IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sophia Grace born February 26, 2003, 5:19 pm 19.5" long; 7lbs 9oz She's absolutely gorgeous! She's passed all her tests with flying colors (9 on the Apgar scale) and has long artistic fingers and dark hair. When she was first born, she had a little afro but it's straightened out now. New family is tired but doing fine. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts.... Pictures and possibly a little video to come soon!

Still here.... maybe the baby is waiting until Friday when my regular doctor comes back from vacation! I sure don't know. In the meantime, check out pics from the baby shower. I'm the one with the big hair and the big belly (what you can see of it in the photos).

We're officially playing the waiting game now. The baby is still head-down (yay!) and we still get lots and lots of wiggles every day (also yay!) Things seem to be progressing..... slowly. Soooooo...... it's totally up in the air when this baby will make an appearance. Could be tomorrow, could be in two weeks. The important thing is that the baby is healthy in there and in the right position. I guess all this "We'll see you before the weekend!" (last week's message from the doctors) stuff is out the window. I am 38 1/2 weeks, so it's really anyone's guess at this point. I was rather pleased the little one decided NOT to come during the blizzard, but it's amazing how quickly people listen to you when you say "I could go into labor at any time" and get that driveway cleared, pronto. I am getting a serious hankering for it to be SPRING, already; to be able to go for a walk and not worry about slipping on the ice, and I truly want to go chalking in the worst way. I have been reading You Grow Girl and I will be sending away for the Spring Hill catalogue very soon. A girl can dream.

We got back from the hospital last night -- the procedure worked fine and the baby is now head-down! The baby is healthy, has a good strong heartbeat, and we were sent home. However.... I have been having mild contractions, and there was a while there where they thought I would stay at the hospital, but I'm not any further dilated and I can't really feel the contractions, so they sent us home. As soon as the contractions get painful and last for an hour, we call the doctor and go to the hospital; they do another ultrasound to make sure the baby stayed head down and then we take it from there. According to the doctors and nurse, they think real labor could start within 48 hours, so we could be getting verrrrrrrrrry close.... So -- please keep praying, and thank you for all the prayers you've sent so far, for this weekend and all throughout this pregnancy. We know they're working!

Baby news....Our checkup today revealed that the baby is fine and healthy, but in the breech position. The doctor thinks that there’s not too much of a chance that he is going to flip around because he’s (or she's) very well-settled where he is and getting bigger all the time. The alternative is that we can wait and see what happens, but there is a good chance right now that I’ll definitely need a c-section and I would REALLY like to avoid that if possible. So, at the doctor’s recommendation, we’re going into the hospital Friday morning (yup, Valentine's Day) to see if they can turn the baby around. The only thing is that there's a possibility that I could go into labor.... in which case we'd have a very special Valentine! So….. please pray for all of us on Friday, Valentine’s Day, that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to, whatever that may be. No matter what happens or when it happens (the baby could be born Friday or in 3 weeks – who knows!) we’ll be ready to welcome this new little baby.

Zapatos de ratas! My wrestler is maravilloso! With the fire of a thousand red hot suns, I challenge you to beat it! Let's lucha! Make your own! Watch out or I'll sit on you! Sent from the marvelous mind of Snowflake... or should I call her Solar Flair?

As we're getting closer to The Big Day, I've been working more and more from home. Yesterday was such a day.... me, a laptop, and a hubby who made me cinnamon buns that made the whole house smell just incredible. (Incidentally, we call the baby the cinnabun... and the date on the can of buns we had yesterday was March 2, my due date! Synchronicity....) In other news, I finally finished the baby blanket I've been knitting for 4 months, late last night. It's pale yellow, with a bit of a decorative edge. I thought for sure I would have this thing in the delivery room with me, determined as all get-out to have it finished before the baby made an appearance. Phew. I keep picturing this little wiggly baby wrapped up snug in it, warm against the winter cold. I can't wait.

Although I will hate myself for it later, I know that I will be flipping back and forth between the two trashiest shows on network TV tonight: Joe Millionaire and the interview with Michael Jackson. I know, it doesn't get any lamer than that, but it's like Homer Simpson says... "Disgusting, yet straaaaaaaaaaaaaaangely compelling."

I dreamt of a unicorn last night. I don't remember anything about the dream except that he was white, and standing very close to me. At one point his horn vanished, and he said that some people would only see a horse when they looked at him because they didn't know what to look for. I wondered how very many times that must happen.