36 Weeks

Here are the latest pregnancy pictures.  Yep, that big, and I still have four weeks to go!  It's hysterical the comments one gets when pregnant.  The only people who should be excused from the 'make no size comments to the pregnant lady' rule are kids or senile adults.  Feminism should have beaten out of any man the desire to make a comment about a woman's appearance.  :o) Women (especially those who have had kids) should just know better.  Do people honestly think that a pregnant women doesn't know she looks large?  I subbed the other day and was asked if I was going to make it through the day before the baby comes.  Noooooo, it would be my ideal to go into labor at a school I've never been to before.  :o)  It took 5 months before people could tell I was pregnant and not just carrying extra belly weight and exactly 5 1/2 months before I got my "you must be due any day" comment.  The only safe comment to give a pregnant woman (or any woman for that matter) is "you look beautiful."  All joking aside, I think my daughter and I look pretty cute together, whale size and all.  Her latest skill is knocking me in the ribs and pelvis at the same time.  She's coordinated!  We are getting more excited everyday.  We happily accept prayers for a smooth labor and healthy baby.

Watch out for Deer!

I have been in my fair share of odd driving situations/ accidents, most in winter weather and only one of which was my fault (make sure you get going the right way on the freeway after taking the trouble to put chains on your car).  Probably the oddest would be one Thanksgiving break in college.  I was driving into Pullman when a doe crossed the road several cars in front of me and disappeared into woods.  It was snowy so all the cars proceeded slowly.  When we got to where the doe had crossed, I saw a flash in my peripheral vision and then the drivers side window shattered.  It took us a minute to react, but we realized (and were told) that a buck had rammed our car!  There was a tuft of fur and slight dent in addition to the shattered window.  Since this incident, I have had a fear of deer and flinch when I see them crossing the road.  My loving husband teases me anytime this story is shared referring to the event as the time I hit the deer and not the time when the deer hit me.  And he chuckles when we see deer and I get tense and over excited. 

Now that you know the back story . . . tonight, we were driving said husband to work when out jumped a doe who bounded across the road in front of us.  We were going slowly and it was far enough in front of us to avoid a collision.  My instinct, of course, was to look for more deer and sure enough, seconds later, another doe comes out of the woods, this time even with us, and runs directly into the back of our car!  The deer was fine and continued to run into the woods.  This is when I erupted into very loud, high pitched screeching, "SEE, I TOLD YOU THAT DEER HIT PEOPLE!"  Tony just laughed and I was elated to have proven that my ridiculous fear of deer is indeed a valid fear (don't judge me because I'm right).  I mean, come on!  I'm not even 30 and have been HIT by deer TWICE.  This whole situation is funny because neither time were we or the deer hurt.  Tonight's only evidence of the hit and run by the deer (we're planning on suing the fish and game people by the way) was a snot and wipe mark on the car.  Here is an article about car/deer collisions because I know you're all dying to know more about these things.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/car-deer-collisions-in-the-united-states.html

My particular favorite bit of advice is number 5 on their list:  If you see one deer on the side of the road and you're fortunate enough not to hit it, be sure to slow down, because where there is one deer, there will often be others.

Don't say you haven't been warned.

Winter

It took until January for the snow to come and stay in upstate New York.  It has snowed about every 4 days with no melting in between so there is quite a bit of accumulation.  I have been super impressed with how well the roads get cleared around here.  They salt the roads (which means you have to wash your car in the winter to prevent too much wear on your car) and plow so they clear up pretty quick when it's not constantly snowing.  We are also blessed because the owners of the house we are renting have an agreement with the neighbors that they can use one side of the garage in exchange for lawn/winter maintenance.  Considering that our neighbor went out three times in one day last week to clear the snow with the snow blower, I am really grateful for this!  It has mainly snowed at night and what I've seen of the snow it's picture perfect lightly falling snow.  Quite pretty.  I've attached some pictures of the house right now.  We are proud of our icicles, especially the double prong one. Naively I thought that the snow would be gone by the time Monica comes in March (western Washington skewed my view of winter), but in reality it will most likely still be wintry when she makes her appearance.  Snow or no snow she's a comin'! 

Getting it "Right"

You know how in the movies when you can see an accident coming and you want to look away, but you can't help but look to see that person run into a brick wall.  As you watch you get tenser and tenser until finally- pow!  They smack right into it.  I feel like I'm watching myself, approaching that brick wall!  I'm sure most first time parents just want to do what's "right" for their kids.  Unfortunately everyone has to discover what's "right" for themselves no matter how much people tell you what worked for them.  I can tell myself a million times to relax, that I don't have to have all the right stuff (insert movie scene of minor break down in BabiesRus trying to figure out what breast pump to get- God bless my husband).  I don't have to have all the answers now (insert WAY too many scenes of conversations about future schooling, discipline, to Santa or not to Santa, etc- are we kidding, she's still minus one month old!).  I don't have to have it "right."  BUT I WANT TO GET IT RIGHT!  We are so blessed to be given this life to care for and I don't want to mess it up.  I'm having an out of body experience watching myself head for the brick wall of being an imperfect parent.  I suppose all parents are doomed to 'mess up' their kids to some degree or another.  I'm sure my movie will involve running face first into that wall countless times, since she's coming whether I have it "right" or not!  It's inevitable, guess I should stop fighting it and enjoy the movie- brick walls and all. 

Surprise Weekend!

Every five weeks Tony gets a four day weekend.  We've been trying to make the most of these weekends by seeing the area while we can still be that flexible.  This past weekend Tony planned our outing as a surprise, I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing.  He took me down to NYC and we had a wonderful time!  We ate lots of good food, including a fancy dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, visits to Washington Square Park and a stroll through Central Park (Strawberry Fields was more like snowy fields right now), time at the Natural History Museum, Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, time at a bar called Don't Tell Mama (a piano bar Tony used to frequent when he lived over here before) and the best yet, tickets to his favorite show which I had never seen on stage, The Phantom of the Opera!  It was a great weekend (must have been since I slept 10 hours last night to recoup). 

The most unexpected events of the weekend were the perks from being pregnant.  At the theater, the usher took one look at me at intermission and showed me to a private bathroom so I didn't have to wait in line!  And when we went to Don't Tell Mama, Tony was told that there would be an hour wait, but when I walked up (after using the bathroom-big surprise), the host sat us right away!  I am so grateful for my husband and the good time we had this past weekend!  Here are a few boring pictures (we were silly and didn't take any of us so really I could have just gotten these offline- guess you'll just have to trust we were really there).

Monica's Namesake

Our first child is due March 2nd.  She is named after St. Monica.  Here's some info on this amazing Saint.

Feastday: August 27

Patron of Wives and Abuse Victims

St. Monica was married by arrangement to a pagan official in North Africa, who was much older than she, and although generous, was also violent tempered. His mother lived with them and was equally difficult, which proved a constant challenge to St. Monica. She had three children; Augustine, Navigius, and Perpetua. Through her patience and prayers, she was able to convert her husband and his mother to the Catholic faith in 370.  Her husband died a year later. Perpetua and Navigius entered the religious life. St. Augustine was much more difficult, as she had to pray for him for 17 years, begging the prayers of priests. One priest consoled her by saying, "it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish." This thought, coupled with a vision that she had received strengthened her. St. Augustine was baptized by St. Ambrose in 387. St. Monica died later that same year.  St. Augustine went on to become a very holy man and a doctor of the Church thanks to the prayers of his mother and the grace of God.

We feel that St. Monica's virtues of hope and perseverance in prayer are qualities we hope to cultivate in our daughter.

Marie is not only in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but also in honor of my Godmother and aunt, Marie.  She wrote to me often in my life with words of love and encouragement.  She constantly wrote of God's unconditional love.  We hope we can demonstrate that unconditional love to our daughter.

Giving In

So I have crumbled under the pressure and joined the blogging world.  I was finally convinced by the thought that I could use the blog as an online scrapbook/ baby book.  I like the idea of looking back and smiling at the cute and laughing at the ridiculous.  My husband, Tony, suggested I name the blog, "Our Family Is Better Than Yours."  We are not trying to show the perfection of our family and opinions (which of course they are), just the reality.  Does sarcasm work without tone of voice?  I also wanted a place for the friends and grandparents to easily see pictures and videos of the new baby since it's common knowledge that people read blogs for the kids- adults are boring.  Disclaimer: the blog might on occasion turn into a sounding board for my overbearing opinions, but I'm going to try to keep that reigned in.  Happy Reading!