...just sometimes....you can hit the jackpot with the "photobooth app" on the ipad. Literally...we laughed for a very very long time at "Fat Laughing Chris" as well as "Fat Laughing Squirrel Faced Jordan." Also..the one on the bottom right we decided looked like me in front of some kind of creepy mascot-gone-wrong...maybe like a fast food one or something. What a masterpiece.
Basically my lovely friend Mandy told me I needed to be taking weekly belly pictures and we compromised with every 2 weeks. I don't think I look any bigger from 15 weeks...buuut who knows. You're welcome, Mandykins. In case you were wondering--as expected, this week's mirror pic was not any less awkward feeling than the last time. (And obviously I cropped out some of my head. Meh.) But we sure do love this baby!
Pax fell asleep on my hand, so naturally I didn't move for a good 30 minutes because it was really cute and clearly he was comfortable.
Saturday morning pancakes: chocolate version. My hubby rocks. :)
Speaking of. My favorite with sleepy-morning-eyes and hair.
Sweet coffee goodness in my most favorite mug. Also: why doesn't decaf ever taste as good as caf?
The best decaf I've found is any starbucks version...but still.
That is all!
I was soaking in some 2 Corinthians today about God's blessings and really really found myself convicted of spending too much time forgetting about how abundantly God wants to bless us with good things. My work makes it hard sometimes to come home and rest in the goodness of the Lord and I'm so so guilty of dwelling on darkness rather than light. I have to remind myself a LOT that "goodness does exist in the world" and that we ARE the light and the salt of the earth. Mmm. I felt him totally pouring that truth over me and it was so needed. With so much up in the air in our household right now with a sweet baby on the way and crazy moving plans ahead (as in--moving to Anderson or Clemson and not being sure of where or when) we have been forgetting the abundant blessings that have already been poured out over our lives and marriage. We are totally reminded of how "human" we are when we (as in Chris and I) keep trying to seek control over our next move...so humbling to know that this isn't up to us..none of it is....and thank goodness it isn't because our plans for ourselves just can't be as good as his are. :)
I should be thankful anyway for all the awesome things I experience each day..namely hearing Chris singing justin bieber and taylor swift in the kitchen on accident. Just kidding. I mean it does happen often but this is just one small awesome thing in a sea of other bigger awesome things that happen each day.
Update on the little baby: size of an avocado and apparently about to grow a LOT in the next few weeks! Haven't felt anything YET in terms of movement...but totally feel lots of stretching and all that crazy stuff. We've been reading the best birthing book ever that I've come across called Natural Childbirth: The Bradley Way. (I'm semi-positive that this is the exact name...) It rocks and I supadupa recommend it even if you just think you want to have kids some day but aren't even necessarily with child or married or something. (It's good for men too but they should probably wait until their married and going to have a baby so they don't opt out of marriage and baby-making..the photos are relatively graphic and awesome. I'm kidding. Men are more than welcome to read it too.) It's such a good resource. I keep getting blown away by the overarching percentage of women who have natural births and keep going back for subsequent births the natural way. It's so crazy to hear about the pain and the intense work and then to hear how magical it was and how they couldn't do it any other way. To me it's such a testimony of the way God has made our bodies..otherwise all these ladies would be running back to the hospitals for their next go round. If you don't believe me..type in "natural birth stories" into google and be amazed. Also: it's never too early to start designing my inspirational notes to myself for labor. I can't wait to frame them in colorful frames. Here are the 4 I've done so far:
I should be thankful anyway for all the awesome things I experience each day..namely hearing Chris singing justin bieber and taylor swift in the kitchen on accident. Just kidding. I mean it does happen often but this is just one small awesome thing in a sea of other bigger awesome things that happen each day.
Update on the little baby: size of an avocado and apparently about to grow a LOT in the next few weeks! Haven't felt anything YET in terms of movement...but totally feel lots of stretching and all that crazy stuff. We've been reading the best birthing book ever that I've come across called Natural Childbirth: The Bradley Way. (I'm semi-positive that this is the exact name...) It rocks and I supadupa recommend it even if you just think you want to have kids some day but aren't even necessarily with child or married or something. (It's good for men too but they should probably wait until their married and going to have a baby so they don't opt out of marriage and baby-making..the photos are relatively graphic and awesome. I'm kidding. Men are more than welcome to read it too.) It's such a good resource. I keep getting blown away by the overarching percentage of women who have natural births and keep going back for subsequent births the natural way. It's so crazy to hear about the pain and the intense work and then to hear how magical it was and how they couldn't do it any other way. To me it's such a testimony of the way God has made our bodies..otherwise all these ladies would be running back to the hospitals for their next go round. If you don't believe me..type in "natural birth stories" into google and be amazed. Also: it's never too early to start designing my inspirational notes to myself for labor. I can't wait to frame them in colorful frames. Here are the 4 I've done so far:
Other than that, no baby photos today but I suppose in a couple weeks I'll post another since apparently it was a big hit and all our friends liked it or whatever. it's funny because like...non-pregnant people that are growing in the belly area don't take mirror pics in the bathroom in tank tops because that's not acceptable or something. I know it's not my fat supply that's growing and instead its a human so it's basically a cuter concept but it still makes me feel like I'm just taking consecutive pictures of me turning more and more into a whale.
That is all.
We had our third baby appointment last week and had a great time as usual. After 14 weeks it's finally beginning to settle in that this is real life and not just a dream. (Speaking of dreams--I heard (and Chris read) that all the hormone madness during pregnancy can cause some really strange birth-related dreams and I totally had one where I birthed some sort of animal..don't remember which one, but it's totally the first birth dream I've ever had and it was supa-weird.) We heard the heart beat again and finally got an official measurement of 160 bpm...just chuggin away in there! Also good to note that this little lemon sized baby can PEE, suck it's thumb, and will be able to sense light next week. Awesome and somewhat intriguing to think about a baby that's inside my uterus...peeing. Oh, pregnancy--such a creative and fascinating thing it is.
This was our third appointment over all but our second at the birthing center (!) Did we announce that via blog earlier? Maybe not. We're so excited that we've switched to a birthing center for many many many reasons. We also believe that this decision and process is hugely personal and we don't feel better or braver or any such things for going this route. We truly feel that this is the best fit for our family. To tell you the truth, I'm mildly terrified of labor but also hugely comfortable with being terrified. I don't feel brave but I feel equipped and I secretly feel challenged in deep and intense way in which I know the biggest battle I will face won't be against the pain but against my mind and my fears. We'll be happy to post some of the main reasons we switched soon, but to list without explaining, our main reasons are atmosphere, intervention protocol, and comfort. And for peace of mind (for others)--the center is a mile away from a hospital in case of major complications.
I used to get on here quite often and brag about my husband, and I realized today I haven't done that in a while. I can assure you that it's not because he's gotten less awesome but because I've gotten less awesome at posting things up here. Mainly because I work full time I suppose. But I literally am reminded daily of how sweet this marriage has been and how deeply it has grown just in the past 1.6ish years. I often feel like the not-as-cool spouse because literally I feel like he is serving me 100% of the time and I am not reciprocating. I know this is a lie but in the midst of feeling incredibly incompetent in marriage sometimes, I am reminded of our conversations from so so long ago when we were dating and we would say things like, "I just want to do life with you." I reminded Chris of it the other day and got so giddy about how this IS what we're doing--it's finally here. We're doing life together. And it is so so dreamy that the person I get to do life with is such a selfless man. Our kids are going to learn such great things from him.
Also also also ALSO: let's all cheer because I FINALLY have a noticeable (when I wear tighter shirts which is never because modest is hottest) baby bump at 15 weeks. I never thought I was so influenced by media until I realized that every pregnancy related movie shows a scene where the couple finds out they are pregnant and then bam, fast forward to month 7 or something when she's huge. I felt like something was wrong with me until I realized that little humans can't just manifest themselves into the size of a watermelon overnight. Imagine that. Here is the dumbest myspace-esque picture ever where I couldn't even make a normal face because I felt ridiculous and also it will never be normal to take mirror pics in the bathroom. K, enjoy this awkward photo and have a great night. :)