30 weeks, baby is starting to take over my ribs as well as my abdomen.

29 weeks. Gabe got me these awesome cardigans that are much longer than everything I previously owned.  They are the perfect addition to every shirt, especially during pregnancy.  Easy to take on and off, long enough to not make your butt and body look huge because the cardigan that once fit now looks dwarfed next to your belly.  I wear them all. the. time. Oh and I am still loving maxi skirts, I would wear them to work if I was allowed...and if that was sanitary. 

30 weeks!  Well technically 30 weeks is tomorrow but it is so much easier to take pictures every wednesday than every thursday because I am actually off every wednesday.  And my outfit on thursdays is usually scrubs in the morning, swim suit in the afternoon, and sweats in the evening, and I don't plan on changing that any time soon. :) 

I have been reading this book The Birth Partner.  It is actually for Paul to read because we are not doing birthing classes but I figured if a book was going to tell him what I would want then I should probably know what the book was telling him!  So far I really like it!  

Paul and I have been trying to take walks in the evening weather permitting and I am loving it.  Somedays I skip swimming just to have the energy for a couple mile walk and to cook dinner.  We have been going to bed around 9pm and I have definitely been enjoying  getting nearly 9 hours of sleep. Baby is due in 71 days and I know my sleep will only continue to decrease as I become more uncomfortable in bed and then when baby keeps us awake.  So for the time being, I will enjoy my 9 glorious hours as well as naps as needed. 

I know I have taken elevator pictures before at work, but looking in the mirror on the ceiling never gets old.  I love how you can kinda see my bump poking out, but barely. 

The baby is stretching up into my ribs and down into each hip.  Baby is going to have to start growing straight out to make more room for itself because man, my organs are stretched to every corner of my body now.  I felt my stomach growl right near my rib yesterday!  

My favorite evening activity is when Paul and I lay and feel the baby kick together, it never ever gets old. 

Yesterday I was crazing waffles and hashbrowns, so I made them for lunch. Best lunch I have had in a long time!  Eleanor wanted to join in the fun as well. 

All my loves snuggled in bed (and on the chair).  I think I was getting up to go swimming or something, but the rest of the day was spent snuggled right up next to them all.  Yesterday (tuesday) was definitely a lazy day.  A lazy day that Paul and I weren't sure we were going to have together because if Safeway striked Paul was going to be working 12-15 hr night shifts till the strike was over! Thank goodness they came to a temporary agreement. 

The kitties definitely know there is something going on in my belly, because they won't stop laying on it!  

Today Paul and I dropped the Lexus off at the Toyota dealership (way cheaper than Lexus) to get the brakes replaced.  They have been needing to be replaced for months and months and I told Paul as long as we got them done before baby came then we should be ok. Well we finally got around to doing it and I so glad!  After dropping the care off we headed to Paul's grandparents to show them pictures from the ultrasound (only 8 weeks after we had it done...) and to hang out for a bit.  We were there for about an hour, ate some popcorn and trail mix, then headed to the acura dealership to get the keys programmed for Paul's car. We originally thought we could program them ourselves but we could only program them to open and close the doors, not the special program to make the car start (even though the keys were cut). Anyway, the Acura dealership is right across the street from Southcenter in Tukwilla so we walked to the Asian grocery store there and bought stuff from their bakery for lunch.  It ended up taking 2 hours to get the keys programmed because of technical difficulties, but finally we finished.  Then we stopped by another Asian grocery store to get some more fruit and then headed home to wait for a call that the Lexus was done.  I started washing and cutting up fruits and veggies, do you see how full my fridge is of all fresh foods, I couldn't be happier!!

We were only home for maybe half an hour when we got a call that the brakes were done, so we picked up the car, stopped by the river to see if any fish were jumping, they weren't- there were just dead fish laying in the river- so gross, then we headed home.  I cut up more fruits and veggies, lounged around for a bit, then made pasta with meat sauce, garlic bread bagels, and lemon garlic green beans for dinner. So yummy, and so many dishes.  

Now I am laying in bed, updating quicken, paying bills (our ultrasound would have been $801 without insurance, thank goodness for insurance and how we only had to pay $42 to know our baby was healthy as could be).  I have a few other random computer things to do and then it will by 9pm, which is my bedtime these days. :) Then two more days of work then I have the weekend off!  I love my weekend off. :) 

my view lately

I have been waiting to finally tell you that we received an email back about the job saying, “thanks, but no thanks”…but we still haven’t heard back!  They did tell us in the interview it might not be until the end of the month when we hear back, and not to take not hearing back right away as a bad sign, but maaaan we are so anxious!  We realized we have been “waiting” for almost a year to move on in our life!  I applied for that worship position last January, and that took about 4 months to have closure on.  Then after we moved and finally felt like we could start putting down roots, we also felt suddenly called to apply for this job.  That was back at the end of June, and we have been waiting to have closure on it ever since.  I tell ya!  God is sure trying to teach us patience right now.  It is hard, because we are planners and you can’t plan much when you don’t know what you will be doing in the following months.  And at the same time, it gets harder every day to imagine leaving our cozy little house here in Indianola!

I have been keeping myself busy though!  We are finally starting to get a nice rhythm for our mornings.  After breakfast, we go for a walk (on nicer days) or the kids play nicely until Shea and I begin doing some school.  I picked up a preschool workbook for Shea which has something like 8 “subjects”.  Shea does a page from each subject and then when he finishes, he gets to pick a sticker out from the back and put it on the book cover (I made one out of a paper bag).  Then we do a short bible devotional and a craft of some sort.  Yesterday we made a piranha and a frog (all his idea) from a book we read and he has been acting it out the last couple of days.  He also loves to write stories now.  I have a notebook that the top portion is blank for sketching and the bottom half has lines for writing.  He draws pictures and then we go back through and he tells me what to write.  He called it, “The Never Ending Story” (yes, real original) and so far it is about a horse and 10 dolphins who transform into anything they want, such as “ambulances to save people” or “robots to climb mountains”.  Of course, I don’t think I ever shared with you the story he wrote about “Bautaub” who is a dog that wears underwear shaped like a house and he is a superhero who has a gun that shoots him out and changes the color of his body.  I couldn't come up with this stuff if I tried!!!

The other thing that has preoccupied me for the past month or so has been sewing and researching how to have a successful Etsy store.  I am about ready to launch my Etsy store – FOR REAL this time. Haha.  I haven’t wanted to say anything about it, because I have been talking about it for so long, but so many things have come up and it keeps getting postponed.  My shipping boxes came in the mail on Friday, so yesterday I went through and weighed everything so I could calculate shipping costs and now I am in the process of listing all of my items.  My graphics (logo, shop banner, images of my products) are edited and ready to go, most of the filler (about/policies/etc.) is written for the shop, and I have been busy sewing.  I have about 10 or so items ready to be listed and many more projects in my head!  I’m excited to see if anything comes of it, but I’m trying not to go to crazy making stuff until I see what sells and what doesn't.  

Here are a few pictures of my products:

Once I get everything officially up (my realistic goal is by next weekend), I would so appreciate it if you would spread the word (at least by sharing it on FB).  I have been having such a super fun time designing and making everything.  The kids have been great too, because I can get a little bit of work in during the day when they are playing nearby (and during naptime), and Jeremy has been doing homework in the evenings, so I don’t feel bad working then either.  I hope I end up doing well enough that I can spend about 15 hours per week sewing and bring in a little bit of actual income for our family, but even if it’s a total failure, that’s okay.  I won't lose too much from it, and the sewing experience has been great.

Another random thing that happened this week – my in-laws came over on Tuesday night to give us our Christmas present early.  It was a Ninja blender.  SO random.  I kept breaking our blender and finally could not use it anymore.  I guess they knew this because we had been talking about blenders and Jeremy’s mom decided we could use it in the meantime and didn't want to wait for Christmas.  The main thing I use our blender for (ALL THE TIME) is making almond milk.  We go through half a gallon (at least) a week.  They let us borrow a big food processor though, and although it was a little annoying because it was still too small for the batch size I like the make, it worked well enough.  I was totally surprised and overwhelmed at a Ninja though!  This thing is amazing.  I made gluten free waffles the other day by making oat flour and have been making homemade dairy free "ice cream" too .  I’m excited because now I can make homemade sprouted grain bread without using any commercially processed flours.  Although, it will probably be a while before I get to that point.  Sprouting beans takes enough preparation and forethought as it is.

It feels like it’s been so long since I've posted.  So much else seems like it is happening, but at the same time, it feels like nothing is going on.  I have been thoroughly enjoying the fall weather and am looking forward to the holidays. Our fire keeps our house so comfortably warm and I LOVE going to bed in a warm room.  Our loft gets so toasty and I don’t think I have ever experienced having such a warm bedroom in my life – normally we sleep with blankets piled on our bed, but not this year.  Every night Jeremy and I sit and look around our house and think, “it would be so hard to leave this”.

Shea's birthday is on Friday.  I can't believe he is already turning 4 years old!  He already has 4 girlfriends (I'll have to show you the video I took of him telling me all about them...we are going to be in SO much trouble when he is a teenager!) and is learning so much lately I can't keep up with him.  I think we are just going to have his cousins who live nearby and Jeremy's parents over for a low-key family style birthday this year.  He even already got some awesome birthday presents.  A family from our church put a free big trampoline out on the street (a smaller big one with a net all around it) and he LOVES it.  I actually don't know if it is more of a present for him or me, because he jumped all day on it when we brought it home and now if I mention the word he is out there jumping and I don't have to worry about him at all with the netting.  Best recess ever.  We were all out there last night jumping.  Hailey loves it too.  It will be so fun when she is big enough that the two of them can go out there and play together on their own.  Shea was begging for her to come and jump with him by themselves.  Jeremy and I even snuck out there later in the night and jumped a little. I have read the rebounding is really good for helping detox your body, too :)

Anyway, we had a super long day today.  The kids are in bed, Jeremy is out in the garage watching football, and I am working on my etsy store.  Just thought I would give a little update :)  Hope all is well with everyone else!

24 hr Salem trip

On Wednesday I decorated a bit for fall and made pumpkin cream cheese muffins, they are amazing, and even though they have three different parts you have to make, which usually is a turn off for me, I would totally make them again!  Other than cooking and a little decorating, we spent all day lounging in bed, enjoying the warmth of the fire, and relaxing.  I loved every minute of it. 

On Saturday morning at 7:45am my mom, Paul, and I left for Salem to go celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday.  We had told him we are coming, but due to his dementia, he was surprised and quite happy to see us!  Paul watched the UW vs University of Oregon game while wearing his UW sweatshirt in Oregon with a bunch of 80 year olds.  The lady in pink said "there is an enemy in our midst!" and actually knew a lot about football and talked a lot of smack during the game.  Sam is the one on Paul's right, and he is an awesome artist, was a dentist, and used to fly planes.  He grew up in Rhode Island and has an awesome accent. Look at his artwork!  Sam turned the football game off when there was three minutes left, then turned it back on and said, well that still isnt the show I want!  Haha, Sam loves Spongebob.  

Paul and I get along so well with the elderly crowd, it's awesome! 

At 5:30  we had a birthday celebration of pizza and applesauce cake for Pop and it was oh so fun.  When he saw "happy 90th" he said "well that is an imposing number isn't it" But then he said he next goal is to make it to 100!  He was so happy to have us all there and said so many times, it was so sweet. :) 

We also went to go visit my Grandpa Bob who just moved into a retirement center because of how bad his dementia is getting.  He has a very nice one bedroom, and amazingly enough my two grandpas only live less than 10 minutes apart now. :) It's funny how different they are.  Grandpa Bob could talk for hours straight without a break and Pop only really talks when you ask him a question. Otherwise Pop prefers to just listen. 

Also we hung all those pictures in Pop's room and there is a lady across the hall who brags about how good her hearing is.  She kept saying there was way too much banging and that we were way too loud and complaining.  Apparently the nurses said this was good motivation for her to move back to her independent apartment. Haha, silly lady.  I was to be pleasant in my old age, not the town grump. 

Grandpa Bob!  If you think of it say a little prayer for him.  His dementia isn't pleasant like Pop's.  He is paranoid and struggling more with depression and it is so sad.  It was nice to visit, but we live so far away so visits are few and far between.  

I love me some grandparent time.  So crazy to think that next time I go visit I will probably have an infant! 

Two days off in a row with my love, there is nothing better.

I just finished my long work weekend, which I usually dread and feel so exhausted during, but this week I knew I was going to have tuesday, wednesday off with Paul once I finished, so it was like looking forward to a vacation.  Paul worked a lot of 3am-1pm shifts this last week which led him being gone from the house for even longer, and therefore we went to bed between 7-8pm this whole work weekend (friday-monday). Let's just say this preggo mama loves getting 10-13 hours of sleep a night! I also didn't pick up any extra shifts and just worked my scheduled 32 hours so when I came home on Monday instead of swimming I did 2 loads of laundry, vacuumed the house, cleaned three bathrooms and made dinner.  Then I had Kathy come over and we worked on baby shower invitations.  Getting all this done on a work day means this Tuesday and Wednesday have been blissfully awesome. 

Tuesday Paul had his final review and had to turn in his last few assignments for manager training.  It was in Des Moines, and I wanted to go to Federal way afterward, so I went with him and just found a cute coffee shop nearby to hang out while he had his hour long session with the district manager, which went super well!  The barista at the coffee shop was stressed out because it was super busy and she was alone, but she made a dang good decaf caramel machiatto and I sat and watched greys anatomy on my phone while staring at the awesome mug my coffee was in. :)  

After Paul was done we went and walked around the docks and piers down by the water before going to H-mart, our favorite Asian grocery store.  We spent $35 at H mart and got a cart full of fruit, well it covered the bottom of the cart quite well.  Gala and Fuji apples were 48 cents a pound! And peaches were 88 cents a pound and other stuff was super cheap too, I love getting fruits and veggies there!  I am going to miss that if we move. 

After food shopping we went to Pho Thai, my favorite, and had vietnamese sandwiches, then to ice cream which was THE BEST ICE CREAM EVER.  Not a joke.  Made from cream right in front of my eyes and frozen with nitrous oxide.  Um, best ever, I am addicted. 

I took my 28 week pictures a day early this week because I was dressed and had make-up on, and I work tomorrow, so I knew neither would happen!  :)  This baby is getting big!  According to average size baby is 14.5 inches long and weighs 2 lbs!  Wowza. 

And here is the progression so far.  I am so glad I started this at 9 weeks to see all the little changes that have happened in the last 5 months.  Kinda crazy because it feels like yesterday we found out we were pregnant! 

Hope you all are having a great week, love you girls! 

A Post

Hello and hugs to all!

It has been too long since I posted, I don't even know where to start.  I feel like I constantly go through cycles in my life where I get too insanely busy and then I go through a recovery period and then I get busy again.  I feel like I'm in recovery period now.  I need to learn how to balance busyness...this is something I'm working on.  But enough of that.  Here I am.

I thought I'd post a picture of myself since it's been awhile since I've put one of myself on here or on facebook.  I'm just chilling on the couch this Sunday afternoon with Beatrix while Justin goes for a run.  I love a quiet house on a Sunday afternoon.

The picture on the wall behind me was new this summer.  I got a groupon for a 2x3 foot canvas photo, it was $50 instead of $300 and I had birthday money to use.   The picture is one  I took of a volcano near my house in the Philippines.  I'd been wanting to do this for a while, but it was out of my price range.  I am so happy with the results.  The first time I saw it I got all choked up because it was such a beautiful reminder of my childhood in the Philippines.  

I just finished reading all of your lovely posts.  Becca I want to especially thank you for your 'Morning' post and the verse from 2nd Corinthians.  Lately I've been getting very bogged down in the stresses and irritations that I sometimes forget that life is bigger than work.  The school I work for moved to a new location about a month ago (one reason for my busyness).  It has been super stressful for me because there were a lot of things not yet ready.  My classroom was missing a wall, so there'd be a lot of extra noise, and we didn't have proper erasers the first few days.   There are still some ongoing issues; the whiteboards still aren't working (they used a special paint), I started teaching a new class and have problems with errors in the material, I was given the use of an IPAD and am expected to use it for teaching (big learning curve), I've also been asked to maintain blogs for my classes and I've also been helping another teacher who is teaching the same grammar class as I do in the afternoon... and so I get a lot of questions during my breaks and lunch.  Plus there are some unpleasant office politics going on...  *sigh*  I don't want to complain, but after typing this all out, I can see that work has been a big drain.   

I snap alot at home and I get irritated easily.  I hate being this way and I want it to change.  I still love my actual work, being in the classroom with my students and talking about English is awesome, I just don't appreciate the extra stress around that lately. 

On a positive note, I had a great conversation at church today with a woman that was visiting (I had met her before, she knows Justin).  I was so blessed by our talk because when she realized that I was an MK, she totally got me.  We started talking about identity and she knew a lot about what it was like to have issues related to that.  Sometimes I still struggle talking about where I'm from.  A few weeks ago I was on a neighborhood tour with my school and our guide had everyone go around and say where we were from.  She accidentally missed me, but I was thankful because I had that indecision that I often get thinking about whether or not I should talk about the Philippines and try and explain myself or get away with saying Oakville.  Today I was so blessed to talk to someone who understood where I was from!  We talked about the missionary sub-culture too, it just felt so good. 

It also feels so good to be positing again.  I want to post more because I feel so much love and support from you ladies.  I love your understanding and that there is no pressure to post and that it's ok that I haven't posted in ages.  I love you guys!!!