3 Weeks and Counting . . .

It hardly seems possible, but we only have a little over three weeks left until Peanut will be joining us - assuming he or she comes on time! Baby Johnson has been continuously on the move with many kicks, rolls, and acrobatics in an ever-shrinking space. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come . . . ? Yikes! Health-wise, everything is going well. We're now going to the doctor every week from now on. Had a slight blood pressure scare yesterday as I'm trying to keep away from preeclampsia, but it turned out well. The doctor thinks this will probably be a decent sized baby . . . I'm not sure what she means by that, but my hope is that we keep it well under 10 lbs!!!

JJ and I made a trip to Babies 'R' Us the other night (LOVE this store!) to grab a few things that we need prior to Peanut's arrival. We came home with an ottoman, a glider on order, a changing pad and two covers, a set of receiving blankets (JJ even picked them out!), and a sleep sack along with a guard for our back seat to protect it from the car seat. Apparently the dog hasn't done enough damage yet to warrant leaving it unprotected! The room is pretty much finished, and my mom, Grandma Pat, and aunt Renae are coming up this weekend to help with other odds and ends. I wonder how much work we'll actually get done?! My goal is to just have fun! :) I'm so excited to see them!!! There's an amazing amount of laundry that needs to be done - every piece of fabric that comes into contact with the baby apparently needs to be washed. That's a lot of folding!

Everyone keeps asking if I'm ready - physically YES! I can't wait to sleep on my stomach again, move faster than a snail, and remember what my ankles look like! Emotionally and just plain "mom" ready - NO!!! I'm scared to death! But I'm excited, too. So that outweighs the fears, and Peanut is coming whether we're ready or not! :)

Waiting for life to slow down . . . but it probably won't!

Not having internet at home is awful! I've been thinking about this blog for weeks, wishing I could get it updated, but the lack of internet access at home has made it a bit difficult. To sum up the past weeks, all is still well with the pregnancy. Other than developing carpal tunnel - due to fluid retention - and with it numb fingers and hands, I can't complain too much - the heat and tiredness is starting to set in, and I'm trying not to "over-do" as I can only take people yelling at me to "Sit down! Put your feet up! Let me do that!" for so long! I've been a bit of a "youth pastor widow" for the past few weeks as JJ & my brother went to Alaska to lead worship at Covenant Bible Camp, and now he's in the Boundary Waters with a large group of senior high students from church. The time has gone fast, though, and now we're at the end of it - which is a good thing since we've got a TON to do in the next six weeks!

Peanut is definitely getting bigger and heavier and packs a certain "punch" when it comes to moving around in ever decreasing space! It's pretty obvious that Peanut is becoming a little crunched for space - my stomach is also getting squashed! I can't eat much at a time - is this good or bad?! - so I get full really fast. Good if I were dieting, but bad since I get hungry much more often!

Only 6 weeks left in this odyssey of pregnancy and then the reality of parenthood comes crashing in. I am so excited to meet this little one and see his or her personality, looks, temperament . . . . but it's also pretty terrifying. After our childbirth class last weekend, I spent a few days thinking, "There's NO WAY I can go through that!!!!" I think the trauma of the fun videos has finally worn off, and I can honestly say that, while I'm not exactly looking forward to labor and delivery for pain's sake, I am excited that we'll finally get to look at our baby. Many prayers have covered this child, and I know God will get us through every minute of everything that happens.

Hopefully I'll get a few pictures on this at some point this week - we'll see!