Countdowns

As the end of my pregnancy with Connor RAPIDLY approaches, I have a couple different countdowns going through my mind.  ;)  They mostly all revolve around Connor and his arrival, but there are a couple other things I'm looking forward to.  ;)  Here are what my countdowns look like as we get close to Connor's birthday!  :D

Only 3 shifts left at work until I'm off for the next two months!  :D  Yay!!  Looking forward to some time off and R&R with my family!!  :D

Only 6 days left until I've completed those three shifts and I'm officially off!  By Sunday I will OFFICIALLY be on maternity leave from Beldens!  :D

Only 10 more days until May get here, which is when I want Connor to hold out until for his birth.  For those of you who don't know, when we announced that we were having a boy, and his name, at Christmas, we had personalized frames made for Glenn and Linda, my parents, and Michael and me.  These frames say "Connor Michael Voss, May 2014".  So I would really like him to go ahead and come in May so that the frame has the right month on it.  ;)  Next Thursday will be May 1st, that's all the longer I'm asking him to stay put.  ;)

Only 14 more days until I get my little break from Avery and Dayton before Connor gets here!  My mom agreed to watch the babies for the week before Connor arrives (Mon-Fri), so that I can have time to rest, finish cleaning the house, and mentally prepare for Connor's arrival.  Depending on how my doctor's appointments go this week and next week, I may bump this countdown down to 10 days and let her watch them on Thursday and Friday the week before (that way in case he comes early, I still have some time to rest).  We'll see how things go.  ;)

Only 18 more days until Connor is due!  That means that, should he take the full length of possible time, in no more than 18 days, we'll at least be in the hospital scheduled for our induction.  ;)  If labor were to take a REALLY long time, he might be born on the 10th, but considering I'm already 2.5cm and 70% effaced, I don't think it's going to take that long.  :P  In less than 3 weeks, we'll have a baby boy in our arms!!  :D  I'm soooooo excited!!!!  :D

Only 20 more days until Mother's Day.  My first Mother's Day with two children.  It will be such a special blessing to have Connor here for Mother's Day.  :) 

Only 33 more days until Connor's welcome home party!  :)  Now many of you probably don't know anything about this, that's because I haven't sent out invitations yet.  :P  Two weeks after Connor is due, we're planning a little welcome home cookout where people can come and meet our little boy in case they didn't get a chance to meet him at the hospital when he was born.  Keep an eye on your email and facebook after he arrives and you'll see the invite.  It does fall on Memorial Day weekend, so I understand that not all people will be able to come, but it is a come and go event, so I hope people will at least drop in for a minute.

Finally, there are only 3 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days until Tugfest!  It's the vacation I look forward to every year!  ;)  Last year, we introduced our family to our daughter for the first time.  Since she was born in October, she missed Tugfest by a couple of months.  By the time she made it to her first Tugfest she was already 10 months old.  This was when walking really clicked for her!  While her first steps were around 9 months, when she hit 10 months at Tugfest, was when she really took off.  :)  I wasn't pregnant yet at Tugfest last year, but I was soon to be!  :D  And the rest is downhill.  ;)  This year we'll be introducing the family to our son for the first time.  With his birthday in the Spring, he'll be here in time for Tugfest 2014 and will be a mere 3 months old when he goes for the first time.  This will also be our first big trip as a family of 4!  We might go to Topeka a time or two while I'm on maternity leave, but that's nothing compared to a 6-8 hr car ride to Iowa.  ;)  I am soooooo looking forward to this trip again!!  I've already begun my packing list (not actual packing).  Can't wait!  :D

These are the important countdowns I'm looking forward to lately!  As you can see, most of them are centered around Connor's arrival.  ;)  I'm sure there will be more fun things to look forward to in our lives here soon.  :)

Bonus:
Good work to those of you who made it to the bottom of this post!  ;)  I know there are several people who read, but very seldom do I get comments on my post.  Let's play a game (for those of you who did make it to the end).  Comment on this post (you can do so without signing into or up for anything, just type your name in the comment section instead) with what you think Connor's length, weight, and birthday will be.  Whoever is closest on length and weight will get a special prize at Connor's Welcome Home party (or I'll mail it to you if you're unable to attend!).  If someone ties for closest length and weight, we'll use the birthday as the tie-breaker.  ;)  Michael and I were talking about this just yesterday, so as the parents, we get the first guesses.  :P  Here were our predictions:
Jen- 21 inches, 7 lbs 13oz, May 2nd
Michael- 21 inches, 7 lbs, 14oz, May 7th  (I just now realized these are all multiples of 7...  Math brain...)
Good luck to you!  Comment on here to make your predictions on Connor's arrival!  :D  Have a wonderful Monday!  I'm sure you'll hear from me again in another day or two about platelets and doctor's appointment updates.  ;)  Have a nice week, and thank you again to everyone who has been thinking about and praying for us!  We greatly appreciate it!