Phew! Made it through Christmas

Well, we made it through Christmas relatively unscathed! Kidding! But seriously folks -- family time is so hard to schedule so that everyone can be there. With DH on the railroad and now his brother on the railroad, it was very difficult to schedule time to have gift opening and hot cider with his family. Nobody else on his side of the family were visiting for Christmas this year, so we just had to decide one night (Dec 22nd) that we would open presents and get together that day.
That was somewhat rushed and awkward, especially since my brother-in-law ran off to the bar afterward. He wouldn't do that on Xmas eve. Anyway, it was nice that all 5 of us could be together either way.
The highlight of my Christmas was that my brother is home on leave from Camp Shelby, Miss., where he's training for a March deployment to Iraq for about a year. It's been so nice to see him and it's been really great because we got some great family pictures of all of us together. Even though I'm 27 pounds heavier than I was this time last year -- I still like the photos!
So speaking of the bean... my sister thinks that I am ready to explode and that this baby will arrive in January rather than on or near our due date of Feb 9th. We'll see!
I got to spend some quality time in the hospital the other night with contractions coming every 3 minutes for a half hour. I was concerned about preterm labor so I went to the hospital and they did some tests that said I was definitely NOT in labor and I wouldn't be having the baby in the next 14 days. That was a relief. One, because I'm scared to death of labor and two, because we don't have a carseat or anything really to bring the baby home to! The crib is here and set up, there is a bare mattress in it. There is a changing table but no changing pad yet for it... our closet has been ripped apart and our closet doors have not yet arrived. So we've got some work to do, but people tell me that babies rarely make it convenient for you so I just HOPE to have the room really ready to go by the time the bean shows up!
So I'm not on bed rest or anything - which is good.
I'm getting really big and I think it's amazing that women can have babies like this. It's really been quite amazing to watch the transformation - and go from no tummy to a huge tummy and being able to see the baby moving around in there! It's been very cool. I'm now at the stage where my lower back is killing me all the time and I have a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep. Every time I wake up to roll over, and move my 4 pillows with me, I end up having to get up to pee. It's just a hazard of the condition I guess. It's getting old though. Apparently it's my body preparing me to get up every 2 hours! I have to say that I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that. Hope this one sleeps through the night right away! Oh, to be so lucky!!
No, I'm pretty much uncomfortable most of the time now. I cannot stand wearing my maternity clothes anymore. Some of the outfits that USED to fit a few months ago are really restricting now and it's tough to try and be a cute pregnant lady when nothing cute fits anymore! I've got a short time left, so I know I can make it a little bit longer. Thank goodness I work somewhere that I can dress casually everyday! I would hate to have to dress up when I feel this way.
Have a fabulous New Year, here's to a great 2006!