To be honest, I’m posting this on round two of pregnancy because I am on my way to forgetting all the details! It’s terrifying to think of what I’ll forget if we ever have another. So I wanted to remind myself of a few of its shining moments. Continue reading “Looking back on my second pregnancy” →

Check one, check two, anybody listening? 🙂 Hellloooooo! Needless to say it’s been awhile! I have really fallen behind in posting. Do you ever feel like one measly picture seems like too big of an undertaking some days? That’s most of the time for me, oof. Summer flew by, from youth camp to beach days, kids camp to vacation—and in June, just as we had decided we were open to the idea of having another baby, lo-and-behold we discovered we were 11 weeks pregnant, ooh baby! We are absolutely thrilled 🙂 We are 25 weeks along and 26 tomorrow.

Continue reading “Pregnancy musings” →

I truly have loved being pregnant, and in the practice of not complaining about it, i thought i’d share some of the lifesavers that have made it a little easier on us all (yes, us!). And, I was totally inspired by miss Katie! In general, I’m a very au naturale sort of person, I do not have a large amount of beauty products in my cabinets—I think i could live with one or two if i was forced! Thankfully i don’t have to!

1. Burts Bees oil: this one gets to go first because i’m absolutely addicted to this stuff. the smell is delicious and not overbearing, it’s not a heavy product so the oil soaks in nicely without leaving a funky layer on. i use it on my hands, belly, feet and cuticles too!

2. Clinique dramatically different moisturizing lotion: my favorite face lotion. i use it all over and it’s even gentle enough to use as makeup remover (on the eyes too). there’s no strong scent and no funny residue.

3. Origins grapefruit body souffle: a wonderful family member always sets me up with the origins’ gift packs  each christmastime and this lotion continues to blow me away. it’s really like a souffle, soft, silky, light but with a gentle, wonderful scent. a little pricey so once i run out, i’m back on the aveeno bandwagon, but meanwhile, this stuff is where it’s at!

4. Aromatherapy sugar scrub: i am a sugar scrub gal. i have tried them all. salt scrub, bead scrubs, seed scrubs and sugar. i have finally landed with sugar. and after spending many a dollar on brands i thought would blow my world, the one that continues to win in the end is from bath & body works, believe it or not! i love the vanilla lavender combo and it scrubs nicely and always leaves me moisturized. i use this on my arms, elbows, belly (for now) and my legs after i shave (it’s a dream i tell you). for the record, in my opinion, this scrub tops (and i’ve tried all of these): sabon, origins, the body shop, alba, st. ives and burts. yup!

5. Aloe Gator lip balm: i’ve been using this brand of lip balm since i was 14 (so about 13 years now! how’s that for brand loyalty?!). it’s extreeeemely moisturizing meaning you don’t have to coat it on over-and-over on your lips (but not waxy), just a few quick swipes and you’re set. the tropical scents are in-credible, but the rest are as well. they really win in the scent department. oh yes, and spf. win.

6. Neosporin! to me, neosporin is like the duct-tape of the beauty/medical world! i use it for everything! and the pain relief edition..even better. hang nail? neosporin. blemish? neosporin. cut? neosporin. dry patch? neosporin. it’s like a cross between my favorite facial lotion and vaseline, but heals things up quickly. i don’t know what i’d do without my multiple tubes of it.

What are some of your beauty lifesavers?

i’ve been calling these last many weeks of pregnancy the “home stretch” for quite awhile now, and little did i know i should have been reserving it for this last few days we’ve had!

<< this was 38 weeks and yes, i’m still wearing the same outfit 🙂

we are now one week overdue and i’m feeling all the emotions of everything that entails. james and i have resorted to laughing out loud at certain reactions of mine (he waits for my cue, of course) or he kindly says sorry to things he had nothing to do with in the first place.

ie the water i spilled all over the belly today (weeping!), deciding where to put the trail mix in the pantry, and i’m pretty sure i dropped something in the middle of a contraction which was, in the moment, crushing. he apologized for that too.

gosh it’s pathetic.

am i busy? i’m keeping pah-lenty busy, filling my time with turkey sandwiches (yeah, that’s right rules of pregnancy.. lunchmeat!). i’ve reorganizing all of luke’s baby stuff multiple times. it’s been “set up” for a few weeks now, but i keep finding ways to un-set it up and do it all over again.

something that i totally love is i’ve been able to be part of all the church/ministry life i’m not usually around for (because of work). then there’s a lot of peeing. and we’re on a jerry kick again. we have fully caught up on comedians in cars getting coffee, countless seinfeld episodes and much of jerry’s early standup material on youtube. we love jerry.

so for all who are interested in the centimeter stuff.. not that it should or needs to be interesting to you :)… but you know, for those who, like me, just like to read and learn about all the billions of pregnant women’s stories and experiences, blah blah blah. i’ve been 3cm for almost a week, and was 2cm for a week or more before that. progress! we did more tests this week and he is as healthy as could be, normal movement, great heart rate, still in launch position etc. which is all we really cared about. my blood pressure is even better than ever! now it’s never been bad, but i just have some weird stress-ball-ness when seeing my doctor (any doctor) and sweet nurse jackie has learned my ways and waits til the end of the appointment to take my vitals so i can chill out a little. say it with me now: high maintenance 🙂

based on all the conversations i’ve had with other moms who went two and three weeks overdue, i’m guessing i’m a little wimpy in the patience department.  we are only one week overdue at this point and if he’s still hanging out, we induce on monday the 24th, which will be the ten days past. which means hello light at end of the tunnel!! man. i have major respect for this whole process, every step has been such a miracle. and we just can’t wait to meet our little end result.