God willing....

Well, God willing, I will be giving birth to Wieder #3 in the next 3 or 4 weeks. My actualy due date is April 1, but I refuse to go that long. Thispregnancy, I am pretty sure, has lasted about 3 years, or so it truly feels. In two weeks I will be 37 weeks along. I am very excited to have this EXTREMELY active child be active outside of my body. Perhaps it is the fact that I have two already active children who LOVE to wrestle, be held, run, and basically do any of the things that feel simply impossible to do right now. If I spend any more than 5 or 10 minutes walking, running or anything requiring physical activity, I immediately have tightening and slight contractions. Lots of fun. Hopefully that just means that this will progress quickly and smoothly.
Brendan is very much looking forward to the new baby. He would like the baby to sleep with him, right next to him in his bed. I put together the bassinet for the baby, and he was very upset to see it in my room and not his. I tried to explain the whole feedings in the middle of the night to him. He seemed to accept it for now. We'll see. I was also told a very heart warming story about Brendan at school today. One of his teachers was pushing him on the swings, and she let him know that she had to stop because she recently hurt her back, and it was starting to hurt again. Well, Brendan got out of his swing, took her hand, and said, "come with me". He took her over to the benches, said, "i'll sit with you, but you need to take a rest." And he sat with her so she would feel better. I couldn't ask for a better boy.
Cecelia continues to bring joy and wonder to my life. She is such a goofy girl. I am constantly amazed at the things she does. I am not sure why my little girl is such a puzzle to me, but she is. I feel like I will never figure her out. She's so complex at 2 and half. She LOVES Brendan and wants to be where he is, know where he is, and do what he does at all times. She seems very lost and lonely when he is not around. She also LOVES her daddy. She's always telling him she loves him, and it's unsolicited! I can't wait to see her go to school next year and see what she learns. She's just growing up so quickly. I am curious to see how she reacts to the new baby. She's definitely worked her position of baby, so when she's not, I am not sure how she'll be. Our priority will be to make her feel important and loved. Not that we don't now, but we don't want her singing to herself on her birthday..." happy birhtday lonely neglected middle child....." (for you simpsons fans.)
Gary is doing a great job with work. They had 116 Jr. high kids at their worship last night. He and Sayward and Erik continue to plug away at this area, and it is truly paying off. They go on a retreat this coming weekend with the jr. high. Sadly, he'll probably get more rest and sleep on that retreat than I will being home. But I know he will be tired!! And it isn't going to get better for him any time soon since the craziness of a new born is right around the corner. The great thing about the third is the knowledge of this craziness only lasting a short season. That certainly helps us mentally!!
I guess the only other "exciting" news is that I am selling my Honda to enter into the world of "mini-van mom". I am SO excited to get this new van. The whole concept of doors that open and close by themselves seems like a magical world of extravagance to me. I can't WAIT!!!
Pray for us over these next few weeks. Pray that I go into labor at a decent hour. That way we won't have to call a cab for me to get to the hospital so Gary can stay at home with the kids until morning. (One of the HUGE disadvantages to not having family in town.) They are coming, just not for the birth. I hope to post again soon, but it might just be after little #3 is here. Love to all!!