Please Welcome...

Elise Anne!!!!!!!!

She arrived at 5:36am on Thursday, September 21st. So now we have to go figure out who won the poll.

She was 7lb and 14oz, 21 inches long. She came by way of natural, water-birth, and it was surprisingly peaceful. Not painless, but peaceful.

Olivia thinks the world of her, and does the rest of her family.

Rob tried to update everyone on Thursday, but Blogger was down, so blame them. ;)

We're home from the hospital and ready for a rest. Perhaps when Elise is not trying to get me to go feed her I will post a longer post about the day that Rob called, "The day of blood and screaming." It was a very eventful day that involved not only Olivia's first day as a new big sister, but also her first stitches. But that's all I'm telling you for now, Love and Blunder has become the blog of anticipation...

The Hands of God

Yesterday and today have been really tough days for me. It's really hard to be over due, and chase around a toddler and a dog. And do laundry. And vacuum. And wash the dishes...

You get where I'm going with this, right? I'm pretty tired of being pregnant.

Yesterday I was at my most despairing. I cried a whole lot while Rob got ready for work because I didn't want him to go. He had to go though, it is his vocation to work diligently and take care of our family, just as much as it is my vocation to gestate this baby as long as it needs to cook.

That's one of the reasons that I was so depressed. I wasn't taking any delight in my God-given vocation, and I was selfishly wanting Rob to forsake his as well. I knew that I was sinning in my selfishness, and I didn't even want to be repentant.

Talk about Oh, Me-of-little-faith.

But, the God of Mercy meets my needs even when I am being wretched and unfaithful to Him. The Lord sent me exactly the help I needed yesterday. He extended His hand to me through my non-believing neighbors as they fulfilled their neighborly vocation.

The people who are watching our dog when we have the baby called and asked if I would let them borrow Sherman so that he would wrestle with their dog and wear her out. And when she stopped by to pick him up I decided to drive down to her house and pay a visit with her.

My loneliness was satisfied, and my dog was pooped out for the whole evening and I got to take a break from my hectic schedule and flop around on the couch. Praise be to God that He is faithful, and truly does deliver exactly what we need.

Some women are crock-pots

I went to the midwife yesterday. Everything is the same as it was the last time I was there.

I just take a long time to cook babies, I guess.

The contractions that I had been having have stopped. I discovered that it was because I was still drinking some coffee. I guess it was effecting me more than I thought it was.

So, the waiting continues...

In case you are wondering about the new baby

my due date is sometime this week. I haven't had a lot of invasive care so we don't know if I'm making progress or not. I'm assuming that this baby will come whether or not I am making weekly checks as to if he or she is closer or not. I feel like the baby will be here very soon.

I've been having some random contractions and they are working their magic. I feel grumpy, grouchy and uncomfortable, so that means things must be going the way they're supposed to, right?

The plan is for me to have a water birth at a very low-intervention hospital with one of two midwives. Rob will be there, Olivia will be with her grandparents. Sherman will be hanging out with the neighbors down the street who are the owners of Sherman's very cute chocolate lab girlfriend, Puddy.

So, just like when we were waiting for our sweet Olivia, you can all make your guesses as to the vital info of this next baby.

In the comments leave your guess about the length, weight, sex, and birth day.

To give you some help on the weight and height issue I've only gained 14 pounds, and the baby has been measuring 2 cm smaller than his/her dates from the get go. So have fun guessing! We'll let you know when he or she makes their impending arrival.

Sherman becomes lovable

Series One. Dog and Toddler. Notice how Olivia has no fear. And how Sherman, if he doesn't feel like being loved on, has no tolerance.

Series Two. Dog and Dad. Notice here how Sherman is not only on the couch (the new couch that Rob loves and obsesses over ever spot and mark), but he is on the dad on the couch. Yes, this dog is making his way just fine.