anticipation

My nieces Mara and Sonna have their birthdays next week. Mara will turn 5 and Sonna will turn 3. This picture is a year old, and I can't believe how much they've grown in one year. Plus, Mara just looks different when her eyes are open! :)

I was on the phone last night with Mara when she told me, "I wish my birthday was in the winter because then it will be more soon. I always say, mom, is it my birthday yet? when is it going to be my birthday? when is it going to be my birthday? But now it is this Monday. And there isn't even another Monday before it. Just today, and then another day and another and another and then it's my birthday."

I started writing that quote down word for word the second she said because then it will be more soon. She has been talking about her birthday for months now, and I'm so happy she finally will get to celebrate turning five!

so excited about this...

A while back I sent an email out to my grandma, my mom, my mother-in-law, my sister and sister-in-laws asking them seven specific questions about mamahood. Their responses have started coming back, and I cannot wait to share their words of motherly wisdom with you. I have already laughed and cried reading their words and know you'll enjoy a week of celebrating mama's and all that comes along with the most important job in the world.

In related news, I'm at 13 weeks, and I think my belly is stretching. I can't see it on the outside, so much as I can feel it on the inside and it is the strangest thing. Things are definitely shifting around in there and I'm excited to see the proof pop out in the form of a baby belly.

weekend at the farm

We spent the weekend at the farm, catching up with cousins and constantly being entertained by this little lady. She is a riot and got me so excited for one of my own. She's a little parrot repeating everything we say and she loves being outside. That's a good thing, because her mama is a farmer, and so she spends a lot of time riding in tractors and investigating the farm yard.

She sports her rainboots well...and puts them to good use.

The boys demo'd this deck on Saturday in order to make room for the sandbox they built. Rory's comment, "last time I was here we shot guns. this time I am swinging a sledge hammer. we have to come here more often."

The new sandbox was a success...but only when her aunt and uncle built the sand castles. She'd tell them "again" or "more" but was leery of getting her own hands full of sticky sand.

Over at my Uncle Jake's farm, a calf was born. I actually heard the labor, but didn't know that was what was happening down there. A while later Uncle Jake told us this calf had just been born. I could have seen the birth! So close! (The black calf by the mama is the brand-new baby. The brown calf is another cow's but wanted to drink this mama's milk because it's so good the first day. The mama cow was not happy with the brown calf and was telling it through word and action to get lost.)

Rory was so happy to get to shoot a gun again. This time they shot clay pigeons and as it turns out, he's a really good shot.

Saturday concluded with a big wiener roast at my Aunt Louie's. Wiener roasts are highly revered tradition in our family...so much so that I had an aunt and uncle who drove from the cities just for supper (a 2 1/2 hour drive each way). You just don't want to miss out on one of these gatherings.

Sunday morning we went to Immanuel, my grandma's church and the church my parents were married in. And we ended our visit with breakfast at the Dunnell Cafe. It was a great weekend, and my heart is full with gratitude for a family that loves each other well.

heartbeat.

Today I woke up and my paper chain had a heart on the next ring. It means we had our heartbeat doctor appointment today. I've been waiting for this day with serious excitement and anticipation and today was finally the day.

I get a daily devotional in my email every morning. Today, the devotional was based on the verse above and it seemed more than perfect. It seemed like a sweet reminder from my loving God, reminding me that the heartbeat we would hear was created SOLELY to worship him. It is for this reason that my own heart is beating. This baby can do anything it wants with its life, but it only has one purpose: to worship God forever.

I've been reading and rereading this verse all day long, thinking about the last part...that worshiping God is for our own good. And not only our own good, but for the good of all of the generations to follow. It dawned on me that I am growing my very first descendant.

We're hopping in the car in a moment to drive to the farm. The farm is really four family farms within 15 minutes of each other, and my grandma is in the middle of them all. This weekend a great number of my relatives are all spending the weekend together and I'm so excited.

My grandma has seven kids of her own, 23 grandchildren, and now with spouses included and great, great, great grandchildren adding to that number, she has over 100 descendants. At last count I think it was 106, but I haven't counted since our last family reunion and babies have been born since then.

This verse grows even bigger when I read it and think of my grandma. She and my grandpa faithfully worshiped the Lord and raised their children with the same purpose. And now, for the good of Grandma, but also for the good of her 106 descendants, she gets to enjoy family weekends with a family that shares one heart and one purpose.

It's inspiring to think about as I try to comprehend the galloping heartbeat Rory and I just heard. It was strong, loud and fast. And created for only one purpose: to worship God forever.

And yes, I cried. Still am, actually.

fried pickles, please.

Just wanted to drop in and mention that I'm still here. I usually blog almost every day, but lately I just work and come home to sleep a lot, and my serious love of naps and an early bedtime are getting in the way of my blogging...

Tonight we went out with the friends we had over for The Olympic Buffet. We met in the Old Market, the most charming corner of Omaha and ate at a great restaurant called the Twisted Fork (I think...). I had that one salad that layers tomatoes and mozzarella with a vinegar dressing. Oh, that's my favorite. So stinking good.

But stealing the show, and my heart, were these appetizers: fried pickles with a horseradish dipping sauce. I don't like horseradish, usually, but tonight turned me into a horseradish believer. In this pregnancy I am craving all things salt and vinegar. And honestly, I could do without anything sweet. The pros and cons of this is that my baby will probably not be at risk of diabetes, but it might come out very hypertensive...and dehydrated. The pickles were like a whole new world of perfection, and all four of us enjoyed them very much.

Plus, they reminded me a lot of the Minnesota State Fair. Which is only 126 days away!