Every day, I think of things to write in this journal - 99% of the time, I don't get to the actual writing.  This tells you something about the speed of our lives right now.  Not good, considering we're about to have a BIG slow-down named...well, you might know her name already, but I'm not going to say it here. :)

Ok, Ava's big girl room and bed:
Night 1, November 15th: Mommy cried and took pictures, Ava dressed in big-girl Nick and Nora PJ's and recognized that her blankets and Giraffe were with her and therefore, didn't care a bit that she wasn't in her crib.  She did, however, end up in our big bed from about 2am on.  I was secretly happy about this.

Night 2: Ava played really hard on this day; she was worn out by bedtime.  Again, she didn't protest about the big girl bed and this time, slept all night by herself.  Mommy checked the video monitor 100 times.

Night 3: Ava went to bed at 8:30 and was in our big bed by 12:30.  Hey, it's the first week.

After this, I don't remember specifically what has happened each night; my nights are a blur of tossing and turning, trying to maneuver my big baby belly into a semi-comfortable position.  Leg cramps are frequent at this point.  Try "jumping" out of bed quickly to flatten your foot when you have a watermellon strapped to your abdomen.  It must be quite a sight!  I'm convinced that I sometimes snore, although I cannot get Bobby to admit this.  Just one more reason why he is a great husband.

We just got back yesterday from Thanksgiving at my mom's.  A couple of months ago, I was convinced that by Thanksgiving (38 weeks), I would either: A. not be well enough to go anywhere
B. be so close to labor that my doctor would tell me to stay put, or
C. have delivered the baby

It turns out that none of these things happened, although I was given the 'ok' by my docs to travel a short distance ONLY if I took it easy.  Does shopping on Black Friday count as taking it easy?  Actually, I seriously hurt myself that day, even though mom, Katie and I only went to 2 stores.  The baby is so far down in my pelvis that I cannot be on my feet for hours at a time anymore, or I'm in for a variety of aches and pains.  This is the 9th month that I did not get to experience with Ava, since she was born at 35 weeks.  I still love being pregnant, but I'm ready to deliver this baby so that I can have my life back.

Ava had a fabulous and fun time during our stay, eating lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies and pumpkin pie.  She gets so excited to be with Nonnie, Dida, Aunt Katie and Mia - she sleeps really well at night!  Grams is officially living with my mom and dad now, so she spent a lot of time with Ava - what a gift! 
I may not return to my mom's house before Christmas, depending on what happens with the baby between now and...next weekend.  If I'm not in labor, we've considered going on Saturday to watch WVU play Pitt, but maybe we're pushing it a little.

For now, I have a million color-coded appointments on my Outlook calendar for this week and next, but one sticks out.  Among the "Agora holiday lunch," "ClassConnect session" and Ava's therapy appointments, reads something that looks very ordinary and small, yet is everything but: "Wednesday, December 5, c-section, 7:30 am."  Time to slow down.