A Shower for Baby Girl

On October 13 my sweet friends, Karen, Angela, and Jeabri, hosted a baby shower for me. It was so nice to be spoiled by three of the best friends a gal could ask for. The time and thought that they put into everything was very apparent. They put together adorable decorations, delicious food, and super cute ideas (each guest put together a hair bow for the little girlie!!).

I am so appreciative of each friend who took the time to be there. I can't wait to outfit my tiny daughter in all her new clothes, bows, blankets, and even the diapers. Baby showers for little girls are great, but even greater when hosted and attended by great friends. Thanks, y'all!

Turning 30 and Feathering My Nest

Today is my 30th birthday. It's hard to believe. I feel like it was such a short time ago that Paul and I were in high school....or got married....or moved to Utah...or.... But I guess it wasn't such a short time ago after all. It all happens so quickly. I've never been one who was bothered much by my increasing age. In fact, as a very young newlywed, I wished I was older because I felt like everyone thought I was just a child. And I was. Turning 30 isn't so bad. There's a certain credibility and confidence that comes with age. Or maybe it's that many of my dearest friends are over 30 and I want to be just like them;-).
So how am I celebrating the departure from my 20s? Well, this morning I dropped my little treasures off at their schools and then I went back to Sam's class to volunteer for his teacher. Wednesdays are my volunteering days, and even though it's my birthday, I didn't want to miss that. Later we will go to dinner with my parents and enjoy a nice evening at home. And what gift did I receive? Check out this little, or actually QUITE LARGE, beauty.

And in case there's any question regarding how I feel about receiving a kitchen appliance for my birthday, practicality fits me to a T. In fact, I feel quite spoiled by this gift. I would never buy myself such an expensive mixer. But I sure do love me some baked goods.
As a younger gal I had in mind that I wanted to have all my children born before I turned 30. Looks like I'll miss that mark by just a little. I feel like this little lady could come any day now. Every time I go for a walk, I anxiously expect my water to break. Meanwhile, I guess I've been in slight "nesting" mode. I'm not the typical nester. I don't get some crazy desire to pull everything out of my cupboards and wash down every nook and cranny of my house. I like a mostly clean house and all, but let's not get carried away. For me, nesting comes in the form of baking. Just as I did while pregnant with Nathanael, I have spent this pregnancy baking more than my share of treats. And while doing so, I've found some delicious recipes that will become permanent staples of my baking rotation. Hence my birthday gift. Paul says that bad boy ought to be able to make all my wildest baking dreams come true. Watch out now!
But I haven't only been baking. I've been getting the little girl's room ready. I was fairly uncertain about how my paint job would turn out and how I would feel about it once it was done, but I must say, I love it! The room is far from complete. It certainly hasn't reached my vision yet, but I have a certain suspicion that just might not happen before she's born. So, for now, here is the progress so far.

Fall Break Mini-Vacay

Ever since our last trip to the beach earlier in the spring, I've been wanting to get us back to the ocean for one last romp in the sun and sand before our little addition arrives. But the summer passed quickly, and now school dominates our weekdays and soccer dominates our Saturdays, leaving very little time for fun. So, with two days off school and 1 month till delivery day, we decided to seize the opportunity and headed to Savannah, GA. To be more specific, we actually stayed with Lisa at her new home in Richmond Hill, a nice little suburb of Savannah. She was happy to have the company and the boys were super excited to get to play with her. They also enjoyed the novelty of sleeping on a blow-up mattress that fit just perfectly inside the closet in the room Paul and I stayed in.

On Thursday morning we headed out to investigate a fort we had noticed signs for. Well, after donating $5 to the state of Georgia just to park in their parking lot for about 15 minutes, we left without having seen much. Nathanael, even more so than Sam, did not appreciate the marsh smell (I'm not a big fan, myself), the sand gnats were out of control, and we (maybe just I?) didn't think it was necessarily worth it to pay an additional fee for each of us just to be able to take a peek at another ruined old fort. Maybe if it hadn't been for the stink and the gnats.... But we were able to walk out on a dock to check out the catch of a crab-fisherman. And then Nathanael insisted we read him every plaque on the single display we were able to view. And that concluded our quest for historical enlightenment on this vacation.

Then we were off to Tybee Island. Though the day started off a bit cool and overcast, it was the most wonderful day on the beach. A few clouds remained in the sky all day and the temperature rose to around 80. The boys set out immediately with their sand toys. Paul and Nathanael flew a kite for a bit and Sam declared himself "King of the Waves" as he was no longer afraid to go jump them by himself. At lunchtime, I walked about a block from the beach to a little dive to pick up some lunch which we ate on the beach, and we stayed out there until dinnertime.

On Friday morning we set out for River Street. River Street has beautiful old trees, lovely old buildings, and delicious candy stores. We stopped in to peruse the first one we came to, Savannah's Candy Kitchen, where we sampled some pralines and bought some other overpriced sweets. On River Street, you just never know what interesting characters you will run into. We were approached by a pirate wanting to save us money on lunch, Nathanael found a cuddly creature he wanted to have his picture taken with (and he wanted to change his shirt too, but we had to convince him those shirts were for buying, not for playing dress-up with the bear), and though unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this man, I believe we had our wedding vows renewed by an old black man trying to sell us sweetgrass roses. Paul said he doubted the man was actually trying to sell us anything, he just wanted to see how long he could get us to stand there and repeat after him. It was slightly awkward, and the kids were confused and wanted their candy.

After meandering down the street, stopping to watch a container ship sail by, and letting the boys chase some pigeons, we headed back out to Tybee Island.

We stopped briefly to walk around the Tybee Island Lighthouse, but Nathanael was pretty disappointed when we told him we couldn't climb to the top or else Baby Sister might make an early appearance. He told me I could just wait at the bottom. He lost that debate.

Our final adventure for the day was a trip out on Captain Mike's boat to look for dolphins. We didn't have to look for long, as there were tons of dolphins out playing in the ocean. It never gets old watching those cute little animals jumping out of the water, but I think Nathanael was more interested in all of the buoys out at sea. After returning to the dock, we ate at a restaurant right off the same dock and then headed for home, with a brief stop by our old neighborhood to show Sam the house he lived in as a baby.

It was a great trip, though maybe just a bit too short. I hope that we will be able to take another adventure sometime soon, but with a newborn I suspect our traveling days are over for a bit.

Nearing the end.

In a little less than 1 month I'm due to have a daughter. That seems surreal. In fact, pregnancy altogether seems surreal to me. On the one hand, I can clearly see and feel the changes to my body. Yet on the other hand it quite frequently gives me reason to pause and think "is this really happening to me? Is there really a human growing inside my body? Is this really my stomach that is stretching into a giant ball?" It seems almost dream-like. Pregnancy, for me, is not terribly difficult. Oh sure, it has caused my body to change in ways that it will never be the same. There are certain discomforts and I like to complain just for dramatic effect, but truthfully, my body handles it fairly well. My self-esteem, however, is another story. But in the end, I get the most amazing gift and I am so excited about that.

These past several months have been so much fun, as one by one each of my siblings announced that they were expecting a new baby. I always wanted to be pregnant at the same time as my sister, but never imagined that the timing would work out so perfectly for all four of our families.

First up, due any day now, is sister-in-law Olympia and brother Paul, with their first baby, daughter Scarlett. Then comes my Thanksgiving girlie, followed by Robin and Chris's Christmas girl. And ringing in the new year with a surprise will be sister-in-law Leslie and brother Ben with their second. Let the fun begin!