One Month

January 3 is this baby's "due date."  Not that I put much stock in such things.

This week the nesting has started.  I'm not sure if it's because of the ticks, which prompted a lot of extra cleaning both before and after treating the house, or if it's bonafide nesting.  I feel like I spend all day dead on my feet only to spend my evenings doing "just one more thing" before bed.  Next thing I know, it's midnight (or later) when I finally close my poor tired eyes.  The house is looking pretty good, though, with all the cleaning and organizing.  It still needs more, but I'm pretty sure I'll have several more weeks to attack it all.  Then I need to plan to have people over to enjoy it all.  Wouldn't that be a crazy pregnant lady thing to do?

Today was the beginning of weekly visits to the OB.  Fun times.  My pregnancies are pretty boring, and I'll keep it that way, thank you very much.  Today though, I had a quick, exam room ultrasound because I'm measuring a touch small.  Apparently my amniotic fluid is on the low end of average for the 3rd trimester.  Time to drink up and keep myself over hydrated and running to the restroom every hour! Otherwise everything looks good.  Baby is head down with his feet in my ribs (as was kindly pointed out to me, as if I can't tell :-P)

I also had the scariest moment of my life today.  The exterminator ended up coming today, since the ground was wet yesterday.  As soon as we got home I went to work vacuuming and/or mopping every inch of exposed floor in the house.  I also opened up windows and turned on fans.   Charlotte was running around eating an apple and singing her ABCs as I moved from mopping the dining room at the front of the house to the bathroom.  Suddenly I realized I didn't hear her anymore and went to check on her.  She didn't answer my call at all and I didn't see her in any of the rooms she'd just been in.  As I'd been mopping, several chairs were pushed up next to the open window, and earlier she'd curiously peeked her head outside. I started calling her name frantically through the house, and all I could think was that she'd climbed out the window.  I ran outside in a panic, but there was not a soul in sight.  I called her name and ran down the driveway to the back yard, but she wasn't there.  Back inside I called her name loudly and began to imagine the worst.  I pulled down my sweater and started to dig through my purse for my cell phone.  As I was spreading the contents of my bag on the floor in a panic, she came trotting, all smiles, out of the laundry room with Fred's big flashlight.

I've never been so freaking relieved in my whole life.  I don't think I'll be opening the front windows without screens again, unless my eyes are on her the whole time.  It does give me more incentive to replace them - something that had been far down my list of to-dos for this house.

On a more cheerful note, MC and Fred had the cutest phone conversation this evening as he drove home from the airport.  The phone rang and MC was going to bring it to me, but then decided, "It's Daddy!" and decided to answer it herself.

"Hi, Daddy! You wanna play blocks?" 
"This blocks?" (pointing to her logo style, mega blocks)
"How 'bout this blocks?" (pointing to her wooden blocks)
"Christmas tree!" (running and pointing at the Christmas tree)
"Snow man!" (running to point at a Santa Claus - okay, so she's a little off)
"Maddie!" (pointing at maddie) "Maddie go groover!" (groomer)
(over to nativity set she'd been playing with when the phone rang) "Baby, Mommy, Daddy, Joeseph, sheep, 2 sheeps!"

The whole time I keep asking her if I can talk to Daddy.  "No, I talk to Daddy."

Finally I hear, "Bye, bye, Daddy" about 10 times in a row (apparently Fred was at the front door and trying to get her to come see him).  As sadly clicked the phone shut she said softly, "I love you."

She's totally precious!