Labor Day?

No, not for me.

Last week, a guy in my neighborhood asked me if the baby is coming soon. Well, that is a relative question. If you think 4.5 months is soon, then absolutely, we are having a baby soon. In the world of pregnancy, however, I am just halfway there. "Soon" seems like a huge exaggeration.

Because of my height, I suppose, I am large for the second trimester, with plans to get much larger. I am preparing to be fielding that question for the next four months, until I can finally say, "Yes, soon."

For Heather (my writing partner and a bff), however, "soon" is the right word. Hours or days, we don't know, but for her it could not be soon enough.

Here we are at 20 and 39.5 weeks.


So, to answer your frequently asked questions:

1 - I feel great; thanks for asking.
2- The first half of July. Due to our previous experience, in this house, we don't focus on an actual day. 07/07/07 is a possibility, however.
3- A girl, according to the ultrasound technician.
4- Yes, Julian knows the words "mommy has baby in da tummy" but we don't think he necessarily knows what that means.
5- They will be 2 years and 8 months apart.
6- We do have some name ideas, but they are sealed in saran wrap, locked in an airtight vault, and will not be revealed before the end of the pregnancy.

UPDATE: Heather's baby, Milo Theodore Flibbs (not his real last name), was born 47 hours after this picture was taken.

While the boss* is away

* Ryan's college nickname is "Boss". It does not mean he is actually the boss. Well, he is in fact the boss of a few people at his office, but around here, he's probably last in line for that title.

Recently, Ryan was away on a business trip. While he was gone, I succeeded in selling a piece of furniture from our living room. We want new furniture and agreed that this piece should go. When the nice craig's list people came and took the chair, it looked to me like our living room grew. There was a wonderful big empty space where there chair had been, and I felt like I could breathe more easily.

Ryan got home from Denver a few hours later. He didn't notice the new vacancy in the living room, and I didn't mention it to him. I wanted to see who would notice first between him and Julian.

We brought Julian home from school and he ran right through the formerly-occupied space as if he had been able to run that path his whole life.

And several more hours passed, and still Ryan did not notice. During that time, Julian asked about certain missing toy trains, missing puzzle pieces, but not a very large missing chair.

I am comforted, actually, because I was nervous about selling a perfectly good chair. I feel validated that none of us actually ever sat in it.

Take your guess: Did Ryan notice, but think it wasn't worth mentioning? Will Julian be the first to point out "where wocking chair go?" Will Ryan suddenly say, "Hey, you sold the chair!" Will Ryan read this post before that happens?

I'll be waiting.