Dy asked if Bud knows how to blog a birth announcement. Snort! I will do my best to instruct him, however, so you guys won't be a minute behind the news.

It feels as if my hips are about 12 feet apart right now. I can waddle with the best of 'em. We did the duck waddle when I was in elementary P.E. I could easily win that race today.

Camp Nocachem is going well. We've been swimming, eaten a lot of junk, as well as a fair amount of good food, crafted, read, watched a movie, and just played. Today's photos for your enjoyment:

We thought better of the lake option.

Problem Number 1 - I don't want to go into labor there. The lakehouse is two hours away and very remote, and I'm having contractions and I'm dilated over a cm(which is no indication based on my other two pregnancies, but you can be sure if I were alone in the wilderness, labor would ensue). I could call 911 if I needed to, but my children would be traumatized for life.

Problem Number 2 - Jet skis and a boat staring my kids in the face and taunting them would be really difficult. No, I'm not getting on a jet ski at 8 months pregnant, and my kids aren't doing it without an adult, so that option is out. I don't drive boats. Bud and I owned a boat early in our marriage. We sold it after one season. 'Nuff said. Oh, but did I mention that Bud thinks he wants to own a marina? If I could explain to you how incredibly out of character that is, well, I would be able to do a lot of things I can't do. Let's just say it's utterly ridiculous if you know my husband.

Problem Number 3 - Bud's car is falling apart. We've been waiting for the day, and the day has arrived. So, he kind of needs us close while he decided whether to shell out $1200 on a car that's worth maybe $3000, or if it's time to bite the bullet and buy a new (to us) car. This car is now 10 years old with over 140K miles on it, but still, car-shopping sticker shock is no fun.

This leaves us here at home. So this week we are having "Camp Nocachem". Crafts, games, unhealthy snacks, movies, lots of swimming. Today we made camp t-shirts (pictures for you tomorrow). Luke and Peyton have done well without their friends - I, however, am lonely for my girlfriends.

All this to say, I'll be around this week after all!

Well, Fifth Disease has reared it's ugly head again here in the hood, affecting one of Peyton's other girlfriends. So, knowing that I have no immunity to it, that these dominoes will likely continue to fall, and that quarantining my children from their friends would be akin to cruel and unusual punishment, we are leaving. Our good friends have a lake house that they have offered up to us while this virus makes its way through our neighborhood. Bud will be home working, as the lakehouse has no internet access, a must for him to get any work done. (I think the real reason he isn't going is because he sees this as his opportunity to have his way with the thermostat.)

So we are off for a week, maybe more depending on the status of the ill here at home.

I'll see you when we return. Happy summer!

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock

Never-ending appetites.

Black-bottomed feet.

Dalmation faces.

The mingling aromas of sunscreen and grass.

Screen doors slamming.

Cannon balls.

Water guns.

Bikes and scooters littering the front lawn.

First off, thank you for your prayers. The labs came back and all is well - no exposure, past or present, to Fifth Disease was evident! So now to wait to meet this little one.

So, today, when I should have been painting a crib, this is what I've been doing:



This is the trim from some old dishtowels that I bought years ago with the idea of doing something cute with them. I tried to make a little cafe curtain from the dishtowels for our laundry room, but it didn't turn out so well, so it's been sitting in my sewing scraps tub for quite a while now. I came across it today cleaning out my former sewing room, soon to be nursery and made this set. It was quick and easy - it could easily become an addiction, making these little sets.

I'm feeling much better now. Thank you for your kind, and funny, comments. A bad night of sleep really takes its toll right about now.

I'm exposed to Fifth's Disease. After I quit saying "Oh, crap" over and over again I settled down and was able to tell myself it will be fine. Prayer is a good, good thing.

I had my blood drawn today to see if I'm already immune or have been recently exposed, and then we'll go from there. Fortunately, I'm headed into the homestretch, so even in the very worst scenario, The Baby Formerly Known as Piper, can be delivered without much ill effect. And the very worst scenario isn't likely to happen anyway.

So, I'm fat and (mostly) happy right now. Luke and Peyton finished up VBS today, where they had a phenomenal time. We have nothing else scheduled for this summer. Just a few months of wide open days. We'll swim, read, nap, dance, sing, sweat and have a baby during that time. Should be a good summer.

So, Janet, you asked. If you don't have a large monitor you might have to scroll over to the side to see the whole picture.

I don't like people to talk on their cell phones while driving. Seriously, it can wait till you get there.

I will never shop at Home Depot. Again. Ever.

"Hey, Mom!" is endearing the first nineteen times. After that it's just plain irritating.

Women from New Jersey have no business making Jambalaya. Actually, they have no business saying it, much less making it.

Children should ring the doorbell one time. One time only.

Computers are stoopid.

Pillows are good, but not good enough to hold your hips in their sockets for you.

If anyone else tells me that getting up to pee 10 times every night is preparation for the sleepless nights I'll have when the baby gets here, I will go out and buy a gun and shoot them. I've done this before. I've been an ob/gyn intern. I've done sleepless, and you can't prepare for it.

You do not own the highway. The roads are public, that means we all get to use them and we are all subject to the rules that apply to them.

Do. Not. Touch. The. Thermostat. You know who you are.

My brother and his family rented a house in New Braunfels for the week after the 4th of July. Then the other siblings and their offspring started thinking it was a good idea and it's turning into a veritable family reunion down there.

So I told Bud we were going to be going to New Braunfels for BBQ, floating on the river, some good country music, and family fun. He told me we would be doing no such thing. According to him it will be a thousand degrees and I'll be 9 months pregnant, so no we wouldn't be going, and as far as he's concerned I should be in a wheelchair at that point. (We'll see how he likes it when I throw that in his face in July when he's asking for a glass of iced tea.)

So, determined, I went to the doctor today. She had the nerve to agree with my husband. "Not at 38 weeks. So sorry." Harumph.

I had to come home and tell Bud the doctor agreed with him. I did not like that one bit.

You know what he said? "Honey, you're not Sacagawea."

Bud came home yesterday (actually it's nearly 3 a.m., so it was the day before yesterday now). His flight was 30 minutes late coming into DFW. A very long 30 minutes. He walked through those doors bearded and tired and oh so wonderful to see! It's good that he's home - our house has its rhythm back now.

I wasn't sure what or when he would want to eat after travelling all night, so I made a brisket, potato salad, fruit salad, avocado salad, and strawberry shortcake. All things very easy to pull out and put on the table whenever you're read to eat. Also all summer food.

The melons are delicious right now. The avocados and berries affordable. And they are all abundant. I can't tell you how much watermelon has been powered down around here in the last couple of weeks.

I'm kind of off balance because of the extended rainy season we're having. It's still staying quite cool by Texas terms around here. We're sleeping with open windows a lot. I haven't been swimming yet. But the kids have - they don't care about shivering or turning blue. They just jump in.

Iced tea is in the fridge. Lemony tea. We're drinking a lot of that.

This baby is keeping me up nights. I have to go to the bathroom at least 4 times a night, and this is the most hiccupy of my crew yet. This makes me drag and need an afternoon nap most days. Which isn't all bad.

We still don't have a name for this child. But we do have diapers, a car seat and a place for her to sleep, so we're good.

VBS is next week. I'm not volunteering this year, since I'll be pretty near 8 months along. So I'll have 5 3-hour long mornings to myself. Not sure what I'm going to do with that time, but it could be very nice.

We're meeting my bros and sisters in New Braunfels for a couple of days at the Guadalupe River in July. I'll be **really** pregnant then, so I probably won't float down the river. But it should be fun nonetheless. I love New Braunfels. We like to eat at Janie's barbecue - now that's some good brisket. And we like to go to Gruene Hall and hear the music - Gary P. Nunn will be there when we go. It's where we heard the South Austin Jug Band for the first (and 2nd and 3rd) time. Sometimes I miss living there, but not too much. It is nice to go back to visit though.

I think I might go have a little strawberry shortcake right now. So, goodnight.