End of the Road

Although this blog post really had it's meaning a couple weeks ago, I'll go ahead and post it late anyway.

I've come to the end of my pregnancy. Waiting for the big moment now. Funny thing is, there are some other things coming to the end of their road as well.
The biggest one is Hallee become a full-time walker! She has really blossomed with this new freedom too. I'm glad to see the end of the crawling phase come before baby is born. That was my secret wish, and what a nice girl for giving her mother her wish! With a couple of road trips coming up though, I think we'll be investing in the those backpack leashes for her. I swore I would never put one of those on my child, but I'm feeling an inkling of being overwhelmed when I think about tackling tasks with 4 kids by myself. scarey!
There was another end of the road last week- one that was more on the sad side. Jeremy's mom came to visit and help with the baby, but- sorry to spoil the ending- she ended up having to leave with no baby born yet. She arrived on Tuesday, 2 days before due date, and I even had a couple contractions that night. Then nothing really. I had a midwife appointment on that Thursday and I was dilated to a 2 and not really effaced much, but definetly "soft." :) I always laugh when they use that word. The midwife said she would be really surprised if she saw me again in a week for a regular apointment, in other words, she thought I would deliver soon. She told Jeremy, "no more riding your bike to work."
Well, everyone became very anxious for the baby to come; minus me I'd say, someone's got to keep a calm head. Each day was spent waiting for contractions, every conversation seemed to be about how I was feeling, Jeremy giving me orders to do certain labor-inducing activities. It was actually quite torturous. ;) With Jeremy taking the car everyday, Grandma and us were left at home to do nothing too exciting. It added to the torture. I crazily thought of things to do- one of which was making a big card- more about that later.
Luckily, we at least at Lucy's ballet recital that weekend. Another "end of the road." It was very fun to be a part of the dance recital. Lucy was very excited. I'm not sure how many dancers there were, but it was a long recital! I hadn't anticipated part of the mom's job to keep the kids entertained yet quiet as they waited for their turn to perform. I hadn't brought anything to do nor any snacks. Thankfully, some of the other moms were more prepared than I was. I was able to think of one game for the girls to do, "Ballerina, Ballerina, where's your flower?" (a twist on the Doggie doggie, where's your bone game.) It was quite the hit with girls and moms because it kept them sitting down, quiet, and entertained for a good 40 minutes or so. Lucy did a great job on her dances. I was surprised because she had missed a couple of the last practices and I wasn't sure she would remember anything. They have a leader to follow of course, but she still did a great job. You can see in the video how she was one of the 'those' kids that runs off stage as soon as she's done dancing, an excited exit to daddy, not to script, but it did make the audience laugh.

After the recital, the focus was back on having the baby. :( Grandma's flight was scheduled to leave Tuesday night. Sunday and Monday were tense and sad realizing that nothing much was happening. Monday was spent talking about how and if she could take another flight and stay a few more days. Unforunteately, there were just no signs I would go into labor and it didn't seem worth the money to change the ticket. We finished a huge card for the residents at the elderly community where she manages. I had started making ice cream cone cards for all the residents, then Grandma suggested making just one big card. We came up with the phrase, "I scream, You scream, We all scream" and the inside of the card said, "Is the baby here yet?" There were 37 ice cream cones, each with one of the resident's name on it, on the inside of the card.
The baby was eventually born. :) She ended up coming the day after Grandma left. That Sunday was Father's day and we were having ice cream cones for dessert. I had to take a picture of all of us with our cones. It fit in too well with our card for the elderly residents and I had to send the update: "Here's the latest scoop...Isabella Van Tress." We're very happy with this new little sister. I'm sure you want to hear every last detail (not really) so I'll be sure to write my birth post next.

Oh, and the last 'end of the road' was... the end of my 30th year. Happy 31st birthday with homemade apple pie.