Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, here we are, one week from my due date...I guess the baby could come anytime, now! It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. It's not the labor and delivery that makes me nervous (though it probably should!), it's the recovery and having a new little life to take care of that worries me. Don't get me wrong, we're really excited, too, but I can't help but thinking that we have a good thing going right now with our two boys. They're both really independent, and as a result, I've had a lot of free time for quite awhile now...it will be hard to give that up again, though, I guess it's worth it...I guess (he he). Actually, I'm much more excited about the whole thing than nervous, and I have to say that I'm ready for this kid to come! (at least as ready as anyone can ever be!)

I also have to mention how good the boys have been lately (knock on wood!). A couple of months ago, we were really struggling with Matthew and his inability to listen to us (what, kids have individual personalities and wills of their own?!) We would ask him to do something and he would say "in a minute" (I don't know who he got that from) or "um, I don't really want to" and it was maddening. Anyways, we've been working a lot with him...trying to get him to understand that he's our child and we're his parents, and he needs to listen to us...to which he responded "that's not fair" (he thinks he's one of the adults, too). We tried to tell him that when he's older, he'll get to be a dad someday and have sons and daughters of his own, and they'll have to listen to him. To counteract that little lecture, he made up his own "son". Apparently he (Matthew's son) rides the bus to work everyday with James, he just recently bought a house across the field from us, he goes on lots of outings such as deer hunting, and he recently had a birthday where he turned 3...where does he get this? So, he kept insisting that he was a parent and that he didn't have to listen to us if he didn't want to. Well, to make a long story short, Matthew has spent a lot of time in his room, very unhappy, while we try to teach him respect. Some days it felt like we were getting NOWHERE and wondered if he was just going to be one big headache from here on out. Don't get me wrong, he's a good kid, and most of the time he's obedient, but he just didn't like us telling him what to do...he's three and already has strong opinions on just about EVERYTHING. Anyways, it seems like lately he's been trying really hard to be more obedient. I've been finding him cleaning his room and the playroom without me asking him to (and he does a really good job), and teaching Ethan how to pick up, too. He helps me put away the laundry, clears his own dishes from the table and puts them in the dishwasher, he says "okay mom" or "okay dad" when we ask him to do something (most of the time) and a lot of other good things...all on his own. He really likes the praise we give him and he told me that he wants to be my "big helper" when the baby comes. See, he's a sweet kid.

Well, sorry to ramble on and on, but we're nearing the end of my pregnancy and I'm bored (I'll be wishing for these days back in a couple of weeks, I'm sure). I have another appointment this morning...maybe she'll tell me that I need to go straight to the hospital...but probably not. I packed my hospital bag last night, and I cleaned the carseat and I'll install it today, so it's pretty much all systems go from my perspective. I'll keep you posted.

Hope you all have a happy Valentine's Day!