Dangerous Wonder

Wow, how time does fly! My sweet rambunctious niece Grace Elizabeth turns one year old today. I remember seeing her when she was just a few hours old. So tiny and cute! She's still cute, but now is such a big girl! I love her adventurous spirit. If only she didn't intimidate my son so much maybe he could learn some of her courage. The girl is fearless! Well anyway, here's to you Grace and another year full of adventure, learning, and fun!

Well as of right now (6:06 pm) I am not in labor, and believe me I've done everything imaginable today(well maybe not everything, but close) to try and get my body to start the process. I went shopping with Dean (my 30lb toddler), vacuumed and dusted my entire second level including the stairs, did laundry, etc. I'm definitely tired and sore, but no closer to labor it seems. Oh well, one thing I've realized about myself is that the biggest fear in life is losing control. With my last labor and delivery I did everything I could to make sure I could stay in control. While my preparations probably didn't hurt any, they certainly didn't assure me the kind of delivery I dreamed of. This time I've decided to trust my doctor and God for the details and believe that both Abi and I will "come out" healthy and whole. I realize this is hard for me, but I think I will have greater peace and enjoy the process much more if I'm not trying to cram everything into my preconceived notions of how it should go. That said, I'm at peace about the induction and all that that entails. I look forward to some uninterrupted time with my husband and maybe a few games of Settlers! :)

On to Dean news... I realize I've neglected to post about him lately as all the focus has been on Abi coming. I have moved Dean to a booster seat as he really wasn't fitting correctly in his high chair. He loves it! He seems like such a big boy sitting up to the table. We are working on him using kid-sized utensils too. He does well with a fork, but doesn't seem to keep food on a spoon. We also finally transitioned Dean from a bottle for milk to a sippy cup. Thanks to a suggestion from a good friend of mine, we've reserved one cup specifically for milk, which seems to help. Now for the big news......(drum roll please!) Dean took his first steps on his own today. He has been able to balance on his own when he isn't really paying attention for awhile. Today he was balancing on his own and walked a few steps to me. He got soo excited that he couldn't repeat the feat again until he wasn't focused on it. He gets so nervous that he's going to fall, that he just won't try. What I wouldn't do to be able to reassure him that someday he'll walk with ease and never remember not walking. I am so proud of him though for getting this far! What a cutie he is!

Well, here it is Abi's due date and no sign of impending labor. To be honest I've had many of the textbook signs of impending labor for days now. So the real question is what does impending mean? Does that mean within the next 12 hours (obviously not!) or within days or weeks (more probable in my case)? All things considered I am feeling good and still able to keep up on the household chores. I feel fairly set for when Abi comes too. My sister Stephanie moved in yesterday so I have that to distract me. We are helping her get settled in the city and find a job etc. It's nice to have her around! Hmmm... this is a rather short post, but I just have nothing else to report. Keep checking back! :)