I've been hearing a lot about this novena to Our Lady.  At my rosary group/Bible study on Friday, one woman mentioned that she knew a woman who's son had fallen away from the Church and become vehemently anti-Catholic.  She did this novena and ended it on a Saturday, and on Sunday he called to tell her he was coming back to the Church!  Now he's an active, enthusiastic Catholic.  Others chimed in that they had also heard great things about this novena.  St. Irenaeus said, "Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, undid it."    Mary is our mother, she loves us and longs to "undo the knots" in our loves that are causing us pain and distancing us from her Son!  I've ordered this novena, I'm looking forward to praying it.

As for things in baby land, I am 35w3d!  (or 34w4d, going by the u/s edd, but that doesn't match up with my ovulation, so I'm sticking with the first one for now!)   I bought paint for our bedroom, Rosemary Green, where baby boy will be staying.  I don't have an extra room for a nursery, anyway, plus I like to keep my babies in my room for at least 18 months.  It would be nice it we were moved to a bigger house by the time he's ready for a toddler bed (and thus his own room), but if not, I'm sure we'll figure it out.  We're getting cramped here (maybe "cozy" is a better word!) but God will give us what we need.  Anyway, the walls were all white when we bought this house (6 years ago) and we really should have repainted then!  White walls and children just don't mix well.  We've painted the kids' rooms (both pink) and the kitchen and living room and hall way.  I'm not going to bother painting the utility room, so all that's left is our bathroom and my bedroom.  I think I might hire someone to paint the bathroom, it's small (VERY small!) so it shouldn't cost much, and I don't feel like dealing with painting behind the toilet.

I'm hoping dh doesn't procrastinate (like he usually does) because I really want the bedroom painted asap, so we can rearrange the furniture and start getting the room set up for the baby.  I've got his car seat, we need a new changing table, and I'll probably just use the pack and play with the bassinet attachment for sleeping, like we did with the last baby.  I think I've got most of our newborn and 0-3 month clothes washed, so I just need the changing table to get them set up on!  I did make kind of a hard decision about diapering...I've used cloth with all my others, but I've decided to go with disposables with this one, at least in the beginning.  Frankly, I have a hard enough time staying up on laundry, and I've always struggled with funk because of our hard well water, and I just don't want to deal with it!  So I've given myself permission to make a decision based on convenience for me (my convenience usually doesn't factor in!)

I met with my doula on Friday, so that is all set up!  I'm hoping for another smooth labor and delivery like dd3 (who was a vba2c [vaginal birth after 2 c-sections]), but I know by now anything could happen!  Her birth was so easy that by the time I was in enough pain to consider the epidural, I was 10 cm and ready to push!  My next appointment is September 8th, and then it will be weekly until the baby arrives!