Cheep entertainment.

While we have no snow like my friend Alicia is enjoying at the moment, we have been finding ways to keep ourselves busy over the last few days.

Seth finally acquiesqued to my request that we put lights on the outside of the house this year. I have always felt that when it gets dark so early, we should do something to lighten up the great outdoors. Is this or is this not the season of light reborn? Here he is putting up icicle lights on the outside of the house and colored lights on our little fir tree. He's standing on our shed throwing the lights around the tree. My heart did a little pitter-patter when I saw that, and I almost thought that lights weren't worth it, but Seth is thoroughly converted and wants to make turning on the outside lights a little ceremony when our kids get old enough.

Plus we have plenty to do getting ready for baby. We got a stroller and a high chair from Seth's boat friends, with the promise of clothing later on. I have been reading up on natural childbirth and the inherent risks in various birthing procedures. Boy am I going to have a lot of questions for my doctor next time.

Seth has taken upon himself the task of painting the crib. He's not going at it with as much dedication as I would like (I would have liked it done a week ago just because then it would be done), but I have bit my tongue and not said anything. After all we still have time. He's not lazy; he's just not as anxious as I am. The crib is going to be pale yellow, the same color as our living room walls. Yes, we are using the same paint. Yes, we are that cheap. But the yellow looks very nice with the light blue of the baby's room and will go very well with the Beatrix Potter + other animals theme that we are trying to establish.

But the best entertainment has been all the winter critters. We had some bird seed left over from last year. Last year completely ruined our bird feeder, and so we've had to find other ways to distribute the bird seed. I've been sprinkling it on the railing of our porch. (Yes, I know that what isn't eaten will sprout. Most of it is getting eaten.) Then these little guys come along, accompanied by tiny little birds of every description and the odd crow or blue jay. Most of the creatures are very good at avoiding cameras, but I did manage to capture these two.

Max likes the squirrels too. Every time I open the door, he goes flying out and tries to catch a squirrel before it can get back over the fence. No luck yet, but he's always been close. (What I'll do if he actually catches, I'm not sure.) In fact, two days ago, he treed his first squirrel on the top of the shed. The poor squirrel was running back and forth trying to get away, and Max was running round and round making sure he didn't. He kept the squirrel up there for half an hour before I realized what was going on and called him off. It isn't easy to call off a hound who has actually treed his prey. So now the birds and squirrels have developed a commando attack scheme in which they hide out in the hedge, leap quickly for the porch, grab a seed, and leap back. It's really quite fun to watch.

And the verdict is . . .

Seth and I just got back from the ultrasound. All the evidence says that we're having a girl. Now I'm going to have to perform a "gestalt switch," as my friend Carol the counselor says, and start seriously planning to have a girl. The only problem is that we don't have any girl names picked out. Settling on a boy name was easy. We both loved the name. We haven't had that kind of collusion on girl names. Any suggestions?

been a while

Hello, everyone.

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, but life is keeping me on my toes. It seems like every holiday season I rediscover that one shouldn't plan to do much during the holidays. I was hoping that the next time I posted, I would be able to show you my new crib, all painted and set up and prepared for baby. Alas, the most we've been able to do is clean it. It's still standing in pieces in the corner of what is now still the tv room. We have also been looking at wall paper and other decorations for baby's room when it becomes baby's room, but now that we've had another ultrasound scheduled, we thought it best to wait. Actually, I don't feel like putting up wall paper anyway.

I was also hoping to show some progress in the mural in my kitchen, but no such luck. The business of being pregnant has just been too much for me. I haven't even baked Christmas cookies yet, let alone applied more paint to walls. Plus we'd like to get the crib set up before Seth leaves, so it has first dibs on the paint and brushes.

Still, as far as forward progress is concerned, we do have a crib. We have a couple of outfits, a nightlight, some character decorations, a crib pad, and a comforter. This weekend, we'll be checking in with a Navy friend of Seth's who says he has an abundance of baby stuff to get rid of. (I hope he's asked his wife about getting rid of it. She might be planning on more kids.) I have another promise from a neighbor of a bassinet and a carrier plus other assorted nursery items. I was wondering where all these things were going to come from. I was worried about it. But God is providing in wonderful ways. And I don't even know the gender of my baby yet.

A eulogy.

You'll never guess what I did today.

I was really driven to it. The status quo had just become intolerable. I just couldn't stand it any longer. I could have gotten someone else to do it, but I have always had the feeling that I could do it myself, so I did.

I don't really regret it. The change was a little drastic and more than I was expecting, but I have been feeling that it was necessary for a while now, and while I do miss the old, I think I'll be happy with the new. Oo, now that I've said that, I think I'm going to cry.

Yep, I cut my hair. That's about ten inches setting on the edge of the sink right there. I hadn't meant to take that much off. My hair now rests directly on top of my shoulders, and I was hoping to leave a couple more inches. I forgot that hair gets shorter as it dries. I also forgot that cutting usually means trimming afterwards. But I'm not that disappointed with the result, even if I can't get a good picture of it.

My first thought was that now I just look like any other pregnant woman. I think I look a lot younger with shorter hair and a lot less distinctive. I also don't want to throw my clippings away. I keep thinking, "What's Seth going to think?" And I can't figure out if I like it. I was really fond of my hair. It was long and soft and almost chestnut. I could do the most wonderful braids and twists with it. Oh, why did I make it so short?

On the other hand, my head is much lighter now. I don't have to do as much with it. And I don't look in the mirror and think, "Too much hair. It makes me look tired." Instead I think, "Grow another inch or two, quickly." Oh well. When it does grow that inch or two, I think I'll be happier. And it's really not so bad.

Ultrasound results.

Inconclusive. Baby was in a perfect jackknife position, thereby obscuring any pertinent information regarding gender. We know baby is healthy. We know baby has long legs. "His" feet were all the way past "his" head. But that's all we know for now.