36.5 weeks

How far along?: 36.5 weeks.

Heart Rate of Baby: averaged 140 today

Gender: we were told Girl at 20 weeks, so we'll go ahead and assume they were right.

Total weigh gain: 25 pounds

Maternity clothes: for sure

Stretch Marks: same ones from Ila, but they are getting more stretched I think. I have one VERY painful and large one right where all my pants sit. It makes wearing pants not so great.

Best moment this week: getting my parenting issues with Ila sorted out. We are back to being happy, happy people!

Sleep: sometimes I sleep. It's never the whole night through, or very comfortable, but it does happen. The best sleep I get is when Ila is sitting in my lap watching a movie.

Miss anything?: Sleeping on my back. The ability to roll from one side to the other without shooting pain, cuddling with my husband (I'm too hot and too uncomfortable to cuddle much these days!) and running after Ila for more then 3 minutes.

Movement: Lots, and I know she is feeling squished in there these days by how hard to pushes around when she moves.

Food cravings: meat, and chocolate (but it gives me heartburn if it doesn't have almonds in it!).

Anything make you sick or queasy?: nope.

Labor Signs: contractions are getting harder and I just have a feeling this little girl is coming soon! And, I'm already dilated a bit over 1 and 60% effaced. My doctor told me he thinks she is coming soon too. Oh and I pretty much feel her head pushing on my cervix ALL the TIME!

Belly Button in or out: I'm going to go with halfsies again. It looks pretty funny.

Wedding ring, on or off? On. I have not been a swollen pregnant lady ever (yet) and I'm MORE than okay with that!

Mood: Pretty good, but lots of mood swings and stress.

Looking forward to: Getting moved and settled. It is pretty much all I think about these days! I really need to nest.

So there you have it. I've had a feeling this little one would be coming soon for several weeks now, and the doctor pretty much confirmed that news today. I am super excited to meet our little one, but I'm praying like crazy that she waits until we've moved. I want to get Ila settled and get the house ready for an infant SO BADLY!

35 weeks of change.

It's hard to believe that I'm 35 weeks along in this pregnancy and living in Idaho, although not in our own place yet. 35 weeks ago we lived in Washington and Trent had a job. We were pretty excited about growing our family and thinking it was a great time to do so, since we had a steady income, a home, insurance and a nice healthy family and marriage.

A lot of thing can change in 35 weeks. As my body has grown, the saving account has shrunk. As our little baby made a nice home in my uterus, we have lost ours. Thankfully though, Trent and my relationship has grown stronger, as has our relationship with Ila. We can thank God for that, because as we lean on Him, He teaches and grows us together, and that my friends is a good thing. I'm not saying this 35 week road has been easy, because it really hasn't. I'm not saying it was fun, because it wasn't. I'm not saying I would gladly do it again, because I wouldn't. What I am saying is that the Lord loves us a whole lot, and without Him I'd be a wreck.

Now is a time for celebrating. Trent starts his job on Monday, and we will probably (maybe hopefully is more accurate, but I'm going to be optimistic and go with probably) be moving next week or next weekend. If the moving guesstimation is accurate we'll have enough time to get the house in order and possibly relax for a few days before our new little one comes. I am on the edge of my seat about the housing thing and I think my nesting is fighting for SOMETHING to organize and get ready for the new arrival. I'm curbing the urge as much as possible and hoping it comes roaring back when we are finally in the house!

I also have to mention that Ila is wearing big girl panties today. We've had her in slightly padded panties since we started potty training (back in July/August) but we finally (after 2 solid weeks of no poo in the pants) made the switch. She was pretty excited about them (possibly because Aunt Telcia and I were so excited). She even pulled her pants down to show her Daddy her big girl panties. He didn't find that as humorous as I did... It was strange having a child completely pee potty trained and night time potty trained but still pooping her pants. She would run off and poop in private, and then come say "uh oh, poopoo!" Not my favorite thing ever. I'll tell you the secret that finally did it, LEMON DROPS. That girl would do just about anything to get a lemon drop. She LOVES them. Every time she would poop in the toilet we would give her one. Now, the second she hears her poo plop in the bowl she yells "LEMON DROP!!!" I can't wait till she poos in a crowded public restroom!

Now, back to the 35 weeks of change. I've had my doubts and wonders about why this pregnancy and the unemployment happened at the same time. Here is what it has come down to: The truth is that there is sin in the world, and we are all sinners. Some people chose to act on some sinful behavior and that threw our lives into this whirlwind. It is just part of life on this earth, dealing with the repercussions of our own sin and others sin. Just because we love the Lord and do our best to serve Him does not make us invulnerable to the sin of others. Sin is hard and hurtful, but how great is it that it all gets washed away and we will one day not have to live in it?!

I see now how this is still a good time to grow our little family. Things don't seem so perfect or so lined up but it is God's timing and our choice in family planning and things don't have to be perfect for it all to work. We were never promised a life full of perfection, consistency, control or routine and this 35 weeks has shown me that so much. I'm grateful that God is still teaching me, and that I am teachable! Our little bundle of joy will come into this world loved deeply, and will be well cared for with or without a job, with or without our own place, but certainly not without God and all his awesomeness!

Moving!

Well, it looks like we have a home to live in! It's not our home, but it will be, temporarily (what isn't on this earth though?), until we find something not so temporary. We feel very blessed by the circumstance and what not of how we came to have a place to live! Our move-in date is not certain yet, but it will be soon.

We're heading to Boise on Monday and then to Washington on Tuesday to pack up our stuff. We'll be there for the week, and then hopefully load the moving truck over the weekend and head back to Twin. We're hoping the timing for our move in date and our moving coincide, but it may be a few days (or a week) in between. Prayer that they would coincide would be great though, as that would save a lot of time, work and energy of our helpers (and if you live in Twin and are reading this we WILL need helpers! I'm not going to be up for much more than watching Ila while people carry boxes and furniture, so we would appreciate any and all help we can get)!!! We'll let you all know when the help is needed too, when we've got it figured out.

It's sad to see our time in Washington end, but it is also good. Since Trent lost he job there it has been difficult for us emotionally to live so close to the farm he work so hard on. We were super blessed to live off the farm and on a ranch owned by amazing people (who will be greatly missed by us!) but it was still difficult to be living in the area. Washington is the place Ila has lived the longest and also that Trent and I have lived the longest together. It was a great home, and we feel quite sentimental about it all. We're really hoping, praying and planning that this move to Twin will be much longer then any of our other moves!

Ila is doing great, but ready to have her usual space and toys back. Or maybe I'm ready for it. Either way, she is a trooper and seems to adjust to change pretty well. I'm hoping that she adjusts to life with a sibling as well as she does to new places, but I'm not counting on it! Lately, she has been hugging my belly and saying "ohh, baby. Ohhhh!" It is the sweetest thing ever.