Random....
39 weeks pregnant after two and a half weeks of "pre-labor" (most people probably call it false labor, but that just sounds sort of depressing).  I did not do this with the girls- I had plenty of Braxton Hicks contractions over the course of their pregnancies, but did not have these repetitive, 20 minute apart contractions that just go nowhere... for days... It is getting pretty old.  I am feeling quite ready to have this baby, and a little bit guilty that I am probably not appreciating my healthy pregnancy as much as I should be.  I am very, very fortunate for my good health, the health of the baby, and the fact that this is the third time that we have been so blessed.  On some levels I recognize this, but on others I am ready to reclaim my body from this alien, no longer have my legs go numb or my internal organs punched at any moment. 
Thoughts from Noella:
Noella has been talking a lot lately, and many of her baby-isms are disappearing.  She is very interested in the baby in my belly (although I am afraid that the reality of the baby will be quite a shock to her!).  For a while now, she has been very concerned when the baby causes me pain.  If I wince at a kick or punch, she will stop and ask "Baby hurting you?"  and give me a gentle pat, admonishing  "No, no baby."  Somedays she will stop and grab her stomach and tell me "OH!  Baby hurting me!" because of course she is sure that she has a baby in her belly too.  Today while in the bathtub she grabbed her stomach and said in great surprise "Baby is coming out!"  (No worries- no baby came out).  Maybe she is understanding more of this process than I think!  I am a little jealous that her baby is coming out before mine.  And impressed that she had planned a water birth.
Thoughts from Mariel:
Mariel's vocabulary is also expanding greatly, and she is spending a lot of time trying to figure out new words.  We spent a long time the other day discussing the proper use of the word "irritating," for example.  Tonight I read her a story from Beauty and the Beast, in which Belle's father is described as a "genius to Belle" but considered a "crackpot" by the townspeople.  Mariel looked at me in shock and said "Oh, Mom, that is not a nice word."  I shook my head.  "It means crazy," she continued, "and is a really mean thing to say.  But Mom?  You know who is a crackpot?"  I shook my head because I really had no idea of where she was going to go with this. "Bullies.  Bullies are crackpots.  And dragons too, I think."  She is probably right.  I have not met any sane dragons lately.