{ A Pound and A Foot! }

Miss Peanut,

You've been one busy girl lately! First, there's the growing: I intended to write this blog post last week, when you were about a foot long and weighed a pound and the title of this blog post was actually accurate. But I got distracted, and now you weigh about a pound and a half, and are about 13 inches long...but I'm sticking with that title! Your movements are becoming more pronounced, though today was the first time I could see your kick from the outside--just a delicate little blip on the side of my tummy. That placenta is smack-dab front-and-center, so I can only feel you along the sides and bottom of your little aquarium. I can't quite bring myself to call your movements "kicking"...they feel more like little thumps. You are most active in the evenings and after I eat. Your daddy is bound and determined that one of these days you are going to kick when he talks to you. He talks to you a lot, and prays for you every night. He gave me a talking-to a few days ago because he doesn't think I talk to you enough. I'll admit, it is a little awkward at first, carrying on a conversation with my belly!

you're about the size of an eggplant these days

One thing that's easy for me to do is to come up with nicknames for you. Little Miss, Buttercup, Little Girl...the list goes on!

This week your daddy has made a lot of progress getting his desk built in the living room. That's the first step in clearing out the room that will eventually be your nursery. He's built and painted shelves, made himself some whiteboard walls {who knew they make dry-erase paint!}, and soon we'll be able to start tackling the mayhem of the nursery-to-be itself. I've purchased a Katie Daisy print that's sort of the springboard for the colors, narrowed down paint choices, and bought a couple of random things from Target's summer line of housewares because I love the colors...and an aqua beverage tub will make a lovely {and affordable} toy catchall!



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{in real life it's not true blue at all--there's a lovely greenish hue, making it really aqua/teal}

You're also doing a fair bit of traveling in the next few weeks. Tomorrow we're driving to eastern Washington to visit two of my dear childhood chums, Anna and Chelle, and their families. Anna, Chelle and I grew up together, but this will be the first time all three of us have been together as couples since Anna and Tim's wedding, two and a half years ago! Anna's wedding, and my wedding two months earlier, are actually the only times that us three couples have all been together. It's going to be so much fun--three kids, two babies, and lots of laughter! 

Then, next weekend, we're driving to central Oregon for my brother Emery's wedding. I can already hear the noises your Grandma Gwen is going to make when she sees your bump--the last time we saw them was at Christmas, before your presence was visible to the outside world! She's going to be very excited about you, Babycakes.

And just so everyone can see...here's the "outside view" at 25 weeks:

I love you Baby,

Mommy



{ Let's Go On A Date }

Last Saturday, Mike and I went on a date. Like, a most-of-the-day date.

Recently we've become increasingly aware that while we are really good at being shoulder-to-shoulder friends {working together towards goals, etc.}, we invest very little time and energy toward being face-to-face friends {spending time together, talking, building our relationship, being friends}. We decided to take a Saturday and spend it face-to-face. And while it didn't turn out exactly as planned, we both had a lot of fun. And spent a lot of time just talking and hanging out and being friends. Which was the point!

We started off with breakfast at a local breakfast joint. This establishment is no longer on our list of places to go for breakfast. It has been hovering on the brink for a while, but the less-than-stellar service and just-okay food pushed it over for us. Bye-bye, Patty's Eggnest!

Then we headed up to Chuckanut Drive, that beautiful two-lane, cliff-hugging highway that winds in and out of steep, evergreen-thick hillsides to reveal breathtaking panoramas of the Puget Sound and San Juan Islands. We have so many fun memories along Chuckanut, from a couple random dates to a big portion of our engagement day.

Once we reached Bellingham, of course the streets in the part of town we wanted to visit were blocked off for a St. Patrick's Day parade...free parking was virtually nonexistent...and there were some tense, crabby moments in the car as we drove hither and yon trying to find parking and figure out what to do. We made up, finally parked, and found a lovely coffee shop called The Woods Coffee. Ohmygoodness. Love. In the photo below, you can see a glimpse of their decor: original pressed tin ceilings, vintage light fixtures, reclaimed metal barstools, a wall "papered" with burlap coffee sacks--plus original hardwood floors, beautiful exposed woodwork, comfy leather chairs--the place was an aesthetic feast! My coconut latte was pretty good, too.

We meandered around town on foot for a couple hours, dodging rainshowers and exploring random shops. We bought Strong's Exhaustive Concordance at a used bookstore {I have been meaning to buy an exhaustive concordance for months}, and Mike even ventured into a fibers shop with me--full of exotic yarns, spinning wheels, and various kinds of locally-raised and beautifully dyed fibers {wool, alpaca, llama, rabbit, etc.} waiting to be spun or felted.

For lunch, we stopped at Bayou on Bay, and boy oh boy, was it good!

Mike's BBQ pulled pork po' boy sandwich came with the best sweet potato fries I have ever tasted. I ate most of them. And I would like some more, please.

I had gumbo and an Arnold Palmer. Both delicious.

On our way back home, we stopped at one of the scenic overlooks to take some pictures.

Miss Peanut likes Chuckanut Drive.

It was a good day, and a good date.

~The End~

{ Keepin' It Real }

Today:

My heart is heavy. This week has been intense, in sad and unexpected ways. Mike's grandma is hospitalized and not doing well. Mike and his sister Amaryah are her primary decision-makers, due to lots of extenuating circumstances. All the complications, medical information, decisions that must be made...it's a heavy load. Will you pray for them?

And then, one of Mike's good friends died on Wednesday. Details aren't known yet, but it's a heavy blow for this group of guys--some have been friends since middle school. I feel like Mike is carrying so much right now, and there's not much I can do to help him. Except pray. I know that the privilege of talking to God is a big deal, but sometimes it seems so insignificant in the face of death. So intangible. I want to do something to help: Make a meal, take on tasks, do something.

It's not all black and dismal around here, though. It's kinda busy, kinda normal, kinda just life:

Got up at what felt like an unholy hour, but was actually 7ish.

Ate grapenuts for breakfast, felt nauseous. Not sure if this new-but-old trend of upset tummy in the morning means I need to a) eat more before bed, b) snack during one of my many nighttime bathroom breaks, or c) get up and eat earlier...or if it just means Miss Peanut likes to stretch when I eat and my tummy doesn't approve.

Wore one of Mike's plaid shirts as a jacket all morning. I don't know if this is a guy thing, or specific to my husband, but most of his nice button-down shirts get downgraded because he wears a hole in one elbow. One. Just one. I don't know what he does with that elbow all day at work, but it must be rough. 

Cleaned out bathroom cabinets and laundry closet shelves while talking on the phone with a friend in Pennsylvania. Why on earth have I kept this foot lotion for...let's see...at least five years...when I have never once used it? Yep, major purging going on in these parts!

Ate lunch at, like, 11:00.

Thought of a lovely first and middle name combo for Miss Peanut, but we have to see what Daddy-o thinks!

Nope, I'm not gonna tell you what it is. No need to ask.

Somehow managed to fit all my Goodwill/women's shelter donations in my car, including a large-ish two-part wooden shelf.

Errand list:

~ Home Depot {paint samples for the nursery}

~ Bed Bath & Beyond {look for a new pump for a broken soap dispenser}

~ Local women's shelter to drop off donations

~ Pay a bill

~ Post office

~ Library

All that took me 2.5 hours, and it is soooooo delicious and springy outside, and I had to wear sunglasses, and I didn't need my coat, and I had to use a public bathroom at my first stop, and I got hungry, and I still need a new soap dispenser. :-( And I wanted an iced latte, but I didn't get one cuz I already had my cup of coffee for the day.

It's only 4:00, but I feel like dinner. Better go see what I can rustle up!

{ Progress }

The kitchen.

It will never be this clean, organized, and disinfected {disinfected!!} again.

Unless future me has 2.5 days to dedicate solely to cleaning the kitchen. I'm thinking that won't happen anytime soon.

The pantry: My magnum opus.

One of my major takeaways from this project is that I need more cute dishtowels. Except for the one above--which I don't use because it's too cute--all my current towels are stained, nasty, ugly things.

Closeup of two of my sweet vintage storage canisters.

And now, because I'm starving, I'm going to make lunch in these pristine quarters!

{ What I'm Up To }

Blame it on pregnancy-induced nesting hormones run amok, thwarted by my inability to make a "nest" in the nursery 'til we get a few more projects done {a.k.a. clean out the second bedroom and transition it from office/dumping-ground-for-everything-I-haven't-wanted-to-deal-with-in-2.5-years-of-marriage to a room we can turn into a nursery}.

Blame it on loving to clean and purge and organize.

Blame it on #2, intensified by #1.

Whatever the causes, today I'm starting the house-wide de-clutter, clean, and simplify process described in Tsh Oxenreider's book, Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living. If you haven't read this, I highly recommend it. The content is deeper than I expected--for example, figuring out a family purpose statement, and an ideal purpose statement for each room of your home, before you even begin--yet it's a refreshing, exhilarating process.

Because, like, everyone wants a freshly washed-down freezer before they have a baby, right? And who doesn't need to clean and re-arrange and inventory their pantry while trying to figure out what to eat that won't make them puke?

She says this having only cleaned, organized, and inventoried the freezer and refrigerator.

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Maybe you should check back in a few days and see if I still agree with those statements!

I'm taking it slow, not expecting to do one room per day, and I'm not proceeding in the order described, either...there is no point in reorganizing the living room when it is currently Construction Zone Central for Mike's new built-in desk. Over the hum of the dishwasher, I've been listening to old sermons by Pastor Mark, including yesterday's message {the Q&A at the end nearly made me pee my pants, even the second time around!}. Hopefully this whole project will take me less than two weeks...and by then, maybe we'll be ready to start tackling the soon-to-be-nursery!

This slow-cooker honey sesame chicken is in the crockpot, and I can't wait to taste it {thank you Pinterest!}. I'm a big fan of Asian cuisine, but at this point I just hope it turns out okay...I accidentally added cornstarch at the beginning, instead of after it's mostly cooked, AND THEN I completely forgot to mix in the 3/4 cup of honey, so just drizzled it across the top. *sigh* This pregnancy brain stuff is for real, folks!

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Random side note: I'm also really excited that I bought way too much asparagus for Amaryah's birthday dinner last night, which means I have about two pounds of asparagus ready to broil and eat all by myself...and I assure you, it will probably only amount to two Nikki-size servings. I love asparagus!

And with that, I'd better get back to the kitchen. The pantry is calling my name...