Meme

Summer and Cam have tagged me for a meme of snapping a photo of yourself RIGHT NOW...no cheating, no makeup, no hair fixin'...just as you are.

So, I dragged my kids into it. Here we are this morning!


Play along if you'd like!

Contest!

I am so pleased to be able to announce my first real blog contest over at Prepare To Eat.

Of course it is food related, but if that interests you, go check it out!

Pregnancy 3: Week 19.5

Just a quick update, as we were able to have an impromptu meeting with our midwife again (we were in for a financial meeting with her bookkeeper, and she happened to have no other appointments).

I was feeling so very sure of my conception date, as well as sure that I did not have two babies in there, that I was becoming convinced that if I was indeed so much bigger than I ought to be, I must have something else growing in there (read: fibroids, or some such thing that might complicate the pregnancy), although this too seemed unlikely to me as I feel great and eat great.

However, upon a more detailed examination and palpitation of my belly, the midwife assured me that the baby itself does not feel bigger than it should be for 19 weeks, and that it is floating quite high and a little crooked (though head down now), and that she does not think my due date needs adjusting, nor that I have twins, nor that anything else is wrong. Nice!

Just wanted to let any of you worriers (ahem, my family) know so that you did not have to wait until my next actual appointment to be relieved.

First Truly Warm Day of 2009

***Warning post contains multiple photos of baby bums sans attire***

I enjoyed the deck and tried to get in some reading.

Søren decided clothes should be optional.

Elliot thought Søren was having and awful lot of fun in the water table.

So he opted to join him in the clothes-less fun.

Meanwhile Andrew was at work removing roots and stumps to make way for a garden.

I do not have any discrete shots of the concert the boys performed for us using some dowels as microphones, but it was hilarious, and have I mentioned yet how much I love having a back yard?!

How did you enjoy the sunny weekend?

My Dapper Boys (and a new purse)

Soren's hair yesterday:(oh, and he really wanted me to take a picture of that purple car)

After some quick snips today mainly in the back, but bangs and ears too:
(yes, he's wearing the same shirt, and yes he slept in it all night)

I know, such a sweet kid, right, well he also makes faces like this:

Elliot's hair yesterday:

(also important to photograph this car)

Elliot today:

(yes, he's wearing the same shirt, and yes he slept in it all night)

He also makes faces like this:

(he also did an intentional wink at the camera which cracked me up,
but I was laughing so hard I cut off the top of his head. Oops!)

These pictures hardly do justice to the real success of my trimming away their mullets but their faces are cuter than the back of their heads. However, their trimmed up little backs of their necks do have me kissing the previously mullet covered skin with fervor.

Might this also be the place to mention I actually did some shopping the other day for Easter supplies (at the Assistance League of Eugene), and splurged on this WONDERFUL new purse for one whole dollar. Yep, that's $1.00. It fits a book, my knitting, and my other normal purse fillings (chap stick, pen, paper, an extra diaper, bank & library cards, a checkbook, and my handy citizen's rule book complete with the constitution and bill of rights).

Best purse buy I've ever made:

Human

**I started writing this post in January and just found it again and finished it, sorry if it choppy as a result**

Søren has taken a strong interest in hearing bible stories lately. Not the cheesy Sunday school watered-down "bible heroes" kind of stories, but the real deal.

Among his favorites are Jonah, Jesus feeding the 5000 then walking on water, and Balaam and his donkey.

One of the things I have been struck by as I continue re-reading the bible, is how absolutely human the characters are, and how extraordinarily-not-human God is.

This is a great comfort to me. Growing up we were taught bible stories that presented the men and women of the bible as nobly heroic and capable of some measure of righteousness. As I read it with adult eyes, I see deeply flawed men and women. People capable of grave error and the wrong motivations. Though I think what characterizes the "bible heroes" as such is that they ultimately have the right heart towards God, in moments their humanity overtakes them as it does us all.

Another thing that does not surprise me, but would seem to be at odds with so many people's view of the scripture, is the harmony of God's heart to be known to people other than the people of Israel in both the old and new testaments. Consider Balaam, who was not an Israelite, but who was a profoundly devoted prophet of God (who, yes, had an idiotic moment when he didn't trust his donkey). Think of the story of Job, which was written before the time of Israel. Think of the times God extended mercy (as to the Ninevites) when he saw truly contrite hearts. Or the pagans on the boat that Jonah joined trying to escape with them to the far side of the Mediterranean sea who were struck with the awe and power and actuality of Jonah's God. Perhaps part of why God allowed him to flee and get on the boat in the first place.

God works with and through people, broken, normal, humans capable of truly living for a kingdom to come, yet still not capable of fixing themselves. I find this a far more comforting view of a "hero". The men and women of the bible can truly serve to teach, admonish, and inspire me because, in truth, they were made of the same stuff, battled the same inner problems, and failed in the same ways - yet God choose them for eternal life because of their perseverance in faith. May I also persevere!

Pregnancy 3: Week 18.5 (photo added)

We finally had our first appointment with our midwife (who we still love).

Two interesting developments:

1 - Turns out some law prohibits her from having women labor at the birthing center who have had two or more previous C-sections (so, me). However, she is free, along with her staff, to attend our birth at home. ?! Wouldn't it be the same set of risk factors in either location? I thought this might throw my husband for a loop, as he had previously stated he was not comfortable with another home birth, but felt good about the birthing center. However, he did not even blink and just said that we'll be doing it at home as he really wants to stay out of the hospital (who is this man?!).

2 - Also turns out I am measuring closer to 25 weeks. This was comforting, to some degree, as I have felt like I am definitely bigger than I "should" be. For me, I have been worried that it might be twins or something. The midwife did not feel another baby, and said I would likely be even larger if it were twins, so that was comforting. She also only measured with her hands, and admitted that the baby was riding very high (and also breech!). So, it is possible that the 25 week size is misleading. I also wonder if my lack of stomach muscles might be allowing everything to push up further faster (she didn't think so). However, we charted my fertility for the four months prior to conception and are rather confident in the conception date. It would also mean I had a full regular period while pregnant, and would have to mean we conceived before that...however, my chart suggests that as nearly impossible, however, the timing would place me at 25 weeks rather than 18.5. The other possibility is that I have a fibroid or something. So, as it turns out, we might have to consider that this baby is actually due mid-July (meaning late July =)), or that I might have to have an ultrasound to rule out a fibroid. However, we're going to wait until the next appointment and see how things progress.

**I just updated with a photo....see, now does that look like your typical 18 week belly?!**