In one of my favorite winter traditions, Punxsutawney Phil, the "official" groundhog of Groundhog Day, did not see his shadow on Friday morning. So rather than six more weeks of winter, it looks like we'll have an early arrival of spring. On Friday, when Jonathan and I were laughing about the fact that we have a six-week waiting game of our own. That's right, we're just six weeks out from Julian's due date. Neither of us expect him to come right on his due date, but honestly we're hoping it won't be too long after.
Now that I have my application in to Edinburgh I've been able to focus on more "baby stuff." I've been reading the resources from our prenatal class as well as the books we've received as gifts. My side of the family threw us a wonderful shower last week. As I've said before, pregnancy has introduced to me a new sense of vulnerability. However, at my shower it was such a wonderful experience to be surrounded by so much love and support. Many women-- from middle school friends to family to college friends and roommates-- were there to share this special time with me. My department at work is throwing another shower on February 11th, mostly for my Lee circle comprised of colleagues, & students. This one will be a couples shower and Jonathan is really looking forward to taking part.
Our extended family has started to talk about a schedule for who will come to help us after Julian arrives. Although Jonathan and I have known for some time that we want it to be just us in the delivery room, we want to share the first weeks of Julian's life with friends and family, especially considering our upcoming move. The best advice we've received is to let people help us, that folks don't want to just hold the baby, but they're equally willing to run the vacuum cleaner or make a casserole. We're looking forward to having a few extra pairs of hands on deck for the first while.
February will be a big month for us. As we flipped the calendar this week, we realized this will (probably) be our last full month as a family of two! Tomorrow we go in for a 35 week check-up and our practitioner will also do an ultrasound to check Julian's size. Next week we have a photo session scheduled at McClure Studios in Athens. The session was a gift from Suzanne and we are all so excited. This will be our last trip out of town, though-- and I'm glad! Even with lots of water and frequent stops to move around, I swell up a lot after car trips. That same week we have our prenatal visit to the pediatrician. It's so weird to think that we have a pediatrician! Then the next week is Jonathan's 33rd birthday and our tenth wedding anniversary. Amazing how time flies.
I am elated that the onset of spring-- according to a giant rodent at least-- will coincide with the birth of our son. The arrival of new life is always an enchanting thing.