28 weeks - 7 months

Tuesday marked week 28 - 12 to go! It's hard to believe I'm in my last trimester already. I feel way less prepared for our little man to arrive than I did with Lily at this point. We haven't had time to get his room put together, just this week I spent some time going through the clothes we have and making a list of things we still need, and we have yet to decide on a name! But, I know his room will come together quickly once we finally have some time together to do it, that we will agree upon a name before he's born, and that he will have plenty to wear once he arrives, but sometimes I just get impatient :)

I continue to feel pretty good. It's definitely been a bit more challenging with Jimmy gone lots and not having the break that another parent provides. But I have really enjoyed this special one on one time with my sweet girl and it's really made this pregnancy fly by!

I am continuing to workout which I think has been so good for me. It keeps my body loose and flexible and just makes me feel better. I continue to experience quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions in my back and my stomach but they seem to be less frequent. I had my glucose test last week and everything passed fine with that however, my hemoglobin was low so I have begun taking an iron supplement each day in additional to my prenatal vitamin. My doctor visits are now every 2 weeks instead of monthly which just seems so crazy!

I am definitely feeling more pressure than I ever did with Lily however the doctor has assured me that it's normal and to just continue to keep an eye on things. I am experiencing some signs of preterm labor and measuring about 2 weeks ahead of schedule but that may be because of the additional stress of being alone so much with a little one. Nevertheless we are paying attention to them and praying that little man stays put for several more weeks!

Other than that things are normal and good. While spending some time in his room this week, folding clothes, and washing crib sheets I continue to get more and more anxious and excited to meet our sweet boy. I imagine how different a boy will be than a girl, what the relationship will be like between him and Lily both at first and as they grow, I picture the joy and pure love I will feel the instant I set eyes on him, I think about nursing him and cuddling him, I can smell his newborn scent, and picture him all swaddled up swinging contently in his little swing. There are so many things I am looking forward to. I am anxious to see Jimmy and him interact and how that relationship will be different than a daughter/daddy relationship - both so unique and special. But I think most of all I am just thankful - thankful for a healthy pregnancy, thankful for a body that is able to carry and create a human being - what a miracle, thankful for a wonderful man to stand beside me in life and through parenthood, and extremely thankful that I will soon be a mother of two to a daughter and now a son.

And here's the growing bump....

summer summer summer time

It's no secret that I LOVE summer time - the hot weather, the longer days, the pool, running in the heat, the farmers market, trips to the lake, grilling out, movies at the park, getting together with friends, weekend trips, and so many other things.

However, this summer is proving to be a bit different. Being 7 months pregnant and having Jimmy gone about 80% of the time so far thus summer has given me some new challenge.

While we've still made several trips to the pool, spent long afternoons playing outside, gone to the lake a few times and spent a few weekends away. BUT running in the heat has only happened a few times on those milder mornings, we've only made it to the farmers market once, the trips to the lake are minus all the fun stuff for me - skiing, tubing, and jet skiing, and we have yet to make it to a movie in the park (there's only been 1 to date, to my credit:). So while summer may be a bit different amongst our different circumstances I am still love loving it.

This time with my sweet sweet girl is priceless but life without Jimmy makes some days seem endless and just flat out wears me out. I definitely have a whole new appreciation for single parents and it's become so clear to me why God intended parenthood for two. We are all ready for this season of travel for Jimmy to come to an end - and it will soon! We are down to his finally trips away and then we have lots to complete before baby boy joins our little family! I am very quickly realizing how soon our family will forever change and we will no longer be spending all our time and energy on just one precious baby but two!

playing in the sprinkler

bath time

corn on the cob

modeling her new life jacket

all worn out and snuggled up

words

Lily has been saying all kinds of words lately - the ones we hear most often I got her to say on tape and thought I'd share. They include; up, this, baby, mama, dada, responses to what a dog says - wolf, what a cow says - moo, and what a duck says - quack. She has also said cracker, hot, nana (for Grandma) and often times shakes her head yes and no in response to something we ask her.

This little voice melts my heart everytime I hear her say something or learn something new. Where does the time go?!

weekend projects

We have accomplished our fair share of projects lately. In the limited time that Jimmy and I have had together in the last few months we have optimized our weekends by completing several to-do's and homemade projects. One of these last few weekends we tackled a revamping of some dining room chairs, painting the baby's room, a canvas art project for baby's room, and making a headboard for our new king size bed! That was a lot to tackle in one weekend but we succeeded and I think they all turned out great!

We've had a small dining room table that fits perfectly between our kitchen and living room for quite some time and I primarily use it as my decorations table - topping it with different centerpieces, place mats, plates, napkins, etc. However, just recently we've actually started using it to eat on - who'd have thought?! So I thought the beige colored chair cushions could use a revamp and with a little fabric, time, and staples here's what we came up with!

Next on the list was for Jimmy to paint little man's room while I worked on a canvas art project for his wall decor. We decided on a sky blue, got the paint, I helped him tape things off, and he begun the paint job. Meanwhile I worked on covering 3 canvases with different fabrics to create some art work for his room. I LOVE the patterns and colors in them and absolutely cannot wait to put together the details of his room. His room has a fairly modern theme with several different colors and patterns that uniquely all fit together - at least I'm hoping they do! And I must say Jimmy did a fantastic job painting this room all by himself!

And the last project on our list for the weekend was to create a two piece headboard for our new king size bed. We replaced a queen size bed so we could no longer use our headboard but like our other bedroom furniture so we figured we could come up with something on our own. After finding some fabric I loved we creatively came up with an idea of mounting the fabric to the back of two oversized picture frames - after removing the glass and backing - and viola! I really love the fabric and the way they look and am anxious to actually get them mounted above our bed - I will have to post a picture of that once it's all put together.

So that's what we've been working on lately - we've been quite crafty in our free time, I guess. I really enjoy creating things for our room, especially together. These were some fun projects and ones I am glad are complete!

I'll have to come back with the pictures - for some reason it's not working.....