Blogging from W. Virginia

from Ben's mom

I can tell I've been here (east) long enough to readjust to this climate when I refer to a forecast of low '70's as a "cold day" and we pull out the jeans to wear instead of shorts.

We visited the capital of Charleston yesterday and checked out the dome. Ben enjoyed the fountains and had fun throwing acorns. They make good rocks.

Someone forgot to tell him he came from a BIG family and he has had some trouble adjusting to so many people and so much activity. He likes to retreat to the room we are staying in with a book when life is overwhelming. He seems to be getting molars now which wasn't good timing either.

Tuesday night I was certain the baby had decided to come in W. Virginia. I had several signs of pre-term labor and was close to panic when it finally subsided. Drinking lots of water and going to try to take things a little easier for the rest of the trip. "The rest of the trip" has become longer than we intended as M is needed in D.C. for a meeting. Since our tickets were frequent flyer tickets and there were no available dates to change them to in the near future (and we really didn't want to stay here long enough to give birth) we had to get one-way tickets home. We'll be way out of laundry by then...but our plants may still be living due to good friends at home with house keys and others keeping my tomato plant.