Life at 34 weeks...

Team Taylor Countdown:  42 Days until due date

Family,

And a good afternoon to you from the Queen City.  That's right, sports fans - Team Taylor is just a scant 6 weeks - the same length as a secondary school grading period - away from becoming parents and welcoming the newest member of the Taylor clan to the planet.  Simply unbelievable, but so far I'm still not panicked.  It's helping that we've been able to cross a few to-do's off the list each night, as that at least feels like progress is being made.  The jumperoo is still staring at me like an arch nemesis, but the days of its life in that cardboard box are limited - mark my words...

How big is Baby T, you ask?  Well, according to the "My Pregnancy app" (yes, there IS an app for that), Baby T is now 4.75 pounds (your average cantaloupe) and 18 inches long.  He or she is "fattening up each day to regulate his or her body temperature outside of the womb."  It should be noted that, over the past 7.5 months, our child's size has been compared to everything from a lentil bean to a jicama (what the hell is a jicama?) to a smelly durian (as if there were any other kind) to an English hothouse cucumber (seriously?) to a prune (how dare they compare my child to a dried plumb!) to a pineapple to finally the cantaloupe.  I can't think of many 7 pound fruits, but I'm assuming the 40 week comparison will be a watermelon, pumpkin, or the world's largest eggplant.

The mommy to be - I can't tell you how much I look forward
to and enjoy the weekly Wednesday belly photo - how
cute is she?  I love you, perfect pumpkin!!!!

So how do we know things are changing?  Well, for starters, my wife (who is more beautiful than EVER for the record - check out that photo!), is finally snoring through the night.  Last night was the first night that Sammy the Bull was relegated to the spare room (they are still sweet little snores, but I woke up at 5:30 and just couldn't get back down - not your fault, pumpkin!), and I now remember why we went with the latex mattress in our room (CostCo, baby!).  Also, I'm finding that I'm making a much more concerted effort to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier (as if prepping my body as best I can for the coming routine).

The biggest challenge so far?  FINDING AWAY TO DISPOSE OF ALL THE CARDBOARD IN THIS HOUSE.  I mean don't get me wrong, I am LOVING the gifts (and even the challenge of assembling them), but seriously - where do you store/dispose of all the cardboard between recycling runs?  I drive a Corolla for crying out loud - it's not like I can haul anything to the bloody dumpster.  And so I've been leveraging my tried and true method of taking my $7 Wal-mart hacksaw and sawing each box down into pieces, where they can be stored and thrown away in segments.  GC - I know that you said never throw away a good box, but I seriously have enough packing supplies to move the Red Army across the Gobi desert at this point, so you're just gonna have to trust me.

In the previous weeks I've found myself pausing outside Baby T's nursery, trying to visualize what life will be like during the nappy changes, feedings, rocking spells, crying spells, play time, and everything in between.  Lately, however, I've been quite content to just walk past it, confident that the reality of what actually transpires in that room will BLOW MY MIND and be much more than anything I could have ever imagined.  That being said, there is still a changing table to assemble, a mattress to purchase, and sheets to fold (and seriously, HOW MANY LAYERS ARE THERE ON THAT MATTRESS?  We have a crib sheet, a waterproof sheet cover, the actual sheet, some other layer, and then the blanket - I think the kid will be 9 feet in the air by the time we're done making that bed...), and I would be lying if I said I didn't glance in there every time I passed by.

As for emotions, today I'm my usual mix of a) so excited I can't stand it, b) already worried about whether or not the child will be bullied in high school, and c) wondering how we're going to pay for college.  However, as I had some time on 2 out of those 3, I think my blood pressure will stay within control limits for another day. :-)

Love,

Sam and Jenny