Labor Day

For the long weekend we went up to Lake Michigan. I can't believe we haven't been there until now. It's amazing!

Check out those waves. Who knew you could surf in Indiana? And no salt water in your mouth! it was a little windy, but we spent hours floating in the waves and enjoying the beach.

Preggo Campers

Bryce napping on the beach with his best girl. Hazel had the time of her life swimming all day, and let's not forget all the delicious scraps people were tossing her right and left.

Last chance to camp without a baby. Only slightly uncomfortable, but I slept better on the air mattress than in my bed.

All the girls at the campfire. It was so fun to kick back with friends.

I was actually hoping that all the activity of this trip would put me into labor. But if hiking around, lugging 40 lb. coolers and body surfing didn't jiggle the baby out, I think she's going to stay put for a while longer.

How many more days?

Last year when I was teaching, and hating it, and really ready to be done Bryce helped put things in perspective. He reminded me that I could do ANYTHING for 65 days, or 42 days, or however many days were left of school that day. That was my mantra that got me through the hard days.

Within this last week or so pregnancy has become extremely uncomfortable, and I think I've experienced everything a person needs to experience while gestating. I won't go into the list of discomforts, most of you have been there or will be eventually. But bottom line- I feel ready to be done. Really ready.

I can do anything for 21 days. Deep breath. I can do anything for 21 days. I might spend those days moaning in agony stuck on the couch, but I can do it. Right?

I was making cookies tonight and as I started splattering and spilling ingredients all over myself I made the comment that I probably needed to put an apron on.

Bryce looked at me, then in all seriousness said:

"Will any of your aprons even fit you right now?"

I'm trying to chalk this up to a skewed male understanding of how aprons work. As any woman knows, a generic tie-in-the-back apron will pretty much fit anything. They're one size fits all. Thick or thin, rotund or slim, most aprons will fit any person.

I'm trying not to let his comment (which under the surface meant "you've become enormous and absolutely nothing else fits you right now") make me feel bad about eating those cookies that I just made. They look too delicious!

Ready for baby!

I've been doing some intense nesting the last several weeks, and now my little nest is all ready to bring a baby home to it. There has been lots of cleaning and baking involved, but I've mostly been best friends with my sewing machine. Here's what the baby's room looks like

I made all the bedding

Bryce and I refinished this Goodwill dresser together and I sewed the changing pad cover

Figured out how to make a diaper stacker without a pattern. It was quite a triumph!

Coordinating laundry bag from scraps

Nursing cover

Car seat cover

Not pictured: About a zillion hair bows, at least a dozen burp cloths and a couple of dresses I made.

And after all that I am still not done with the list of projects I want to finish before she comes.

Taken at 33 weeks, I'm 35 1/2 now.

Anniversaries

Last week we celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. We didn't do a whole lot of celebrating. We pushed our car several blocks in 95 degree heat when it broke down on the way to the service center and attended a class at the hospital where I'm going to deliver. So, the actual anniversary was kind of lame. But my fabulous husband had gotten us tickets to Symphony on the Prairie for this weekend.

I've been a Prairie Home Companion fan pretty much as far back as I can remember. For those of you who aren't familiar, PHC is a good old-fashioned radio show that airs every Saturday night on NPR. It's about an imaginary town in Minnesota and the show includes skits, crazy sound effects, musical preformances and pretend commercials. I've always wanted to go to a broadcast, and this one out at Connor Prairie coincided so nicely with our anniversary.

It was a fantastic program! Thousands of people with picnic baskets and camp chairs being serenaded by Garrison Keilor. We got seats in the shade and nice breeze kicked up to relieve us of this horrible heat. We packed a cooler of IBC rootbeer and pulled pork sandwiches and it was a perfect two and a half hours, and one of my favorite things Bryce and I have ever done together. Thanks Love!

Today is an anniversary of a not-so-fun kind. One year ago today I miscarried at 10 weeks pregnant and it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Not physically; it didn't hurt much at all. But it was terribly taxing emotionally and it tooks months before I even felt like my normal self again or could focus on anything. In fact, it pretty much took until January when I found out I was pregnant again.

I still feel sad about that baby I lost and it breaks my heart to think I'd have a 5-month old today, but things always work out in the end. I'm so grateful that in just about another month we'lll be having our baby girl and for a healthy, mostly comfortable pregnancy. I can't wait to meet her!

Spokane

We got to go home for one wonderful week. All my siblings made it home, which made the visit extra special. We spent a lot of time just sitting around enjoying the beautiful weather but we had a little excitement too.

We went out to see the Palouse Falls. I'd never been out there and the falls were raging. It was a spectacular sight.

My brother Daniel and his little family

Sweetest little girl ever.

Mom and Dad ( it was a very windy day)

The girls

The whole gang

Anna and I reliving our high school days with matching tiaras, cheer leading fleeces and, my favorite, the identical Pizza Hut name tags. We contemplated trying on our cheer leading skirts, but opted for dignity rather than depression. We plan on doing this every time we both go home for the next 80 years or so to document our progression through life.

Saw a couple of my little brother's baseball games. He's a total all-star!

My mom and sister + sister-in law threw a baby shower for me at Grandma Daines' house. It was beautiful and so sweet of them. I loved getting to visit with so many friends I haven' t seen in a while.

Mom, her sister Chris, Ali and Ann

Grandma, aunts and cousins

Friends from the good old Belle Terre Ward

Bryce's mom and sister

High school friends Celeste and DaNae
There was also 4th of July, lots of hikes and craft projects and the usual stuff. But the best part of going home was getting to see so many friends. Thanks to everyone who took the time to visit with me!

Baby Moon

It's been several weeks since we got back, but I'm finally getting this posted.
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Our trip to Jamaica was AMAZING!
We swam in the ocean and the pool, read a ton, laid in the sun, ate lots of good food and just relaxed.
We snorkeled a bunch, kayaked, went on a bamboo river raft tour, wind surfed, danced and took lots of naps.
We saw a Rastafarian midget, were offered illegal drugs by locals and and ignored all the weird looks we got each time we declined the free alcohol.

I always think I've taken more pictures than I actually have, but here are a few:


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Hiking Dunn's River Falls

__________ Waiting to eat. So much good food = 10 new lbs for me.


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Catamaran cruise ride
( we use SPF 75, if you're wondering why we're both so pasty)


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_ _ _ _ ________________________________ Fabulous Caribbean sunsets

___________________________ Enjoying being together

Getting pretty big







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It was such a wonderful trip. I couldn't have asked for anything better!