that shift.
Thanks,
Alli

Last night D and I went to see the beautiful movie, Hero. When we purchased our tickets, the young lady said to us, “You know it has subtitles, right?”

All I could do was stare at her in disbelief. Not because I wasn’t previously aware that it had subtitles, but because she said it in such a way that maybe the fact that it had subtitles would deter us from seeing the movie.

D was right on the ball and said, “That’s fine. We know how to read. If we didn’t then there would be problems.”

I have been through two hurricanes in my lifetime- Bob and Opal. And now I will get to add a notch to that count for Ivan. Of course, we aren’t that worried at this point. Sure, we will get some high winds and heavy rain, but I don’t suspect that we will get serious damage like the folks on the Alabama/ Florida shores.
I asked D last night if we needed to get any kind of supplies and he didn’t think that was totally necessary. (Of course I don’t think that he realizes he is down to only 6 Cokes in the fridge. What will we do if we run out of Coke? When will the madness end?)
Anyway, as I work here in my cubicle, I am listening to Claire Holley’s Sanctuary and the song that I keep hearing is “Higher Ground.” Given the state of the weather, I think it is appropriate.
Go Ivan, go! Be gone already. We have to get ready for Jeanne.

Pregnancy hormones are funny things. I was reading on Claire Holley’s site that during her first trimester she had a “wave of musical inspiration.” My first trimester was spent trying to stay awake. My second trimester was spent finding food and finding it fast. And now, my third trimester is being spent wondering where the time went, where is the nearest napping location, and how the hell do I stop all this crying?

Anyway, yesterday D had me helping him set up the painting tent in the back yard so we (I) could put a coat of paint on the storage soultion after D finished sanding them. The painting tent starts off with a cheap canopy (purchased from the dollar store for $15) that has all these poles to put together before you put the plastic canopy on it. I could not get some of the poles to stay together and it was getting increasingly frustrating. So frustrating that when D came to the backyard to see if I was going to have it done before sundown and I was just bawling my eyes out.

D, never having been given the gift of understanding female (pregnant) hormones, was absolutely confounded and couldn’t figure out why I was crying and if he should stop and comfort me. Because my actions were to keep crying but to also keep working, he also kept working on helping me finish putting the paint tent up.

It is just a crazy rollercoaster ride that I think I am ready to get off of.

Yes, I said it. I am ready to get this nine month journey done.

Today D called to tell me that his parents will not be coming here for the weekend to bring the baby stuff. Instead, they plan on riding out Hurricane Ivan at The Lake where they have water from a well, a power generator, and other things the cast of survivor wishes they also had. This news is ok, there is nothing to waiting another week to fill up the room with the baby stuff (it gives us a few more days to get a few more things done), but for some reason, I felt my chest tighten, my eyes fill up, and all I wanted to do was cry.

I’m at work and I quickly squashed that reaction.

Now, I understand that the whole crying thing may get worse after the baby is born, but at least I won’t also be having problems breathing, walking, or wondering how fast I can get to the bathroom.

I think those postpartum tears will be a mixture of both exhaustion and joy, with a little relief thrown in.

After almost 28 years, my mother is still cleaning up after me.
The state of my kitchen was just so unacceptable to her that she just had to come and help me reorganize it. And since I knew that some reorganizing had to be done before the baby arrived, I let her at it.
I now have shelf paper on the shelves, in the drawers, and in the cabinets. Apparently, a shelf without shelf paper is like going out without underwear.
Hey! She said it, not me.
And sitting on the new shelf paper are clean serving dishes, reorganized pots and pans, weeded out medicine, organized tupperware containers, and an entire deep drawer devoted to baby stuff (of which we have 2 bottles for right now).
The refrigerator is free of crumbs and whatever else she found under the crisper drawers. Expired food stuffs were tossed, and the freezer was wiped down.
I have been told that I deserve to buy myself new potholders and dish cloths, so many of those were sent to be the stuff of thrift stores.
It is amazing what such a deep clean can do to your perspective of your kitchen. Now, I am happy to open the spice cabinet, because I know my mother cares enough about me to combine the 4 containers of allspice I had into one.
We shall see how long this clean kitchen high lasts.