Gran and GranDon travel in style in their rolling coach.  In the past they had a smaller rig that fit very nicely into our back area.  Since their last trip, they have the new rig (pictured below) that I was concerned might be too big for the area.  I measured it out at 28 feet from the house to the street.  The rig is 27 feet long and fits nearly perfectly.

There is electrical and water hookups in the area, so they are completely at home in the motor home.

Also, the kids love to spend time in the motor home to visit with the 2 cats that travel with the grandparents.  Having the motor home makes thing very easy.

Gran and GranDon have been very helpful these past couple of weeks as they stay with us.  Not only did they get the kids to VBS in the mornings (something Toby would have struggled to do), Gran is diligently working on making a new cover  for Max’s comforter.  He is ‘just not into pirates anymore’.  They went down to the fabric store and  picked out some baseball themed material.

Don has been helpful in doing some of the things that I have been putting off.   He up-righted our bougainvillea which had blown over more than a year ago.  He also cleaned and installed all of the screens for our windows.

Additionally, when they arrived, they brought a gift.  They thought it would be good for the baby in a few years, but the kids (especially Lucy) have really enjoyed riding the rocking dino.  Thanks!

Lucy on Dino from Matt Theule on Vimeo.

Max on Dino from Matt Theule on Vimeo.

The kids were ‘Swiffering’ (those disposable dusting pads to clean hard floors) our downstairs yesterday, each with their own Swiffer, which is one of their regular chores.  They started making up their own song while they worked, which sounded rather like an operetta.  Some of the words I caught were, "We are slaves, and we work for a chubby queen…"

For the past 6 weeks or so, Toby has been looking towards the 37-week mark as her due date.  Both Max and Lucy were born at 37 weeks, and so Toby had reason to believe that this one would be the same.  Today we hit 38 weeks completed.  This is uncharted territory for Toby. 

She is handling the reduction in mobility pretty well.  Since our bedroom is on the second floor, she plans out everything that she wants to do on the first floor so that she does not need to take any extra trips up the stairs.  We have a small refrigerator in the guest area on the second floor and she has stocked this with all the food stuffs she eats in the middle of the night.

With the baby so big inside of her, and her skin stretched so taut, it is very easy to feel all the wiggles and movements of baby #3 from the outside.  Often we can see that her abdomen has a portruding bump that distorts the usual roundness.  Since the head is down, according to Dr. Green, this must be the baby’s butt / hips that are bulging out.  After her appointment last Tuesday with Dr. Green, Toby was declared to be 85% effaced and 1 cm dialated.  She has another appoint today and I am excited to hear about the changes.

Gran and GranDon arrived in their motorhome last night.  They had driven from Portland in about 3 days.  The motorhome fits just perfectly in the back area.  We have water and power located close to the rig, but apparently the sewage clean out that I installed is too far away from motorhome to be used. 

Last time the kids were here, Gran took them for ice cream everyday.  The kids are especially looking forward to this 3-week stay.  🙂