Running Around in Circles

This is Alexis' favorite new activity. I went to our annual HOA meeting a few weeks ago, and she was playing with another little girl and chasing her around her mother, chanting, "I got you! I got you! I got you!" Over and over again. And again. This has become a favorite pasttime of hers the past few nights since Jason came home. We clean up her room and play with just the three of us for a little while, and she'll just start taking laps around one of us and chanting again. Seriously, she'll take at two dozen laps or so before we'll stop her... she loves this game. I'm not sure why. And she'll go the other direction, too, so that she doesn't get dizzy. It makes us laugh so much, and last night Jason started chasing her with maardvark, and loud laughter entered into the equation. She is ridiculous. Then when it was finall time to go to bed, she climbed into her bed, said goodbye, and scooted way down and threw the covers over her head. She then realized she forgot something, uncovered herself, grabbed maardark, brought him under the covers, and then said goodbye again. Our daughter is crazy and makes us laugh so much.

She also just got the Elmo phone back that she got for her birthday from Babu and Bibi. She played with it so much that she ran the batteries down in the first two or three weeks of having it, so we replaced the batteries after her not having it for a while. She immediately started talking to Babu and Bibi on it; I was amazed that she obviously connected the phone with the givers of the phone.

She definitely wants more attention these days, but what's nice is that she can roam around a lot more freely now, so if I'm cooking in the kitchen, I don't really worry too much about her running back and forth in between the kitchen and the dining room. This morning she "helped" me make muffins. I had to keep mixing ingredients one at a time because after she helped me mix once, ske kept asking me to put the bowl on the table so that she could mix some more. I've done a lot of cooking this week, trying to prepare some food for when Micah comes and I don't feel like making dinner. It's been fairly successful, too, which is really nice. I made quiche and sausage casserole, and this morning I made even more muffuns. Nanny gave me a really healthy muffin recipe that can be modified to your own tastes, so I made two different types this morning that turned out really really great! Hopefully they'll be a quick breakfast to grab.

I'm also trying to use these last few weeks of "freedom" to get the things done that I'd really like to have done before Micah comes and not to worry about the things that don't get done. I did some more touch-up painting, (this time in the kitchen and not nearly as extensive as before), lots of cooking, I'm working on our grass although I think final front landscaping is going to have to wait (I did finally get out the 10 inch root of the rose bush we needed to dig up), organize stuff, buy things, etc. I think we have just about everything we need in order to start Micah out, which feels good, and Alexis' room needs a few things done, like curtains and a bookshelf, and then she'll be set for a while until we have time to do a little more in there.

And while I'm definitely wearing out more quickly, I still overall feel really great. By the end of the day I have some swelling in my legs and ankles, which is perfectly normal, so my legs and hips and butt tend to ache by the time the day is over. Micah is certainly still moving, but he's not turning around nearly as much as he used to. I'm pretty sure he's running out of room and starting to feel a bit cramped. I tend to think he might be in the head-down position, so maybe I'll find out next week at my appointment. (It was really nice not having to go to a doctor's appointment this week because I'm so healthy and feel good!) Amongst other things I'm looking forward to, I can't wait until I can stretch again!!! And sleep on my other side! They say sleeping on your side is the best, and the left side is the best of the two options, but what they don't tell you is that sleeping on your right side can help contribute to leg cramps, so I've had to give that up completely. (It's not as comfortable either, but sometimes I just need a position change. That's when I find myself waking up on my back.) I've been sleeping pretty well and only waking up briefly every few hours and then falling right back to sleep, which I really like.

It's about 9:00 right now, and unless Micah comes early, Jason and I will be at the hospital waiting for him to be born. We scheduled the c-section for Friday, July 17 at 10:00 am. It's so weird to be able to do that... I'm hoping to be able to come home on Sunday, but we'll see if that happens. They say three-four nights usually, but if I'm in on Friday morning maybe I'll feel up to leaving by Sunday late afternoon or evening. I'm not going to overdo it, though, and will stay if I need to. These days I'm all about not overdoing things and accepting things that people want to do for me. I am really pregnant after all!