34 Weeks

I don't even remember when my last pregnancy update was. To be honest, I don't remember much of anything these days. I am constantly scheduling play dates when I have doctor's appointments, losing things like car keys and camera cords (that is currently lost). Ahhhh, pregnancy. I long for you to get here, then wish you would hurry on your way and give me a baby.

So, here I am. To be honest, When Matt took this picture this morning I was burning eggs in the skillet. I forgot I had left them on the stove. After these were snapped I smelled something TERRIBLE. Eggs. Not even Bandit would eat them.

I also expected my stomach to look MUCH bigger. I mean, I know it's not small, but as I waddle around, I picture myself with at least a four foot wide (poking out) stomach.

This second picture I can't decide if I like or not. It's kind of like I have a uni-boob/stomach. Oh well. So, this pregnancy. Really I shouldn't be complaining at all. I have had no swelling, yet. I am in more pain this time around. I think it is just because my body is tired from this whole carrying babies/nursing babies thing it's been doing non-stop for 3 years now. But again, nothing that I can't live through. I know you can't tell from this post, but I am so thankful that Noah has been an easy baby so far. He never sets up camp in my ribs for too long. Just enough for me to start pushing, and then he usually rolls on his way. He is like Levi and likes to dig his head like he's trying to burrow out. Unfortunately, I know enough from Levi doing that and being a week late that the head digging is no indication of Noah deciding to come early. I have had more Braxton-Hicks contractions this time around. And more on the days I am at work. I know they are due to stress, but definitely more. That has surprised me.

Sleep wise, I have had a lot of long nights due to heartburn that Tums really hasn't touched. BUT I found a solution the past two nights, eating Greek yogurt before I go to bed. I am able to fall asleep and usually only wake up once around 2am, and then again around 4am. And the heartburn is light enough at those times that a Tums DOES help. Maybe it's the thickness of the yogurt? I'm not sure of the "science" of this solution, I'm just thankful for the sleep!

I am not craving a ton of things, or even weird ones. Banana blueberry whole wheat pancakes. We usually have them at least once a week for dinner. This week we're having them twice and we had french toast for breakfast this morning. It's just so comforting, breakfast food (that isn't greasy). Crushed ice. The pellet ice at Zaxby's is the best, but I am going through cups of crushed ice from our freezer every night as well. This is something I loved when I was pregnant with Levi too. And chocolate milk made with Nestle powder. Matt calls what I make "lightly colored milk" because I don't like a lot of chocolate, just enough to barely taste it. When I make Matt some, I have learned to amp up the chocolate-ness. But some chocolate milk with crushed ice is a perfect sweet treat that doesn't make me sick.

My sugar issues aren't AS bad. I still get sick when I eat a LOT of sugar, but I haven't really been craving it as much. The only sweet thing I can't get enough of is Chik-fil-a's new chocolate chunk cookies. The bad thing is they are so sweet they make my teeth hurt (do I sound like a pregnant lady or an old lady?), so I end up only eating half.

That's enough about pregnancy, now on to the baby! Noah finally has a small space of his own. He will be in our room for a little while after he's born. Emphasis on little. Levi made it four nights and we had to move him out. Neither one of us can sleep while we're waiting for the baby to breathe. For now, Noah's crib is in the guest room. Once he gets to sleeping through the night consistently, we'll move him in with Levi. Just this week we have different people sleeping at our house three nights. So the guest room gets a lot of mileage, enough to where we need it. And while Angie and I will both tell you that sharing a room wasn't always picturesque, I know it was good for both of us, and will be good for these brothers as well.

But it makes this pregnancy feel so much more "real" and excites me seeing baby Noah have his own space.

Levi is a fan of it as well, but more because it is somewhere new to play.

Our guest closet used to be full of junk. A good thing about having to clean out this closet is that it led me to clean out ALL of the closets. I am really learning how to maximize space. Mom is bringing me one more of those 3-drawer plastic bins down when she visits tomorrow to put the rest of Noah's 3 month clothes in, and then I'll have some space to put bibs, burp cloths, and all those misc. things I forgot went with a newborn!

So while the house isn't ready IN THE LEAST, having these small things done makes me feel so much better, and just SO EXCITED. I am trying very hard to cherish every minute of this pregnancy. While it is, Lord-willing, not my last, this is my last few weeks with Levi as my only child, and I want to love on him as much as possible, while getting as much as possible done.

Organizing?

I kept meaning to post a 32 week picture of me and a pregnancy update. But now I'm 33 weeks. So, I'll do it later?

Instead here are the pictures from my camera. I have been in a semi-nesting mood. It's not so much that I WANT to clean everything like crazy, or in my case organize, it's just that it has finally hit me  that we have less than SEVEN weeks left. So it just needs to be done.

I was reading through my old blog posts from when I was this pregnant with Levi. And man! I had everything almost done by this point. Clothes washed, bed assembled, everything. Crazy free time of a lady with no kids ;).

Speaking of kids, here is my precious one. It was raining. Which means nothing to Levi because he is still going to play outside, regardless. I had to endure a fit to get the raincoat and hat on him. BUT the golf set that Gigi got him last weekend helped some. He loves pushing that thing around the driveway. The clubs are inside. They are used for hitting balls, hitting me (two times...), and now pointing for things too high for him to reach.

This one was just too cute. I love his chubby cheeks.

We made a Mother's Day craft for the two grandmothers and great-grandmothers. This was our first foray into finger painting and it was CRAZY. So many lessons learned. Number one, we will only be finger painting outside from now on (genius suggestion from his date night babysitter). Also, outside is better because then we don't get paint everywhere from the kitchen to the bathtub, I can just yank out the hose and point it at him. Thankfully, the paint was washable and the crafts turned out adorable (the one that I have completely finished).

Speaking of organizing. It is amazing how much junk we have accumulated in three + years of living here. But in order to clean out the guest bedroom closest, I had to empty out the hall closet and organize all that mess. And tonight Levi is sleeping in his big boy bed for the first time! So that meant we had to disassemble the crib to get it out of the door, and it is now in the hall.

Needless to say, our guest bedroom and hallway are a little bit of a mess. And since we're talking about messes, I've been so busy throwing/giving stuff away that I didn't bother to do dishes all day. So, just add the kitchen in on that list. Tomorrow I'm going to Wal-Mart to get a few more containers and sheets. I've been using some of my mom's old twin sheets for the guest bed (day bed + trundle). But Matt's parents are spending the night Sunday night, and I'm not going to let them sleep on shark sheets we've had since I was in middle school...

Speaking of the guest bedroom, this is what it looks like currently...

After my closet emptying frenzy, Levi and I played outside for awhile. Which means that I sat in a beach chair while he went from water table to pool, with his cute little bottom. I am starting to get tired a LOT easier now, so any activity where I can sit and still interact with him, but be sitting down, is ideal.

Cutie patootie. I didn't even put that hat on him, he wanted to wear it. He kept taking it on and off, he loves hats right now.

So, if I survive the mess that is the back half of our house, I'll post a pregnancy update. If...

A Big Surprise

When I first got pregnant with Noah, Matt and I decided we would go away on a "baby moon" sometime in April or May for some downtime, just the two of us. A few weeks ago, it finally hit us how soon this baby will be here so we started planning. The only weekend we had free was this past one, May 5th and 6th. I went to Matt about it and he immediately said no. We couldn't afford it, we didn't really need it, etc etc. I was so sad (I cried).

The very next day Cally called and said she had won tickets to a women's conference that was just in the afternoon on Saturday May 5th, from like 3-5 and I needed to see if Matt would watch Levi while I went with her. Well, I mean, it was nice and short, so, why not? And over the past few weeks I kept forgetting to ask Cally questions about the conference. And honestly, she is SO wise, and really knowledgeable when it comes to the Bible, and good speakers, authors, etc. So, if she wanted to go, I knew it would be good.

Well this past Saturday, the 5th rolled around and that morning Matt worked in the yard weed eating and mowing and Levi and I planted blueberry bushes and tomatoes, and then staked up all the tomatoes I have already planted. By noon, I was EXHAUSTED. By the time I got in the shower and got dressed for the conference I really didn't want to go to the conference, I wanted to take a nap.

On the way to Cally's house, she called and said AG, her daughter, had a fever, so could I stop at a store and buy her some ibuprofen? Also, one of the speaker's was running late, so the conference was going to be delayed at least 30 minutes, so no hurry. UGH! Ok. So I pick up the medicine and while there, ran in to someone I knew. We talked for a few minutes and I headed on my way.

I went to Cally's house and let myself in the basement door. As I came upstairs I heard lots of laughing and talking. Oh man. I bet Pat, Cally's mother-in-law has company over and here I am busting up in the middle of it. Shoot.

NO. Hopefully you are not as dense as I am and have seen all the signs along the way. Cally and Pat threw me an amazing surprise diapers and wipes shower (exactly what I have been wanting!!)!!!!! AND to top it off, my mom and sisters drove down to Birmingham to be there! They had invited my family and church family and I just bust into tears. It was hard to comprehend to see women from small group, girls from youth group, and then my family all in the same room, I was confused for a few minutes. And then I cried for a few more.

So, I am so thankful. Thankful for the friendship and love that Cally showed me. Thankful to all my friends from church that came to celebrate with me and shower me with love. And thankful to my mom and sisters who drove 2 1/2 hours after working all morning at the church yard sale, THEN they spent the night with us. It was so sweet and special to have all that unexpected time with them. And I am really thankful to Matt for keeping it a secret and for cleaning the house while I was gone to the "conference."



*I have a picture of Cally and I, and a picture of us sisters (minus Carly) plus Mom, but they are on Mom & Carrie's camera, so I'll add them on here when I can get the pictures from one of them!

Picture Overload

If I was a good blogger, I would update you on me being 32 weeks pregnant today. But I am not a good blogger, I am a lazy blogger. So here is a picture overload. Of Levi, of course. We finally got a new, pretty decent camera so I have decent pictures. And it's been awhile since you've been overwhelmed with pictures of him. So here we go:

At the local playground. Levi loves banging on these keys. He just loves anything that makes a lot of noise. He is all boy!

Levi is a little confused. Shouldn't he be the one riding the zebra?

Levi's newest "trick." Not wanting to eat. The rule is one bite and then you can get down.

This is the usual reaction to that one terrible, horrible bite.

As I am cleaning out closests, re-arranging rooms, etc, there are random baby things out and about. Levi has fallen back in love with the bumbo.

But since the bumbo isn't made for 20 month-olds, it's a little tricky getting out. It's actually funny because when I pick him up, the bumbo stays stuck to his bottom!

One night he got a little too riled up before bed time (ahem, Daddy...), so we calmed down with some "stre" (Sesame Street) in bed.

It obviously worked. His "stre" face is one of complete concentration. Yes, he is wearing Christmas pj's in May. And this was one of those weird nights when it got down to almost freezing, so he has on socks too.

This is the look I get when I tell him to smile. We have been going for walks every day down the street and he carries this marshmallow fire pit thingy with him all the time.

Matt's mom was given this table, and she promptly gave it to us. Levi is in love with his chairs and table. He eats his snack at it most days. Good practice for Mother's Day Out this fall!

Picture dump complete! I do need to get a belly picture up on here, so I'll have it years from now to look back at and think "Ugh, can't believe I ever looked that huge!"

Yesterday Levi humbled us in two very different ways. One comical, one real.

For breakfast I had gone out to the front yard and picked a bunch of strawberries and realized I had enough to make these strawberry muffins. I did not put the cinnamon & sugar on top and I think they were better for it.

So they were in the oven and we were all three sitting around the table talking, drinking coffee, and Levi was eating some dry cereal to hold him over. The timer goes off, Levi's face lights up and he looks at me and says "Pizza?" Great. Maybe that should be my fall back meal a little less often...

And then yesterday for lunch we were having sandwiches with leftover pot roast and they looked really good. So we settled Levi in his chair and started chowing down. Levi kept looking at me and trying to hold my hand saying "Pay? Pay?" And I did not understand. What did he want? And then he said "AMEN!" And it hit me. Our 19 month old son was having to remind his parents to pray before they eat.

And then last night we went to Target to walk around. They had baseball helmets in the clearance section and Levi immediately wanted to put on the "hat." The good thing is he is absolutely adorable in it. The sad thing is, being the 90th percentile in head width isn't as great as it seems. That hat is a youth small and fits him perfectly!

We are playing hooky from church this morning. I have been the sickest I've been in a long long time this past week and I haven't gotten any better. I went to the doctor first thing this morning, to be told, "I'm not really sure what's wrong with you, but here's an antibiotic if you want it." Um... no. Even when not pregnant I am not a huge fan of antibiotics "just in case." So... The mystery continues as to why I can't go 15 minutes without hacking my lungs out.

A Step Ahead

Ray Melick is a sports writer for the local paper here in Birmingham, and a member at the church we used to go to. He taught our Sunday school class at our old church for a quarter. He was a great teacher. Not someone we because very close to, and honestly, if we passed in a grocery store right now, we'd both give each other a "you're kind of familiar" look and keep walking.

One of the families from our church posted a link to his blog where I found out that his wife had been in a terrible car accident this past Saturday. She is alive, but in a medically-induced coma as she undergoes many surgeries to repair what is broken/bruised/injured.

Anyways, while on the phone with insurance companies today, I read all the posts about what happened and why. (The post he wrote today, which I just read, had me bawling)

The first post about her accident explained what all had happened, and how God had orchestrated these little "coincidences" all throughout this horrible day for this family. A nurse working who was a close family friend who could be there with Mr. Melick and his kids. The random hospital chaplain that showed up who knew his kids. The man, a close family friend, who ran into his son at the Atlanta airport and turned out to be on his son's flight as he flew to Birmingham to be with his mom. Little things. Things that really, don't matter, but do. So much. Because in a time of tragedy and numbness, we feel God saying "I am here."

So, all this is heavy on my mind as I go about my work day. A hard day. A bad day. Mainly it was a mixture of I have a cold and had to do a lot of physically demanding work (for a 30 week pregnant woman, anyways). As I was working and my back started to hurt I was thinking about how long this evening was going to be and how sore my legs and back would be. Ugh.

I left work late, tired, sore, coughing, in a bad mood, and immediately picked up the phone to call Matt at his work and complain/whine/probably end up crying. His co-worker picked up and said Matt had left about 30 minutes ago. I called his cell phone and he was just pulling into our driveway. He quickly volunteered to go pick up Levi and told me to not worry about cooking, just pick up something on the way home.

And it hit me. Nothing tragic happened to us today. No car crashes, or death, or even real injury. But still, God cares for me. He orchestrated mine and Matt's day to where Matt was there when I needed him to pick up Levi. One less stress, one thing off my list. And I was so thankful. As Mr. Melick said so well:

"Tell me God isn't a step ahead every step of the way."

Gardens

There is something just so exciting, fulfilling, and encouraging to look out my kitchen window and see my garden and flowers growing. Maybe after months of seeing nothing but brown, the pops of color brighten the landscape. Maybe the promise of new growth is what I need to see right now. A visual reminder of what is happening to our family, in our lives and hearts right now. I am honestly not sure, but I love looking out our back window. Spending time every day in the dirt. Weeding, pruning, planting.

We have started a new routine lately that as soon as Matt (and Levi and I, if it's a day I work) gets home and we scarf down dinner, we all go outside and spend at least 45 minutes, or as long as we can until it gets too dark to see. Matt and Levi play with balls and golf clubs and help me harvest "sawbewees" (strawberries). I am not going to lie, the strawberry patch has been a bit of work this year, but is proving well worth the time I spent weeding, transplanting, and pulling snails and slugs out (ew) as we are now getting at least 10 big berries a day. I have a big bag in the freezer, hoping to have enough to make jam.

We just planted five more blueberry bushes that we got at Wal-Mart for half off! They each already had almost a pint of blueberries on them, in addition to the big bush already full that I planted last year. So, hopefully NEXT year I will have plenty of berries (blue and red) to freeze for the whole year. Especially on the blueberries. We eat them all year round in everything baked I can throw them in.

Here are a few pictures of all this growth. I know you are so excited to see some 4 inch green bean plants, but this is more for my (quickly deteriorating) memory for next year garden planning.

Aldi had these tubs of Petunias on sale for $5.99. They were so stuffed in the containers they were selling I had to re-pot immediately. They are a great deal and beautiful flowers. I have two more hanging baskets of these around the house, one more in the back yard to the left of this picture and one more on the front porch.

Here are my two "old" raised beds. When we first moved here three years ago, we just planted three tomato plants under the kitchen window (that big window to the right of the picture). We then added one bed every year. So these are the oldies. The farthest has green beans (bush) on the left and four tomato plants on the right. I usually do a ton of cherry tomatoes because we like those the best, but they are really hard to make salsa with. Which is my goal for all the extra ones we have this season. Make a ton of salsa and freeze it. Obviously, I am also hoping to invest in a deep freezer for our garage sometime soon... In the closest bed, again we have green beans on the left. On the farthest right side are three pepper plants (two bell and a jalapeno), a row of cilantro, then a tomato and zucchini plant.

Here is my new bed. It is so big! All along the left side I have yellow onions planted. This is something new for me this year. I am excited to see how they turn out. Along the farthest and closest short sides I have one cucumber plant. Matt is going to put some fencing up in between the posts on both sides for the cucumber to climb. I then have two zucchini plants, a row of basil, a row of parsley (basil, parsley, and cilantro are the only fresh herbs I really know how to use), and another tomato plant. Then there is a big gap before the last cucumber plant (closest to you). Once I see how big the tomato plant and cucumber get, I will plant another row of green beans there.

That is something I really love about the bush green bean plants (any green bean plant really). Each bush is compact but grows a TON of beans, and you can plant these up until the end of September. So, I just keep planting them all summer long to keep a steady harvest. One day (hopefully next year as Matt is already planning the next bed to build), I will grow enough beans at one time to be able to can. I would love to eat our green beans all year round.

And this picture I can't help but show you. Is this not adorable? Levi loves his big boy bed. He is not sleeping in it yet, it's just in the room for him to get used to. We are hoping to move him there in May, so he has a month and a half to get used to it before baby gets here and we throw another change at him. There are three big things we have to accomplish this summer before Levi starts "school" (Mother's Day Out): move to big boy bed, bring home a baby brother, and potty train. So we are trying to space these out as much as possible (about 6 weeks in between each one) to give him a little time to adjust. I feel like 6 weeks isn't a HUGE amount of time for a toddler, but it's the time we have. So.