In the interest of full disclosure, my grandfather died this week after a long physical and mental decline. He was my last living grandparent, and I think the realities of it all haven’t hit me yet. For now, because I am overwhelmed in many ways, I am choosing to focus here on the light and fluffy, rather than anything even close to emotional or difficult. I will just say this: I have been phenomenally blessed by present, loving grandparents, all of whom invested in me and my siblings.

• Tonight I chipperly and firmly asked Aria to help me pick up her toys and put them away. She took the cloth napkin she had gotten out of the kitchen linen drawer, laid down flat on her back in the middle of the living room, and placed the napkin over herself. I think we need to work on that picking up thing.
• Aria, Mom and I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in West Lafayette with my aunt and uncle. We try to visit fairly regularly, because we LOVE them, and we LOVE to visit their home. It’s peaceful there, and beautiful, and my aunt’s an awesome cook, and they are fun, intelligent people. So yeah. This was the first trip since Aria has been ambulatory, and oh boy. The layout of their main floor allowed Aria to happily walk/jog in large circles…over…and over…and over… She officially loves it there as much as we do.

• We’re in the pregnancy home stretch, so I now go in for appointments with my midwife each week. At my last appointment I checked my choice of herbal birth prep formula with Stephanie, and upon her approval began it immediately. It’s a six week formula, and I started it a couple of days into my 34th week (of course, if I go into labor before 40 weeks I can discontinue use). I haven’t noticed anything new with its use, which is fine (probably good). The only thing I’d say is that it tastes guh-ross, like the herbs within the capsule (shocking, right?).
• This evening I met with our general practitioner to quiz her about vaccines. She was very forthcoming and informative, and what I learned is that a bunch of the stuff they pump into tiny children they don’t need until they are much older, if at all. We’ll be foregoing several vaccines this time. Before Aria was born, we made the decision to not have this conversation. I had reached information overload (and I have a high tolerance for information), and just couldn’t deal with it. Now that I’m not overloaded I regret the decision, but I don’t know that I could have made a different choice at the time. Tonight we also attended orientation at the birthing center, as a refresher for Andy and myself, and an introduction for Mom (who will bring Aria while we are there, as long as it is during the daytime). I love that place. I’m really looking forward to birthing there (you know, as much as you can look forward to giving birth).
• This week I started going to a new chiropractor. I’ve always gone to a chiropractor about 30 minutes from home, and I really like him. However it’s become impractical to try to get there for treatment, so I began going to a chiropractor two minutes down our road. My first appointment went well, and I have a second tomorrow. This particular practice often works with pregnant women (the owner’s wife was even our Bradley instructor), so they are familiar with special techniques for treating the pregnant body. The adjustment didn’t help with my pelvic discomfort, which leads me to the conclusion that I am correct that what I am feeling is the baby resting there (the fact I can now actually feel him moving that low is another clue – I’m quick like that).