Pregnancy

I am at the 34.5 week mark in my pregnancy today.  I have approximately 5.5 more weeks to go!  Lately, I have been feeling the babe move around quite a lot.  It's impossible to ignore -- they are no longer like "butterflies."  I am experiencing having a vital little person inside of me!  I vividly imagined it's little face and hands moving down inside of me when I woke up for a minute last night and had the sensation of that movement.  It is surreal.

According to Babycenter.com the baby is about 4.75 pounds and about 18 inches long.  The baby is getting fat layers to fill it out and if it was born between now and 37 weeks (without other complications) it would be fine but need to spend a little extra time in the hospital and maybe have a few short-term health issues.  So, in other words, basically, the baby could be here at any time!

Chris and I do not feel prepared to welcome the baby just yet and we are more than happy to wait the additional weeks until full gestation.  However, as the days go by we are realizing our need to prepare and doing things little by little.  We still need to buy a few things that are pretty important and we need to get the room in overall order.   I intend to make Montessori mobiles for the baby. We are going to have to change our lifestyle in other ways too.  Chris will need to go to work earlier and come home earlier and I know we will be lacking sleep especially the first several weeks.  Thankfully, we have both sets of parents who will be coming from Minnesota (switching off when one leaves the other set will come) to help us in the initial craziness!  I am so grateful for that.

Anyway, very soon we will be welcoming a new little person into the world! It's going to be quite the adventure for both us and him (or her)!  Please pray for us if you are reading this.  Thank you!

I like giants

     Last night I slept little because sometimes I give into anxiousness (I don't really know how to get away from it at times really).  Thankfully I was able to sleep in so I did get a decent amount. 

     I was feeling a little like a wreck and decided I needed to sing and play ukulele because it is cathartic for me at times.  I just played and sang some songs I hadn't touched for a while, surrendering to God and acknowledging my weakness.  I found the song "I Like Giants" in my arsenal of songs and decided I would do that one too.  I remember playing it last year at the Women's Craft Collective kind of shyly as people did the crafting and feeling the power of the truth in that simple rather quirky song.  Later, in the summer, after my good friend Joi took her own life, the words had even greater meaning.  So in a matter of half a week it will be the one year mark from when Joi did take her life and I feel it's important to remember and share the precious beauty we lost.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl-YrFucQjs

     I guess the lyrics that really get me are:

So I talked to Genevieve and almost cried when she said 

That the giant on the cliff wished that she were dead

And the lemmings on the cliff wished that they were dead

So the giant told the lemmings why they ought to live instead

Then she thought up all those reasons that they ought to live instead

It made her reconsider all the sad thoughts in her head

So thank you Genevieve, cause you take what's in your head

And you make things that are so beautiful and share them with your friends

     I definitely started crying when I sang them.  To me, those lyrics fit Joi so well in the way she encouraged others even in her despair.  I guess I just want to share this song and my thoughts because I know there are plenty of people out there that still have the sad thought that lie to them about how important (and LOVED!) they are.  I want people to realize they are important no matter what their own thoughts (or others) tell them. I will always miss Joi and wonder what could have been.  I know that she is with Jesus and that is comforting.  Yet, we still miss her and always will.