Preparation

Well, our "little John" is growing pretty good. Random people are finally feeling quite confident in commenting on my protruding belly. Up until recently I received many surprised reactions from customers at work when they found out I was pregnant, especially at how far along I was! I confess that it feels much better to know that I finally LOOK like there's a baby in there! Now I have only to deal with the standard question; "Are you excited?" that I'm faced with at least twice in a work day. Of course I tell them that "yes, we are very excited", but it really seems like the silliest question...what else would I be? I have also been the recipient of many snip-its of advice from these total strangers--"It will be the best and most challenging time of your life", "you have to spoil him a little", and my favorite "take what your mom and mother-in-law say with a grain of salt". One guy actually came in and was determined to convince me that I needed to have the baby at home in a kiddie pool, because hospitals are bad, as are vaccinations and social security numbers and circumcision. He asked for a piece of paper and commenced filling (no joke, there was hardly any white space left!) it with books and websites that I "had to check out". I thanked him for the information and thought that if I had half of his ...zeal, and boldness I would be a much better member missionary. Anyway, being pregnant in the workplace has been interesting. My plan was for March 12th to be my last day, but another has been hired as my predecessor who has had previous experience, so his training won't take long at all. And so I have been told that once he is comfortable I am free to go earlier than planned...if I want to. I'm sure it's an effort to cut back on payroll, it is, however, tempting. We'll see how things work out I guess!
As far as preparing goes...I think we're doing pretty good. At first I thought we needed all "new" things for our "new" baby, but that has worn off. I'm looking forward to using the old cradle that mom used for a few of us kids, and my dear sister Angie has donated a crib to the cause! The more I think about it, the more I realize that this little baby isn't going to care a bit about what he sleeps in, or wears, or plays with, as long as he's got his mom and dad he'll be just fine. What a great feeling! I'm not going to lie though, I'm looking forward to the Baby Showers!
So, here we are. Only 9 and a half weeks to go (give or take) and we are both so excited to see this little guy! We'll just have to wait though!