Things I look forward to about not being pregnant

There are some people who I talk to who say they love being pregnant.  I'm not one of those people.  I would rather carry a new baby in my arms then in my body any day.  (Now ask me in a month and a half and see if my answer is still the same. haha  :) )  I know what a beautiful thing it is to be able to carry a child like this.  It's a gift from God and I don't take it for granted, but I FEEL so unlovely during pregnancy.  This is definately a time when feelings are not reality and I have to remind myself of this over and over again.  I was thinking the other day that I feel like a big whale, but reality is that I am so privileged to be carrying a child who is being developed and formed just right by an Almighty God.  What is going on in my body right now is truly a miracle.  On that note however, here are some things I am looking forward to in about a month's time...
1.  No more heartburn
2.  Being able to bend over properly
3.  Sleeping on my stomach
4.  Hugging Mark without my big belly in the way
5.  Going for a walk without huffing and puffing or aching or wondering if I'm doing too much.
6.  Getting into shape again and running!
7.  Baby's hiccups outside the womb will be a lot less annoying!
8.  Being able to have hot drinks in the morning again without it affecting my bowels
9.  Gas issues will be solved?!  
10.  Holding Adalyn on my lap comfortably.  (Then of course there will still be a baby to hold too.  :)
11.  Zipping up my jacket without it stretching
12.  Wearing sweaters fashionably.  My maternity sweater collection is very limited if not non-existant.
13.  Shopping for real clothes and being able to buy things on sale
14.  Going in the hot tub!

Just a few of the things I can think of now.  I would say sleeping through the night, but I know that's not going to happen for a while yet again...  In fact that part's only going to get worse I imagine.  Oh dear.

Winter has arrived

Well, winter is officially upon us I believe.  Mark and I were a bit shocked the other morning to wake up to a world of white.  It reminded me of when I was a kid and it snowed.  So exciting!  I think what made it more exciting for me this time was that I completely wasn't expecting it.  I hadn't looked at the forecast and it was definitely not snowing when we went to bed.  There was a pretty thick layer on the ground in the morning, like a couple of cm, which just made it seem that much more amazing.  I knew it wasn't going to melt right away.  

I'm not sure how I feel about it being winter.  It has most certainly brought on the Christmas decorating itch for me, and Christmas music has come on in our house too.  I don't really enjoy how much more work it is to go outside though and the driving is not so fun either.  I played outside with Adalyn in the snow today for the first time this winter and she LOVED it.  I'm so glad, because last winter she didn't really want to have anything to do with it.  Today she told me she liked walking in the snow.  :)  Last year she didn't want to go near any snow.  I showed her how she could eat the snow and the look on her face was priceless!!  I wish I could have captured that moment on a picture.  It was one of pure delight!  

I've been working on a few DIY Christmas decorations this year.  I'm pretty excited about them.  I've never really decorated much for Christmas because I haven't really wanted to spend money on decorations that you only have up for one month of the year.  We are hosting Mark's extended family for part of the Christmas gathering this year though so I thought maybe I should do a little bit more than normal.  I'll try to put up a picture when I'm done!  

I am trying to get better at letting Adalyn be involved in crafty, hands on sorts of things.  I am always hesitant to do 'fun' dirty things with her because it makes more work for me and I don't always feel like I need more work. haha  There are already so many messes to clean up.  I don't like messes very much!  Today Mark really encouraged me to have her join in my paper mache project.  It was messy, but she loved it!  One other thing I have done recently is let her play with flour while I am baking.  It keeps her occupied for a long time and it's some thing different to do.

 She has really been developing an imagination lately which has been so fun to watch.  Her dolls and stuffed animals are her little friends and she takes care of them so well.  She can spend a lot of time giving them tea parties, feeding them supper, reading them books, changing their diapers, or teaching them to use the potty, putting them to bed, comforting them when they cry, taking them shopping, ect....  It's not uncommon for her to be in her room by herself these days playing with her dolls.  What a wonderful development!!  Up till now she has always needed to play close to where I am.  She didn't necessarily need me, but she followed me every where.  

Taking a picture with her pretend camera.  She came up with this all on her own!

Birthday party!

 
I wish I had more pictures or better ones, but I haven't had my camera out much the last month or two.

I finally asked Mark to take another pregnancy picture for me.  This is only the third or fourth one so far this pregnancy and I'm already 34 weeks!  

 

We got to see the baby again this week!  Apparently I am measuring 3 weeks behind so they just wanted to make sure that the baby was growing properly and that all was well.  We had to go into the city for a fetal assessment.  It was so much better than the ultrasound at our local hospital.  Mark was able to come in for the entire appointment and I could actually see the baby comfortably without craning my neck around awkwardly.  The technician was very friendly and we were done very quickly too.  All was well and she figured it must just be the way I'm carrying, my tall torso leaves lots of space for baby to hide.  I suspected as much.  :)  Baby was estimated to be about 5 lbs already!  She figured this baby would be around the same size as Adalyn was when she was born.  8lbs6oz.  Anticipation for this new baby and labour and delivery is building!  Only one month till term, though I have a feeling it will be late again.  Adalyn was 1 week late and I'm expecting the same with this one.  I think this time I would rather have it be 1 week late then 1 week early.  My due date is December 30, so one week early would make it right before Christmas. 

29 week comparison

This picture is a couple weeks old now --I am 31 weeks this week-- but here's the belly this pregnancy and 2 years ago with Adalyn.  Pretty similar I'd say, maybe carrying slightly higher this time?  I am feeling bigger this time around, but maybe that's because I'm still slightly in denial as to how far along I am!  It's going by too fast! 

29 weeks 2013

29 weeks 2011

Strength

This last week has been difficult as I battle a nasty cold and low iron levels.  I've had such low energy and have struggled with staying positive and fighting those grumpy battles in my head.  I have been trying to read a Psalm a day lately and came to Psalm 18 this week.  The very first verse says... "I love you, Lord, my strength."  As I was reading the Psalm I got this incredible picture of God holding my arms and fighting with them for me.  You know when you hold a child's hands and make them do things with them, like help them use a bat, or teach some other kind of skill.  Does that make any sense?  Anyway, I just felt so encouraged after reading that Psalm.  Like His strength was carrying me and God was fighting for me in the midst of my tiredness. 
  
He trains my hands for battle;
    my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield,
    and your right hand sustains me;
    your help has made me great. 
Psalm 18:34,35 

It kind of goes along with the verse I memorized last week.
"I have been crucified with Christ therefore I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."   Galatians 2:20

I'm not very good at explaining my thoughts, but hopefully it makes some sense. God is my strength and when I'm weak He is stronger! 

My big helper

Adalyn LOVES to help me!  It's great!  At this point it is a very natural thing for her to help.  I like to think it's a great part of her personality, but somehow I wonder if it is just the age she's at.  :)  I'll definitely soak it in now though, even though it sometimes makes my tasks take a bit longer.   She often says 'Me help too?'.  Maybe she just likes being with me, I'm not sure, I take it either way!
Here's a little list of the things she likes to do... 

 

Water the flowers... 

 Shell peas, put veggies in pot for soup, ect...

 

 Bake muffins...

 Wash dishes...

 Can tomatoes...

 She also likes to help with the laundry, sweep/mop the floors and will pretend she's cooking when I make supper. 

I'm not a slave driver.  She loves to do all these things, honestly!

26 weeks pregnant

I can't believe I am already 26 weeks along!  This pregnancy is flying by!  The second time around has felt different for me.  The nausea didn't last as long or hit as hard this time which is such a relief, but I'm beginning to doubt if I'll ever get my energy kick they say comes in the 2nd trimester.  I'm already almost to the third and definitely don't feel like that energy has hit yet.  I feel huge already and am starting to feel a bit more uncomfortable and over all not quite as mobile as I did at this point with Adalyn.  I never had the problem of having to go to the bathroom all the time, but this round it's pretty bad!  There are a few other 'pregnancy problems' that I've been having this time around that I don't remember dealing with last time.  My midwife tells me this is pretty common.  Maybe it's a boy this time. haha  I think baby did some serious growing this last week!  I put on 4 lbs in one week and felt like my skin was being stretched beyond it's limits.  It really felt like I was wearing an extremely tight shirt that I couldn't remove.   I don't remember ever feeling this way being pregnant with Adalyn.  Over all though I still feel pretty good.  I really don't have anything to complain about! 

The nesting has started coming on, though I don't feel like I have the energy to do things the way I want to.  I still get tired SO fast.  We have plans of possibly moving Adalyn to a new bedroom and so yesterday I began with the small project of cleaning up her closet and drawers a little and getting rid of the clothes she wasn't wearing any more.  I sorted through some of the clothes I already had in boxes to make it hopefully more organized.  I've also been trying to take a few toys out of our collection.  Adalyn really doesn't need as many toys as she has!  Half the things she plays with aren't even technically toys any way.  My sewing has also started up again and I got a good start on the blanket I'm making should this baby happen to be a boy.  We finally got our basement painted too.  That's one room down and 3 to go!  Today I had a spontaneous itch to paint the computer room and started clearing things out, but good thing for Mark who set me straight as we didn't really have time for it and I probably would've started and gotten too tired right away.  It's better to plan to do these things a day or two in advance!  haha

Town Mouse and Country Mouse

I biked into town this morning for our Mom's group at church.  It was fun, but so much work biking against wind for 4 miles!  On my way out after our meeting, hopping back on my bike, I had a moment that I don't know that I've ever had before!  I was actually considering the benefits of living in town.  I've never lived in a town in my life or wanted to at that.  Well, I did live in one for about 2 months, but that hardly counts.  I LOVE, LOVE where we live and wouldn't have it any other way at this point in our lives.  On my way out the door of church this morning though, I heard a lady saying to another woman (who was new) that whenever she was out for a walk next just to come knock on the door and they could walk together.  How easy is that?!!  For me it seems like WAY more of an effort and more purposeful and deliberate to make those kinds of decisions.  To go for a walk with someone, I have to arrange it all few days in advance,  pack up my child/children in the vehicle with all our things, drive somewhere, get out and unpack everybody, ect..  So then it just doesn't happen very often if ever.  haha  It's the same if I want to have someone over for tea, or go out for a little visit, it just seems to take a bit more time and effort then it would seem to just walk over somewhere for a few minutes.  So I've just been contemplating if the community of living in town is a lot more beneficial to relationship building and making new friends  Maybe I'm way off the wall here and just dreaming about what I think it must be like and of course it totally depends on the type of town/community you live in too.  I have never lived in town so these are just my great perceptions from the outside looking in.....  I must mention, we do have fantastic neighbors where we are!  We love them dearly and they are very good to us, but there are still only 4 houses on the mile road and it's still a bit of a walk and our yards are still so private.   We don't just see each other on a walk to get the mail, or while we're doing yard work across the hedge or while we bring our garbage out to the road.  It still takes more effort to put yourself in someones path.  

I also have this weird fear of raising children here on our private little spot.  I have these ideas in my head that our children will have trouble making friends because the town kids will have the advantage of just running over to each others homes all the time and my child will feel left out.   I grew up on a farm yard, but had my cousins live right across the yard and growing up we were each other's greatest and best friends/playmates.  We were inseparable.  In school we always had a friend.  So I really hope that my children are able to make good friends like that and maybe our home in the country will be a haven for those who don't get a chance to have such a great private space to run and play. 

Anyway, this post really has no point so you my friends may take from this whatever you jolly well please.  If that's nothing than that's completely alright! 
Bye, bye for now!  Off to make some sort of square for a party...