Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Pregnant Shot

Last night I was given a beautiful baby shower and was utterly spoiled. Almost to the point of embarrassment. I am so blessed to have wonderful, generous, and very supportive friends. More pictures will be posted later, but here is one that I thought might interest my far away friends.

Here's my belly and the belly of a friend who is due two days after me. She is being induced tomorrow. I am not. Let's not dwell on it, shall we?

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Still Waiting

Still no baby. Just a week to go. Nothing to write about. Nothing is delightfully entertaining around here. Especially me. I just lumber around making a bed here or there, spot cleaning, or letting the laundry sit in the dryer for two days, whichever I please. It's hard to bend over.

But a ray of sunshine is on the horizon. Mom flies in at noon today. TLC is coming. Ahhh....

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

I Guess We're ALL Ready for Me to be Done

Logan: Wow! Your belly is HUGE!

Me: I know. It really is big, isn't it?

Logan: You know what? I like it better when you're not pregnant. You're softer.

Me: Oh... you mean you can sit on my lap easier?

Logan: No. You don't yell as much.

Me: (Oof! Silently recovering from the gigantic thwack of the guilt bat that just knocked the wind out of me.)

For the record and in my defense: This conversation took place in a bathroom stall at the movie theater where I took my children OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF MY AMAZINGLY GENEROUS HEART when what I really wanted to do was curl up on the couch and nurse my aches and pains, but whatever.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Nervous? First Time?

The big question everyone is asking lately is, "Are you nervous?"

My answer: "Uhhh....YEAH!" (If you can imagine that said with a lot of added sarcasm you can catch the true flavor.)

Truth is, I think about it all the time. Delivery: Labor. Pushing. Epidural. Episiotomy. Pain. It's sort of on a loop in my brain. The problem, though, is that I don't really know what to expect. I mean, sure. I've heard the stories. I've watched the Discovery Channel and TLC. I've seen movie deliveries. I even witnessed a live birth. But...I don't know what to expect of ME. I'm the unknown integer in this little formula.

Will I be brave? Will I keep at least a tiny sense of humor? Will I manage to maintain a little dignity?

My friends are wondering the same thing. Kimball said, "I want to be there. Not in the room," he quickly clarified. "Just outside the door, listening." And then everyone laughed. Apparently the prevailing attitude is that it might make for a good show. Bets are being placed on how many swear words may be used. Or how long it will take before I lose my temper. Sympathy is already flowing in Mr. Wicke's direction.

I do not like the unexpected. The not knowing always makes me nervous. And I do not like losing control, which is bound to happen. So, yeah. 16 days to go, and I'm feeling a little anxious. But, then again, I guess that's to be expected. At least that's what everyone says. And then they laugh. Again.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Small Things

Currently I'm reading "Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light" and I ran across this quote that has been tripping through my mind these last couple of days:

"Don't look for big things, just do small things with great love....The smaller the thing, the greater must be our love." --Mother Teresa

Isn't it true how we somehow "know" that we would be capable of the big things even though we often fail to prove ourselves trustworthy with the small things?

Truly I find that the small things are often the most difficult to do because they require so much consistency and effort for something that seems so very insignificant, and yet I am coming to know that it is the small things, done dutifully over the passage of time, that render our hearts worthy, that make the difference in our families, and create the pattern of our lives. What better place to put great love?

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Oatmeal + God = Life 101

Every morning, while we sit down for breakfast, we do a little family scripture study. Two reasons: One, I like the idea of sending Logan out the door with a spiritual message in her mind, and two, (probably the most important) I find that when they are eating they are actually quiet for a small window of time. It works for us.

Anyway, I have been surprised at the discussions this time of study has led us into. You just never know what we are going to cover. This morning we discovered that Griffin, age 5, "already [has] a girlfriend," and although she is a high school student, he is sure she will wait for him to "get big."

We also found out that Logan has the correct order of life all figured out. When Mr. Wicke started saying, "That's why it's so important that we do things in the right order. For example, Heavenly Father wants us first to get married, and then have kids--" Logan interrupted.

"I already know all that." She cleared her throat and took on her most adult-like persona. "First, you kiss. Then you get married. Then you can kiss again. Next you buy a house. Then you have kids, and then you buy a bigger house."

Yup. She's got it down, alright. And I'm pretty sure that if you study the the parables of Jesus closely enough, you too will find such wisdom. He's just forever talking about kissing and bigger houses. Good luck.


This is us buying the "bigger house." As you can see, we have already kissed, married, kissed again, and had the kids. Now what?

Monday, February 9, 2009

Confessions of a Bad Blogger

I am a bad blogger of late. But I am also a bad housekeeper, a mediocre mother, a bad phonecall returner, and a bad email checker. Forgive me. Truth is, I would like to hibernate for the next three weeks. Actually, the truth is, I kind of am.

The nesting thing isn't happening for me. Oh, how I wish it were. No, what is happening to me is that I want to sleep all the time, and if I am not sleeping then I want to be eating Cold Stone's Rocky Road ice cream because its chewy marshmellows and crunchy toasted almonds mixed with creamy chocolate ice cream makes me oh, so very happy. If I could forget about the health and weight ramifications, I would make it my steady diet. Seriously.

The other thing that is happening to me is that I am in the midst of a very nasty head cold. It is completely unfair for a uber-pregnant woman to be sick in the last couple of weeks of her pregnancy, and as such I am feeling very sorry for myself. Mostly because when I cough or sneeze, which I am doing with regular frequency, I nearly or sometimes partially wet my pants. Between that and the drooling that I have taken to doing at night, I'm not sure how Mr. Wicke keeps his hands off me.

And so, if I am not a regular poster for the next couple of weeks, you'll know why. It's hard to type while you're sleeping.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Attacking the Blank


On Saturday I led a valiant charge against the "blankness" going on in my eyes. Remember that? To sum it up, it's just a general tired expression that I seem to be wearing every where I go--at least according the photographic evidence.

Here are the purchases that I am hoping will help:
1. Roc's intensive eye cream. It promises to clear up those pesky dark circles and nasty crow's feet in four weeks. Just in time for hospital pictures.

2. Roc's nightime facial cream. It's supposed to give me firmer younger looking skin in, again, just four weeks. Some of you may not recognize me by then.

And #3--the big winner and my personal favorite: a darker and pinker blush. I don't know if adding a bit more color to my cheeks is doing anything for my eyes, but it sure is helping my face! Who knew that one little change could make me feel so much better?

Sadly, however, I was too tired to put it on today. Oh, the irony.