showered again!

My mom and paula threw me a "these are the women i come from" shower yesterday. It was so special-- seeing as many of the women who have known me practically my whole life were there. It was an overwhelming display of love -- i felt truly showered! Everyone went around and shared one or two pieces of motherly advice-- which i got (all 23 minutes of!) on film! I'm so glad, because not only was it great advice, it is something I will be able to watch years from now and realize the wisdom of the women God has blessed my life with! Many of them are grandmothers now and it was beautiful to hear their hearts about what they've learned, as they look back on their own experiences, as well as sharing their current ones. The food was incredible, and they definitely outdid themselves from paper products to decorations, to favors, and little baby feet shaped brownies! There was even a little "letters to baby boy brown" scrapbook that everyone contributed to! Our livingroom is now covered from floor to ceiling with baby stuff... and it all feels suddenly REAL! As I enter my 37th week, and Bruno enters "full term" status, it is hitting me a little more each day, and unwrapping each new gift for him, that he is coming into our lives... soon and forever! Wow.

This morning our sermon was on thankfulness, and just how there is ALWAYS something in EVERY circumstance, for which to be grateful. It was delivered by a guest pastor from Germany, named Wolfgang Wengert. It was the first sermon he's ever preached in English, and he was simply precious! He told a story of a little girl who approached him after he preached on this topic in Germany. She said, "Pastor,you forgot about one situation where we should be thankful!" Very curious, he listened intently as she told the story of 2 brothers who were walking together down the street, and one of them was carrying on about how we should be thankful in every situation, never stop giving thanks to God in all things, at all times, etc...

Suddenly a bird flew over and dropped a little something on the thankful brother's head. His brother turned to him and said, "Ha-- now, what is there to be thankful for in THIS situation, brother?" The thankful brother thought about it and replied, "Well... Right now, in this situation.... I am thankful that cows do not have wings to fly!"

That certainly puts things in perspective :)

It gave me something to think about as I face the pain that lies iminently before me-- from the first contraction to the likely tearing of my own flesh... from sleepless nights, to the struggles of nursing and recovering while trying to learn what each cry means... What wonderful things I have in each of those moments to be thankful for! All in all, I want to grow in thankfulness during this season-- despite the ups and downs that are surely on their way!

nice and healthy...

Since strawberries are in season (yay!) and are buy 1 get 1 free -- i have been eating them everyday-- on cereal, in yogurt, with cool whip-- you name it! I read once that they have more vitamin C than oranges-- which of course makes me VERY happy :)

I found a recipe for whole wheat strawberry banana muffins online this morning and decided to try them... I just ate the first muffin, fresh out of the oven, and it was sooooo good!! Thought I'd pass on the recipe if anyone is interested... Healthy Strawberry Banana Muffins

On a similar (yet completely different) note, I was also reading somewhere (don't ask me where) that toilet bowl cleaner is really bad for you (ie, breathing in the chemicals)-- which i guess means that every thing cleaning-related is bad for you... duh...

so that gives me 2 options: 1. don't clean! 2. find an alternative to cancer causing chemicals

THEN I found out that Clorox has just come out with a line called Green Works (maybe i'm behind on this one and you've been using it for years...) ... so i got the toilet bowl cleaner and the multipurpose cleaner on sale at Giant yesterday. It's 99% natural and works just as well if not better than the harsh chemicals of most cleaners, so they claim. That means you're only breathing in 1% of cancer causing agents! Their big push is that it's better for the environment (seeing as April is 'Go Green' Month)... but with a baby in my body, and soon to be out of my body, I feel better about it somehow... do i sound like a commercial yet?? Maybe I should write to Clorox and they'll have me read my letter on their next commercial, and Bruno and I can be famous-- maybe even the new Green Works spokespeople!

Well, for now I guess I should just focus on cleaning...

And eating my yummy healthy muffins!!

Woo hoo-- it's going to be 70 degrees again today!!!

Life is good.

Advice Taken!

One of the items on my to-do list for the month actually was to get my wedding album (of proofs) completed!
Thanks to a nudge from Amy, I decided to bite the bullet and take a whole day to do it... I've been dreading it (obviously) for a year and a half... mostly because I had about 1000 proofs to go through (after combing through them and not liking a lot of them initially). The album I bought a year ago at Target is so cute, but only holds 500 pics. I am just not good at organizing and math! But I did manage to divide the pictures into 5 categories: Getting Ready, The Ceremony, After Pics, First Dance, and Reception/Grand Exit. I figured I could allow 100 for each, give or take. It took hours, but I now have a somewhat organized wedding book! And about 500 leftover pictures, many of which aren't really album-worthy anyway...
It feels so good, not just to be able to check this task off of my list, but to know that it's DONE-- FOREVER!! Now we'll actually have SOMETHING to show people when they ask to see our wedding album! Yay!
It was also really special to walk back through that day-- it was so magical-- and it even brought tears to my eyes to look at some of the shots of us; so in love, so in a haze of wonder and awe!
And here we are, ready to start the next phase!
Bring on the Baby Albums!!
:)

If you were me...

If you only had one month left of relatively unlimited freedom-- to do anything you wanted (within reason), including little, simple things-- what would you do?
I'm now taking suggestions :)
If you're a mom with small children, what would you go back and do if you could do it over again (ie, live that last month of your independant/child-free life)?
What would you take time to enjoy?
What would you purpose to do with your time?
What little indulgences would you just "go for"?
What do you wish you could just drop everything and do right now?
What's something you miss about just being newly married without kids?
(if you can remember back that far!)
I figure it'd be wise to ask the experts--
Don't wanna waste this precious month JUST cleaning my house!!
:)
Feel free to comment.... Thanks !

1 Month 2 go!

April 7th marks one month (30 days) till our Due Date!!
I had a doctor's appointment this morning and everything seems to be going well. I think next week is when they start checking to see if i'm dilating at all! yikes!
I did a rather extensive house cleaning-- (not really nesting so much as my mom was stopping by with a friend of hers and the house was getting out of control!) :)
but it feels so good to have it somewhat clean and in order!
it's amazing how just that can exhaust an 8 month pregnant body. it is so hard to bend over to pick things up or vaccum under the bed/sofa/etc... I'm contemplating a nap... better get one while i still can!
on my way home from the Doctor's, i stopped at a cute little consignment shop in malvern and found a couple of cute little p.j.'s for Bruno (what's another $4???) :) One of them has a cute little hat with cute little teddybear ears on top of it! Ok, so i'm getting into this cute little baby thing!!
On one hand a whole month sounds like a long time! On the other, I can't believe it's only a month! The weather is supposed to start warming up this week-- perhaps i can finally get out and walk around a bit-- strengthen up some of those muscles i'll need for labor! In the mean time I'm still trying to get a name for this child that we both agree on and actually somewhat LIKE. Gee, this motherhood stuff is hard work! LOL.

Showers of Blessing

i had such a special time with my girlfriends yesterday-- they took time to bless me in such fun ways-- little games, special food, prayer time, photo shoots, and such wonderful gifts! It was exactly what I was hoping for-- an intimate gathering with some of the best women I know! I am so thankful for these girls; all of them! I don't know how else to say it-- other than "I don't know what my life would be like without you!"

Your encouragement and love mean the world, and your care and time spent in making sure this party (from beginning to end) was special screams of your hearts' sweetness! Your cards and prayers for Bruno were so touching-- He is already so loved by people he doesn't know-- already surrounded by beautiful women :) :) :) I can't wait for him to meet you all!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! just doesn't cut it--

One whole week

I'm one week into retirement-- and lovin every minute! I've been running a lot of errands, starting to nest (I reorganized the refrigerator shelves every day this week), baking muffins, listening to some great sermons online, and sleeping hard! I met my mom for breakfast one morning and then went to finish registering. I'm getting a little anxious about making sure we have everything we need before week 37. I am on a quest this week, searching high and low for something to wear when in the hospital that's not too nightgowny. I'm not a nightgowny kind of girl. You'd think it'd be easy to find a nightshirt or something not too grandma-ish or too sexy. But everywhere I've gone has only had those two extremes. Hmm. What's a mom to do?
But hey, if this is my biggest problem for the next 5 weeks-- I will be so grateful!
Last night I went to a childrens' clothing sale at my parents' church, where everything was between $1-$5! I got a bunch of cute little outfits and onesies, a nice molded bib, and What to Expect the First Year, and only spent a whopping $14!! I know you're not supposed to buy a ton before your shower, but I couldn't resist the bargains! :) When I got home and showed dave my conquest, he looked at everything politely, and then said, "Great... :) now we'll just have to get him some cool clothes." I guess my tastes are a little too sweet and precious... :)
A little backache ensued after a couple days of shopping-- but with a little massage from my husband and a good night's sleep, it seems to have dissappeared. I really am so thankful that this has been such an easy pregnancy...
Today is my "girls' shower"-- and I am really looking forward to just hangin' with some of my favorite women.
All in all, I think I'm going to like this being at home thing-- :)

*Here are pictures of some of the outfits I got last night-- you can click on them to enlarge-- I think they're pretty cool! :)