finally fall

is it fall where you are? because it's hit us full swing this week and i couldn't be more pleased. what else is this time of year good for than hot apple cider and pumpkin butter bread (but seriously, you have to make it!)? a few weeks ago, while my mom and kenley were visiting, we stopped by a little pumpkin stand with every size pumpkin you could need, jellies, preserves, butters, and fall decorations. this may be telling of my geriatric tendencies, but i really think there is nothing better for the soul than pumpkins lined in a row and jarred jellies stacked in deep burgundy, hearty gold, and purples. Two weeks later the leaves are falling all around and piling up in the corners of our landscaping to welcome us home every day. this is the time of year for settling in, and finally - as we inch closer and closer to our early november due date - i feel like we're starting to get to that point.

on tuesday i met with yet another physician at my clinic. he bounded into the exam room, sliced through some paperwork, checked out baby's progress, and was out the door in less than 3 minutes. if it was a sprint i signed up for, i came in baffled and dead last. i have no idea what he said during our micro-chat, but i know there's a very good chance the room next door does because just seconds before i overheard doc's megaphone voice gently but hurriedly coaching the patient in the room next to mine about her not-so-smooth postpartum recovery. nice enough guy though, i suppose. he spoke eloquently yet almost childlike about his adventures riding 4-wheeler as a kid in south dakota, so of course i have to like him. my vision of him whipping in and out of my delivery room in the not-soon-enough-near-future has me a little uneasy, but if speed is his game then consider me signed up.

yesterday we visited the hospital we'll deliver at, and it took every ounce of will power i could muster not to climb up on the delivery bed and demand a straight shot of pitocin. call me crazy, but there's a 10 pound medicine ball resting heavily on my pelvis and my patience is running dry. joey drug me away by my swollen toes with promises of dinner out, so of course i caved. by the time i realized he'd chosen a restaurant with pre-dinner bread (the only kind of restaurant worth going to) i had forgotten all about my botched plans for a 37 week delivery and focused instead on my endless plight in the classroom from hell (don't judge me for my exaggerations, it's been a long week). the not-so-great stories are endless, but suffice it to say my spirits are breaking quickly. there's a small (but, realistically, very large) chance my impatience with the little cherubs could be attributed to my incredibly large and uncomfortable self, but 4.5 hours of teaching leaves me itching for a cigarette. you focus on that glorifying image a minute while i practice my labor breathing and fight through the memories. i would be a dying star right now if it weren't for a miracle from heaven today that took away my last teaching period and replaced it with 2 full hours of blissful movie time in the auditorium with the "good kids" who earned themselves some incentive time. sometimes dreams do come true ;)

this weekend i plan to not think about school for 40-ish straight hours and get the rest of our necessities ready for babes. joey's declared this the weekend of car seat installation, so you know we're not messing around anymore. i still need to find the right rug for the nursery and plot out a hospital bag. i'll leave you with this semi-complete nursery to set the tone. parked just outside camera shot is a bright green stroller with a teddy bear strapped inside. joey pushes it around the house sometimes when he knows i could use a giggle or 10. imagining him as a daddy is really one of my favorite things. if he can deal with my petty shenanigans day after day, the man will be the most saintly father in the world.

Have a great weekend!