No Baby Yet

But any moment now.

The phone has been ringing off the hook. Kinda fun, but I imagine it will get less so when we are actually in labor, or over due.

Alexe's doing well, after a 24 hour stomach bug. Petunia's fully prepared to come out, firmly planted head down, and making Alexe ache in all sorts of new places.

We're officially due on Friday, but who knows if we'll make it that long, or if we'll still be waiting 2 weeks from now.

We're doing everything we can to help the process along. We went for a very pleasant walk in the wilderness preserve a few miles away, all the way down to the river, through the cypress groves and swamps. Wandering through the woods, holding hands and chattering, with the pooches racing through the woods, cutting in front of us periodically to make sure we're still moving; We saw our life this afternoon as just this, walking along holding hands, with the weather, the trees, the terrain, the seasons, and the things racing around us changing, and us just strolling along, enjoying it all. Heaven on Earth.


I have a question for anyone who can find an answer: How often are beavers crushed by falling trees?

We're sitting in the sun filled living room, Alexe snoozing on the couch wrapped in a duvee, hand on belly. Shadow's pooped, flopped half on my foot and gently snoring. Dido's chewing away on her chewy-chip, looking worriedly over at Shadow, who finished hers more than an hour ago.

Oh, that's something I wanted to mention here, to anyone who is interested. I have been conducting a study of tennis balls. We have the perfect stress tester, powerful jaws, slightly sharp teeth, and a love for tennis balls that keeps us up at night with the incessant slobbering/chewing sounds.

I've been looking for a tennis ball brand that does not come unglued with a couple strong chomps. The "made for pooches" brands, all of them, are good for maybe 10 minutes. They are made of thicker rubber, but less flexible, and as all tennis balls are made in 2 halves and then glued together, they need to be plyable to stay together. (John and Christy, Shadow loved her present-balls, but had them in little pieces all over the house in under a half hour.)

Penn, while expensive, last under 2 hours, 3 if Shadow's savoring them. Almost every other brand, whatever Walmart has on the shelf, will break down more quickly.

Far and away the best: Wilsons. These, for some reason, are guaranteed to last overnight, sometimes 2 nights, sticking together even after Shadow has gotten a tooth or 2 through them.

Hope that bit of info comes in handy at some point.

Much love to most everyone.