Plans and belly shots

We are entering the home stretch. I can confidently say that there will be a baby in my house 3 weeks from today. (My due date is 4/1).

Just for fun, and for documentation purposes, here are some belly shots.

Here's the regular view looking down:

If I lean way over, I can glimpse my feet:

And here is a side shot, captured by Ethan:

So, as I said, within the next 3 weeks, there will be a new little girl in the family. Can't wait to meet you, Emily! Luckily, she is not the only thing we have to look forward to or it might be the longest 3 weeks in the world.  Tomorrow is my last day of violin teaching before I officially start my maternity leave. Thursday is Ethan's choir concert. Friday is the day Elizabeth gets her cast off (hallelujah!). Saturday and Sunday are General Conference. My adored and much revered mother arrives next Monday, and two weeks from today (if not sooner), Mr. M submits his dissertation. And then, it's party time!

There is still work to be done until then, of course. Some of the things I would like to get done before Emily arrives include scheduling 180 piano auditions (I work for a piano competition in CA), making Harry Potter robes for the boys (I have the fabric and the pattern already), cleaning all the bathrooms and floors and baseboards, mowing the lawn, touching up all our paint inside, catching up on all the laundry and getting rid of all the bachelor socks, hanging a few pictures, making soap, finishing the last of the mending, planting the garden, cleaning out the garage, and then all the regular things like cooking, keeping up with the dishes, homeschooling Scott, and finishing a few books. I can get about one extra thing done every day, so depending on Emily's timing, I may get it all done! I'm nothing if not ambitious:)

What's happening at your house?

A monster!

Usually we get a little more scary arm-waving, but she seems to have been more focused on getting the shirt on.

Things to remember about my girl

These are just some little happenings that I wanted to write down. If I were a baby book person, they would go in the baby book. I may come back and add things as they happen.

Elizabeth sits on my lap. Closing her eyes, she asks, "Mommy, where are you?"

"I'm right here," I tell her. "Where are you?"

"Under my eyes," she tells me.

*****

Elizabeth sits at the table drinking milk. Suddenly, she starts to growl and wave her arms, menacingly. "Oh, no! Are you a monster?" She nods yes. "A milk-drinking monster?" "ROARHARRR!" she answers.

*****

It has been a while since I changed Elizabeth's diaper. She is pushing a chair through the kitchen. "How are your pants?" I ask her.

"Leave me alone, mama!" she answers me. Then she continues pushing the chair and starts singing Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way....


*****


We are sitting in the car at a stoplight. From the backseat, I hear Elizabeth exclaim, "Come on, people! Come on!"

Broken foot

On Friday night, Miss Elizabeth climbed up to the top of our Expedit bookshelf. She has done this before and she loves jumping into our big blue beanbag. So, when Scott came down and reported that she was up on the bookshelf, I told him to move the beanbag over and let her jump down. I knew there was no point in my going upstairs to get her down; she would just climb up again.

A few minutes later, I heard cries. Hurt cries. I hurried my hugely pregnant self up the stairs and found Elizabeth in tears, on her hands and knees. She had jumped OVER the beanbag, Scott reported, and landed on the floor toes first, then face. She couldn't wiggle her toes or put any weight on her left foot. I brought her downstairs, sat her in our big leather chair, and gave her an icepack. I knew she was in a lot of pain because she actually kept the icepack on her foot for 10 minutes. (Usually, she touches the icepack to the injured whatever for 10 seconds and is good to go.)

After Mr. M got home and  we ate dinner, I took Elizabeth over to the TX Med Clinic near us. They did x-rays and suspected one, possibly two, hairline fractures in the top of her foot. After 3 hours there, they sent us away with a copy of the x-rays, a splint on Elizabeth, and instructions to follow up with a pediatric orthopedic doctor.

This morning we went to the doctor. They got us in 40 minutes after we called! The doctor said he was impressed with the service and care we got from TX Med Clinic, as the fracture was difficult to discern, but definitely there. Elizabeth, as you can see from the photo, is now in a cast. It will come off in 3 weeks. She isn't supposed to take a bath or go outside, but if we have to do either of those things, we have very specific instructions on how to do them both.

It's our first broken bone. On the plus side, Elizabeth says she isn't going to jump off the bookshelf anymore.

This is for you, Ben!

Sometimes people live too far away to appreciate the little things that happen because those are not the things we document. Here is a very short video of Elizabeth entertaining herself yesterday down at the Produce Terminal (it was my turn to shop for the produce co-op).



I like the way she sensibly pulls her pants up after all that hopping.