It's been cold around here lately, and I was starting to think our much anticipated fall season was cut all too short, especially when we woke up to snow on the ground last Tuesday. Pair cold and windy weather outside with colds and yuck inside, and it's made for a few trying days of no fun around here. I feel like the final stretch of this pregnancy is going to go so fast, and it's hard to enjoy it or feel prepared for it when we're not feeling up to snuff.
And then there was Sunday. A tiny pocket of sunshine and a revival of fall. It was beautiful outside, and the three of us explored new pockets of beauty at Big Woods Lake and Hartman Reserve. We breathed in the crisp air, trudged through a carpet of dried pine needles in the middle of sun-streamed woods, and held hands as Cruz giggled and ran ahead of us before stopping to point out yet another tree that had fallen down. I touched my belly and felt a little teary thinking of life, and time, and our last fall as just three. But most of all, I felt thankful - for unexpected sunshine, for the scent of fall, and for my sweet family.
I have three books full of pressed leaves from our Sunday excursion and have plans to make something beautiful with them to remember our day.
Good things...
46. the superman prayer at suppertime, thanks to our little prayer helper. it's quite a picture really - the three of us with our arms out over our plates, singing 'Thank you God for giving us food...' to the tune of the superman theme song. Priceless.
47. grabbing a can of homemade applesauce and peaches from the basement
48. frozen honeycrisp apples for a mid-winter apple crisp tucked away in the freezer
49. pink lotion and damp hair after bath time
50. listening to my husband write his very own song
51. Avett Brothers Saturday mornings
52. Cruz's new thing - taking my hand and telling me, "yous my best friend, mommy."
53. a hot soak in the tub for mama after bedtime. candles, my book, and quiet.
54. going to the grocery store without a list and walking away with what could only be the cart of a pregnant woman --- cottage cheese, cheesecake, chocolate milk, and baby carrots with ranch dressing, aka, the best meal ever.
55. watching my boy at his daycare program, scanning the audience for his family and the smile on his face after he found us.
There are always good things.
Cruz was a ham all day and we lost our direction on the way home, doubling our car time, but enjoyed a beautiful fall day in NE Iowa for some apple hunting, leaf piling, and small town exploring with my parents last weekend. My favorite part of the day was watching Cruz lose himself in a leaf pile. Last year, he was a little leery of jumping in the crunchy leaves; however, this year he was wild and crazy!
Halloween week is upon us and I'm feeling a little ghostly this morning as I welcome the third trimester with a chorus of under the weather symptoms. A cold virus has plagued our household this week and we thankfully got Cruz over the hump just in time for me to feel it this morning. I'm sucking on Vitamin C drops and taking it easy around here this week, hoping it doesn't stick around too long. We have yet to carve pumpkins, yet to paint the baby girl's room, and yet to decide what it is our little man is going to be for trick-or-treating! I do, however, have soup on the agenda, a 28-week appointment tomorrow, and three paint colors on the wall that I hope to narrow down by the weekend. I told Beau we have to get a move on things as I fear I'm going to be moving a lot slower this time around!
Beau and I had a little Halloween fun this weekend at a costume party at Rob and Jill's. I loved it - usually it's the woman who is cold, uncomfortable, and showy, and Saturday night, it was quite the opposite. We went as Juno and Bleeker from the movie, Juno, and I took full advantage of my ensemble (and my gallon of Sunny D) all night. It did absolutely nothing for my figure, but baby girl and I were more than comfortable all night. It may have been my only chance to attend a costume party while pregnant, so we had fun making the most of it. It will be fun to share pictures with the baby someday and tell her about her first Halloween party!
The movie poster...
Not bad, huh?!
My track star, aka, dreamboat, Bleeker
I may be a little late posting this week, but I'm all the more aware that I am one week shy of my third trimester! The cold weather has us in transition mode at our house, hunkered down and hoping to make it look like we're ready for a baby around here! We worked hard to downsize Cruz to one room this weekend and I'm currently staring at an empty baby's room, envisioning what I want it to look like. I'm slowly discovering that bringing baby #2 into our world looks a little different than the first. While attempting to organize the many things Cruz has acquired in his three short years of life, I'm looking at what I can reuse and starting a list of those baby essentials we'll want to stock up on and have at hand in January. On one hand, I'm feeling way more prepared this time around, but at the same time, slightly overwhelmed at what I can reuse and what I'll need to reinvest in as we think ahead to baby girl.
The pictures for this week are thanks to my friend, Darcy, owner of At Play Photo here in Cedar Falls. They are a sneak peek from the start of my maternity session and taken with a forty-year-old polaroid camera she's been experimenting with. She's got such an eye for art and I always look forward to seeing what she has up her sleeve. We discovered we should have let the second one 'set' a little longer, but I love how old it looks. I'm planning to add the originals to some sort of collage wall in baby girl's room. That is, if I can ever decide on a paint color... :)
Haven't done one of these for awhile. Still thinking about his little face at his daycare's annual fall program last night. They did the story of Moses and he was a hailstorm. Standing up there so tall, but scanning that big room of people to look for his mama. He loved showing us his room, wanted us to see everything, and took this one by surprise when he proceeded to recite the entire Pledge of Allegiance - hand on his little heart and everything.
So proud of my little hailstorm. He makes everything about me smile.
We love ourselves a Scratch cupcake...
