Man-o-man!!!! I was having a kajillion contractions last night. However, I just KNEW they weren't anything to be concerned about even though they did hurt a bit. I hope they did something to my cervix! I am still hoping for the 10th or 11th!

Anyway, yesterday I showed Jon how to change a diaper on a teddy bear -- he did an excellent job! And this from a man who only recently actually held a bitty baby (my friend's 2-week-old).

We also FINALLY installed the car seat. It never did get done at the fire department because it was a pain trying to find anyone actually AT the fire department! But, after much hassle (it was hard to make it fit right in our car) we finally perfected it! It was pretty funny. Jon asked if I wanted him to be the one leaning into the seat so I could tighten the strap. I said, "Babe, it's probably best if I do it since I weigh 30 more pounds than you do!"

Ahh, will the joys of working together never end?

7 January 2000 -- 24 days to go!

Okay, I am having really weird dreams now. After the alarm went off this morning, I fell back to sleep and dreamed that we were going to have conjoined twins. Even weirder was that they both looked and acted completely different -- one had short dark hair and brown and was very wild and noisy, the other was a curly blonde with blue eyes who hated loud music and was always depressed because the loud twin was so loud. Keep in mind these babies were only a day old. Oh yeah, I gave birth to them in a changing room at Lerner's. I really hope that doesn't happen.

I have a question for second-time moms: did you find yourself, toward the end, expecting this pg to be like the first? With my first, I lost my plug and two days later had a baby who was exactly one week early. So now, every time I go to the bathroom I hope I have lost my plug because, to my sub-conscious, that means the baby is two days away. I guess it is normal to think like that because it is all I know. Hmmm...

At our bible study last night people were asking what we would like a prayer for. I mentioned that we wanted to have the baby on Monday or Tuesday (the 10th or 11th). When we got home Jon asked, "So, you want to have this baby on Monday or Tuesday? That's so close." I reminded him that the whole 1/10/00 and 1/11/00 thing was his idea. He replied, "Yeah, the '10th or 11th' is one thing, but THIS MONDAY or TUESDAY is something altogether different! Once the baby gets here, he isn't going back!" We had a good laugh over that because reality is really setting in for us. THERE IS GOING TO BE A SCREAMING, POOPING BABY IN OUR ROOM!!!!!!!

Hopefully a baby will actually improve our social life. I mean, we have lived here in Virginia for eight months and still have no friends. Maybe people will like us if we have a baby they can fawn over... Sigh...

January 2000 -- 22 days to go!

Okay, I whined enough the other day. I am still lonely, but doing better.

In church this morning they did two baptisms. Our church is a Roman Catholic/ Episcopal Church with a priest from each denomination. We are the only one in the country sanctioned by the Pope. Funny thing is, neither Jon nor I are Roman Catholic or Episcopal. We like it because we are missionaries to a country where this type of ecumenism is nigh on impossible.

Anyway, one of the babies was being baptized Catholic, and the other Episcopal. It was really cool. This church does 'full immersion' where they put the naked babies in a big bowl of water. It is soooooooo cute! Little nude baby bums! Well, everyone kept telling me, "Pay attention! This will be you in a little while!" It was sweet, but they don't realise that we are having the baby baptized in the church Jon grew up in in New Jersey. We ARE planning to have him blessed in this church, though. That really means a lot to us, considering our ministry.

So far it doesn't look like Jon and I will reach our goal of having the baby tomorrow or Tuesday. I keep telling the Kid to come out, but he just won't listen!

10 January -- 21 days to go

I am very depressed today. I am tired of these hormonal fluctuations. I read that Sharlene had her baby, and while I was immediately shocked and excited, I then went straight down into jealousy and depression. I have this anxiety that every day he is still inside is another day that something can go wrong. Plus, with how bad my knees are getting I just want the extra weight off my body before more damage is done. I don't know, I think I am going through, again, my lousy "nothing ever turns out the way I would like it" thing. To top it all off, my second diary entry for last week didn't get posted. It had lots of medical updates and some really great stuff about Jon and I. I was so looking forward to making a copy of, and now it seems to have disappeared in cyberspace. That is all I have to say.

12 January -- 19 days to go

Well, I have cheered up a little bit. My diary lost entry was found and has been posted with this entry. Phew!

Also, my husband is the best husband in the world (to me, of course!). The day I was really upset he totally cheered me up. It was after dinner and was playing Morejongg on the computer when I called out to him, "Honey, I am in the mood for dessert." He said, "Uh-oh, that's not good. I am, too, so there is no one to stop us."

He then had a suggestion -- what if he went out and got us some really good ice cream and we got naked and ate it in bed! I laughed and laughed and was so cheered by this that we did in fact delve into this decadent proposal. We also DTD, and I felt much better :o) My honey is so special!

In other news, I went to the doc today. It turns out I was only fingertip dilated last week, but am now a full centimeter. This doc said she had room to move her finger from side to side in my cervix (what a weird thought). Anyway, I am only 15-20% effaced and the baby is at -1 station. The doc said she thinks I will probably be in for my appointment next week, but I should really make sure my bag is packed anyway. Ugh. We have already missed our goal of the 10th or 11th, so my next one is this Saturday the 15th. I know I am setting myself up for disappointment, but I just need something to aim for!

I also had a really weird dream last night. I dreamed that when got up to pee, my water broke. But I decided to wait to go to the hospital -- I mean, why go at 2 a.m. when you can wait until 9 a.m. and get some more sleep? Well, in my dream I ended up completely forgetting that my water had broken until 9 p.m. that night! And there was no one around to take me to the hospital! Ack! Then I woke up (to pee again, of course!).

Well, that is it for this week! Hope all is going well, and many prayers and blessings to Sharlene, Randy, and Kyle!

Love, Amy & The Kid