our garden, round 2

okra, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, spicy bell peppers, eggplant

for some reason, I get the biggest thrill out of things actually growing. :)

I can only imagine how happy I'll be when our child is growing and healthy if I get this excited over vegetables!

Anyone have any good recipes for okra--I need to redeem myself with this bunch!

40 weeks!

All yesterday as I was out running errands, people were asking when I was due and it was the weirdest feeling to say, "well, today actually!".  It's fun to know though that each passing day brings us one day closer to meeting Aedan.  And, it's exciting and can make you go crazy all at the same time to know that each day could be the day, but we have no idea when.  Like Landon said yesterday, it's like waiting to go on vacation, or something you're really looking forward to.  Your bags are all packed, all the plans are made--but you have no idea when you're leaving!  We commemorated his due date last night by eating some yummy mexican food with good friends and by finally getting the car seat/base in our cars.  And we're trying all the things that people say can make labor start, but I have a feeling that little Aedan got both of his parent's stubborn gene and will come when he is good and ready.  Any time you're ready, sweet baby, your daddy and I are ready to have you home with us! :)

My favorite things about being pregnant...

just memories' sake. :)

*knowing there is a little life inside of me that God has knit together

*learning SO much about pregnancy, babies, labor and delivery, that I had NO idea about before

*seeing my body stretch and grow as little Aedan continues to grow

*talking and dreaming with Landon about our baby and what life will be life with him here

*hearing Landon talk to Aedan

*having strangers ask about when I'm due and hearing their stories about their pregnancies, babies etc.

*how sweet and protective most of my students were towards me once they found out I was pregnant and how excited and interested they were to know everything about the baby

*picturing Landon holding our little baby and trying to imagine what he will look like
*the protectiveness that comes out in both Landon and I, at sometimes the most unexpected of times, of our little baby who we've never laid eyes on, but who is already so real to us.

*when I would walk into my classroom and some of my kids would say "hi, Aeden!".  So cute.

*getting to park in the parking spots with the little stork on them at the grocery store and other places

* talking with my mom about her pregnancies, deliveries, babies etc and learning new things from her and about her that I never would have known.  I'm so thankful that we're close and live close to each other.

*the moments where I would look down at my stomach and be blown away that what I've dreamed of for so long, having a baby, is actually happening.

*being able to (a lot of the time at least) not worry about how much weight I'm gaining but actually enjoy looking pregnant and focus on what that means--a healthy baby growing inside of me.  I am so thankful to Landon for his sweet words that helped me to not worry about the weight, but be thankful for what it meant.
*seeing Aedan's sweet little face and body on the ultrasound machine
*how sweet Landon is to me and the little things he does now without even a second though, like giving me a hand to help me stand up

*hearing his heartbeat at the doctors appointments, with Landon on the phone so he could hear them too.  This never got old.  I loved it each time.

* getting to experience and figure out all of the new, fun things about being pregnant and having a baby with Landon--it has definitely brought us closer and brought our relationship to a different place and I love it.

*the times recently when Aedan's really kicked me--I can tell he's getting bigger because he's got some strength behind his movements now!

*how my nails are actually growing, probably from the prenatal vitamins
*being pregnant with some of our good friends and being able to share experiences, stories etc--and dream about how fun it will be for all of our babies to grow up and be friends!
*how nice and helpful strangers are, just because I'm pregnant


...and, just for memories' sake too, things I will NOT miss once our little baby is in our arms and no longer in my stomach. :)

*getting out of breath from just talking

*feeling like I have no ab muscles anymore and having to work to get up off the couch

*not being to wear any of my clothes anymore

*not being able to sleep through the night most nights

*having to sleep on my side

*not being able to eat or drink certain things

*not being able to bend over to pick something up

*not being able to run or really do a hard workout

The FUN far outweights the NOT FUN!  And, at the end of it all, we get a precious little baby, which definitely makes ALL of the not fun things more than totally worth it!

Thoughts on the morning of our due date...

It's weird to see June 16th on the calendar.  This is the day we've been counting down to for the last 9 months and it's almost surreal that it's here.  And, while we totally expected it, it's crazy that I'm STILL pregnant.

We got an email from babycenter today asking "are you still pregnant?".  Why yes, I am.  Thanks for pointing it out, ha!

It's also crazy to think that, no matter what, in 2 weeks max our baby will be here, because there's no way my doctor will let us go past 42 weeks.  Hopefully though, we won't get that far!

I'm so looking forward to the time when Landon calls me from work and I can say "why yes, I have been having contractions all day!" instead of "nope, nothing to report here really...". 

At church on Sunday one of the guys in our class was telling us that it seems like I've been pregnant forever.  As soon as he said that, I began thinking about how it really does.  In some ways, it's hard to even remember what it was like not being pregnant.  I guess 9 months is a long time, but I've honestly loved (and am still loving) being pregnant.

I'm working on doing a scrapbook of my half Ironman and Landon's Ironman from last month, which I've been wanting to do forever, so that's been fun.  It almost seems unfathomable that my stomach will ever be that flat again, ha!  I almost don't recognize myself in some of those pictures.

Since some of our awesome friends came and deep cleaned our house on Monday, it makes me want to not do anything so that it stays super clean for Aedan to come home to--I don't want to cook, shower, do laundry, let the dogs in the house...but, of course, I do.  I'm just trying really hard to not mess anything up. :)

Last night my mom brought my grandfather over to our house for dinner and to hang out.  I was going to go over there but it makes us a little nervous being kinda far away from our house (though it shouldn't because it doesn't seem like my body is going to go into labor any time soon...).  So, they loaded up and came to our house, which we were so thankful for.  It was so good to see Pop and I'm so glad he's here in Houston with us now.  It was weird and sad though to see him and hang out with him without Mere.  It was the first time I've seen him since she passed away.  And, he's about to sell his house in New Orleans, which is a good thing and what he wants, but that's so sad to me too.  We have so many good memories from there, it's crazy to think that it won't be his anymore.

I'm jealous of the three people I know whose babies actually came on their due date.  That sounds so fun right about now.  Even though we still feel like we have no idea what we're doing in many senses, we're as ready as we're gonna be and so ready to meet our son.

Our sweet friends, Wade and Wendi, get to meet their little Jake on Monday!  I can't wait to see his sweet little face!

At our last doctor's appointment, my doctor said that the next time I come in (on Monday) we'll see how things are looking and set an induction date in case he doesn't come in time.  I REALLY don't want to be induced, so I'm praying so hard that he comes before then, on his own!  I don't want to do anything that would be dangerous for Aedan, but I also want him to be able to come naturally, when my body's ready.

As I was walking on the treadmill yesterday at the gym I was reading some at the end of Isaiah.  At one point, He's telling his people the things that they will be judged for and one of them was "pursuing their own imaginations".  I reread that a couple of times and had a little mini "aha" moment.  On Tuesday of this week, after my doctor started talking about inductions, I was worried and stressed all day about how things would turn and out and when Aedan would come and I totally spent the day pursuing my own imagination, letting my mind wander to all of the things that could go wrong and end up not how we wanted etc.  I did this all day instead of praying, instead of asking God for faith, instead of trusting Him and knowing He's in control of everything and His plans are good.  And as I was walking yesterday I had to pray and ask God to forgive me for that.  And that's what I've been working on since then--not pursuing my own imagination, but rather trusting that God knows Aedan better than we could ever dream of and has him in His hands.  I love how you can have read something in the Bible fifty times and never noticed it and then read it again and something hits you out of nowhere like that.  So cool.

We're going out with some friends tonight to eat some Mexican food--maybe the walking I'm about to do and the spicy food will convince him to come out today!  If not, we'll continue waiting and enjoying these last few days as just us--these last few says of the single life, as Landon's co-worker calls it. :)

Monday Night Girls

About four and a half years ago I started going to a Bible study on Monday nights with some girls from church.  We all lived in town and had been driving out to Sugar Land every Monday night.  We'd meet at someone's house and carpool down there and then drive back and get home around 10pm.  And after a few months of doing that, even though we really enjoyed going, we decided it was too much, too late of a night. 

So Pam, one of the girls who we'd been going with, volunteered to host an "in town" group on Monday nights for people who lived in Houston.  And, I am SO glad she did.  It was a smaller group and we really got to know each other, which was fun.  And, though the group has changed significantly over the years,  both in size and in people, it's been such a good thing.  We've done countless Bible studies, prayed for one another through good things and bad things and shared a lot of delicious meals.  We've talked and laughed and learned a lot.  And, it's just been a good constant in my life over the last few years, even during the seasons of life where I had a hard time making it there every Monday because of other things we've had going on.

And a few weeks ago, after I was unable to make it to our Bible study one Monday because of work, I got an email from one of the girls saying that they wanted to come and deep clean our house before the baby arrives.  I was blown away.  Seriously, that was one of the nicest things anyone has done for us.  As I've been making my "to do before the baby" lists these last few weeks and worrying about getting everything done before he comes, it's been SO nice to not have to worry about the house.  I mean, I still picked up and tried to keep things relatively clean, but to know that someone was coming right before Aedan to really clean so that he could come home to a clean house, was such a load off. 

And tonight they came and did just that.  They showed up with all of their cleaning supplies and after we hung out for a few minutes, they divided up everything and got to work.  It's amazing how fast a house can get cleaned when there's 8 people all doing it together!  I felt kinda bad just sitting as they dusted and vacuumed and cleaned everything all around me--some things that hadn't been cleaned probably since we moved into the house, like the windows!--but it was so fun to hang out with everyone.  And, we were SO appreciative of them serving us like that.  I can't wait to repay the favor one day.  I never would have thought of offering to do that for someone that's about to have a baby, but it is something I definitely want to pass on to other friends having babies!

Thanks again girls!  You have blessed Landon and I so much.  I am SO thankful for your love and friendship!  We can't wait to introduce Aedan to all of you. :)

39 weeks

Our due date is this week, in just four days--that's wild!  And, our tentative due date, that they gave us at our 20 week ultrasound came and went yesterday.  We're more than ready to meet our little boy and trying to just wait patiently until he's ready to join us!  I went back to the doctor again today and I'm now dilated to a whopping 1, but he said Aedan's in a really good position and I'm pretty much fully effaced. So, I'm praying hard that he decides to come in the next week or so. :)  I've had a few contractions so far, but nothing serious.  Landon and I are about ready for me to start eating the spicy food, walking more, drinking the special tea...but we're trying to just enjoy these last few days too.  I am so thankful that I still feel good and am still able to exercise and do pretty much everything.  And, there is a part of me that is sad that I'm about to not be pregnant anymore, because I truly have LOVED every moment of it.  But, there's also a small part of me that is so ready to have the little things back--like sleeping on my back and stomach, getting a coffee from Starbucks on occasion, being able to bend over, being able to stand up without having to use something to pull myself up, wearing my old clothes (or at least some of them).  You know, the little things.  But mainly, we're just ready to meet our little baby and have him home with us and have this next phase of our life begin.

nesting and resting

It's been exactly a week since I finished teaching--but it seems like a lot longer than that!  Landon has been super busy at work, working crazy long days to get his current project done--and build up some hours so he can take a few days off when Aedan comes.  And, I've been super busy this week trying to get everything on my "to do before Aedan arrives" list done. 

I'm pretty sure I'm officially nesting--

This week I washed, folded, sorted and put away ALL of Aedan's things--clothes, blankets, diapers, towels.  You named it, it's nice and clean and ready for him to use.  And then, I proceeded to make sure everything of mine, Landon's, Will's and Baby's was also washed and dried and good to go.  And I felt SO much better after it was all clean, ha! 

 

And, I was so thankful for the extra washing machine both as I washed his diapers to make sure they were ready and absorbent, and as we washed some of Aedan's clothes multiple times, due to a little laundry mishap--somehow a tiny red and white sock managed to jump into the wrong laundry pile and it wasn't pretty!  I almost cried, but Landon was so sweet about it and eventually everything came clean!
 

Then, because everything they owned was clean, I decided the dogs needed to get cleaned too.  So, for the first time ever I bathed them outside with the hose--and they pretty much hated it as much as I thought they would, ha!  And, as I was bathing Will, after Baby was nice and clean, she decided to go and roll around in the dirt, which was AWESOME.  So, she got two baths. :)

Then, at Landon's suggestion (which was so smart because it took a lot longer to pack our bags than I was anticipating) our hospital bags are all packed and ready to go.  And, we just bought his little outfit to come home in--I can't wait to see him in it!

His car seat is all ready to go and in the car!

 I've been reading like a crazy person, trying to make sure that I know all that I can possibly know about what is to come, all the while still thinking that I have absolutely no idea what we're about to get ourselves in to!  But, I still feel better after reading everything.  And, as an added bonus, Landon gets to be the recipient of my newly acquired tidbits of knowledge every day when he gets home from work. :)

 

 We've been watering our yard and our garden like crazy people too.  Right around this time last year we went out of town for 3 weeks and almost everything died--surely we'll be able to remember to water (or have someone else do it) after Aedan gets here, right?  I'm determined to keep things alive this year!

 

And, we've been able to eat a few things from the garden.  I baked some eggplant, which was delicious, tried to make fried okra (epic fail--I managed to burn both the okra and myself), tried a cucumber but it was so bitter I almost couldn't swallow it (I'm hoping it just wasn't quite ready to be eaten...) and have been enjoying our little cherry tomatoes on a number of meals this week.  I've been at least attempting to cook most nights, with some success. :)

 

 I've also been organizing and cleaning out everything I can think of.  I just want everything to have a place and to be in it's place. I'm not even really sure why, but it just makes me happy.  I think this is driving Landon a little nuts, but he's indulging me and sorting piles I give him etc.  It's so nice now to have things cleared out and put away--and now, there's more room for his sweet little things, like this bassinet we now have room for, for him to sleep in beside our bed.

And, we've been letting the dogs get accustomed to all the new baby things in the house--in hopes that they'll welcome him in to our family lovingly. :)  And yes, that is definitely a girly cover on the nap nanny by the swing, but don't worry--a cute little blue cover is on it's way for our boy!

 

And now, this next week should be a little more low key.  I've got another doctor's appointment, a couple of errands to run and then I'll hopefully be spending my days finishing up a couple of scrapbooks that I've been wanting to finish for months!  And, hopefully Landon will be able to come home before 10pm.  We're hoping for a little rest and relaxation--unless, that is, little Aedan decides to make his entrance into this world on or around his due date, this Thursday!

With pretty much everything done that needed to be done (in our minds at least) before he could come done, we're just waiting.  No rush, sweet baby, but any time you want to come, we're ready for you to be here!

Aedan's nursery!

This weekend we finally finished up our nursery and we love it.  It's been mostly done for a while, but we finished hanging the last couple of shelves last night and it feels so good to be able to say it's finally done!  Now all we need is our little boy to make it complete! :)

 

 One of our favorite pieces in the room is the fun light we got--we were looking for something a little different but not super babyish and thought this was a fun accent.

Aedan's dresser was Landon's dad's as a child, then Landon's and now we refinished it and it's his.  I love family pieces like that.  And, the cute brown rocking chair was Landon's when he was little.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until Aedan arrives, Will and Baby are happy to guard his room for us and make sure everything is ok! :)

Sweet Aedan Hugh

Sweet baby boy,

I can't believe we're just days (or maybe weeks) away from meeting you.  Your daddy and I have been busy getting our house and your room, and your place in our room, ready for you to be here.  All your clothes are washed and ready for you to wear, all your fun little places to hang out are set up and now we're just waiting.  We're getting so excited about meeting you--we keep trying to imagine life with you here and honestly just can't.  We know it will be wonderful though.

You've already changed us and our lives so much--starting with the very first time we saw you on the little screen.  We had no idea what we were looking at and you just looked like a little piece of fuzz, but the amazing thing was that, even as little as you were then, we could still see your little heart beating on the screen.  We just held hands and looked at you and your daddy taped the whole time we could see you on the screen.  We were in awe and in love already. 

Then, about a month later we got to see you again and were amazed at how different you looked!  You had little arms and legs moving around and to us you looked like a real little person already!  It was so fun to see you moving all around on the little screen and we were relieved to hear that everything looked good still.  Then, about a week before Christmas, we got to hear your heartbeat for the first time.  I almost cried; it was the sweetest sound.  For some reason, it almost made you more real to me than seeing you on the ultrasound screen.  It was so strong and steady and real and just music to our ears.  We couldn't stop smiling.

 

Then, we didn't get to see you for about 2 and a half months, but we sure did see evidence of you growing and began to feel you move around inside of me, which was so exciting!  Then, when we saw you again at 20 weeks, we were amazed at how big you were and how different you looked than the last time we saw you.  We saw all of your little body parts and organs and got to take home some really sweet pictures of you.  Your daddy and I just held hands and ohhed and aahed over you on the screen--and praised God when the doctor told us that everything looked wonderful.  Then, the next day, surrounded by all our friends and family, we found out that you were our son.  I'll never forget that moment.  We couldn't have been happier!

 

Then, sweet little boy, just yesterday we got to see your sweet face again--and both of your grandmothers got to come with us to see you, which made it even more special.  This time, it was like we could really see you.  I really almost cried--and it made me so ready in that moment to have you here with us.  We'd already seen all of your little body parts and your strong beating heart and your arms and legs and it was so sweet to hear that you were still growing healthy and strong--and measuring about seven and a half pounds already!  Then, right at the end of the ultrasound, the woman doing it for us showed us your sweet face.  And I don't know how to describe it really, but it was like we could just see you.  You looked like a real little baby--our little baby.  And it was like your dad and I were thinking the exact same thing, because right at that point he jokingly asked the woman if this was one of those machines that she could switch over to 4D so we could really see you!  And even though up until that point I'd said I wanted to wait to see your little face when you were born, if she could have shown you to us in 4D at that point, we probably would have gone for it.  We just wanted to see as much of you as we could.  I can't imagine how wonderful it will be to finally see your face in person!

 

Little Aedan Hugh, we pray for you and thank God for you every day.  We pray that you keep growing healthy and strong and continue to grow healthy and strong, both physically and spiritually, for the rest of your life.  We pray that you see God in us and know how much we love you and, more importantly, how much He loves you and that you grow up to be a strong man of God. 

Baby boy, we think about you and talk about you and enjoy you so much already.  We love to feel your little punches and kicks and see you moving around inside my stomach.  It just makes us both smile every time.  And now, after seeing you yesterday, we know exactly which little body parts are where, which is so fun.  You're flipped around from where we thought you were, with your back against the left side of my stomach, your legs and knees all tucked up on my right side and your little hands and feet on the right side of my stomach, ready to punch and kick us, especially when your daddy tries to mess with you and get you to push back, which you do! :)

We love you sweet Aedan and are praying that God teaches us how to be what you need us to be.  We can't wait to hold you in our arms.

Love,
your momma

We have fruits and veggies!

 We've just started to pick some things, but there's a lot more growing!  I don't know why exactly, but it's so fun!  And the only things I've killed so far are the squash/zucchini plants and the cilantro--and the carrots we planted from seed didn't really make it.  But, everything else looks alright, so we'll just try those again next year I guess.

 broccoli

 tomatoes

 cherry tomatoes

 herbs--chives, rosemary, cilantro (we bought another one :)) and thyme

 basil

 cucumbers (I think we're going to try and make some pickles this year!)

green beans

 spinach

 lettuce

 

 3 different kinds of peppers

 

 

 our one potato plant that sprouted

 okra--we had no idea the plants got this huge!

eggplant

 corn--we actually have a couple of little ears of corn growing now!

 green onions

 cantaloupe

 and, the one that Landon found yesterday that we're most excited about...a little watermelon is growing! :)