Today was certainly our most normal day since the storm. It is still very hard driving around the city. I guess it was very distracting not having traffic lights. I didnt seem to notice all the blue roofs and brown debris stretches along the side of the road. Really made me realize that Baton Rouge is my home now, too. I feel very sad about how different the city looks in some places. The parks are still not open so I cannot take Lucie to play as we normally would. Especially with the weather the way it was this morning. C., the babysitter, told Lucie to put on a jacket before they went out for a walk and I sort of laughed under my breath. Sure enough, though, I noticed the temp was 68 when I went out for errands at 10:00am. I couldn't believe it. Of course, I was still sweating and running my AC (with the windows down).

I went out to meet up with my bookkeeper for final arrangements prior to the birth and picked up some plans from Jarred at Ewing (the irrigation supply store). It felt good to be back in the swing. It must have been the same for other people, b/c the crowd was pretty thick at Ewing with men hanging around chatting. Alot of comments about how I shouldnt worry as they can handle "all parts of bringing babies: making them and then catching them", with men making catching hands and baseball signs, haha. Lots of manly advice on how to get the baby to come, mostly directed at Jarred, also big haha. It is sort of a novelty for husband/wife work teams at the irrigation store.....people do seem to love it though.

I also went to whole foods and bought up my "crack" as Jarred calls it. I have become obsessed with Lavender scented bath products, candles, but essential oil mainly. I just drop some on a thin washcloth and put it over my face in the bath, pure heaven. I am hoping it is a pregnancy thing that I will let go of after the baby comes. It really is sort of ridiculous. Jarred can smell it in the air when he gets home and asks where my "lavender lab" is.... I even told him if it wasnt so weird I would name the baby lavender b/c it has been so prevalent in this house the past couple of months.

Our back yard is still a mess, but the trees that are clay-rooted have put out new growth. I am still trying to convince Jarred to prop them up, but he says they are too big. He wants to just throw the Willow in the canal, as he thinks it will just grow up out of the water, maybe.....The grass is high and everything is still tied up. Hopefully, he will send a crew by this week.

Lucie has a horribly swollen ankle. I guess a bug bit her again. She has such an allergic reaction to that kind of stuff. I thought it was just a blister from where Jarred put her in sandals that were too small and walked her around the neighborhood on Sunday (so I could nap without her jumping on my head or the baby's head). Her feet grow so fast it is hard to keep up with what shoes fit and which dont. Anyway, now it is swollen. So today I gave her some benadryl and tylenol and put some cortisone on it. I will do so again before bed. She actually slept in her bed all night. She feel asleep with me, but I put her back into her bed. About 11pm she woke up and found Jarred sleeping on the couch (I say Jarred fell asleep watching MNF, but he says I snore. Well, I do have a baby sleeping on my gut), so she just crawled up there and went back to sleep. I got up at 2am, as per normal, for my sugar replenishment (chocolate milk), and Jarred told me he "didn't know what to do" so he just stayed sleeping on the couch. I took her back to her room and we went back to bed in our bed. She slept in her room the rest of the night. Yeah! I really dont mind her sleeping with me. But she was doing so well falling asleep in her bed on her own and sleeping all night. BUT THEN, J. (the summer sitter) left and Lucie was apparently not as tired, so started getting up about 2-3am and coming in with us. No biggie, but since I put the baby's little bed in our bedroom, Lucie has been falling asleep with me and staying all night in there. I guess maybe she is staking her territory a bit. But I am worried I will start laboring and be worried to wake her up with the tub running, etc. So, we are trying to get back into the Dora bed at night, gently as possible, of course.

As for new baby, not much to update. My joints have been so loose, popping a ton. Last night I had several real contractions through out the night. Nothing that followed the "StongER, ClosER, LongER, and make you go ERRRR!". Just pretty intense, 1-2min long single contractions about 1-2 hours apart. Tough enough to wake me up and know that I did not have to stay asleep to time them, b/c they would certainly wake me up. Nothing came up it though. Guess my body is still working to get this baby in position for birth. I am okay with that. I would rather have a ton of Braxton Hicks and Prelabor and have a baby in "optimal fetal position" for birth. E.T., my midwife, is coming to visit tomorrow. We will go over my supplies and where everything from my underwear to food will be stashed.

I am trying to just ask for a good night's sleep everynight, instead of asking for the baby to come. Sort of takes the pressure off......