The waiting is not the hardest part.

With each task we finish, we think to ourselves, "Okay, now the baby can come."

I thought this as I came from our garage this morning after having installed the base of The Expectant One's car seat.

We've thought it a dozen other times over the last two weeks: After we finished Piper's Christmas thank-you notes ... after I assembled the changing table ... after the basic painting of the nursery was finished (even if the sheep on the hills are only sheep torsos, sans legs and heads) .... when we found the tools for pain management during labor ... after the bags were packed for the "hostipal" (as Piper calls it).

And of course, none of this speeds up the process at all. "Zuzu" (her in utero name) is on her own timetable, and she's keeping mum to her Mum about said schedule.

Tonight, I'll do a grocery run, pick up some essentials we're low on in the house. I'll top off the gas tank. After dinner, I'll put some plastic over the windows in Zuzu's room to help with a touch of chill coming in (and to keep our gas bill, pushing $400 a month, a few dollars lower, we hope). And once I turn off the blow dryer on that project, I'll turn to Laura and say: "Okay, now the baby can come."