34 Weeks Pregnant.

The other day, when I found that amazing armoire for the nursery at the thrift store, my husband surprised me by also having this table delivered to my house along with it:



I had seen the table in the thrift store and remarked on how cool it was, so he sneak-attack bought it for me. I am completely smitten, and we have since discovered that we have quite the little gem on our hands-- an extremely valuable antique in excellent condition that is worth about ten times what we paid for it.

Not that it is going anywhere soon.

I'm too in love with it to part ways with it now.

I mean, the chairs are my favorite mustard yellow! It's like it was made just for me! :)

And then today I was wandering around in a thrift store and saw this amazing vintage cloth poster:



I knew it would be the perfect companion to our new table... so I snatched it up and raced home to introduce the two.



They are getting along famously, and I adore my new little kitchen nook! A lot of life happens right here, and now it feels so cozy and warm... which will come in handy the next few days as we are preparing for yet another download of city-paralyzing snow...



***

Since I knew the chances would be few and far between after today, I greedily snatched up some much needed time to myself this morning after I dropped off the boys and made a mad dash to the grocery store before it turned into a war zone later this afternoon.

It was lovely and so refreshing to just sit and read and journal without any pressing TO-DO's over my head.



Although, I guess the TO-DO's were still technically there... I just chose to ignore them for a bit. Ezra has his birthday party this Saturday, and I probably should have spent the day buying his gifts and getting things gathered for the party since the snow is coming and I only have ONE MORE free day this week (snow allowing, of course) to get out again without the monkey children, but I decided to put my sanity first today.

It was... fortifying.

Necessary.

In fact, that should be my new life motto: "Sanity first!"

It's a good principal to live by, methinks.

***



My sweet baby boy is getting so big these days. He is talking in full sentences ("Here you go, mama!", "I got it!", "Help me peese!", "Tank yoo, mama.") and he repeats almost every single word I say all day long. SUCH a different experience from when Ezra was this age. Ezra was hardly saying any words at THREE. (And oh, how I worried!)

Myer's little baby voice just about kills me with cuteness, and I am feeling more and more these days like having another little boy would be just grand. Little boys are so so precious... and it helps, too, now that we have found a boy name that we love!! Squee!



Not much longer to wait now... only 5 or 6 weeks to go!

Say whaaaaaa??!!?

Oh, Look! Snow Makes Me Snarky!

I think I'll call this photo 'My Life in A Nuthouse. I mean, SHELL. Nutshell.'

The first two days that we were snowed in, I was all by my lonesome with my children. My hubby was far, far away in Minnesota. I feared the worst, but we actually did quite well. I feel like God gave me extra amounts of grace and energy to handle all the non-stop kid duties while being 8 months pregnant.

Then Thursday came. Chris was home safe and sound, and my body just completely shut down. I could NOT wake up in the morning and felt like I could have napped the whole day away. Also? I was moooooooody. This was an interesting and delicate dynamic, because my husband had just returned from a completely life-changing spiritual event, and I know he wanted to tell me all about it, but I had just gotten through days of soul-draining, snowed-in, sleepless-night KID patrol, and the last thing I had energy to do was dive into deep pools of rich spiritual theology.

He saw my desperation and patiently stepped in and handled the kids pretty much all that day for me, while I wallowed and recovered. And ate cookies.



And then today was declared ANOTHER SNOW DAY. But only for one of my children! Which is kind of like telling someone "There's good news and bad news! Here's a cookie! Now... give it back again."

haha.

Myer had a great day at school while Ezra and I bounced off the walls just like the last few days. The roads still were bad this morning because my city is completely and utterly unprepared for this phenomenon called SNOW, even though this exact same scenario seems to happen every! single! year! Right around winter time! Imagine that! Maybe it's easier to just declare a 'State of Emergency' than actually plan ahead and beef up your supply of snow plows? Looks that way to me.

{Look who's being snarky! It's me! SNARK ATTACK!}

I'm sorry. This is just what being trapped inside for 5 days by 5 little measly inches of snow does to me, I guess. I grew up at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where we would sometimes get multiple FEET of snow dumped upon our heads, and yet we were still able to function as a community! Now, that city was prepared! Like a Girl Scout! A Girl Scout whose money came from jenky casinos and shady slot machines rather than Thin Mints and Tagalongs!

Oh, geez. Here I go again.

*backing away from the keyboard now*

The Anatomy of a Snow Day.

The Sky Is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

So, I went to bed last night feeling all stressed out about the weather because everyone on the news was freaking out and making all these crazy claims like, "This is going to be the worst snow storm ever on record!" I tossed and I turned and I worried that I had forgotten something major, like turning on the faucets to drip or rolling up the windows on the cars.

And after all that stress, this is what I woke up to:



RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

hahahahahahahha.

Now, the roads really were bad this AM, so I'm not saying I'm about to zip out and do a bunch of errands or anything (everything is closed anyways), but I just find it humorous that this amount of snow can freak an entire state out and shut an entire state down, when probably about 75% of the other states would call this a pretty mild weather event.



Oh well. I DO enjoy a good snow day. And they've already canceled school for tomorrow as well, so I'd better just cuddle up & make the most of it!



Today we've been playing a lot of video games and watching movies and building forts and reading books. Oh, and Legos of course!

This has never been one of my strong points- creatively entertaining my kids or organizing a whole bunch of activities when we're cooped up. We pretty much slump through these days, but I'm becoming more and more okay with that as time goes on. I'm realizing that it is not really my job to entertain these little humans 24/7, nor do I feel that it is ultimately in their best interest if I do so. I prefer to push them to be creative on their own, without a whole lot of hovering on my part, and see what they come up with on their own.

Myer has been playing with a pirate ship and some little cars for most of the day, and Ezra has been zooming around the house for hours with a mixture of Lego mini figures and a Lego spaceship he built. Cutie Patooties.

Speaking of cutie patooties, I miss this man:

(photo by my friend Ryan Gikas)

Chris has been growing out his beard since near the beginning of this pregnancy, and he plans to cut it after the baby is born. He says it's his way of sharing in the waiting (and growing) process, which I just think is so cool. At this point, he pretty much can't wait to shave it all off, just like I can't wait to have this baby.

Solidarity!

:)

Extremes.

He thinks I can't see him. You know, because his eyes are closed.
Oh, the sweetness!

My husband is out of town in sunny (haha) Minnesota attending the Desiring God conference, and I am SO excited that he gets to be there. The weather is throwing a damper on things however, as we are currently staring down the barrel of a blizzard gun here in Oklahoma, which means my hubby may not be able to get home on Wednesday as planned.

Ruh-roh.

Here's what the weathermen are saying: Starting at 10PM tonight, snow and ice. Up to 12" when all is said and done. On top of that, there are going to be 30 MPH winds. Which equals TOTAL WHITEOUT. They are warning people not to leave their homes because they could become disoriented and lost even in their own neighborhoods. Zero visibility! On top of THAT there is a windchill of negative fifteen degrees.

This is all very winter-y and crazy, but I am not completely shocked because it is currently, you know, WINTER and whatnot... it's just that... it's just that... it was SEVENTY FIVE degrees here only seventy two hours ago! We were outside most of that day playing in the sun and I was sweating!

Bizzaro, I tell ya. Hopefully our power will stay on tomorrow. And hopefully my hubby can get home as planned. This single storm is affecting 20 states! That sounds like a recipe for an airport disaster to me.

To prepare, I will be making a big pile of games and blankets in the living room tonight, with lots of flashlights and snacks handy just in case. I really do love hunkering down on crazy snow days... but it would be much more fun if Chris were here to hunker down with us too. And also if I had a big bottle of wine.

And the ability to drink it.

haha.

Apples & Owls.

the beginnings of our gender neutral nursery....
Thanks to all of your input, the armoire was purchased and brought home! I am SO excited that we got it... it's the most amazing piece of furniture ever!! Chris already sanded parts of it down and re-finished it and built a new magnetic latch for the door. We're going to put some shelves in the tall side eventually- and all of baby's clothes and blankets and burp cloths will have a place to live now! Yipee!!

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but the nesting instinct has hit me like a freight train already. It seems so early! Maybe it's the fact that we already have pretty much everything we need at our disposal, so it has been much less daunting. It's more like 'rearranging' this time than revamping an entire room.

SO nice.

All of the owl stuff is still up and around from when this room was Myer's nursery, but I will probably change some of it out once we get closer to having the baby, or maybe after the baby is born. I'm thinking that if it's a girl, it would be fun to incorporate a sweet apple motif into the room. (Although, I guess that could possibly work for a boy too?) I think an apple themed nursery has some serious CUTE potential. Besides, I've been craving apples during this entire pregnancy, AND I have very fond memories of this toy from when I was little:


The Fisher Price 1972 Happy Apple chime toy! Do any of you remember this from growing up? Or am I dating myself? Actually, it was my oldest brother Jared's toy. I wasn't even BORN until nineteen-eighty-mumble...

Anywho, as I was getting the crib all situated today, it really hit me. We're having another baby! The moment that brought this reality home to me was when I was moving the crib mattress from the lowest setting back up to the highest setting again. I don't know why, but it's like it all suddenly sunk in, and I felt so happy!

And then, today at church, there was a moment during worship when I sat down (due to GIRTH issues, you understand) and I rested my hand on my belly and instantly heard a voice in my mind saying, "I am so excited about this child!" And I just knew that it was God speaking to me about this baby and I felt completely overwhelmed with His love. It was one of the sweetest 'God moments' of my life, and all it took was a single sentence! God has this amazing way of knowing exactly what we need to hear, doesn't He?

I'll never forget it.

Payment Upon Death.

So, I wandered by this at the thrift store near my house today, and I am thinking that the baby's room might NEED it. We don't really have a dresser for the nursery at this point in time, although we could probably make do with the closet space we have or use an older bookshelf that we have with canvas totes for drawers, but REALLY.

I'm having a hard time passing this up. It's YELLOW! And dark brown! And AMAZING! And cheap! And gender neutral! And vintage! And after the baby has used it for a while, Chris and I could steal it and use it in our room! (Because it's too pretty to be used by a reckless, marker-wielding toddler, of course!) And... and... when I die you can bury me in it! Thus saving us money in the (very very) long run! See how I did that there? Buying this armoire is really like buying a big fat COUPON!

This is me verbally processing justifying all over you guys... One of the many benefits of being a reader of my blog. hahaha.

The Return of the Ring.

My husband took my wedding ring in to get fixed before Christmas and he just went and picked it back up a couple of days ago. It has been exactly one year since the stone fell out into my hand and I had to slide this ring off of my finger until we could get it worked on. Now, it is cleaner and more sparkly than I have EVER seen it before... it looks brand new even though it has been around since the 1920's!

I could not love this ring more if I tried. And to think, I lost it down a nasty sink drain at the restaurant I was working at in California not even A WEEK after I had been married! hahaha.

Oh, me.

I'm so grateful that it was rescued back then, and that I didn't lose the stone when it fell out this time around. What a miracle!! I want to keep this ring (and the promises wrapped up inside of it) forever and ever and ever.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, honey! I feel whole again!

:)

Mellow Yellow.

I got a new duvet cover with some of my Christmas money! Hooray! I ordered it from Target's website a couple of weeks ago and have been anxiously awaiting its arrival ever since. :)

I have been on a huge yellow kick lately, and this is the prettiest perfect shade of just-right-yellow that I love so much.

Here are some other little bits of yellow in my house that I adore:



I especially love this shade of yellow paired with dark brown or gray. Maybe I should get my painting contractor of a hubby to paint the nursery walls this yummy shade of yellow for me?

Hmmmmm...

****

Today I had all these plans to go grocery shopping and run some other errands, but instead I woke up feeling like I got run over by a semi truck while I was sleeping. I am so tired and my body hurts everywhere! I don't think I'm getting sick, I think I am just starting to approach the UNCOMFORTABLE part of this pregnancy- where my bones and muscles are like, "Huh?!" and "Say whaa?!" and "Oh no you di'nt!"

I think I'll have to alter my agenda. All I feel up for now is crawling back into my (cute) bed and sleeping the afternoon away!

(Toddler-willing, of course.)

;)

Death by Strawberry Hat.

I was wandering around in Babies R Us again the other day... not because I particularly needed anything or had anything on the agenda, but just because, I don't know... it's where pregnant people are supposed to go?

Like, when you are injured, you go to the hospital.

And when you are pregnant, you go to Babies R Us.

(It's a primal instinct. Like holding your breath under water.)

Every time I've gone there recently, I don't end up buying anything, I mostly just wander around in the double wide isles and marvel at human society and the fact that there is a warehouse-sized store like this in every city in America that has somehow convinced all of us parents-to-be that we NEED this crap when in reality, we just need a few blankets, some tiny clothes & diapers, and, I suppose, a car seat so you can go places without getting arrested. The rest of that stuff is all FLUFF.

(Fluff that sells itself mostly by preying on our fears.)

(But perhaps that is another rant for another time?)

Anywho, with every pregnancy there has been ONE baby item that I have obsessed over for some reason. I latch onto this one item and research it until I am an expert on all forms and variations of it, and I know who carries it and who doesn't and who sells it for $1.00 cheaper and why option A is better than option B or C.

With Ezra, it was the crib bedding. (We went with airplanes.)
With Myer, it was the ring sling. (I fell in love with the Maya Wrap.)
With this baby, it has recently been the baby's coming home outfit.

Do I buy something practical and neutral so a boy OR a girl could wear it? Or do I go crazy and buy a tiny little boy outfit AND a tiny little girl outfit and bring them both to the hospital?

A normal person would just buy one of each and then forget about it. But not me, no siree! I am concerned about the psychological effects that buying a little girl outfit might have upon me if I don't end up getting to USE it.

A normal person would say "Just give away the outfit that you don't end up using!" But not me, no siree! I fret about the mental implications and distress that could occur if I have another boy and then give away the girly outfit and then see a friend's little girl wearing it, causing me to mourn a little on the inside for the girl I didn't have and then feel guilty about said mourning when I should be rejoicing over a friend's new baby girl!

Someone needs to just come slap me. I am wearing a hole in my brain.

All of this is just to say, as I was wandering around in Babies R Us the other day, I came upon this little number:



The strawberry cuteness juuuust about did me in. No, really! I think I almost died. I'm pretty sure that my pulse slowed way down and I saw a bright light.

I didn't buy it, of course, because I had to come home and obsessively obsess about the purchase before I could ever allow myself to bring something pink home with me.

But now I'm thinking that I should just go back and get it. Or at least allow myself to buy SOMETHING girly, just in case? It's like, just live a little, Emery!

Right?

Plus, you never know... maybe allowing myself to buy something pink would flush some of this crazy out of my system!

*cough*notlikely*cough*cough*