Yes, she's still pregnant- stop calling- Henry.

We sure appreciate that everyone and their brother has been calling us all day long every day to see if we have a baby yet. We don't. And trust us, if we did, you'd know. So we're implementing a no call policy. We don't have anything new to tell you, and frankly, you don't want to talk to mama right now. She's a serious grump.

In the meanwhile, we've been trying to keep busy. On Monday morning, we went bike riding with James, then went to the library to see Ronald McDonald give a funny talk about books. I was very excited to see him, but didn't want him to look at me or talk to me. Instead, I funneled my questions through James. James asked him what kind of car he drives and what kind of house he live in (a "clown-dominium"). After we picked out our books, we went to McDonald's for lunch and a good long play in the playland.

Our Happy Meals had little kittens that came in their own baskets. I decorated the baskets with stickers and gave mine to June. She loves those little kitties.

PawPaw made it down on Monday. And when he unloaded the car, we found out "new baby" presents. June got a set of 12 horses. You can imagine how happy 12 horsies have made her.

Pleased as punch.

Today, I had a screening at the elementary school to see if I qualify for their 4K program. (Don't ask us why they screen a week before school starts.) The screening went well and I only had problems when the man conducting the screening asked me to point out my body parts. I got really confused when he asked me to point to my "nay." I told him several times I didn't know what a "nay" was. Finally, mama figured out that I couldn't understand his strong southern accent when he asked to point to my "knee."

When we got home, I took some pictures with mama's camera.

Who's that tough guy?

We're all so glad PawPaw is here. And he's been a good sport at pleasing his grandkids. He let me pretend he was a horse.

And he brought a toy helicopter that actually works! He and I can get it to fly for a couple minutes at a time and not just straight into the ceiling like others we're tried before. June really likes chasing it and PawPaw is getting so good at steering that he can get it dangerously close to mama's face.

Here's mama at 41 weeks. She and June have a new way of walking around together. June sits on her belly and holds on to her neck. Mama doesn't even have to hold on to June, it is such a nice little perch.

Of course, we couldn't get June to demonstrate, but mama was hoping that maybe it would help push the baby out. No chance.

On the upside, mama got so desperate today during naptime that she called her doctor and demanded an induction. She's done waiting for this kid. And although the doctor has been promising her an induction for the past 4 weeks, all the rooms are booked up for the next two days. Of course. (This is the same doctor who guaranteed she wouldn't go past her due date, then didn't have her schedule a 41 week appointment because there was NO WAY she'd go that long.) So on Thursday morning, they're scheduled to go in and hopefully getting this kid out once and for all. Mama is pretty bummed she has to wait until then. She's feeling pretty crummy.

Also, it should be noted that everyone failed horribly at the baby poll. All of the guesses have expired except the 3 that were entered as a joke: August 31st, October 29th, and January 11th. Sigh.

Baby watch- Day 865- June.

So mama spent yesterday feeling sorry for herself and today in denial that she'll ever even have a baby. So she decided to move on with things instead of waiting for this baby to come. Grams, papa and Buster went for a hike this morning before it got too hot while mama and I hit up the grocery store and a few drug stores (wait until you hear about her good deals, Uncle Kevin).

Papa decided the back patio has been a disaster for too long and spent a few hours outside pulling weeds between the bricks. He also pulled a ton of mint and basil out of mama's equally overgrown herb garden. It took mama the whole length of her Squeezebox CD to get through this pile of herbs.

She got a ton of basil into the food dehydrator and all of the mint in the freezer (any extra was added to a simple syrup for mojitos as soon as this kid is born). She also dried some sage too. After a little nap, she went to work on a bag of tomatoes from the CSA and has two trays on the dehydrator for sun-dried tomatoes.

To round out the afternoon, she made a batch of granola for papa. She did get a little nervous that the basil was drying too close to the granola and that it might make it taste funky, but it turned out okay.

Papa grilled eggplant and hotdogs for supper. (Isn't eggplant supposed to induce labor?) I ate enough to earn some yogurt-applesauce!

This is the best shot mama could get of the both of us.

Here's mama's Boss Hog picture. There's a picture of Granda Seibert great with child (mama) that was lovingly referred to as the "Boss Hog" shot. Here's mama 5 days overdue while I take a little rest on her big belly. I was pouting because mama said I had to eat one slice of tomato if I wanted the doughnut she bought me at the store this morning. I cannot be bargained with and the doughnut ended up in papa's belly instead.

Doughnuts and beer. Nothing is better on a sweaty, humid day.

Henry got to take pictures with the camera. He no longer loves his camera as much as he likes mama's little camera. And he's getting much better. He took this one of me with my blue ball. I didn't want to play catch because my ankle is still really stiff. I didn't walk much today, but tonight after baths, I ran around on it without my brace and didn't seem to mind it at all. And after some running, my limp wasn't as bad. Maybe I need to get the chance to loosen it up without the brace. (And check out that weed-free patio. Way to go, papa!)

Still no baby- Day 4- Henry.

We still don't have a baby here. Sigh. Mama is feeling pretty low.

Thank goodness Grams is here. She's been great at keeping us occupied and last night she even made us pancakes for supper so that mama and papa could go out to eat.

You wouldn't believe how much June ate!

Slow down there, kid!

Thanks, Grams! Mama and papa had a nice night out. And for the second night in a row, mama had contractions. Last night, they were down to 8 minutes apart. Mama was really convinced that this was finally it. But after everyone went to bed, they stopped (again).

This morning we went downtown to the dock parks. We spent two hours running around and throwing rocks in the lake. Mama spent the whole time hoofing it and then had papa drop her off half way home so she could walk the rest of the way (with the help of an extra-large Icee from the gas station). Unfortunately, all 3 hours of walking did was get mama really tired. The baby is still kicking away just as happy as it can be- with no contractions.

Our new baby- June.

Oh man, we really had you going there! We didn't have our baby, but we did get a baby in the house today. Miss Juliet called and asked if Henry could go to a place called GattiTown. No, it's not a mob-sanctioned restaurant- it's a place in Greenville like Chucky Cheese. Actually, Miss Juliet offered to take me too, but mama thought that would be too much to have four kids with two adults in a crazy place like that.

Instead, we made a deal- take Henry and leave Christopher. He was a little nervous at first and not very happy when his mom walked out the door.

After a nice long nap, we made a terrible decision and let papa go upstairs to get him up. Bad idea. We forgot that Christopher does not like beards. Especially papa's. After that shock, he and mama had to share some good cuddling. And I helped calm him down by rubbing his back and singing him all of the songs I know.

After a big supper, Christopher was feeling much better.

He sat with mama and chewed on our toys and eventually warmed up to everyone.

While he played with toys, mama got to take a ton of pictures of him. And she started feeling much better about the hopes of someday having a new baby in the house. We sure like babies.

Even papa got a few laughs out of Christopher, after Christopher decided the beard was safe.

Check out those 3 new teeth!

Thanks again to Miss Juliet and Mister Tony for taking Henry. And anytime you want to trade again, let us know!

Play-dough- Henry.

There are some perks to mama being overdue. She doesn't want to do anything, and she feels guilty enough that she'll do things like let us play with play-dough!

Mostly, mama hates having to pick play-dough out of all the little crevices. But it helps that she had Grams here for reinforcement.

For the first time, June got to play too. And she didn't eat any of it. She was so pleased.

We played for a good hour and a half. The best part for mama was that after my nap, I went back into the dining room and vacuumed up the mess on the floor. Maybe we will play with play-dough more.

Today was also our last day of summer school. This week was pirate week. We were so proud of the pirate hats we made.

I also painted a treasure chest that I filled up with play coins and money when we went on a treasure hunt with our treasure maps. Good thing I had this periscope!

Out for a walk- June.

Grams Cooper made it down to South Carolina late Monday night. And here we were letting everyone make us think mama wouldn't make it until Grams came. Now we're officially at the baby's due date and no baby. Not even after Henry sang mama's belly "Happy Birthday" three times.

Last night, it cooled down (to 94 degrees and only about 80% humidity!), so we decided to go outside for a bike ride. There was a picture of Henry on his bike, but it also included a backside picture of mama, and she's not letting that up on the blog.

I rode along for the whole hour long ride. Henry is really getting good on his bike. He's becoming much more confident about riding downhill. He still goes pretty slow, which is okay by us. I made my own fashion statement. I've got my "horsie precious" (otherwise known as my ankle brace) and my new horsie t-shirt that Grams and PawPaw brought me from Albuquerque. It was long enough that I decided it was also a precious (a dress) and refused to put any pants on. Also, check out a sweaty mom at 40 week.

About 1/8th of a mile from home, I decided to walk and I even got to push the stroller up the hill.

Big news! Guess who is sleeping in her big girl bed? This gal!

Last night, I was so pleased to be in my bed and slept through the night without any escapes. Tonight, I had a harder time going down. Good thing mama was at the store with Grams, because she would have thrown me back in the crib. Papa was much more patient and put me back in bed 15 times.

Who's the only person more excited about me being in my bed? This guy. He is so pleased that we're sharing a bed now. Mama is still keeping her eye out for a bed rail to lock me in.

On the baby front, mama blew right past her due date today with no baby. Dr. Hearn says she's still 2 centimeters dilated and offered to induce her on Saturday. We're still hoping we won't have to wait that long. PawPaw comes down next Monday and we're like him to meet the baby before they have to leave on the 21st.

On a side note to anyone who put in a guess on the baby poll, only 9 of the 26 of you even predicted that we'd go past August 11th and still not have a baby. So everyone thought this baby was coming- except this baby.

Artsy- June.

No baby yet- obviously. This morning we went out to the Botanical Gardens to ride bikes with John and Christopher. We had so much fun that everyone needed baths, and then the bath needed scrubbed after we got out. As Henry said, "It was so hot, there are waterfalls coming out of my head."

I started going to summer school last week and brought home my first art project. Lucky for me it was dinosaur week. I was very proud of my triceratops.

On Thursday morning, they had a dino waiting for me.

I got to glue on dinosaur bones too! School is the best!

Henry made a tree with ants.

And here's a fish project from Sea Creature week.

Some of you moms may recognize this project. We made these for Mother's Day. Henry had so much fun that we made another set for Miss Leah when baby Olivia was born.

This was the big project last week. We have a present waiting if this baby ever comes. Henry has worked very hard on the wrapping paper. This is actually his third attempt because he didn't like the first two. He even let me put on a few stickers.

We got these at our new baby class. Don't ask me what kinds of things we know about being a big brother and sister. Don't get me started. Henry colored both of these.

This is a pretty big deal. Henry likes tracing, coloring and dot to dots- all very structured kinds of art projects. Then, on Sunday night, he pulls out the big roll of butcher paper, cut a piece out, and drew a picture of our house! Complete with red bricks, a big tree, and a garage. He traced two cars outside, but didn't have the guts to try and draw a car on his own inside the garage. He spent a good 45 minutes working on this picture. All in all, we're pretty impressed with Buster.

Finally, here's a video of me playing with a doll tonight. Maybe some of this "new baby" talk is starting to rub off. I brought it a toy then spent a good deal of time rubbing lotion on her hands, before I moved on and got lotion for everyone else in the family.

Quiet weekend- no baby- mama.

We had a nice quiet weekend here. Papa took the kids to Greenville to go to the zoo, hoping that being 45 minutes away would be enough to get this baby business started. This kids had a great time and were even in good humor as they had to stop at the only natural food store in the upstate that carries Cramp Bark (which I heard is supposed to ease postpartum pain- the only thing I'm rally worried about). They also stopped at a mattress store and finally got June a mattress for her big girl bed!

Look who is so happy to be in the bunk bed!

Henry was even more excited for June to share the bunk bed at last.

But the joy did not last. We didn't even make it out of the room before Junie decided she did not want to sleep in the big bed. So she moved back to the crib and Henry was heartbroken. What he really wants is for June to sleep in the top bunk with him, but that's not happening anytime soon. Brandon was upset that she didn't want to sleep in the bunk, but I'm happy to keep her in the crib as long as possible. Our next plan of attack is to get a bed rail for the bottom bunk. That, along with the ladder coming down from Henry's bed, might make the bed more hospitable for June and much harder to get out of.

Henry spent Sunday morning earning quarters by doing chores around the house. A few weeks ago he decided he HAD to have a Joey Votto shirt (he's the first baseman for the Reds). He asked me how much one cost and I threw out the figure $15. He immediately pulled out his piggy bank and started counting. Surprisingly, he had over $11 in spare change! So he decided he was going to earn some money to get his shirt. It's been a great experience for him (and me) because I had to come up with chores for Henry to do (usually vacuuming and sweeping- our house has never been so clean) and we got to practice counting coins. Henry is getting very good at counting by 5s, 10s, and 25s now.

Here's what $15 looks like. We were all so pleased that Henry met his goal that we all had a sucker.

And here's the proudest boy in the world. We found his Joey shirt online, but could only find a youth size small for under $25. Well, at least he'll be able to wear it for a few years.

Coolest shirt ever. Now Henry has a Joey shirt, Brandon has a Jay Bruce shirt, June has a Sean Casey jersey (he's retired, but we still love him) and the baby has a few Ken Griffey, Jr. outfits. I'm the only one that remains unaffiliated.

Do you think Joey wears Winnie the Pooh glasses?

This afternoon, naps were cut short because we went down to the hospital in Anderson for a "new sibling" class. Biggest waste of time EVER. I'm sure there are some great classes out there, but this one was awful. First off, there were 4 kids. Us and two 3 year old boys. the nurse leading the class spent the first 20 minutes asking each kid their name and how to spell it. Christian, Everett and June had no clue. That didn't stop this woman. She just kept asking OVER and OVER. Then we listened to the same "Mama loves her baby and she loves me too" song four times in a row. We took a tour of the hospital. Instead of taking the time to point out that this is where mommy is going to have the baby and it's going to take a long time and mommy and the baby will both be tired afterwards, she instead asked "Can anyone find the phone? the TV? the toilet?" At least we got to look through the nursery window on the way out. At no point did anyone mention anything about how you need to be gentle with the baby, or that mommy will need time to recover, or that having a baby can be long, loud, and mama will be in pain, but that's why the doctors are there to help her. Before we left, we got to watch a video someone made walking through the hospital, showing the rooms and taking special care to zoom in on the toilet and toilet paper dispenser. Excruciating. Then we sang the "Mama loves baby" song AGAIN. Grrr. We stopped at Dairy Queen to ease some of the frustration.

June had her first conversation this weekend! When she got home from the zoo, I asked her what she saw. And she told me all the different animals she saw. "I saw tiger. I saw giraffe. I saw crocodile. I saw elephant. I saw BIG BEAR!" It's crazy how much she's talking now.

No news on the baby front. On Friday morning, I woke up at 5am with contractions. But they stopped by 10 am and haven't returned regularly. We're not superstitious people, but June was born the day after I finished the quilt I was making her. Just in case this baby is waiting for its quilt, I finished it up today. Here's the front.

And here's the back. It might have been finished earlier, but I didn't like the quilting and ripped it all out and resewed it today.

I'm very pleased how it turned out. For good measure, I'm putting the final touches on the quilt for our new Turner cousin that will be born at the end of the month. Maybe I can get it done tonight and officially be finished with all the 800 projects I've started in the past 2 months.

It's your move, baby Gus.