T Minus 11 Days

What does the "T" stand for anyway???

Anywho- we went to the doctor (again) yesterday and am dialated to a 3 and still 75% effaced. Looking good! He said that the baby's head is "very, very low" so I think once things do get moving, it'll be a relatively quick delivery. Okay, I'm hoping anyway. If I could get my epidural now, I would. But we're doing great, just sort of in a holding pattern for the next couple of days or weeks. Ryan had a good analogy: it's like planning your wedding and knowing the ballpark date of when it will be but not really knowing for sure. Pretty accurate I think. I'm adding to my "labor playlist" on iTunes as we speak- just relaxing songs that make me happy. Mostly Dave Matthews but some of my other favorite guys as well (John, Gavin, you know.)

Emerson is awesome these days- when we tuck her in she says, "Sleep all night. No crying." Guess we've been saying that a lot to her... And randomly today she said, "Uno. Dos. Quatro!!!" Seriously... 2 year olds are SO FUN!

The belly at 38 weeks.




Ryan and I had a date night and Emerson was hamming it up for the camera.


My goodness she looks so big! (Her not me...! Well, I guess me too.)


I walked by Emerson's room the other night when Ryan was tucking her in. I think this is just adorable.

Update

Went to the doctor yesterday and I had the option of being "checked." (You know what I mean...) So I said, thanks but no thanks. However, he did tell me what he meant last week by "pretty thinned out" (Katie Mac said, "we need a percentage!") so I'm 75% effaced. Sweet! Not much else to report- just plugging away!

I had to include a picture and I thought this one from Christmas was funny...

Randoms

I took some cute pictures before Christmas and since not much is going on picture wise in the Wood house, I figured I'd post these. That and it may be awhile until I make another post!

We wrapped Ryan's dad's birthday gift for him and were getting set to take it up to Red Oak for Thanksgiving. Emerson saw a gift sitting there (this was before presents were under the tree) and decided to open it. She must've been disappointed to see it was a drill...
Ryan and his mom dug out one of his old toys from the attic- she loved it. Playing Rock Band on Black Friday. BTW- when she's wearing that shirt she points to the skull and crossbones and says, "scary." That's right, honey. It's a Nebraska thing. I'm still learning.

My mom and I took Emerson to Crown Center and she played in the Crayola land area.




Amber got her this outfit for her birthday and it was just too cute not to take some pictures.

Yesterday I went to the doctor- he said baby's head is down (that I knew) and that I'm dialated to a 1 or 2 and I'm "pretty thinned out." Looks good! I'm trying to get good sleep while I can and just relax. Right. Our bags are packed and ready (unlike last time) so we're just waiting.

Oh- and a cute Emerson story. We pulled up to Babies R Us last week and Emerson says, "b-a-b-i-e-s." She saw the sign and was saying the letters. She did the same for a welcome mat we saw- "w-e-l-c-o-m-e." She knows all her letters except some tricky ones like "k" and "j." She starts saying letters in words at the most random times. We were walking in the house from the garage and she pointed and said the letters on my Explorer tires. (Goodyear or whatever they were.) Random! My smart girl!

35 Weeks

So I'm 35 weeks this week and feeling okay. We've gotten the house ready- taken down Christmas decorations and Emerson is in her pink room. I've "de-girled" her nursery so it's back to green and brown- no pink in sight. So we're just waiting patiently.... Emerson came 2 weeks early so I'm hoping this baby decides to come early as well- that would be wonderful! We're still hung up on names so hopefully we'll come up with something. I'm just trying to enjoy these last couple of weeks as a little family of 3 and dote on Emerson even more than I usually do. I have a doctor's appointment next Tuesday so we'll know more then. Can you tell I'm ready???

Christmas 2009

Christmas was a great one this year- we almost didn't make it up to Iowa on Christmas night but we braved the weather and made it in 4 1/2 hours (it should have taken 3.) It was a pretty scary drive on 1-29 but I'm glad we did it. It was fun getting Emerson some toys this year and she was a pro at opening presents. We wrapped all of her presents in Dora wrapping paper and she is still saying "open Dora's?"

All dressed up before a Christmas party.
Blowing out some candles...
Christmas Eve at my mom's after church.



Amber got the kids Christmas pajamas but Griffin had a diaper "issue" so he had to borrow Emerson's. He looks good in pink!

A gift from Grandma Christmas morning.

My mom also got Emerson her own "kitchen." She loves it and we've made some interesting meals together.

On to Red Oak- reading with Grandma Wood. I got her the Tag Junior book thing and she LOVES it. I highly recommend it. Saying "cheese" by all the presents- the presents get more out of control every year! So fun though!

Chris's Iowa Snuggie. Go Hawks!


Grandma and Grandpa Wood got her a Dora blanket that she LOVES and she kisses EVERYTHING these days so Dora was no different.



We put Emerson in her big girl bed on New Years Day night for the first time and it was pretty seamless. She never has gotten out of bed on her own (knock knock) and she woke us up about 4 times just saying "mommy...?" We just go in there and make sure she has her 2 pacifiers and Elmo and she goes back to sleep! Naps haven't even been an issue- she's been great. So- all that worrying for nothing! I know- talk to me when there's a screaming newborn down the hall... Until then!

"Pink Woom!"

The before...















...and after!

So Ryan finished Emerson's room on Monday night, just in time to have the girls over for Bunco. It turned out great as you can see and it's just EXACTLY what I had envisioned. I think Emerson likes it too...

This room was our old guest room and just had a combination of my things and Ryan's things from our rooms in college. The curtains are from the previous owners... Kind of gross.

The walls were "Tiffany" blue when we moved in to this house. This color is actually an improvement, believe it or not. We literally painted this room the day after we moved in.

Emerson is skeptical of our plans...

Little does he know the amount of hours he's about to spend in this room... I haven't seen him smile since.

And we're off. We got the furniture out and Ryan tore up the heinous navy blue carpet. The blue tape on the wall is the guideline for the future chair rail.

Note the nasty ceiling fan. Ryan (like in the nursery) also had to paint all the woodwork in the room. This included 3 doors. I think it took him 3 or 4 coats.

First coat of the pink paints with the roller.

Ryan folded the carpet into the center of the room to use as his work space.

It already looked so much better just with the blinds back up and the new ceiling fan in. Ryan only shocked himself once.
My shoes are a whole other issue. Yes, that closet is full of my shoes. If her feet grow abnormally fast, we can share!

Doors back up, new carpet in.

And here it is. The finished product. The bed and dresser are from my room(s) growing up. They seem so much smaller now!

We'll put her in sometime after Christmas- I think she'll love it! Ryan is available for hire for the right price... :)