guessing game

anyone want to venture a guess on my actual delivery date? today i am 39 weeks.. and the official due date is feb 5 ~ the prize is a piece of chocolate in your birth announcement!

she'll be coming down the (milk) mountain when she comes

i am so ready. just ready ready. i mean like i am ready. r-e-a-d-y. in caser you didnt quite catch that. i have only a week and a half left now, so if she comes now, she wont be premature, just early. so cross your fingers for us.x.. because doc said if i go past a week late i will need a c-section. and i really dont want that again.

my dad's here helping me watch lucas while my energy levels are waning.. and then to care for him while we're at the hospital. then ph's mother will arrive on the 3rd and stay for two weeks. we really are blessed to have family like we do.

funny side note: my dad drew this comparison to being pregnant - i liked it. "just hang 4 full milk gallons around your belt, and try to go about your normal business all day, all night!" /but i'll make a further suggestion and say that all 4 gallons have to be hanging in front of you.. not equally distributed around yr waist/

now and again

this is me now... and me in 2005 when i was preggy with lucas. both pictures were taken at 36 weeks gestation, and for good comparison i wore the same shirt and tried to sit in a similar position. after carefully scrutinizing these two images i think this baby is just a little bit bigger.. if the belly-size is any indication. overall i think i look the same.

stone stunt

my sweet little toddler swallowed a stone! a polished white stone about the size of a regular capsule pill.. that our friends gave us from a trip to croatia.

but oh my i was scared! because it was lodged in his throat. i heard him swishing it around his mouth, but when i grabbed him to sweep it out it moved into his throat. i felt the stone but couldnt get it, so i turned him face down to try and get his gag reflex working but all i got was lots of drool.. and he was crying - probably because having anyone forcibly sticking their fingers around in your mouth uninvited would probably elicit such a response - but i was glad for the crying because that meant he's still breathing...

so instead of continuing this torture, i took him into the kitchen and made him take a big swig of water... my poor chicken-little was so traumatized.. like me... and we had to snuggle for a good long while before we could go on with anything. but soon it passed, and we were able to laugh and play and whatever else was on the agenda for that day. the next day i was at the obstetricians office for my weekly visit and mentioned this to her. she said she was glad it was a smooth stone and it was probably nothing to worry about (this from a woman who had 4 kids herself).. but she said "you know what you have to do now, right?" i said i had an idea. so she smiled really big, sortof laughing, while handing me a big wad of rubber gloves and said "welcome to motherhood!"

preggy update: i am 171 lbs=77 kilos now..(140lbs=63k prepreg) and my belly is 112cm=44in. and i am at week 36. and ive got that olive-on-a-toothpick look going/.

Off the Wall

hey if anyone goes to this discussion.. i sure would love to hear all about it.
... and speaking of hearing anything - where the heck is everybody? aint nobody got nothing to say these days? i think i hit a record low this week for comments! and i KNOW at least a few people read this blog!

Off the Wall: Graffiti, Art or Not?
What: How does graffiti affect a community? Is there a
difference between graffiti and vandalism?

The panel discussion is presented in conjunction with the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exhibit Hello Oiticica:
The Body of Color.

When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11.

Where: Brown Auditorium, the Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston, 1001 Bissonnet. Cost: Free.

Bonus: The discussion is followed by a reception.
Attendees are invited to samba in one of Oiticica's
painted capes.

oh haayy

i been feeling like my life just isn't as exciting as it was in greece.. maybe because EVERYthing was a new adventure.. and well whatev.. bla bla bla.. but i did have fun opening up my first few blog posts, trying to remember some details about my pg with lu.. see? good example - a second pregnancy - another new and life changing experience that somehow seems old hat.. whuddup-B? i gotta shake this.

its probably just the post-holiday let down. it'll pass i'm sure.

so on to another topic: i decided one night when i could not sleep (achy hips i suppose) that i will urgently change my shopping habits. ive been lazy purchasing my meat at the grocery store, when i have TWO local markets (fish & chicken) i can be buying from instead.. and then i saw that the chicken mart has some pork tenderloin for almost HALF the price of mr. major chain.. and anyway the guy in the window recognizes me now and sometimes waves at me.. isnt it just so gloriously small town-ish?

i met two francophones at the park with their kids this a.m.. and then saw them again at the library later at the toddler sing-a-long.. so i proposed un p'tit cafe chez-moi le mardi prochaine.. and they accepted.. so maybe we have some new friends! the girl is from france and married french .. and the guy is american married french like us. ohh,, i wonder if i can make a little treat for when they come.. but im not so good at baking (measuring's for wussies) so maybe i'll buy a banana bread instead. hehe..

new pictures up

on lucaspix... hot off the press for december