36 Weeks - (Not So) Shocking Developments

So today I went back to the doc for my weekly appointment and they were not only doing a sonogram but "checking" me for the first time.

Sonogram shows he's about 7lbs, which is right on track. He passed all his tests during the sonogram (movement, practice breathing, fluid, etc). The movement test wasn't a problem, he was fighting the sono tech the whole time.

Turns out my doc was delivering her second baby of the day and it had turned into a C-Section, so we were given the choice to wait forever or to see one of the other docs that I didn't know. I chose the other doc. He checked and me to see if we had made any progress at this point.

Anybody want to guess on how that turned out?

I suppose to put a silver lining on it I should say that I'm dilated as far as I was when I was admitted to the hospital with Kaycie.

On the down side, that would be exactly zero centimeters.

I told Greg that my hopes for Dec 28 were dwindling and we might as well suck it up and accept the fact that we'll be having this kid on January 11. Which is fine. He'll be pretty much fully cooked by then and at least we'll have the plan in place for somebody to take care Kaycie and everybody else who plans to be there can make arrangements.

But I was really really hoping to have this kid in 2011 and be home before the new year.

Honey Glazed Roasted Almonds

I found it. The roasted almonds I'd been looking for. These are going in my Christmas goodie boxes for my mom and sister-in-law-to-be. If there are any left. And I apologize to those I've already given stuff to that didn't get any. You really should have, because these are awesome.

Honey Glazed Almonds 

2 c. whole almonds, skins on 
1/4 c. sugar 
1/2 tsp. salt 
1 tsp cinnamon or chili powder (optional, depending on the flavor you want!)
2 tbsp. honey 
2 tbsp. water 
2 tsp. almond or vegetable oil

Spread the almonds in a single layer in a shallow ungreased baking pan and place in a cold oven. Bake at 350 degrees, stirring occasionally, until the internal color of nuts is tan (12 to 15 minutes). Remove from oven and set aside.Thoroughly mix the sugar, salt and either cinnamon or chili powder (if you choose). Stir together the honey, water and oil in a medium size pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in the roasted almonds and continue to cook and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed by the nuts (about 5 minutes or less, don't let it burn). Immediately transfer to a medium bowl and sprinkle sugar mixture over all and toss. Spread on wax paper and cool.

Nom. Nom some more. Then nom again... Make more. Nom...

Nursery Revisted (and a Blog Exclusive)

Lest you think MicroTot is being totally neglected, based on this post of his nursery, I wanted to assure you that I've made some progress and he's getting his own home makeover. Instead of the bright flowers and colors of my shower curtain art for Kaycie's nursery, MT is going to get to live in a jungle. Which I find nothing short of appropriate. I haven't finished everything and I'm not sure what else to do with some areas, but here's part of what I've got done:

Decals around the crib and the lion mirror attached. I haven't moved the mattress up yet, but it has monkey sheets on it instead of being full of Christmas gifts and junk! :)

 
MT's new chest of drawers (which is FULL) and his Mickey Mouse car seat, which obviously won't be staying in the nursery! There's also a closet full of his new clothes instead of stuff Kaycie has outgrown. Ignore everything else in the closet, I'm still working on some storage issues for the stuff in the floor and the shelf.

Didn't find any shower curtain art this time, but my mom bought me some canvas prints for the wall! I've also got to find a lamp for his shelves, but I'll get to that eventually. Would love something else to go on the wall (above the line of decals) on both this short wall and above the crib, but I don't know what that'll be.

 

And because while going back to get the links for the top of this post I realized that I did a blog exclusive at 35 weeks with Kaycie, I figured it was time to go ahead and do one for MicroTot. I may post some of the other nursery pics to FB, but this one won't be revealed until after he arrives. We've already told quite a few people who've asked, I just haven't offered it up to the general public yet!

 

Countdown

So I figured tomorrow I would start the 1 month countdown to MicroTot's due date, January 16. But yesterday Dr. T informed us that due to my age she didn't want me to go full term and we should go ahead and look at dates to induce the week before. We settled on January 11, so I guess the countdown is already underway. Less than a month to go.

We also talked about the fact that the nausea has returned, although not as bad as usual for me. She mentioned that this was usually a sign of "the end" and suggested I may go before then.

The next question of course is whether or not I'll dilate on my own this time. She'll start checking for that next week which will give us a better idea of what to expect. Thankfully I made a big dent in getting the nursery ready this week, so if he does get a wild hair to come earlier than the 11th I'm slightly more prepared! Now if I can just get the rest of my house cleaned...

A Little Pre-Christmas Sanity Check

Yes, I said I wasn't going to be posting much more this week, but this ten minutes of peace were brought to you by a new wooden train set that my little curly headed kid thinks is awesome.

What? I was supposed to hoard all new toys until Christmas???

Nah. To be honest, Kaycie is only getting a couple of things from us this year, and one bigger things (a play kitchen) from Santa. But she'll get plenty from grandparents and other assorted family members. She'll get bombarded with toys over a 2-3 day period and will probably be too overwhelmed to figure out what to play with as it is.

Today we picked up this little inexpensive off brand wooden train track set because she's really digging the trains around our house right now (and I had a $5 coupon). I asked Greg if he thought we should save it for Christmas or go ahead and get it for her. His response? "Is she going to have a shortage of toys at Christmas?"

Nope.

But I may have a shortage of sanity in the meantime.

Poof. That's when the brilliant plan hit. Give her the train today and use it as a tool to get some things done over the next two weeks! I can make fudge without help because she's choo-chooing. I can blog because she's choo-chooing. I might can sort out some baby stuff and wash some new baby clothes because she's choo-chooing. I can sit and breathe without being used as a Mama-gym for a few minutes... because she's choo-chooing. That's worth way more than what we paid for the train. And it'll get more use in the next two weeks than it would after Christmas when it's competing with a dozen other shiny new things.

Meanwhile, I'm having some seriously freaky flashbacks to the days when my godson Edwin was about her age and totally Thomas the Tank Engine obsessed. He played with a very similar set (only with the very specific Thomas character trains!) for YEARS. I wonder if this is a point in his favor as to which of the Emmer boys she'll end up marrying. Ian has been in the lead for a long time...