instant childhood summers

There are a few smells during that season that instantly transport me back to young summer days with my sisters...

One is BLT's. We had them Thursday night for supper and it smelt divine. We must have had those frequently when I was little.

The second is wet pavement (from rain or the hose). I used to think I could smell the rain, but in fact I think it's the hot, wet sidewalks that trigger that thought/memory.

Third is Waterbabies (or any other really, we just used this one lots) sunscreen. Some friends (the kiddo's I used to watch) walked in my front door a couple weeks ago, on their way to the pool. MMmmmmmm. They smelled delish'. Many a day us girls slathered that stuff on. (and too many days where we should have -the little brown spots on my arms at 30 years of age remind me of that).

ohhhh, one of THOSE

It's come to that. I'm (it's) one of THOSE blogs. Kids and baby updates and pictures.

I promise I do have other thoughts, but this season has been a little consuming. And I'm not sure how to share with the "blogosphere" my other musings right now. There's a lot spinning around in our lives. Sometimes I wonder what my life will look like in just one short year...oh how things can change- and FAST. (yet sometimes not fast enough). hummmm...

So back to the blog I've become. (happily, btw):

In this picture you'll see a paper chain hanging from the window- this was lovingly made by my niece, Emma and my nephew, Elliott. They made one for each day to help me count down the weeks until Little Mr. turns 30 weeks. So fun; and the chain is rather short now! YAY! And then we have a couple of things we've bought/made for our little son; and I hung them in the closet, it really helped me to get excited about thinking about this little guy coming to our home one day.

A close up of some cute little clothes for him:

I ordered this very newborn little outfit for Little Mr. to wear right away. It's SO tiny and cute. I also crocheted a cotton blanket to coordinate.

This is us at 26 weeks: (yes, they're self portraits. Do you wanna know why? 'Cuz I usually get dressed if I have to run to the Dr. or something and then I get home and slip comfy clothes right back on, and so if I wanted a picture of real clothes I couldn't wait for Charlie to get home.)

Week 27, 4 days: (Tuesday, yesterday)

Seeee, this is me, in said comfy attire... no makeup and all. See what I spare you by doing self portraits when I'm presentable!? LOL!

Our little boy is really growing on us, it's almost like he communicates through the kicking sometimes. (He still is super powerful and active). But seemingly responds to our touch and voice. We already love him so much- and we tell him. We're getting so excited to SEE his little face and touch and kiss those busy little hands and feet.

About 2 1/2 weeks ago I got to start "modified bed rest". I can sit up, walk around more and even have 2-3 outings a week (to go out to eat or the movies or some other low key activity)!!! I just also need to make sure I'm resting lots, and not lifting or exercising, etc. PRAISE THE LORD! Being up has been so wonderful. I've not been having contractions, and baby is growing and measuring perfectly. I've just had back pain and random other muscle pain, probably from being sedentary for so many months.

I've been sewing. This is some of the fabric I'm going to make a baby blanket with. And pictured are a few of the other things I've made. (diaper bag, and blanket, and burp cloths). And my friend Sarah surprised me with a darling taggie blanket and two burp cloths she made with "Little Mr" embroidered onto them. SO thoughtful and cute! Such a good reminder of the story we'll get to tell our son- about the ARMY of friends and family and acquaintances who prayed for his life before anyone ever met him.

Hopefully one day soon I'll be able to write about a non-baby something or other.

I've been reading a couple of books. This one on Grace Based parenting is really good so far. -good for parents at any stage. (here's my post about it).  And for fun (book club) we're reading Second Time Around...an easy summer read.

We've been able to go sit at our favorite spot on Lake Minnetonka a few times lately too.

mover and a shaker ---already

If you take 40 seconds you'll see that our Little Mr. is already a mover and a shaker. Look out world. And take my word for it, it feels much more powerful than it may look, -ask Charlie.

dreaming about Little Mister

Baby gear I've had a blast dreaming up for our Little Son:

I've been MIA for a bit. And I think that's ok- I have no new news. ;-) At the Dr.'s on Friday we saw our son, and were happy to find he is growing healthy and strong (this I knew- his kicks are VERY strong these days). Dr. said I could be sitting up more often, and even an occasional short outing to eat out, etc may be fine! YAY! My cervix has had little change.

I was out for about an hour on Saturday and thereafter that night, Sunday and Monday was SOOO sore I stayed laying down to recover. (especially my tummy, back and thigh muscles) I couldn't believe it! Today I finally feel "normal" again. This is going to be one rough recovery. But WELL worth it.

We've been getting more and more excited about meeting our Little Boy. We talk to him, and love to feel him moving around in there. This past week we've even had the emotional bandwidth to start dreaming about life with him, and have bought him a few things, and started our wish lists. (I'm doing most of my shopping and wishing online) It's been so fun. And since I'm still on bed rest I've still had plenty of time in front of the computer- this has allowed me to do research on various things, car seats, cribs, strollers, etc. And last week on facebook MANY of you mommy's helped me IMMENSELY by passing along your experienced wisdom on various products, books, and birth plans. WOW- I was so blessed by that! THANK YOU! (and I'm still open to any info always!) Ya'll are a wealth of knowledge and love!

I'll post the cuteness we have hanging in Little Mr's closet soon. (there's not too much yet really)- but I think they're adorable.

Today I hope to enjoy the weather. Yesterday I sat outside for a bit. Ahhhhh.... soooo great. Warm, light humidity, breeze, birds. lovely! perhaps I'll get a smidgen of color on my face!

101 days until Little Mr.'s due date, Oct. 22, 2010!

viability and fireworks

We have the sweetest, most supportive, caring and go-out of their way to love, awesome friends. Thursday and Friday we gave steroid shots to our Little Guy. (These will help his lungs and tummy, etc if he happens to be born in the next two weeks- we hope he isn't. The shots weren't bad at all, with one small exception- I couldn't sleep at all the first night, Charlie called it "roid rage").

So anyway.... Both of those days we had little celebration parties for our Little Mr. Nichole, Andrea, Stephanie and Anne came out to encourage and celebrate this (big) milestone (for this baby) that the Lord brought us to. Nichole even made this delicious oreo ice cream dessert (below). Um---YUMMY!

It was a much anticipated milestone. At 24 weeks babies are most likely viable. After all we have been through the past month +, we have had moments when we didn't think we'd make it to this week. But here we are, all three of us, at home, happy, healthy, and kicking like crazy. (well the boys currently feel better than I do from time to time. Baby has such a way of making me incredibly dizzy and passy-outy when he decides to move [his body] and karate kick [my cervix]).

For the first time I actually felt like I could REALLY dream about having this baby- in my arms and bringing him home. Charlie and I even bought a few things for him this weekend. It was soooo fun and relieving and hopeful and, on some levels- scary. Scary only because I've not really even thought at all about the nursery, baby necessities, clothes, strollers, registries, etc. But over the weekend, I started to do a little bit on online shopping. I love amazon.com! I guess bed rest from this point on could get VERY expensive. Hahaha! It will be fun to begin dreaming.

Charlie's parents came up for the weekend, It was nice to hang out with them. They helped us cut and trim trees, vacuum, and laundry, etc. We had yummy meals and played domino's together. This is what the night of the fourth looked like at our house:

We randomly discovered that our nearby neighbor put on a fairly decent firework show. It was perfect for us; we walked out to our driveway and watched the celebration of our countries freedom. No fighting traffic or bugs! (and I could be up long enough to enjoy them).

I guess in one of the previous pictures I posted people thought I cut my hair. Well, I hadn't- I just had it pulled back in my bed rest pony tail. BUT-

Today my dear Katie and Mike came out to our house. And they cut Charlie and I's hair ('cuz I still can't be up long enough to go anywhere)! YAYAYAYAYY! I hadn't had a cut since January. It's so refreshing to have freshly cut hair, and they're both great stylists. It was so sweet of them to come out to do that for me (us)! Thanks guys!

This isn't the greatest portrayal of my great hair cut (I had just got up off the couch). But it does accurately show the size of Little Mister and I at 24 weeks and 3 days today!

Katie and Mike brought these gorgeous, colorful and day-brightening flowers.

What a good week it's been so far. God has held our Little Guy inside the womb, and continues to grow him bigger and stronger!

23 weeks and growing!

Charlie and I like to go to Lake Minnetonka and sit by the lake on Main St. It's one of our favorite spots two weekends ago we took a short trip there, Cally was here and she took a couple pictures. ;-)

It was an interesting week emotionally. So many things going through my mind all the time. It was good to remember Bennett one year later, it was good to know we were so close to viability, so hard to still be in bed... trying to balance all those things and remain hopeful for our Little Mr.

24 (not the suspense/action tv show)-but close

He has done marvelous things, He has remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness; break into joyous song and sing praises to the Lord. Ps. 98. Thank you Lord for 24 weeks with Little Mr.!

I'll update more soon... been a little off 'cuz of the steroids I think. But all is well!