Gross. Just Gross.

You know there's too much clutter when you confuse your daughter's toys with real animals. And vice versa. 

This week, coming down the stairs and entering my living room, I saw this monstrosity on the carpet, seemingly frozen mid-scuttle:

Plastic Cockroach.
Rumored to be even hardier than a regular cockroach.

I nearly (nearly) immediately realized it was one of Uli's toys and laughed at myself.  How silly of me, to be startled by a plastic insect!

And then I surveyed the rest of the living room floor and all its crazy mix of toys (mainly comprised, on the evening in question, of plastic insects and cloth barn animals).

And I found myself thinking, "Yup, I'm so stupid to have been scared by the plastic bug. It would be like me being startled by that toy dead mouse that's lying next to it. With gashes in it's belly. Made to look like it's in full rigor. And, seriously, how silly would it be of me to be scared by something like that?"  

It was a few seconds before I realized that Uli doesn't have a plastic toy mouse made to appear it'd been mauled to death by cats. 

Ugh.

Reenactment of Said Scene
(lacking a pic of the actual dead rodent)

41 Weeks :: A Birth

Operation Homebirth was a success! Meet my newborn daughter:

Ilse Louise

Born 08-08-11

8 lbs 2 oz

Lots of golden hair

Nurses like she's done this before (but I don't think she has)

I haven't typed up the birthstory quite yet. I've found myself very busy with things like looking into my baby's eyes, cuddling with my two year old and telling her I love her, watching TV with my husband, and eating and sleeping. It's a busy schedule and I am uncertain when it'll let up.

I'll tell you one thing now. She was worth the wait.

40 Weeks

Technically this pic is from Saturday, so it's 39 weeks, 5 days. But close enough, right?

So. My estimated due date. Today. Will the baby come? Perhaps. But probably not. It was bizarre that Uli was born on her EDD and I would fall over if that happened again with this baby. Not that I would complain (Come Baby, if you'd like! Mama would be happy!) but I just don't really expect it. It'd be more likely to be tomorrow. Or Weds. Or next Saturday.  Any day but today.

And as difficult as it is to wait, there are some things to be grateful for in all this waiting. I get to revel in the last bits of pregnancy. That's right, revel! I do truly enjoy being pregnant. I haven't had the heartburn or swelling or aches that many other women (including myself, to a point, last pregnancy) have to suffer through.

Justin says it's not a good reason to think about having more babies just because pregnancy is fun for me.  I don't know if I agree with him...

Things that I'll miss about being pregnant:

• Fast-growing nails
• Healthy hair
• Clear skin
• No joint aches (I've been enjoying the Relaxin experience lately. Very bendy and happy and fewer aches than when I'm not pregnant!)
• Constant company (Hello, little one! I  sure can feel you in there, be-boppin' around!)
• A tight belly (True, it's also a giganto belly, but tight is tight, and I'm enjoying wearing form-fitting shirts and even showing my belly off in a swimsuit and not feeling self-conscious about squishy abs.)
• A reason to read as many birthy-ish blogs and books as I want (love birth! So fascinating.)

As much as I enjoy pregnancy, I am ready to meet this little one. So I'm not hoping I go until 42 weeks or anything. But I guess that if I were to be pregnant for 42 weeks, this is the type of pregnancy to have... (But don't get any ideas, okay, Baby? We're ready now!)