So sorry I haven’t been posting. I woke up with a lovely blog post in my head yesterday and never made it to the computer to post it. I was going to post that Virginia had actually dropped. I was pretty happy about that.

But before I could post something lovely here, something else had to go wrong. I was walking into the kitchen to grab a snack yesterday when I stepped in a puddle of water my kids had made on the floor, slipped, and completely fell. I did the splits basically and pulled all of my baby muscles. I hurt all through my groin, inner thighs and hips. Last night it was so bad I literally could not walk to the bathroom. I ended up sleeping sitting up in bed with all my pillows and blankets behind me because that’s the only position that didn’t make me bawl like a baby. I’ve been slathering myself in arnica gel, taking tylenol, and resting. This morning it isn’t as bad. I was able to make it to the bathroom and take a shower and even though it was difficult, it was doable.

So now I’m just hoping I don’t go into labor before I can heal up.

On a positive note. My sweet daughter brought me breakfast in bed this morning. A yummy peanut butter and fresh strawberry sandwich and some orange juice. She loves concocting interesting sandwiches. hee hee it wasn’t half bad either. She’s such a sweetie.

Oh and thank you so much to the hubbies who made it possible for my gazebo roof to get finished! Thank you thank you thank you!

Five days until EDD day and the gazebo roof is still not done. Dave worked on it for four hours last night, but thanks to some not-so-good screws he was unable to finish it, even with his brother’s help. I’m sure he will be working on it again tonight, which stinks for me, because I have so many other things that I need done.

Oh well, it’s not like I’m going into labor anytime soon anyway. I have been contracting like a crazy person thanks to the Dr. Christopher’s formula I’m taking, but they are doing nothing. Last night I had an intense contraction that woke me up. It felt like she was trying to come down lower, but it must have been a fluke because today she’s just as high as always. sigh

I originally told my brother that the only way I’d photograph his wedding is if it put me into labor. Alas all I personally got out of it was pain. I couldn’t walk or even hardly move all day yesterday because my muscles were so cramped up, and as far as contractions go, not a one. sigh The pictures turned out OK though and I hope they are happy. The ceremony was beautiful and very touching. I felt bad that I couldn’t be up an moving more during the reception but I was wiped out. Thank goodness for my awesome DH who stepped in and snapped a few whenever I really needed a break. He even snapped a few lovely pictures of me doing my thing. I only wish he would have snapped a picture of me laying on the ground in the parking lot to get the groomsmen shot. I wanted him to get the shot, but he just wasn’t doing it right. LOL But I couldn’t have done the wedding without him, that’s for sure. Now I just have 20 hours of editing ahead of me! LOL I’d love to be nursing a baby while I’m doing it, but I figure I have a minimum of 13 days until I see this little one.

DH swears the hot tub gazebo roof will be done TONIGHT! I hope he is really able to finish it. If anyone feels like coming by to help him, we would be very grateful. My house is still a mess, but hey, when isn’t it a mess? I’m not expecting much that way. To my friends and family attending the birth, please feel free to kick my kids into gear if you show up when I’m in labor and the house is a disaster. I don’t think I’ll have the energy to encourage them to clean up.

Can you believe I woke up sick this morning??? I never get sick and here I am sitting with some awful stomach bug and I have to photograph my brother’s wedding today. Originally I was hoping the wedding would put me into labor, but now I’m hoping it doesn’t. The hot tub gazebo is not finished, so I absolutely can not have my baby this weekend. I’m so not happy about being sick.

My appointment with the dermatologist yesterday went swimmingly if I do say so myself. It was quick and painless and even today it doesn’t hurt so much. It’s awesome to have the dang thing GONE! yeeehaaaaawwww!

Yesterday was a busy day. After my appointment I went baby shopping! I needed some onesies, some knit blankets, and some socks. I had lots of fun shopping, especially at Target. They had the cutest things! I went a little hog wild with the shopping. LOL But now I feel like I have everything I need baby clothes wise.

It was hard when I got home though because as I was putting away all the little clothes my daughter was crying her eyes out because I didn’t get her anything. sigh I can’t please everyone. She just sees the large amount of clothing I’m getting at once and assumes I love the baby more than her. Me buying her clothes is a HUGE part of her love language and I do it a lot. I can definitely understand it, but it’s such a strange experience as I’ve never had any jealously issues with my boys. I’m sure this is just the first of it, and not the last. LOL

Last night my midwife came for a home visit to meet DH and the kids. I’m measuring 49 cms which is about 2 cms smaller than I measured at this point with Finn, so that’s good. She was asleep and her heartrate was mostly in the 130s. She is ROA and head down but not very far down. She is soooooo high, the midwife says she won’t be coming any time soon. Darn. Well, my brother would be angry if I wasn’t around to photograph his wedding tomorrow anyway.

She said I need to be tested for Group B Strep. I’ve never been tested so it makes me pretty nervous, but I am going to go ahead and do it for her sake. You never know how things will go and in the case of a transfer it’s best if my chart shows that I’ve been doing everything I’m supposed to do.

I’m starting to feel ready to meet my baby. It’s getting harder and harder to be the only one still waiting in my group of friends. We have one friend in Provo who is behind me but we don’t see her all the time. At our weekly playgroup all the moms that were pregnant together are now showing off their babies and I’m the only one left waiting. I’m trying to be patient as I’m sure I will go a week or so over, but it’s difficult.

I am officially due in 10 whole days! EEEK! I’m so not ready for this. My house is still a disaster. Our hot tub gazebo roof is not complete. I still have some baby items I need to buy. I just don’t feel ready! I guess she’ll come despite that and she probably won’t even care about the mess. I never did get to see the chiro and I tried to make an appointment on Monday and left a message but she never called me back. I have been having a heck of a time listening to my hypnobabies CDs. I swear I’m still in denial that I’m having a baby.

I’m so nervous about my mole appointment this morning. Wish me luck! I hope it’s over quickly and painlessly and I won’t have to worry about the dang thing anymore.

First of all a BIG THANK YOU to all of the people who loved me enough to throw me a baby shower for my sixth child. You went above and beyond the call of duty and it means so much to me. To My SIL Amy, my MIL Dianne, my mother Debra, and my good friend Brandi....THANK YOU! I wanted to give a big speech at the shower about how loved I feel, and how special I feel and all that but I was too afraid I’d get all blubbery and cry and I didn’t want to embarrass anyone. But it really meant so much to me that you would do this for me. It was a wonderful gift and it has really helped me to get excited about meeting my sweet Virginia!

To all those who came to the shower- THANK YOU!!! You are all such lovely people and it was sooo wonderful to see everyone. The gifts were all so lovely and so appreciated. You all made my day so wonderful!

And for all of you who are readers, I would like to share some photos with you. Brandi took the photos and she did a phenomenal job. I think she’s a photographer at heart. Just click on the smaller version to see it larger.

These are pictures of me admiring some of my gifts. A lovely set from Julia, and some booties that my midwife gave me.

The first one here is my dd Rani showing off the handpainted onesie that she designed for Virginia and then a lovely picture of Emily with sweet three-week-old Abigail.

And last but not least. I got to meet one of my internet friends, Cristy, for the first time! Here we are with our baby bellies. Cristy is due May 20th, 9 days after me. I hope I beat her! LOL

I have had this hideous mole on my back for as long as I can remember. I have had it looked at once, like 15 yrs ago, LOL and was told it didn’t need to be removed. I have wanted to have it removed, but the thought of having to sit naked having my whole body scoured for moles freaks me out so I haven’t gone in. Over the years my hair has occasionally caught on it and I suppose cut it a bit because it is now separated from my skin on one side. This is making a complete misery of my life because every time I take off my shirt and forget to pull up my hair it gets wrapped around the mole and I have to have DH help me got the hair to come undone, all the while in pain. This is NOT a convenient time to be dealing with such an annoying problem. I’m not sure what to do about it. I am praying that I can find a doc that will just slice it off without having to search for every mole and skin tag I own. sigh I have become a much more private person since I switched from hospital birth to homebirth.

edited to add I was able to make an appointment for This Thursday morning with a female doctor! EEEK! I am soooo nervous but I think it will go OK. It will be so nice to have it finally gone.

I’m feeling very guilty about not posting any pictures of Emily’s baby, Abigail. I picked my favorite from our session to post here. Isn’t she beautiful?

Shannon requested a sneak preview of the bridal shots I did for future SIL. Here is one and you can view the rest on my Flickr stream.