Last day

Absolutely a gorgeous day today - why we live in Western Washington! 80 degrees, sunny, with a slight breeze - couldn't ask for better!!!! Also, it's our last day as a 3 person family and spent most of it as a two person since Dean had to work. Kind of strange getting all prepared to have the baby tomorrow. I spoke to the anesthesiologist on the phone today to discuss the plan and went yesterday to get bloodwork and was "banded" and have been forced to wear my hospital band since!!! Packing tonight and hanging with my parents as Dean watches his world cup semi-final... it all feels very surreal.

Here's a few pics from the day...

Our big "splurge" of the year occurred yesterday and arrived today in the form of a new vehicle. I would call it a car, but that's not very fitting... we have affectionately nicknamed it "The Beast". It's a Nissan Armada Platinum has ALL the bells & whistles and is by far the largest and nicest (even better than the porsche!!) vehicle we've ever owned. We're VERY excited about it, but unfortunately I will not be able to drive for the next two weeks thanks to the c-section, so I'm eagerly awaiting it!!!!

So much to do... so LITTLE time!!!

So here we are... final couple days as a three person family! I worked my official "last day" (in other words, last day of seeing patients) on Friday - woohoo!!! I needed the rest, so much chaos lately and SOOOO much left to do before Thursday!!! Trying to tie up all my loose ends at work and home and get things prepared for the little guy. Still tons to do, but at least I have 2 more days to do it in! We're headed to the car dealership today to hopefully finalize a deal and then back home for a lot more organizing. My staff has been joking that I'm "nesting" all last week because of all the last minute things I finished up. Also, if I hear one more time "there's no way you're making it until July 8th" or "are you sure you're not having twins" I'm going to scream!!! No contractions + good fetal movement = no way am I delivering early!!!! This kid is going to arrive in this world on time and drama-free damnit!!!! I think we deserve that much after last time!!!
I'm in the midst of planning Dean's 40th bday party too (can never do just one thing at once!!!) and am loving the over the hill/tombstone/grim reaper theme I've picked!!!! He thinks it's funny and hopefully we'll have good weather and good turnout!
FINAL week of World Cup this week and Dean's already starting withdrawal - only one game a day with many days of NO games - horrors!!!! At least Ian has stayed on schedule for the semi-finals and we're hoping to be home in time for the final! I have been informed that the Premier League begins Aug 18th (?) again for another 9 months... is there no end???!!!
Just a few pics from this week... don't know when I'll update this again... most likely post-Ian.

Ainsley's dinner party at our new kitchen table

Ahh... the life of a vet's kid... A actually wore this e-collar more than Zeppi! (Minor fatty tumor removal on Zeppi's side led me to bring this home for her - the neurotic licker!)

Our tax dollars put to good use... free chipping by the DNR of tons of limbs we had accumulated.

Ainsley helping Dean assemble her new playhouse



The Short Family Playground is complete in lieu of a house!!!!

39 Weeks - thank goodness for the concealing powers of black!!!! Really looking forward to having my shirts fit over my belly again!!! A showing off her belly too...

Little speeding bullet!!!

39 Weeks with Ainsley - whoa!!!! 20 lbs lighter this time. Actually gained 4 lbs in one week last week, although my midwife assures me it's water weight. Apparently I am carrying a 7 1/2 to 8 lb baby with a ton of fluid - sure hope that's the case! As much as I was looking forward to a natural birth, there is something to be said for the ease and planning allotted by a planned c-section. Not looking forward to the pain and swelling post-op, but at least this time I'll be able to be slightly pampered and recover properly.

Father's Day Weekend

A few cute pics from the week...

Pre-playset play...

We spent a nice quiet weekend at home over Father's Day. The weather Saturday was partly cloudy but warm, whereas Sunday was nasty - foggy, on and off sprinkles and about 55 degrees. My parents spent the day with us on Saturday and it primarily consisted of Dad & Dean (aka. J&D Construction; formerly J&D Moving/Packing/etc.) constructing Ainsley's new slide & swingset - affectionately known by us as "The Taj Mahal of Play Equipment"!!! And what a project it turned out to be!!! J&D spent 10 hours on it Sat,

Dean another 8 on Sunday,

and FINALLY finished it tonight - whew!!!

And only one leftover piece (determined by Dean to be non-important)!!! Ainsley LOVES it of course, but is a little timid of the slide since it's pretty steep and fast and she hits the ground flying. We catch her at the bottom right now until we can figure out something to pad it. The sand box is in place and the playhouse will be here Saturday and then the Short Playground will officially be open for business. We decided as long as it's looking less likely we're building (still waiting on word from the bank), we needed to expand our "play area" as we're getting more and more cramped inside. Here's hoping to good weather this summer so we can spend LOTS of time outside this summer!

Work is finally becoming more manageable - I've started taking a half day on Mondays plus my day off on Tuesday and it's helped immensely. Plus my staff have started to schedule lighter which has also made a difference. Only 2 weeks of work left - hard to believe, really. Not that I won't be working at all, still have to be involved behind the scenes, just not seeing patients for 7 whole weeks!

I hit the 37 week mark on Saturday and am definately feeling it. Into the home stretch and uncomfortable, though I remember it worse last time. Maybe I just don't have the luxury of sitting around and thinking about it this time!!! Especially not with a little Boo constantly asking - "What doing Mommy? Why, Mommy?" etc. Still have managed to keep the weight down (approx. 30 lbs less than last time - woohoo!) and am not suffering the cankles and lower leg edema like before.

38 weeks before...

Today...

Maybe I'll actually take it off faster than 1 1/2 years this time too!!! I'm hoping to be bathingsuit ready by March actually, as we are considering a family trip to Mexico with my best friend Catherine and her family. Plus, would love to do the Danskin Tri annually since I had so much fun the last time (minus the swim). This year is impossible as it falls 4 weeks after my c-section. Oh, and on the VBAC front, as suspected, a no go. I got the phone call Friday from the Chief Medical Officer at the hospital who personally believes in VBAC's but hospital policy and insurance will not allow it. If I was gung ho for it I could go live in Seattle until I go into labor, but that's NOT going to happen. And I'm most certainly not waiting to drive there until I start laboring, especially after last time. So unless I go into labor early (which they've got bets on at my office!), little Ian Parker Short will be born around 7:30am on July 8, 2010. Weird to know the date and time!!!! Also, a little bit of a hard pill to swallow - the whole idea of not truly experiencing childbirth. Ah, c'est la vie.

Beautiful Weekend

So summer is definately on it's way as the temperatures finally move into the 70's and the sun makes an appearance!!! I spent Sat am at work, while Dean & Ainsley spent the morning entirely immersed in World Cup World. ONE WHOLE MONTH OF SOCCER - oh my!!!!! Of course, the house was cheering on England

and was mightily disappointed by the ridiculous gift of a goal the goalie gave the US.

The afternoon was spent napping and playing with Ainsley's new water table. We had finally decided last week to buy the Costco playset we've been eyeing the last couple months and of course they were sold out!!! Hoping they come in soon so we can start spending more time outside and staying entertained. Especially with our little man so soon to make an appearance!!! 36 weeks today and counting down the minutes!!! Definately into the uncomfortable phase and ready to meet our little guy. No word from the hospital on a change of VBAC policy, so still planning on July 8th c-section at 7:30am unless we hear differently.

Looking forward to another nice day tomorrow and keeping my fingers crossed that no animals get sick!!! This is my LAST weekend of call until August - woo hoo!!!! In jest, I even said to Dean this am that a couple months off call is almost worth getting pregnant again - he was not so inclined!!!

Joint Birthday Party

On our one beautiful day last weekend (luckily!), we celebrated Ainsley's birthday along with 6 other kids. All of the kids are between 1 - 4 (most are 2) and their birthdays all fall between April and July, so we decided instead of attending 7 individual birthday parties and getting 6 different gifts, let's draw names and have a big party with all the kids at once sometime in the middle. It worked great and everyone had a fab time!!! We went to the Olympic Game Farm (local drive-through zoo) and had the gift exchange and paparazzi-esque photo session. One of the moms (so creative!) made little t-shirts for all the kids with their birthday number on it.

Next it was off to drive the farm where you can see all the caged animals, but then others roam free and nearly attack the cars to get slices of bread you can feed them. The yaks, fallow deer, and buffalo are very forward literally putting their heads into your car windows!!!

Fun, but a little scary for the kids! Especially the rambunctious buffalo that was literally jogging alongside our car and shoving his entire huge head into the window!!! Unfortunately, since I was just trying to keep bread in his mouth and keep Ainsley from getting too scared and avoiding being licked myself - no pics of him. After the farm we headed over to one of the family's house for a potluck and cake and most importantly, swingset time!!!! All in all a great day... might make the joint party a tradition!!!