I'm the Alien's Mother

This weekend we spent nesting. We didn't nest like typical people, Robert cleaned the attic out and I went through a ton of old papers and shredded. Our nursery still isn't put together, but thank God those papers are gone (note the sarcasm). We did get our baby's dresser though and there was no assembly required therefore, I can say that we have completed one piece of furniture.

We had the bad storm come though on Sunday and we spend the majority of the day and night without any power. We read a lot and it was actually nice. No major damage besides a few limbs down, but a tree fell on the light post across the street and mangled it. They clocked wind speeds here at 70 miles per hour. It was a good taste of what a hurricane can do.

The baby is progressing nicely. It's starting to get bigger and move a lot more. The kicks are more like kicks instead of thumps. They wake me up in the night and I realize that the baby is a night owl as he/she is quiet during the day. The other night while laying in bed reading (this is the time where he/she really gets going), I felt this strange pulling feeling on my stomach. It was like skin tightening on the outside. I pulled my shirt up and looked down and my stomach was oblong and had a lump sticking out the front. I looked at Robert and he looked at me. I said, what the hell is that? Then I put my hand on the round part and it was hard. I said, "oh my God, I think that is the baby's head!" Robert and I immediately went "eewwww, that is so strange". I laughed pushed on it gently and Robert said, "Don't! You'll poke the baby's eyes!" I, of course, laughed and we watched as it shifted and went back down. It was the craziest thing I've seen yet. It's only done it once after that and I'm realizing just how big this thing is getting.

I'm leaving on Sunday for Philadelphia for a night. It's a work trip and very short, so I won't be able to do any sight seeing. I'm excited to have this small one night trip alone. I realize that this is probably, and hopefully, the last trip that I will take alone for a very long time. It will be good to be in a crappy hotel working on my laptop and a client site to fondly remember my consulting days. I will salute them as they were wonderful to me, but I smile as I take a large step in to motherhood. What a beautiful progression.

We have some friends coming in to town over Memorial Day. Robert and I are looking forward to seeing them. We miss all of our friends so much, so we're really looking forward to being with people our age and having fun. The schedule for the Jones Inn is getting pretty full after the baby is born, so it is really nice to have something to look forward to before the baby arrives.

I didn't want to comment on the Virginia Tech thing, but it seems to warrant itself in this post. I guess when you're carrying a child, you look at things in a different light. I haven't turned on the radio or the TV in two days trying to avoid the non-stop media sensationalism of it all. I pray for the victims family, I pray for the person who did it and most of all I just pray that something will make all this madness stop. I hope more people will stop supporting "dooms day" media outlets who focus non-stop on nothing but sex, death and propaganda. I hope we will all spend a little less time on watching what other people do and focus back on our communities, our families and how we can make things better. Just think how much the world would change if a percentage of people did that. I guess I just look at things in a different light and think what is it going to be like when my child grows up? I think every parent feels that way, it's just my turn.