2 1/2 weeks to go!!

Where did March and April go??  I have to say, the shortest month of the year, Feb, was one of the longest - and March and April have flown by.  However, it still seems like this has been a very long pregnancy.  Jared was just saying the same thing last week.  I know there is an end though!!  We've got just two and a half short weeks until my due date of May 24th.  I took Caster Oil with both of the girls to go into labor (3 days early w/ Aliza and on my due date w/ Nora).  I get very impatient at the end of my pregnancies!!  For both of them, 6 hrs after I took it, I went into labor.  So, now I'm having the dilemma of whether or not to do it again, and if so, when?  Because of the similarities, I feel like it really did work, but who knows for sure...  Also, I keep thinking if I hadn't of taken the Castor Oil, how much longer would it have been.  And on that note, if I don't take it for Zane, how long might I wait.  Oh, these kids - they have you going crazy before they're even born :)  I guess at this point, the plan is to take it the morning after I'm due.  This way Jared can go to work, get a 1/2 day in and we'll head to the hospital sometime around noon.  Look at me trying to plan out when I have my kid....  I figure because I've got it all "figured out", it will go a very different direction.  Oh bother...  So, that's the story on that.  Physically I am feeling so much better than I did with Nora, which has been such a blessing.  It still is uncomfortable and a bit of a bother to lug this giant basketball around (I've had at least 2, maybe 3 strangers make comments about me having a basketball under my shirt),  but I don't have all the aching that I did w/ Nora.  Thank you God for that!  I am getting SO incredibly excited to meet this little guy.  The clothes are washed and hanging in his room.  We have everything we need.  His little bassinet sits in the very crowded office waiting for him.  (sigh)  I just want to hold him.  I still can't grasp that we're going to have a tiny little baby join our family.  It's been the 5 of us for so long that I can't imagine a 6th.  I know - it won't be long before I can't remember life w/o Zane (or Zaney, as the girls like to call him).  I am so interested to see how the kids handle the transition, especially Nora....  time will tell on that one!
I've included some pics of what's been going on the past two months.  We had a great time with the Anibles when they came out!  We went to Mystic a couple times, the guys took the kids hiking, and we went to Dinosaur State Park where we saw actual dinosaur footprints that had been discovered at a construction site years ago.  It was pretty cool.  Bed time was always a challenge, but we make it work :)  It will be very interesting this summer at my parent's house.....     The kids were very sad to see their cousins leave :(
While he was here, Craig took down our pool and successfully sold it on Craig's list in about a day.  Its kind of weird not having it back there, but a relief not to have to deal with it.  There was sand under the pool, so for now its kind of a play area for the kids.  A lot of our outside kid toys are back there.  We'll see if it will turn into anything else. 
We went to a birthday party today with the theme of Woody and Jessie from Toy Story - that's why there is a picture of the kids with Cowboy/girl hats on.  They had a blast!
Its been 4 months since I began memorizing Philippians and I just finished chapter 3 a couple days ago.  I usually go through the whole thing at least twice a week, but for some reason it didn't happen this past week and today when I tried to do it, I got caught up a few times.  Kind of discouraging, but I guess that just means I need to review more often.  I'm so excited about starting up a ministry called "Hidden in My Heart" this Fall.  I've gotten the Pastor's ok, and I'm actually going to be the speaker at the Ladies Breakfast in September to kind of kick it off.  God laid this ministry on my heart a few months ago, and I'm super pumped about it.  Basically it will be an 8-week accountability group that encourages each other to memorize scripture.  I'll talk about why we should learn scripture and also some tips on how to do it.  I shared the first chapter of Phil with my small group a couple months ago and just this past Thursday I was so encouraged to hear that one of the girls in the group was challenged to begin memorizing James.  Praise God!  That is SO what I want to happen!!  I hope God will use me to bring many in our church deeper into His word!!
Well, I finished making Zane's birth announcements the other day, so now I've got to get envelopes addressed.  That way I'll just take the cards to the hospital to fill in the stuff I don't know yet :)  and get them shipped out shortly after we're back home.  I hadn't made any cards in so long, that it took quite awhile to get motivated to make them.  I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out though.

                                            Craig finishing off the pool

                                                Naphtalia and Nora at the Dino Park

                                                     Happy Easter!  E- 7.5  A- 5  N - 3.5

                                                  Eben, Lyvinia, Aliza, Naphtalia, Nora

                                                                37 Weeks...and growing...
The next time I post, I bet Zane will be walking or something....I'm so bad at this. 
Later-