This is Wolfgang: Around here, he is known as "A Booger". As in: "What is A Booger doing? Why is A Booger so sweet? How can "A Booger" be so soft?". Well, I say "around here" but really Giovanna and I are the only ones that use this nickname. I may or may not have shared with you my husband's disdain for nicknames - I promise to tell you the story about naming this baby after he gets here. It involves an Italian standoff - some huffing. Some puffing. Perhaps some stomping. Maybe some squealing and grand gestures with very long arms with a wingspan of 6'3". And finally? Compromise. It's a good one. Anyway, I just decided to post pictures and write what comes to mind. Wolfgang recently had his check up and is a hearty 88 pounds. A healthy boy. And I cannot begin to tell you how sweet he is or how glad we are to have him - even though before he was potty trained I probably picked up 88 pounds of poop from various spots. Which isn't fun. And especially when you are newly pregnant and feel like puking all the time. I digress. More pictures: This may well be my favorite EVER TAKEN of Lily Head. First because she is so mild in temperament but tries SO HARD to be naughty. If you get a frown like this, you can be sure she is 3 seconds away from giving you a hug and a kiss. Which is why she makes me laugh so hard. I have often told her "Lily? If you are going for naughty? You will have to try a lot harder than that to come close to your sister and my daughter". Then she runs off on very chickeny chicken legs with her bald head... giggling. Then I chase after her and try to eat her whole. On a baguette with some butter. She has finally relented and now if I ask her "Lily, can I eat your toes?" she'll just shove her foot near my mouth because she knows I will not stop. Which is a perfect example of why she is so mild, b/c I have been asking my daughter for over 2 years if I can just please eat her cheeks and her answer is always "NO!" but really really loud and full of flavor and sometimes with a stomp of her foot and maybe a swing at me. So see.. Lily is really charming in comparison. And see, here is a perfect example of why I do not bring the aforementioned child out to eat very often. Even Maeve looks horrified as my daughter, with her big cheeks and father's smile, jumps around like she has ants in her pants. I do believe this was taken at a birthday lunch for me and I may or may not have left half drunk with a splitting headache. You can see that Lily has no hope of reaching such levels of naughty. Have I mentioned how much I love these boys? Despite all the pics we have of them play fighting, they get along very well.. and have actually never had so much as a disagreement. Seriously. They are just playing: Somehow Schutz always comes out looking a tad more deranged in the pics we take of them playing. Anyway, my mind is wandering hither and tither these days. If all goes to plan, we will have the baby this week and I am kind of trying to wrap my head around it all. My overwhelming thought is excitement - joy, that feeling you get as a kid before Christmas when you just can't wait another day to open your presents. Except times 1000. I have my moments of feeling afraid too - I don't remember Giovanna's c-section so a part of me is a little afraid of being awake for a surgery since the only other surgery I've ever had was... well, Giovanna's c-section. I am afraid of Post Partum Depression, I cannot leave that out. I have a very peaceful feeling about this baby, I see myself content and managing very well - but the mark left by the time after Giovanna's birth is still visible with my memory. I am not focusing there, I am not expecting that. But it is kind of like expecting the best while knowing the worst. I would say it occupies very few of my thoughts truly. Of course I am afraid of something going wrong. We have made it this far, I just want to hold him and see that he is healthy and lovely and that we both come thru the birth no worse for wear. These must be thoughts that pass thru so many mother's minds as the birth of a child gets ever closer. Mostly though I am overwhelmed with a feeling much like the one we have all felt at one time or another.. when you are about to be reunited with someone so dear to you. When you are about to hold someone very precious - someone you have been aching to see. Because even though I haven't technically "met" him, I feel that he has been with me, in some way, for forever. And even though I don't technically "know" him, I feel that in some ways I must know him more than I know myself. And even though I haven't laid eyes on his face, I feel that in some ways he is going to be the most beautiful boy I've ever seen. And for most minutes of my waking and dreaming lately, I have been filled with elation at finally finally touching him. Forgive me if posting is light this week. I promise to let you know when he gets here, along with his name. And a photo. Can't wait to share him with you.