Busy Summer

I don't know about the rest of you, but August has seemed to have disappeared!! Maybe it's just the busy time of trying to get everything 'summer' in before September. Around here September is a toss up, it may very well be beautiful with chrisp mornings and warm days but it can also be a harsh introduction to what winter may bring. Enough about that, back to our busy summer :) One weekend in August my daughter was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful day!! The girls all looked so beautiful and let me tell you I was SO glad that my daughter's haircut came AFTER the wedding and not before!!
I have lots of other things to blog about, but they will have to wait since I have lots to do today :)

Week 31/32

I thought it was about time to update you all on how my pregnancy is going. I find it a lot more difficult taking (or making) the time to get belly pics. Maybe it just says something about how fast things seem to be going with this pregnancy! With two young children and 3 daycare kids and all the fun things of summer I find my time slipping by. There is always so much to do, little motivation (on my part) and little energy - so it means a lot of prioritizing. In my case I find it a lot more of a priority to have a nap in the afternoon than to clean my house, so if you were to stop by my house unannounced, be prepared :)

So this is me and my baby belly :) Not my most flattering maternity pic, I had just come inside from working in the garden (hence the 'outside' clothes and hair) and my son wanted to take some pictures, so I figured I'd put his desire to some good use :) I've been feeling really good the last while - it's the best part of pregnancy between weeks 20-30-somthing. At my last Dr's appointment (last week) my Dr. estimated that baby's weight was about 4lbs and 5oz!!! Crazy, baby gained 2 lbs in the last month - although then it doesn't make me feel so bad because the 2 out of 5 lbs I gained last month were strictly baby. I have definately been feeling that baby is becoming bigger and there is less space for him/her to move around. I've been feeling all knees, feet, elbows and hands whenever the baby moves!! Thankfully my Dr. said that baby is head down at this point, although the head is not engaged (so baby can still float around and change positions). With K, she was breech until 36 weeks (if she would have still been breech at week 36 my Dr. wanted to schedule a C-section as a back-up). I am now to the point where I see my Dr. every 2 weeks (can you believe it!!) - that seems like a big milestone to me. I got to thinking the other day that maybe I should start getting a few things in order as baby's arrival, so I made one arrangement (one of the most important). I called up a friend and asked if she would by my watch my kids, especially if I have to go in unexpectedly. I am hoping to go in unexpectly (I was induced with my other two children). A few things I still need to do:

• pack a hospital bag
• sort through my baby clothes and bring all the unisex 0-3 month stuff upstairs, and know where the boy & girl stuff is (separated and ready to bring upstairs once baby is born)
• get baby's bed and blankets ready

I think that is everything related to baby that I have to do. I have a lot of projects left to do before baby comes but if they don't get done on time, that will have to be ok :)

Discomforts I am experiencing - probably the biggest one is ligament pain. I have had it with all my pregnancies, but this one is the worst so far. For those that are not sure what this is, basically it's sore muscles by the pelvic/hip area, it is what makes it so difficult to turn over in bed, get up from sitting on the floor, going up stairs, getting off the couch, standing for long periods of time, etc. Sometimes it feels as if I can't move my legs and have to physically move them with my hands to get going. I am not complaining, I would do anything for my child but as a lot of you know pregnancy definately has it's discomforts as well as joys :) The heat we are having has also been a long of fun while being this big. Thanks to my husband that last summer (or two summers ago) he HAD to buy a portable AC unit, I didn't think we needed it, but at this point I have made a lot of use of it :) Either way we are starting to get excited about meeting this newest addition to our family!!

Wordless Wed.: Mommy Cried a Little

TJ decided to try his hand at hairstyling - didn't turn out so well, so we went to the professional to get a fix up.

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins

Respect?

This week the Marriage Challenge is about respect. Respect, in my mind, has been a difficult thing to define - not in and of itself, but what it means to respect my husband. What does it mean to show respect, or in effect what is considered disrespectful to my husband? I do respect my husband in my heart and mind, but how can I or do I show that to him (I mean men and women think so differently!!)? This week's challenge is a good start to defining respect as an action for me.

The challenge this week is: No complaining, criticizing, rolling your eyes, nagging or giving him any friction this week. Enjoy a week of peace in your home.

I am also planning on talking with my husband, to try and find out more of his perspective, what impacts him as showing him respect (building him up) or disrespectful. Some of these things listed may not bother him that much whereas other things I do might really bother and hurt him. I think I would like to particularly focus on the areas that build him up. I think if I'm focused on showing him I respect him it will be easier to not do those things that show disrespect. Either way, respect is a very important thing to work on in a marriage - how do you show your husband respect/build him up?

PS this is my 300th post :) YAY!