36 weeks, 3 days

Since we spent the majority of our long weekend doing various projects around the house [read: Jesse attacked projects like there was no tomorrow and I tried to help when and where I could], by mid-afternoon on Memorial Day, we decided that enough was enough and we were going to go relax and enjoy a bonfire.  

fascinated by the chickens

And enjoy it we did, and the company of course, but Jesse kept right on working and helped Betsy and Julia haul around some brush for firewood.  Needless to say, by the time the brush had burned down to the perfect cooking conditions, we were all ready to sit and enjoy the fire, food, and company.  

Kayla trying to steal a bite of Fiona's marshmallow

Julia and Logan cooking

Jesse was pretty proud of his gigantic s'more

s'more face

We have discussed it before, but I think we are all starting to realize just how much trouble Lily and Fiona are going to get into in another couple of months when they're a little older.  They are absolutely hilarious and adorable together, and decided they didn't need adults or the older kids and went to go play in the playhouse by themselves.  Goobers.

trouble

Tonight, while Jesse was cutting the grass, he stopped the lawn mower and came over with his hands cupped together towards me.  I gave him the warning of "if that's a big spider, I'm going to kick you," and he smirked at me and held out his hands to show Lily a toad.  She has recently been obsessed with the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" which just so happens to have a picture of a frog in it and that is her favorite page, so she knew right what it was and excitedly yelled "FROOOOOOGGG!!!"  Jesse and I agreed we would correct her on frog vs toad later, but her reaction was priceless.  As the momma, I had to put on my big girl pants and touch the toad to show her it wouldn't hurt her and that she could touch it, too.  No, I'm not afraid of frogs/toads and I don't find them gross.  What I struggle with, and certain people can attest to this, is things either chasing me or jumping at me.  Thus, my fear of crickets [you never know where those things are gonna jump].  I may or may not have squeaked a bit when the toad tried to jump out of Jesse's hands, but I survived.

not wanting to touch it

but, absolutely fascinated by it

Later on, I found a teeny, tiny, no bigger than my thumbnail toad and managed to catch it and then put it in Lily's outstretched hand.  She thought it was cool for 0.5 seconds, then wanted it off.  Once I explained that toads and frogs jump- her favorite- she wanted to watch it jump all over the yard.  She would look at me quite concerned when it wasn't moving but as soon as it would jump, look at me with this face:

That's about it from here!  This week has been kind of rough for me, physically.  I just haven't felt good at all, and of course my allergies decided to kick in full force.  Needless to say, I have had several sleepless nights and exhausting days, but we are all surviving!  Is it naive of me to think that all my issues from pregnancy will evaporate the minute the baby is born?  I'm hoping so..

Tuesday. Thankful.

1. I am so thankful and excited that I am officially full term! That means Bob can come any time s/he is ready. 2. so thankful for the long weekend we had! It was a ton of fun and we got some good work done outside, and made progress towards crossing things off our to-do list. Ok, really, Jesse did most of it. But I am thankful for his hard work! 3. Mr S'More. I am very thankful for you. The invention of a s'more over a campfire was sheer brilliance, and I just so happen to be married to a guy who can consistently toast the perfect marshmallow. 4. the rain today: it was SO humid here all weekend. And hot. We needed the rain and the humidity needed to go away. 5. such patient family and friends. I really feel like I have been incredibly self-centered the past several weeks, so thanks to all of you for putting up with me.

Firsts!

This week has been a good one with a few 'firsts.'

On Sunday, I held my first chicken. You have probably seen the picture by now, so this is old news. But as a result of Jesse helping Betsy and company build a coop and work with chickens a tiny bit, he has begun scheming how we can get our own coop and chickens set up sooner than we thought. He actually came up with a great plan using one of the existing buildings on our property, and it will be much cheaper than we thought! 

 I also used my clothesline for the first time yeaterday! Yes, the one I asked to be worked on in March..it's done now and looking much better than it was. Of course, my loads of laundry yesterday got rained out, but thats ok. I had more to do today, so I made some good use of it.  [no picture..just imagine what a clothesline would look like]

And finally, we have a beehive on our property! Our plan was to hopefully get a few bee boxes next spring, but a nice family Jesse met at the beekeeping meetings (we sound so neat..)- that actually live right down the road from us- had one of their colonies swarm (aka split and half take off), and once they got the new colony out of the tree, they needed somewhere to put it. I guess when a colony swarms, you can't just plunk it back in a bee box and expect them to stay, as they are pretty determined to go back to where they came from, in this case, the tree. So you ideally want to move them far away from their "home" to help them forget about it and start their new hive/colony in the box. So, we have a box on our property now! It actually works out well: we don't have the equipment, but can still get experience and knowledge on how to have bees while we help take care of them while the family does all the important work. If this colony settles into the box, they may try and split it again next spring and we might get the new colony then! We are pretty excited. 

 Other than that..life is moving along. I had a rough couple of days and nights at the beginning of the week, but hopefully we are done with that nonsense. I rarely have any issues sleeping..so the insomnia I have gotten to experience has helped me appreciate how quickly sleep comes to me even more than I normally do. I have gotten some good reading done in my books though..but I would prefer sleep and reading during the day. Bob and I have started having the midwife appointments weekly, which just further indicates that this pregnancy is wrapping up and we will have a new family member soon. Which also means I need to get the infant things out of the attic that we will need. Like a car seat..kind of important. 

Lily has been a champ. She is happy, fun, and we don't have too many bad days, or haven't recently. It's been so nice to not have a clingy toddler right now, and several people have commented on the difference that she isn't demanding to be held by me and only me all the time. Yes, I will miss the just Lily time and when I can dote on her solely, but she couldn't have picked a better time to start some independence. Her vocabulary is soaring- even if she isn't quite getting all of the word out- and Jesse and I have a pretty good understanding of what she is saying to us and how "buh-buh" is different than "buh-buhs" [buckle and bubbles, of course]. She met a tiny dog named Abby over the weekend, and while it took her some time to figure out how to say that name, by Sunday evening, she had it figured out.  And when I walked past her crib- a good 45 minutes after I put her down- I heard her saying "Aaaaaa-beee...Aaaaaa-beeee."  

As I mentioned, I have been dealing with some insomnia. As well as some pretty severe pains that are pregnancy related and just awful. I just keep reminding myself and hoping that it all goes away after I deliver Bob. Other than that, I can't complain! And if I did, it's not like it would do me any good anyway. I have been trying- kind of- to stay on top of things, but I'm finding that if I run errands after work, like I'm used to doing, I spend the rest of the day exhausted. I personally don't count it as nesting, but I'm trying to whip our house back in shape. I don't think it's nesting because it's nothing out of the ordinary, just the weekly chores that have been slipping to the side with how tired I have been. 

And slowly but surely, we have been chipping away at one project after another.  After Jesse's dad came for the weekend to help with some odds and ends that had been bugging Jesse to get done, we have continued with some of the smaller, more annoying, just-need-to-do-them-to-cross-them-off-our-list-and-improve-the-house projects.  Really, Jesse has been doing most of them and I keep him company while he works on them.  And by company, I mean try and keep Lily out of the way.  The one day/project, I asked if I could help and he smiled his sarcastic smile and said "why don't you stick to what you're good at?  Getting in the way.."  If he only knew how in the way I could REALLY be if I set my mind to it..it's a good thing I like him and think he's pretty funny.

We made the decision that we really needed to up the priority of buying and installing an underground fence for Zeke, so we have been working on that this week.  We plan on finishing it this weekend.  This was a "we'll eventually have the time and money for this" project, but after a few weeks of not seeing Zeke almost at all during the day and having to call and yell at bedtime to get him to come home some nights [he almost spent several nights outside because he wouldn't listen], we decided it was more important than we thought.  We don't mind the dog being outside and playing outside...what we mind is when he doesn't come when he is called and some of the most awful habits he is picking up from the neighbors dog.  Like standing in the middle of the road when a car is driving at him and not moving.  Dumb dog.  Oh!  And our garden is looking great; I will try and take a picture soon if I think of it.  

Ok, that's it for now.

Thankful for Tuesday

One day, I will blog a real life update, promise. This week, I am thankful for- 1. a healthy and happy little girl and a baby who will be here soon. Do you hear me, Bob? SOON. I will wait until next Monday (36 weeks) until I start jumping rope ;) 2. our garden! I am so excited about finally having a place of our own where we can actually plant a for real garden. And we already have things sprouting, so yay! 3. a chance to go swimming today. I love swimming, and so does Lily. And she takes a good long nap when we are done! And probably any pregnant woman will tell you that it jus feels so good to be in the water, especially later in the pregnancy. 4. may seem like an odd one, but I'm thankful Zeke is almost 3. Jesse and I had a hard time adjusting to a newborn plus a hyper active dog- where we had no yard- but with it being nice enough out (and we have a yard!) that he spends most of the day playing outside, AND he is just generally calming down, I'm not as worried about him this time around, and I don't foresee us having any discussions to get rid of him this time around. 5. supportive and understanding family. I really don't list this one enough. When we were coming up with our week's list of chores and to-do, Jesse added "rest and relax" to mine for me. And my mom has listened to me complain for several weeks now. Thanks to you both for still loving me!

Thankful...Wednesday?

Good morning! I ran out of time and energy yesterday to blog about what I thankful for, but never fear: here I am. 1. 34 weeks done, a little less than 6 weeks until Bob is here! While I have obviously been complaining (my apologies) about being ready to be done and have the baby here, that doesn't seem like much time left! And now, of course, I'm not sure I'm ready..thankful regardless! 2. So thankful to have Jesse home again. His business trip was plenty long and I know there are a lot of incredible women who go longer without seeing their husbands, but I am thankful to normally have my husband home. 3. Lily has been in one awesome mood after another. She's not this morning, which makes me all the more thankful for the days we have been having! 4. My FIL came for a few days to help Jesse with a few odd projects, which clears up a bit of Jesse's to-do list and makes some time/space for some others. 5. My balance. Kind of odd to be thankful for, but it's true. When I was pregnant with Lily, I had no issues with keeping my balance and was able to wear high heels if I wanted to. Turns out, it's not a myth, your center of gravity really can be thrown off and as a result, using ladders has been fun. And walking. It's probably a good thing I'm not running right now, who knows what would happen. Happy Wednesday!

32 weeks, 6 days

I don't have a ton to blog about..and really, if you're friends with me on Facebook, you have probably seen these pictures already.  But some of my family members need to see them still, so here we are.

This past week has been quiet, as Jesse has been on a business trip.  However, Lily and I did have a good week: we read lots of books [or, in reality, the same 3 books a million times], played hard, took awesome naps, ate all kinds of junk food [because what else would girls do on a girls week?] and I only threw out my back once.  Success.  

Friday and Saturday also really kicked us off with our garage saling for the year, and I found a few great items, and some that the jury is still out on until Jesse can really check them out.  First up, is the new pair of garden boots Lily found [yes, Lily found them and claimed them] for a quarter.  The other things we found aren't too exciting/picture quality, but I found one of those huge, orange outdoor extension cords [$1], a small gas can and funnel and the potential win of the week or the potential bomb of the week, a mitre saw.  A cute old man was selling tools, among other things, and he was quite the salesman!  He took me over to an outlet, plugged the saw in to show me how well it still runs and sold it to me for $15, and threw in an extra one for free.  The one is missing the base, the other is missing the handle, so hopefully, we can either piece the two together or find the missing parts cheaply.  If not, a $15 bomb isn't THAT bad..Lily also found a baby doll that she just adores.  I wouldn't have bought it for her, but she picked it right up, started rocking it, patting it on the back and then walked over to the swing the couple was selling to push the baby in it.  How could I pass that up?  She continued "comforting" the baby in the car for most of our adventures, until she decided that the baby was also a hat, and put the doll on her head.  She must get her ridiculous side from her dad. 

new boots

We were also going to go to the Clarksburg Scottish Games yesterday..but the weather was pretty miserable with all the rain we had, plus, Lily was getting grumpy and tired from our full morning, so we had to skip this year.  I put her in her kilt that Kimmy brought back from Scotland just the same and she actually really liked wearing it.  Until I took her book away so I could get a picture without her holding the book..oops, big mistake!

ah, happiness now that she has book back.

I started to feel kind of sick around lunch time, so we went home to take naps.  Which is unfortunate that I felt so awful because there were some other things Lily and I were going to try and do, but couldn't because I felt lousy.  Lame.  However, I did start to feel better a few hours later and so Julia met us at the park to play for a bit.  Slides are now Lily's favorite thing, as is Toni's ice cream..though she preferred the fries to the ice cream.  I don't know what her problem is.  

 

thinking she's Spiderwoman and trying to climb the rock wall

That's about it from here!

Bob's room: check.

Well.  I think I finished the baby's room.  I mean, there aren't a ton of decorations, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, I think.  We will see.  

furniture!

assembling

and now we have painted the walls yellow..

the start of my argyle wall

I can't take credit for creating the argyle wall all by myself, though I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  I did some google searching and came across this site that did a decent job explaining what was going on.  The slightly perfectionist side in me would definitely make some changes if I was doing it again, but you know what?  I'm almost 33 weeks pregnant and don't care and think it looks great.

taping the rest of my diamonds

chalk lines to show the accent stripe

DONE.  and Lily helping make sure the crib is safe for Bob

so, a view from the door..I don't think the swing will live in the room, though.  probably in the living room to start, but we will see.  I need to slowly break Jesse into the idea of lots of random baby things scattered throughout the house again ;)

I moved my rocking chair from Lily's room to Bob's.  I was surprised-- though I shouldn't have been, given my pregnant hormonal state-- that I was emotional about this.  I wasn't ready to admit that my little girl wouldn't be rocked and cuddled in it as much anymore, even though she has been weaned and putting herself to sleep for 6 months now..

closet and table with a lamp.  yes, this wall needs decorations.  probably will wait until we find out if Bob is a boy or girl..

my big girl in the big girl rocker.

That's about it for tonight!  Just wanted to show off my wall.  I think that completing the baby's room was important and a big deal to me because I didn't get to do it when we were waiting for Lily to arrive.  I loved decorating her room after she was old enough to understand-- and now she points to all the zebras on her wall and declares "horse!"-- but there is something about the waiting/anticipating/preparing somewhere for your baby, even if you know that s/he won't be sleeping in there for a few weeks..

I need ice cream before I go off on a hormonal rant about random things in the being a mom and pregnancy realm.  g'night!

xoxo

thankful for Tuesday!

Today, I am thankful for:

1. my awesome friends/coworkers who threw us/came to a surprise baby shower!  More on that after my list..

2. health!  I haven't been sick in 3 ish weeks!

3.  my silly Lily.  Currently, I hear her jumping in her crib?  We have started a (sort of) new bedtime routine to incorporate reading books.  After we read a story (or two), say our goodnights and give kisses, she "goes to bed" with a book and she will look at pictures or play with her glow worm until she falls asleep.  And now, apparently, jumping?  She's still putting herself to sleep, so I guess I won't complain!  But she is so funny, when she is in a good mood..

4. being done painting the baby's room!  AH...finally.  Expect pictures in my next post (tomorrow?).

5. random bursts of energy.  This trimester is really making me tired quickly...

Now, onto our surprise shower!  Last week or so, Betsy text me and said something along the lines of "Julia and I are declaring a family swim at the Y on Sunday."  Perfect, Lily hadn't been swimming in awhile, we were excited.  Sunday comes, and since Jesse had been working hard outside, we were all ready to go swimming.  When we got into the building, the front desk guy said that Julia was out back.  We didn't really care where she was, but thanks, we figured she'd be around soon for our swim sooner or later.  Jesse and I met in the pool area: no Partin's, no Julia.  Again, we didn't care, we were going to just jump in when in comes Julia!  Not in a swimming suit.  And she said that she and the Partin's were out back playing, why don't we put our clothes back on and come join them for a bit?  We declined, as we were already in our suits and pretty excited to get in the water.  I was seriously on the verge of getting in when she says "oh, just come outside for a second."  Ok..

I wish we had audio recording of how densely blonde I was when I saw friends outside for a party.  I absolutely could not put together that this was for me/us/Bob.  Jesse said that he was as clueless as I was, but he catches onto things quicker, so he didn't look like an idiot trying to figure out what was going on.  I think the part that impresses me the most was that everyone kept their mouths shut and pulled it off without me having even the slightest inkling, especially the Party Throwers who I see and talk to on a regular basis (Julia, Betsy and Chanell).  Apparently, Chanell even took Lily shopping with her for something, so my own kid was in on it!  I guess I should take "doesn't surprise easily" off my resume..we both feel incredibly blessed to have such great friends that would put together a shower for us, and for friends who wanted to come celebrate and give us such wonderful gifts!  I think I was in shock for most of the party (like a true blonde).  However, on the way home when I was going on and on about how surprised I had been, Jesse was pretty quiet, then said "I wanted to go swimming.."  Poor guy.  Next time he works hard outside all day, I guess I need to take him swimming!  And since Lily got so excited when I put her in her swim suit and she thought she'd get to go, Julia took her swimming today, which she loved.

Lily got a bag of goodies, too :)

helping me open presents

all the kids wanted to help open the big present!

Hopefully the video works..since it was taken in a pool area, I would highly recommend turning the sound down because it is loud.