playing.

you can't put text on photos in iphoto, but i figured out how to do it in appleworks. you do it in a draw document, and then you save it as a .jpeg. then you can move it back to iphoto. here's what i did. pretty complicated stuff, huh? i'm thinking for ellie's birth announcements i will just have a great photo of her with some text entered on the photo. i can order 4x6s from iphoto for $.19 each. that's like $23 (that includes shipping) for 100 photos. that's about the budget i'm working with. only problem is whether there's an envelope size that fits a 4x6 photo. i hate baggy envelopes. i ordered one of these from iphoto just now to be sure the quality is good when i move it from iphoto to appleworks and back again. we'll see. anyway. i know. i'm being very productive tonight. this is high priority stuff.

the christmas rundown...

...is still not here because we have one more christmas to go.

three out of four are officially complete, and there's one more tonight.

i'm ready for it to be jan. 1. on that day, landon and i are going to hole up inside our apartment, talk to no one, watch rented movies, order pizza, light a fire and, well, um, maybe some other things. but you don't wanna know about those.

i'm ready for it to be 2007. i like the holidays. no, i love them. but these particular holidays have been exhausting and riddled with things that made them weird. so i'm ready for 2007. because then the only thing i have to worry about is getting ready to have a baby.

less than seven weeks now.

don't worry. there will be a christmas rundown. eventually. here's a sneak preview: i got a super fabulous diaper bag.

my maternity sweater doesn't cover my belly. does that mean we're close?

it's actually a cardigan so i've always worn something under it. but there's a good four inches of lower belly that is not covered by this thing anymore. it sticks out funny with a big space underneath right at the biggest part of me. i refuse to buy a new one. seven weeks left. i'll wear the short cardigan, dang it.

i've been thinking a lot more about being a mom lately. that sounds kind of funny, but for the longest it was just about being pregnant. about what i'd look like, how i'd feel, what other people would think and say. now it's more about what it will be like when ellie actually decides to show up.

i want to be a good mom. one who doesn't spaz about germs or cracker crumbs in the car seat, but one who finds the time to use sign language with her baby and reads obsessively to her. but i also still want to be sarah. i don't want to become super mom and stop being the writer, the dreamer, the lover, the sister, the daughter and the best friend.

it's a weird thing to have a baby. people do it every minute of every day all over the world so i don't know why it hasn't become less monumental. but it hasn't. it has been a life-changing, world-rocking, mind-blowing experience so far, and the baby isn't even here yet.

i find myself thinking that i can't wait to wrap my baby in blankets and just stare at her for hours while i think i can't wait to hit the gym and get back the body my husband fell in love with. i think i can't wait to slowly bathe her and watch the water and soap run over her perfect, soft skin while at the same i think i have to be sure to take the time out to take care of and pamper myself - for the sake of my whole little family.

does that make any sense?

i know. i'm dreaming for the perfect balance, and i have no idea how every ounce of dignity and personal time i've ever known will fly out the window that second ellie takes her first breath.

but i can strive, right? i want her to have a happy, balanced mom who is in love with her daddy and a daddy who's in love with her mom. i want her to be cared for and cherished and comforted always, but i want to be more than just a mom. i want her to be a part of our family, but not the only reason our family exists. you know?

does this count as an identity crisis?

holiday to-do list.

here's what we're looking at with six days to go. are you surprised i haven't blogged since last thurday? well, actually, you probably haven't even checked because you have a list that looks just like this.

*return silver leaves to michael's
*exchange ikea frames that are the wrong size
*buy bed frame from ikea
*figure out a hostess gift for my aunt when we have christmas there
*make a different aunt's christmas present
*pick up my dad's christmas present
*buy fabric and buttons i need to make my gramma's present
*make my gramma's christmas present
*make michael's christmas present
*make the rest of the christmas presents for my friends; hand them out
*wrap gifts - i think there are five or eight left to wrap
*buy egg nog
*go to the grocery store
*come up with some more cheap stocking stuffers for landon
*clean the apartment so my in-laws have a clean shower and a place to lay the blow-up mattress when they arrive the day after christmas
*figure out what to buy scott for his birthday - it's on christmas
*figure out what to buy matthew for his birthday - it's on the 28th
*exchange my pottery barn cake plate that broke for no apparent reason
*write poetry for piland/gump/labonville family christmas presents
*unpack the few boxes that are left in my bedroom before company arrives
*unpack the few boxes that are left in my bathroom before company arrives
*clear the patio so people are not confused about whether we are having a garage sale before company arrives
*organize the pantry or else my mother-in-law will not know what she needs to buy for our christmas dinner because you can't see what i already have
*laundry

mmm... that's all i can think of right now.

merry christmas.

hysterical.

landon is trying to order us pizza for dinner, and it's proving to be a most difficult task. the woman he's talking to is a complete moron. i swear, i think he's been on the phone for 10 minutes trying to order. she cannot figure out what's going on. to top it off, he thought she was cutting out (i think she was just sitting there dumbfounded for awhile) so he was trying to get up out of the ikea poang chair really quick to get to a better spot for a signal. didn't wanna waste the 10 minutes he's already been on the phone with her by dropping the call, you know. well, the poang chair is not easy to get out of that fast. he fell on his butt and the whole chair fell on top of him, the lamp dangerously wobbling. and she's still there so he just keeps talking. oh, lord. i can't type because this is so funny. i'm done with the story now, and he's still on the phone. heaven only knows what we're gonna end up with if this pizza ever arrives. need a tissue. whew.

a conundrum.

why is it that service men who have muscular biceps, or what they believe to be muscular biceps, always roll the sleeves of their uniforms up to that little indentation between the tricep and shoulder muscle?

i can tell you have big muscles no matter if they're showing or not, mr. service man.

roll your sleeves down, silly.

we're officially in single digits, folks.

today, i am 31 weeks pregnant.

this means there are only nine weeks until my due date. and since my doctor will schedule an induction the day after my due date if i haven't started labor, i can pretty surely say we will have this baby in nine weeks or less. that being said, i'm not sure how i feel about inductions. it's something i've been wrestling with for my entire pregnancy. seems to me the baby should be allowed to come when she's darn good and ready. of course, several weeks late is dangerous and certainly not what i want for my ellie. but... a few days? a week? what's the harm? everyone tells me, "just wait until your closer. you'll be begging to be induced." i guess we'll see. for now, i reserve jugement.

***

last night we had our second child birthing class. we learned about epidurals and watched a video of a woman who goes through a 10-hour natural birth. it was elapsed somewhat, of course. this is another hot topic i have yet to make a concrete decision regarding. but last night put me at ease because i learned there isn't a time when it's "too late" to get an epidural. it seems everything i've heard has convinced me that i have to go in completely decided whether i want an epidural or not because after a point, there's no going back. but i asked jonie. and jonie said no. she said they've given epidurals after labor is over and mom is already on to pushing. so.. i feel better. i will likely go in with a "we'll see how this goes" decision. if i go quick and have the baby in five hours, i will try not to have an epidural. landon brought up a point that i never thought of. it's also probably a lot cheaper to skip the epidural. that wouldn't be our deciding factor, of course...i think.

and now for the feel-good-moment of the class. you knew there was one coming. we were sitting on the floor getting massages from our partners while we simulated early labor contractions with practiced breathing. landon was leaning against the wall, and i leaned back on him between his legs. he was softly rubbing my belly - on the sides where it feels like ellie's trying to push out - with his mouth right by my ear. he said, "i think God meant for us to sit this way." of course, tears immediately welled up my eyes. i said, "why?" he said, "because it just feels right."

man, i love him.

having a baby with you "just feels right," my love. everything does. what would i do without you?

running the rock.

one of my editors, stacey, ran in the white rock lake marathon - better known as 'run the rock' - yesterday. she had a baby last october and is the most fantastic shape. i'm jealous and inspired at the same time.

in case you forgot, a marathon is 26.2 miles. yes, 26.2.

i had to email her something yesterday so i made mention of it. here's how our emails went:

*my first email: "how did 'running the rock' go? good, i hope."
*her response: "race was good. glad it’s over. it’s about like giving birth except all you get is a medal at the end, no adorable baby."
*my response: "ha. that was an awesome comparison. i admire you for doing it. if i ever ran two miles consecutively at this point in my life, i would buy myself a medal. i don't know how you did 26 or whatever it was. amazing."
*her response: "you could totally do it. and you’ll be amazed at how empowered you feel after having your baby. go moms!"

love her... she's so cute.

after all that, i looked up her results on the race website. here's how she fared:

overall: 1,342 (out of 3,507)
division: 52 (out of 213)
sex...meaning, just compared to the other women: 298 (out of 1,257)
total time: 4:03:04
pace: 9:17

right. i don't have to do that math for you. she didn't just finish. she did awesome. way to go, stacey.

happy birthday to you/happy birthday to you/happy birthday dear, natalie/happy birthday to you!!!

happy 25th birthday to my wonderful friend natalie, seen here happy and gorgeous at her wedding last year. she is a fantastic friend, and i wish her all the best in her 25th year. ooh.. a quarter century OLD. i love you, nat.

diggin' 'dig.'

a friend of mine told me about a song just now. it's from the new incubus album. it's called 'dig.'

here's my favorite line:

"if i turn into another, dig me up from under what is covering the better part of me."

good stuff.

i'm wearing fleece socks, and my feet are still cold.

it was 18 when i got in my car at 7 a.m. yeah, 18 degrees.

there ain't no way to hide your red-rimmed eyes.

i saw them. i was sitting right next to him, and i saw them.

after several mentions of, "i would like this class if it lasted an hour...not two and a half" before we got there, i saw them.

and it happened twice!

once when the instructor said the fact that we're carrying and will birth babies is nothing short of a miracle, and another time when we watched a real live baby being born.

sure, it was a little graphic. i thought so, too. but there's no way to escape the emotion that wells up when little cries of life escape a newborn's mouth for the first time.

not even he could escape it.

i saw those red-rimmed eyes. and there were tears in there, too.

***

last night we had our first child birthing class. i think it's going to be really great for us. for landon, it's helping him understand that he won't have to just stand there horrified while i scream for hours, unable to help. when our instructor was telling us the hospital rules about visitors, she said that dads could come and go as they please since they're a part of the team. landon whispered in my ear, "a team. we're a team." sweet, sweet husband. i don't know if he was thinking that way before. we learned that dads can help time contractions and massage moms through painful ones. i'm a big fan of that, let me tell you.

it was definitely a long class, but the two and a half hours didn't drag by any means. it's sort of crazy to be in a room with 20 other pregnant women. amazing and comforting. i think landon liked being around the dads too. we went for a bathroom break, and i lost him for 10 minutes. he was upstairs with two other guys looking for the coke machine. love it.

i can't wait for next week's class.

i can't wait until ellie comes.

i can't wait until landon is a dad. he's going to be so wonderful at it - red-rimmed eyes and all.

i'm famous! well, sorta.

the texas freedom network recently put out a report looking at how public schools in texas teach the bible. the report is called 'reading, writing & religion: teaching the bible in texas public schools' and can be found here.

if you were to look at the entire report (some 90 pages long), and scroll to the endnotes, you would find this:

22. Sarah P. Henry, "High School Considers Bible Elective," Lake Highlands People, June 9, 2006.

yep. an article i wrote about lake highlands high school considering a bible elective is referenced in this professional report.

this is where i was referenced:

"Ector County and New Braunfels ISDs were scheduled to begin offering Bible courses in the fall of this year (2006), and recent discussions of a Bible class have been reported in Anson, (19) Carollton-Farmers Branch, Culberson County-Allamoore, Dripping Springs, (20) and Grand Prairie ISDs (21) and at a Richardson ISD high school. (22)"

right. so, they only used my article to add RISD to the list of districts considering a class. but, hey, someone is reading. someone important.

that's something, right?

now i've really seen where she'll sleep.

we bought the crib and mattress from ikea today. we got the money from our shower. we also have TONS of target gift cards. it's greatness.

anyway, laura and her boyfriend, taylor, and taylor's daughter, kyla, came over and ended up helping set up the crib. well, taylor helped landon, and kyla handed them the screws whether they needed them or not. laura hung out with me.

the crib is perfect. i'm so glad landon set it up. now i feel like, even if we get nothing else done, we have some place for her to sleep as soon as she gets here.

i put on her mattress pad, a fabulous chamois sheet from pottery barn kids and some of her stuffed animals along with her quilt.

do you like it?

i do. i think it's perfect.

perfect for my princess.

goc baby shower. believe me, i made a killing.

henry family christmas tree lighting.

hormone surge at an all time high.

this weekend was great. my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were in town. we ran all around, getting bridesmaids dresses and invitations ordered. i had a baby shower at the church yesterday and got TONS of fantastic stuff while getting to hang out with my family and friends.

but last night, i was pretty worn out. my sister was over dropping something off, and i was starting to fall asleep around 11:45 on the couch. she had given me a foot massage (the second of the day!), and i think it did me in. she left, landon played a little more tiger woods and i passed out with doc cuddled beside me.

well, landon woke me up about 12:30 and told me to come to bed. i woke up totally disoriented and shivering uncontrollably. we didn't have the heat on because i'd be hot before. so it was fairly cold in the house since it was about 30 outside. not that bad though. it was the weirest thing because it was this violent shaking that i couldn't control. i didn't feel that cold, but i couldn't stop shaking. i was trying to take out my contacts, and i couldn't hold the solution and the case insync enough to get the job done. i must've been making terrible noises because landon kept saying, "are you OK? is it that bad? what's wrong?" i felt like i was going to collapse and every muscle in my body was rigid...including my belly.

then i was trying to climb into bed and my big, wood jewelry box was sitting there. right in my spot. landon had turned off the lights and was under the covers but left my jewelry box there. i said, "you didn't move this?" and it must have come out like i was about to die because he started to mock me. it sounded ridiculous.

so i started to laugh. i think. but it turned into, literally, 10 minutes of uncontrollable, loudly audible, wailing sobs. landon just had his hand on me, and was at a complete and utter loss as to what to do. i was sobbing like something extremely tragic had just happened. or like something really, really hurt. he kept saying, "what's wrong? calm down... does something hurt?" and all i could do was keep crying and saying, "i don't know."

i tried to stop a couple of times, but then i'd start up again. it's like i would think about how ridiculous i sounded, start to laugh and it would turn to the crying again.

it was unlike anything i've ever experienced.

after i calmed down, i passed out hard and never woke up until the alarm went off.

right before i went to sleep though, i said, "babe, i think i just had an unexplainable, pregnant lady, hormonal breakdown."

he said, "that's exactly what i was thinking."

ha.

my friend amy is pregnant and a few months ago told us about how she just went insane on her husband. told him she was going to punch him in the face and that she hated him...all combined with hysterical laughing and crying. all seemingly unprovoked. it was an episode that lasted for like four minutes. which, to dave, her husband, seemed like an eternity.

i think mine was the same thing. only i'm really glad i didn't tell landon i hate him. because that's the furthest thing from the truth.

these little hormones guys are tough to keep under wraps sometimes.

it was truly one of the most bizarre experiences i've had in all my marriage, in all my life, let alone my pregnancy.

weird.

and bless landon for not calling the funny farm on me.

oh, the benefits.

here's where you end up when the publisher of your papers, who also happens to be the publisher of d magazine, decides to have the company christmas party combined with both the newspapers and the magazine.

last year, people newspapers' christmas party was at a bar. a nice bar. but a bar. don't get me wrong, it was loads of fun. but look where we're going this year.

i have nothing to wear.