I am having a great time. The Astros won... it was so sweet to see Jeff
Bagwell and Craig Biggio cry... they've been waiting a long time for
this.
So much for free hi speed internet in our room.... you have to have
your own ethernet cable - the Victorian only has two to lend out and
they're both out right now. Luckily, all the public places have
wireless so I'm sitting by the pool again... just woke up, haven't even
brushed my teeth....bleh
But here I am! We decided to "get that woman to the seawall", so my mom
and R2 will be joining us here today and we'll stay one more night....
We want to go see Wallace and Gromit but I have to see if I feel up to
sitting up that long.

It's just such a miracle we're able to do this at all right now. God is
so good. And I am having a blast. Probably another 6-8 weeks before I
throw caution to the wind... but right now just being away from home
and testing my boundaries gently is very fun.

I am not going back to sleep. I would like to believe differently of
myself. But the fact is, I am awake now. So I might as well do
something.

So here I am. Well, yesterday I had my first appointment at 8:30... at
the hospital for an ultrasound. Mind you, it was at the hospital. So I
got into my ultrasound at 9:30 or 9:45. The tech was a little grouchy.
I knew I would not be able to get the proper amount of info out of
her... But she measured Toby and he looks like 24 weeks 3 days
(yesterday) so that's great! But Madame Grumpy did not take very good
pictures. I have one very clear picture of his "manhood". And even
though that might be entertaining to my few, grumbling male readers, I
will not post it. So the only pics today will be of yours truly. And
then she measured my cervix and since Richy is an ultrasound tech
himself these days, he read all the measurements she wasn't telling me
and was doing dances and encouraging movement behind her head. My
cervix looks great.... just like it should!
Then we had about an hour to kill before my next appointment, and we
were pretty giddy by this point... so we went to Old Navy and I walked
around and picked out some stuff and had NO contractions!
Then back to Dr. Reed's for my other appointment. And we saw Dr Reed in
the hallway and she beamed at us and said she was so happy to see us.
(we've all been looking forward to this appointment). And she did her
thing and everything looked good and she was very happy, but not as
happy as us! And I asked if I could swim and she said she thought that
would be good- lift the weight off my cervix, etc....
So we went to my moms and I got my shot there (another story)... and
Leah and Nate and the fam came over and we went swimming! Well, mostly
me. Leah and Nate usually just lay by the pool and call that swimming.
But I walked around and aroound in the water and even got to hold R2
(first in 6 months) because he didn't weigh anything. And it was just
so great. Like being a normal pregnant person, almost.
Then I came home and I was sooooo tired and I just laid on the couch
for the rest of the day.

NOTE: THIS JUST IN: Josharoo and his blushing bride need a place to stay... hotels are full, etc...
"We went on line last night to book a hotel for our stay in TX and every decent hotel is booked.  I had forgotten about all the refugees being there, or we would've booked way in advance.  So, I was wondering if you could include on your blog post that we need somewhere to stay.  Our flight is in at 7:30 PM Thursday, then we'd "check-out" Sunday morning before church.  We'll have a rental car, so no transportation is needed.  They must have a comfy bed, not a futon.  Maybe the bloggers can let us know who has an extra room that we could call, or maybe some of them could take us. "
Anyone? I'd hate for them to have to stay with Batboy.

sorry it's so late... but I had an awesome report! Nothing has
changed... my cervix is still as it should be. Praise God! Yay! Happy
Birthday to me!
So we went to Old Navy and bought 2 maternity shirts, and went swimming
at my moms.... (doctor approved). Such a nice day for me and such a
victory!

Got an ultrasound and a doctor's appointment today... and we've decided
to postpone our beachgoing until Wednesday.

So go ahead, I dare you. Amuse me.

Update in the afternoon...

24 weeks today. What a milestone. I had the twins at 24 weeks, and R2
at 24 weeks 1 day. So as of Wednesday, I will be in completely
uncharted territory. Actually, I already am. I have never been 24 weeks
pregnant and not in labor. Not in a hospital.... not in a horrible
hospital gown.
You'll have to bear with my emotions today. It's a bittersweet victory.
I fully believe this is different. I'm going all the way. Or at least
until I put myself in labor getting a Christmas pedicure.... but
there's a part of me that grieves a little today. I wish I could have
made it with the twins. I always will.
And I celebrate R2, who was born at this stage and made it. What a joy
he is! What a character.... I don't know if God asked me if I'd like to
go back and swap him with the full term R2.... it would be a tough
call. He is sunshine.
But today, I celebrate Toby. Good job, buddy. Hang in there. Ain't
nothin happening out here anyway.

And today, I am officially in my late twenties. I think 27 is past
mid-twenties, wouldn't you say? Strange. We're going to celebrate very
quietly here.... we can't help holding our breath a little till this
week is over.
So no surprise party hiding in my closet and jumping out at midnight...
not a good idea, folks.

This post is kinda serious. But I enjoy the mayhem so much. So feel
free to party on in the comments.

The subject for the day is Gilbert Morris. GM has written about 4,329
novels, most of which are historical and follow the Winslow family from
the Mayflower to .... I believe the most recent one is in the Great
Depression. No, no, not the Clinton years... the 1930's.
To put this in perspective, I read my first Winslow book at Lifestyle
Christian School.... probably 92 or so. And I read the most recent one
last week. I will be 27 soon.... so that's a lot of books, folks.
The first ones were captivating... wedge shaped jaws and piercing blue
eyes ... (the Winslow eyes)... but after about 30 of these guys it gets
a little old. I mean, in my family, (and the gene pool may be a little
dicier, but hey) I don't know if 2 of us even have the same color
eyes....
And after a while, you get older. But in Morris world, if you live
uprightly, you can be 70 and only have little strategically placed
silver streaks in your hair... and still carry the beauty of your
youth. UNLESS you drink. Then you start looking like a "hard woman" by
25 or so.
Here's what happens: you're usually raised in an upstanding Godfearing
family. Because Winslows have to be saved by age 30 or they get killed
in an avalanche or a shootout and just get saved on deathbeds. Winslows
are not permitted to go to hell. So you're raised right. By someone
probably with blue eyes and a little silver streak. Then, when you're
an adolescent, something happens. You get kicked by a horse, or your
daddy loses his money, or a war or something. Still, it seems like
maybe you'll be okay. Until you're a teen.... 18 usually. Then you fall
in love with the wrong guy, or worse, a "hard woman" (they know how to
stir a man) or maybe you run away to be in a.)circus b.)Broadway
c.)cock-fighter's league. By the time you are 25, you are well on your
way to destruction, and you make statements like "I don't care what he
says! I won't do it!" and that is the thrilling cliffhanger that ends
the chapter.
But then you are walking barefoot on the streets of New York, or maybe
California or somewhere and the guy/girl/nurse/pilot/boxer who finally
helps you is an evangelist. And you fall in love, maybe. Or maybe you
hear the gospel but you're such a hard man/woman that you say "I don't
care what you say! I'm not doing it!" UNTIL you're somewhere else and
your woman gets hurt bad or maybe you get kicked by a horse or your
plane crashes. So you cry out to God in the barn/Germany/hospital and
are gloriously saved. You then get married, have children immediately
and raise them to be good Winslows.... but then....

my mind is too sleepy... will blog later...

LATER, on the ranch:
The problem is, I am a morning person. As in sleep 2 hours and wake up smiling disgusting morning person. This has always been an entertaining thing to me, as there are few of "my people". My husband is a sleep 5 more minutes snooze button addict kinda guy.
So here's what happens... the man of God decides that tomorrow, he will wake up with the dawn and go to Sinai. The man of God is not capable of waking himself, so he sets his alarm clock for 3 in the morning or whatever (usually 7). When the alarm goes off, the morning person (me) is awake. Even though she stayed up till 2 or 3 with Ted Dekker or whoever (not Lori Wick, I assure you)... And the man of God groggily stirs himself to action, which includes climbing over his 6 month pregnant wife, implanting knees and elbows in all tender locations, and slapping the snooze button. The man of God then goes back to a peaceful sleep, like Kai with 6 oz in him.
The morning person is not really ready to get up. Noone will make her breakfast, and there's not really any reason to get up when you're supposed to lay down all the time so your baby doesn't fall out. So, she lies in bed, wide awake, thinking evil thoughts toward her soulmate, the MOG.
Repeat for 1 hour. Add mild profanity from The MP and sleepy apologies from the MOG. Add the MP turning the dadgum thing off, and when the MOG wakes up on his own at 9:30.... add the deep regret and sorrow, that somehow, he missed the dawn.

I watched another Astros game last night, this time with Richy and Paul
(and R2, of course). It was more fun having some guys around making
noises... and of course, it was a good game and we won. So I'm happy.
I'm not much of a sports fan, but I like it when local teams go to
championships and SuperBowls and World Serieses and whatnot. I usually
jump on board to support or Luv Ya Blue or whatever...

But my personal involvement in sports has been very limited. At Piney
Woods, we had a giant field in which to play. When I was in control,
this field was used for Pegasus running and princess parades, etc. When
the sadistic powers-that-be (not Terri, of course) were in control,
then it was used for P.E. P.E. stands for Persecution Entertainment, in
which small weak children are forced to exert great effort to try to
keep up with strong children, who do sports for fun.

Kickball wasn't so bad. The ball is very large, and even little short
chicken-legged children can manage to kick it a little and run to first
base where the big hulking 3rd grader has been waiting for you with the
ball.
But what's up with Dodgeball and Red Rover?? These games are designed
to dismember skinnys. Many terrified hours in my youth were spent
hoping that Stevie wouldn't notice that me and Melissa only had little
stick arms and run at us. Or that Joey (skinny, but evil) would not
attempt to throw the ball with great vigor and hatred at my little
peanut head.
Later, we had a volleyball team. I played for the whole year and never
hit the ball over the net.

In high school, it became easier. I went to public school. In public
school, they really really don't want you to drop out. Please. So, if
one day I felt unable to play (tennis, softball, basketball, track),
and I needed to sit out, they would make me (GASP) write an essay. For
my peers, this was bad. They would rather run track 8 months pregnant
or with a herniated disk than write. Many happy afternoons were spent
out in the sunshine at Conroe High writing essays. After a while, I
think Coach AC/DC was on to me... but she enjoyed reading my little
stories and thoughts.... so eventually I graduated and was married
within a single breath.

Now, I married a guy who likes to play a game of football once or twice
a year, and usually just watches championships. Works out good. We have
shared more than one batch of 10 dollar nachos at Minute Maid Park. And
really, anything with nachos is better.

Last night (actually starting at 4) Richy went out and I decided to
keep R2 because... I'm feeling much better and I didn't want to be
lonely. It's strange how someone who doesn't actually talk to you can
be a good companion.

We laid around for a while, then somebody brought dinner. So we scarfed
that down.... very little conversation. Then "we" made some brownies.
(yesterday I got to go inside Dollar General for about 10 minutes and
pick my own groceries.. first time in 2 months I've been in a store....
and no contractions! And of course I got brownie mix)
So we made the brownies and he got to hold the spoon although he was
too excited to stir. He just held it there and flapped wildly with his
other hand. Big help.
Then we watched Everybody Loves Raymond which I laugh hard at so he
laughs when I laugh. I was laying on his bed because we moved the TV in
there. He did not want to sit on his bed. He sat in his chair, thank
you.
And after that it was still going to be a long time before R1 was home
so he watched Wheel of Fortune.... I don't know what I did. Ah-
brownies!
Then we watched the Astros game. In its entirety. Which I have never
done before and it wasn't that interesting... but whatever. And the
game was very exciting to R2 because people throw balls, and run , and
sometimes everybody claps. Good stuff. Still not touching his bed.
Then it was finally over and I suggested he lay down which was quite
offensive but Mr. Giraffe talked him into it...
Back to my room to hang out with Ol Ted Dekker until the old man came
home to tell me about his Recording magazine focus group or
whatever....

and that is one episode in my thrilling life. Hope you enjoyed it.