Bags Packed. 3weeks 2 days to go.

Hospital bag ready for him.

Turns out that it was a good thing that I didn't go to Cabo. I went into the labor and delivery wing on Thursday night because of contractions and spotting. His placenta is doing close to what happened with Maya's, which is calcifying and starting to age prematurely. Also the amniotic fluid is getting dangerously low and my cervical length is about half of what it should be. These few labor indicators are things that usually start happening around 37 weeks. At the time I was only 35 weeks 1 day. The Dr told us that if he had been born the day before, he would have been fine. And that every day after is Gravy. He is already 5.5lbs and very healthy as far as they can tell. I had a very thorough ultrasound and I was able to see his diaphragm practicing breathing, blood flow for all of his organs, a lot of wiggling and kicking, and a big yawn. During the scan the Dr, one of the top Perinatologists in the country said, "Oh look, he's playing with his balls!" That was very amusing :)

This past Saturday was the day in the pregnancy that Maya was born. 35 weeks and three days. I'm going in twice a week from here until the end of the pregnancy to get monitored and to check the amniotic fluid level. They wouldn't stop labor at this point if it happens. They would just schedule me for the surgery. Exciting! This experience would have been really scary if we had been in Cabo. The hospital there is best left to splinters and alcohol poisoning. I still could have used some sun and beach...

In other fun news:

Egg hunt

Maya loved egg hunting in the house.
Grandma taught her how to find them then hide them from us.

The ribbon is one of the surprises from inside an egg.

It was funny to watch Maya try to find the eggs Ido hid in her pants.

Maya really did hide the eggs from us.
She stuffed as many as she could into the arms of the chairs.
The rest ended up in our shoes, of course!

Maya in her playroom

She saw my phone.

She decided she wants my phone.
She won that battle.

A proud moment for us. Maya is doing great using her fork!
She is getting so good at stabbing food and making it into her mouth.

A year and a half old already and I can't believe it.

You're getting so big, but you are still my baby girl.
I could fill volumes with all of the wonderful things about you.
I love the way you:

play chase around the kitchen counter. First you chase us, then we chase you. And when we are close to catching you, you hold up your hand and say "Stop!" Then a few seconds later you say, "Go!".

say, "Maya do it. Mama do it. Aba do it. Grama do it."

pronounce spoon "shoom"

mix up your hebrew and english and tell us you love us by saying "I feffet you."

find all of the objects in the seek and find books faster than I can find them.

pretend play with your doll, Kathy, and cover her with a blanket then put her to bed.

tell me where it hurts when you get hurt.

put your arms around my neck and say, "squeeze!" then giggle when I squeeze you back.

love your father. You are such a daddy's girl.

love to play and laugh.

make me feel more joy than I ever imagined I could feel.

pet my 8 month pregnant belly and say, "Baby. Out!"

are the sweetest thing I've ever known.

help with the gardening by eating the dandelions.

Seattle sunshine! Seriously :)

We had such a great day in the sun. We napped on the porch then walked to Green Lake park to play in the sand.

My spoon is TOO BIG!

Italian bread salad. Yum!

Junkin

When we were kids my mom used to take us to the Salvation Army (Sally Anne's) and the Goodwill (GWs) to shop for toys and clothing. We loved this adventure so much. It was great fun to sift through the junk to find a few treasures. I have continued my love of thrift shopping into adulthood. The affectionate term I use for this favorite activity is Junkin. I've even managed to drag Ido along if I say we are going to look for Maya treasures. He always gumbles a bit about not wanting to go, but once we are in the store I can't get him out of there.

I'm going to make my junkin treasures a regular post on here (Right!). It's just too good not to share! Here are a few items Ido and I found last weekend. Amount spent = $42 (The chair was the most expensive at $20) :

So many puzzles!

Maya loves books. And I love these books.

A sofa just for little Maya. She sat down on it,
spread out her arms and said, "Maya's!" A Win!

This book has illustrations on fingerplay songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider

Mini sewing machine for Maya when she's a bit older.
I'll use it as a travel machine until then.