Patiently waiting...

Today we are at 40 weeks, 4 days, and still no baby. Mattias and I are not at all surprised since Linus went to 41 weeks exactly, and took a good 45 hours of labor to come out. Trust me, it's getting uncomfortable and no one wants this baby out more than I do. Here's a belly shot taken at 40 weeks.

Last Friday was my last day of work, and while I will not miss the Metro (or the commute in general), I can say I will miss my friends at the office. They have shared in a lot of the excitement and have given me a lot of support during this pregnancy. So as a parting gift I made chocolate pecan caramel apples to share, with the apples I picked the previous weekend.

Everyone keeps nagging me to rest and take it easy, but I'm sorry to say it's just not my style. That is until, I felt like total crap the following weekend and came down with a cold. I should probably listen to my loved ones, but rest assured that if I don't my body is pretty good at sending me the message.

Thanks for all the messages of excitement and support. FYI- there is free WiFi in the labor/delivery room at the hospital I am delivering at. While I can't guarantee instant mobile uploads of me in labor, I'm pretty sure I will let everyone know as soon as Swedipino 2.0 arrives.

Fall is here!

With a record breaking hot summer, I was so happy to welcome Fall and all the fun it has to offer. I'm not one to sit around (even when 39 weeks pregnant) so when we got an invitation to go apple and pumpkin picking, we couldn't refuse. Our first stop was the Distillery Lane Ciderworks farm located outside of Fredrick, MD. They had apples for picking, along with both hard and fresh apple cider.

Linus was so excited about the dragon on the right.

They had a good variety of apples for baking, eating, and cider.

But the big attraction was the farm's Holstein herd. The farm owner encouraged the kids to pick up fallen apples and toss them to the cows. Finn had an even better idea for the apples.

Linus loved throwing apples to (at) the cows...

and even took to showing Finn how.

After buying Linus' weight in apples and a few bottles of post-baby celebratory hard cider, we made our way to Jumbo's pumpkin patch to meet the Kuypers.

We piled Finn, Ellyn, and Linus into a wagon and made Mattias our pack mule.

It didn't take long for the kids to spot the tractor-pulled hay ride. It's funny that Ellyn (who's spent a good amount of time on a farm) didn't mind sitting on the bales of hay, while our SF-born, high-rise livin' Linus thought it too "spikey" on his delicate legs. I had to pull out a diaper pad for him to sit on :)

The free ride took us to the pumpkin patch. Cali friends: notice that the pumpkin patch is not just a parking lot with pumpkins lined up in rows like an army of North Korean soldiers. It's a real field where pumpkins grow! You actually have to rip the pumpkins off the vine, then pay by pumkin circumfrence. That's why I stuffed a big one under my shirt and pretended to be pregnant at the check out stand.

By the time we were done we had: 2 pumpkins, 2 chrysanthemum plants, 1 1/2 pecks of apples, a gallon of fresh cider, 3 bottles of hard cider, and one heck of a Fall kick-off. While this summer was a miserable one to be pregnant, I think that the 3 months of leave in the Fall will more than make up for it.

Colonial Couples Retreat

A couple months ago I had the brilliant idea of going on a mini-vacay, just me and Mattias, to hang out and relax before our lives got a little bit crazier. With Kerstin and Magnus on board for babysitting over Labor Day weekend, all we had to do was decide on a destination. Ambitious me thought "NYC!" But the idea of taking a 4 hour bus ride to a city where you walk everywhere turned sour when I thought of having to take a 4 hour bus ride home in labor. So we chose a destination with a lot history and a much slower pace-- Williamsburg, Virginia.

Lucky for us, Melissa and Matt were able to join us for a colonial couples retreat at the War Hill Inn. The colonial style inn sat on acres with cute Angus heifers in the front pasture.

After just 3 1/2 hours of beautiful country driving, we met at the inn and did some catching up. Speaking of heifers, check out that butterball eating a caramel apple.

After a while we drove in to the historic area, where there are original and reproduction buildings (some dating back to the 1700's).

Melissa and I got a chance to ponder life, or maybe we were just exchanging recipe/craft ideas.

It was pretty quiet on the street for a Saturday night, and the sunset gave all the buildings a golden glow.

This is a reproduction of the Capital building.

We finally made our way down to the Kings Arm Tavern, where we had dinner reservations. They specialize in foods from the colonial times, complete with candlelight and wait staff dressed in costume.

The Game Pye was the biggest hit. I think it had venison, rabbit, beef, and chicken in it. Definitely not Kosher. The entire experience lasted 2 1/2 hours, and it was so great to just linger over dinner, dessert, and coffee, and not have to worry about getting home to the babies. It has been at least 3 years since we've had a dinner together like this, and we had fun remembering our college days in Davis. Like the time when Mattias ran down 3rd street with his pants down on a dare.

After sleeping in (that's 8:30 for all you non-parents) we enjoyed a full country breakfast made by the innkeepers.

Stuffed (with stuffed french toast) and caffeinated, we hit the town again. During the day, many of the buildings are open to explore.

The best part for me was going into the buildings that housed businesses. From left to right: the apothecary, colonial surgical instruments, and the tailor. As a medical professional, the thought of surgery back in the day makes me nauseous. Don't the instruments have an eerie similarity to woodworking/butcher tools? I spent a good amount of time questioning the tailor about colonial underwear. How often did they change it? Could they flip it inside out and backwards to extend wear?

The wig maker was a pretty sweet character as well. Only rich ladies wore wigs, and if you were lucky you could get extensions.

They also had reenactments of the Revolution, including the reading of the Declaration of Independence.

And interspersed throughout the town were beautiful little gardens.

Before Melissa and Matt had to head back to the DC area, we had the chance to catch a tour of the new coffee house and see a few demonstrations. Being 37 weeks prego, I was pretty much done for the day.

The following day was spent at historic Jamestown, the very first permanent English settlement in North America. Founded in 1607, Jamestown served as the capitol of the Virginia colony until 1699. The early settlers built a fort and a church, but the majority of them died of disease and starvation.

The trip was chill and educational, and a treat for the both of us. We are now counting down to the arrival of Swedipino 2.0. While I plan on working until my due date on the 24th, there have been a few signs that this kiddo will make its appearance shortly thereafter. I have been on hyperactive nesting mode, cleaning, organizing, and stocking at every opportunity. Mattias has been almost the sole caretaker of Linus, given I can barely lift the kid. Even though I'm enjoying the amount of sleep I am getting, I am looking forward to expelling my little parasite :)