Almost there!

Well, the official 9 month mark (36 weeks) has come and gone.  This Friday, I will move to 38 weeks!  Here are a few musings on this last stretch of the pregnancy adventure.

• I've been amazed watching the transition of my fingers and feet over the last week or so.  I think they resemble the Michelin man, or perhaps Princess Fiona from Shrek.  I'm assuming that they will go down again after the baby is born?  I would like to wear my wedding ring again soon. :-)
• Over the last month or so, my belly button has completely popped.  It kind of makes me feel like a Thanksgiving turkey.  I think she is just about done cooking. :-)
  
• And speaking of birds . . . I have a whole new understanding about the term "nesting."  I believe that I had avoided it until Brad graduated and we could both really focus on getting physically ready for Gabby.  Once we started, it was difficult for me to stop.  I found myself doing very strange things like waking up at 5 AM unable to go back to sleep because of an irresistible desire to wash all the baby clothes and sheets.  Brad has been so patient, supportive, and creative throughout this project and I'm so thankful for all he has done to get the "nest" ready.  Mama Bird is very happy. :-)  I've included some pics in case you're interested.
• We traded in my Honda Civic for a family-friendly car.  We weren't quite ready to enter the era of the mini-van so we went with a nice crossover, the Ford Edge.  It even has a red racing stripe on it which makes us still feel not quite old.  The car seat is installed and ready to go!

All we need now is Baby bird!  We are so eager to meet her and yet at the same time, it's pretty surreal to think that in about 2 weeks, we'll actually have a baby with us.  What a gift from God and we're certainly going to need His help to understand the "instruction manual" with this little girl. :-) Thanks for all your prayers!