It's a boy! I had been praying for weeks now that God would help me to rejoice over a boy or a girl so I was actually prepared to hear either one. It's an odd feeling to want something so bad and then get it. It kind of feels like a movie or a dream still. I worry that it's too good to be true, but I feel that way about Abby most days and she's 2. Anyway, his name is Luke Edward. I'm not sure where "Luke" came from but Jason and I have known for years that we would name our son Luke. The "Edward" came from Jason's grandpa, Edward McGuire. I never met him because he died when Jason was in the 6th grade, but they were close.

I'm in the process of painting the nursery now. I guess there's no hurry but I love doing it and I wouldn't get much else done until I did it and got it out of my system. Besides, I should get it done now before I get too big.

Speaking of big, I must say just how frustrating it is for me to play Dance Dance Revolution. I am pretty competitive and it really stinks that I am not getting any better. In fact, I'm getting worse. The farther along I get, the bigger and more off balance I get. Plus, my reflexes have slowed down and they were a handicap of mine even before I was pregnant. I find myself not just falling, but flying off the pads. My quads start burning long before the other people even get thirsty. My friends are really good at it and they keep getting better. It pains me to think of how far behind I will be in 6 months or so. But, it will be a good workout to get back into shape. (cheaper than Tri-State)

Well, my August is pretty much wide open. Come to think of it, so is September and October. This is going to be a long wait.

Jason told me to update my blog. I don't have anything much to say. I'm reading Leadership. Guiliani has a conversational style of writing which holds my attention but it doesn't call to me when I'm not reading it.

Only 8 days until we find out if we will have a son or a daughter joining the family. That's pretty big. In fact, that will be the turning point in the pregnancy and life in general. I don't understand why people wait to find out what they are having. This baby is already a part of our family and I want "it" to have an identity. People say that they want to be surprised. I will be! I just don't have to wait as long. I think it will be more exciting for us to find out early because the baby's gender is all we will be focusing on when we find out. There won't be any labor going on at the same time, tired and in pain. We will have 4 long months on which to meditate and enjoy the baby's position in our family before we even get to delivery. We can get a nursery ready. We can spend lots of time deciding on the right name. Others can celebrate with us (with presents). On a slightly less positive note, we can adjust to the idea of a another girl. We have our hearts set on a boy. If I find out we are having a girl, I'm confident I will fall in love with her, but I may need an afternoon to get over the initial disappointment. Who wants to be disappointed at the baby's birth? When I first hold him/her, I don't want to be meeting him/her for the first time. I want to already know and be in love with him/her. Knowing what we we are having ahead of time will make all the difference for me. I can hardly wait. Fortunately, we've got some stuff going on in the meantime to keep me somewhat occupied, like a cardinals game with awesome seats. (Thanks, Rich.)

I decided that I needed to start thinking again after my brief hiatus. With cable gone, the choice seemed clear, I should read a book. But what book (more like what's a book)? Anyway, Jason took me to this place called a library where they just give you books for free. How do book sellers stay in business? So I walked around this library building surrounded by mounds of books that honestly became a blur after about 40 seconds. They all presented themselves with about the same value and interest level, how to choose? I ruled out the Fabio ones first, followed by the devil/murder ones next. I decided it shouldn't have any pictures in it either. I was left with just about the same blur. I left empty-handed but Jason left determined. He went to another library (there's more than one?) and brought home 3 books for me. Leadership by Rudolph Guiliani, Nicholas Nickelby by Charles Dickens, and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. That day I happened to have read most of Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado that Jason had in his extensive collection, finished it that night, and eagerly began the third book listed, The Count of Monte Cristo. I had seen the movie and loved it. The guy playing Dantes was hot. That usually makes the movie better. But this book was completely different. After the prison escape, the book and the movie really had nothing in common. It held my interest, as exhausting as it was to keep up with all of the French-named characters and their infinite circles of involvement with each other. I finally finished it today. Not the bang of an ending I was looking for...It just sort of fizzled away slowly like this blog...