Its been a little bit since I've written a regular blog. Mostly, I had these two education books out of the library through interlibrary loan, and as they came to the end of their renewal period, I had to rush to finish them and translate my notes into blogs. I still wound up with unfinished blogs and late fees for both books, but that is where most of my writing time has gone recently.

But, a few other things have been eating away at my writing time. First, we got a DVR upstairs. I love it. I can watch last season's Project Runway to tide me over until the new season starts in a week. I've also watched a movie and some other shows that have been on there taking up space forever. I like watching TV upstairs and the convenience of having what I want to watch immediately there, with the exact amount of commercials I want, it very appealing. The DVR is really for Natalie, though. And we've used it a lot for her, too. We almost never watch live TV anymore, or even DVDs. Instead, I have Sesame St, Kai-lan, and Yo Gabba Gabba as well as some other shows set to record daily. We are building up a nice library of shows and I can decide when we watch them without the hassle of getting a DVD out or having to watch the same few shows again and again. I'm hoping this will be especially useful when William arrives and I need to entertain Natalie while I tend to him. I anticipate a fair amount of me operating the TV with the DirectTV remote while I nurse.

Speaking of William, I'm getting to the point in the pregnancy where I'm uncomfortable more and more. Even most sitting positions aren't comfortable for long anymore because he's starting to crowd my ribs (and I slouch horribly). I've got more sciatic nerve pain, more heartburn, more discomfort standing (especially for tasks like dishes). Overall, its not that bad. But, its enough to make me not really want to sit in front of the computer and type when I could be doing something else. The other night I jotted down a bunch of thoughts about the pregnancy, and I'm going to include those in another blog once I finish this one.

As far as Natalie goes, things have been going pretty good around here, despite the heat. Yesterday we met up with my neighbor at the park before story time. The park we went to has a day camp program every day for whoever shows up. We wound up playing with a parachute, which Natalie enjoyed. Today, we went to the toy library. We went once about a year ago and I wasn't impressed. But today, it was great. It was cleaner than I remember, or it could be my standards are lower now that Natalie no longer puts everything in her mouth or crawls on the floor. Natalie got to play with a bunch of new toys, interact with some kids, and play in a ball pit and sandbox. We stayed over an hour. I'm thinking that this might need to be a regular Wednesday thing instead of running errands. What was really great was that she played independently almost the whole time. I was kind of bored, wishing I had a book or needle point or something. I'm thinking that if she continues like that, it will be a great place to go once William is born.

Our next week is very busy. Friday, we have Mike's company picnic. But, since its going to be 95 out, we don't think Natalie or I will make it more than a couple hours. So, we are going to possibly continue our search for a dresser for William. After that, we are headed to my parents' house. Saturday, is William's baby shower and that evening we are celebrating my sister and brother's birthdays. We head home Sunday, maybe do the shopping. Monday is a normal day. Tuesday, my parents come up for their trial run up here. Mike and I are going to see the final HP movie. We might all go out to dinner afterwards. My parents are staying the night, which they've never done before. I'm not sure when they are leaving on Wednesday. Thursday is my next doctor's appointment and our home visitor that evening, as well as new Project Runway that night! Then Friday evening friends from MA are coming to until Saturday evening. We toyed with the idea of going to York's Animal Kingdom with them. So, yeah, a little crazy around here. But, after that, its August and we have almost nothing planned for the whole month because William could come early.

I'm looking forward to most of these things on the horizon. I'm of course a little worried about Natalie not behaving well while we are at the movie, for whatever reason, but it can't be helped. I'm always a little anxious about my parents coming to visit because they do so rarely. It will be strange having them hear in the morning. I both want and feel strange about them perhaps getting a real picture of how we live. Also a concern for me is the heat wave we are currently in. This picnic might be very uncomfortable. I feel bad denying Natalie my company, but I just don't see myself doing much besides breathing and drinking water when its that hot out, and humid. Also, I remember being hot at Natalie's baby shower, which was held at the same house as this upcoming one. Was it just me? Does she not have AC? I'm really hoping its not super hot. Of course, I have the selfish annoyance that the shower is only a few days away and only one item has been purchased off the wish list I made. Is this because it was a universal Amazon wish list and people didn't know how to work it? Because they didn't know about it? Because they just don't care about my opinion on what we need? Or because the guests actually coming are mostly close and feel they don't need to use a list? I'm not sure, but I have my concerns. I'm worried we are going to get things we don't need or want. Like traditional baby shower items that we already have and don't really need more of, and thus will have to go out and spend our money on clothes. I'm also worried that people will get all summer clothes, because that's what is available right now, but not what we need because September in Maine quickly becomes fall. Its all silly and I'm sure it will be fine, just like last time when I worried about the same things.

Alright, my train of thought has been broken and I'm being told I need to buy the HP tickets.