39 weeks

Oh we're getting close, folks. At my midwife appointment on Tuesday they told me I was measuring 40 weeks. According to the ultrasound I had at 14 weeks, my due date is September 23rd (this Wednesday). And according to the calendar tracking from the very beginning, my due date is September 27th (a week from Sunday). It means I've been very confused as to what week I'm on throughout most of my pregnancy. But it also means that the likelihood that I'll have a baby in the next week or two, is very, very good.

Ivar was born one day before his due date and Elsie came on her due date. If I were to bet, I'd guess I'll have this baby late next week. But isn't it funny how it doesn't really matter what I bet?!! This baby will come when it will come. And I am so, so excited for it to come!

This weekend we will try to lay low as much as possible. We've got cousin Svea's 5th birthday party, seemingly the most highly anticipated event of the year for my children. We've got Family Movie Night tonight, and we will watch a kids movie altogether and then later, a mom and dad movie. Last week Rory and I watched She's Having a Baby, which I had never seen before and thought was very sweet. This week I'm hoping for Nine Months (which I've never seen) or Father of the Bride Two (which I have seen).

My niece Maddie's bridal shower is on Monday night and I just have to get to that. I want to be there so badly. And I sort of feel like my body won't relax enough to have this baby until I have been to that shower and back. I hope I'm not jinxing the whole thing by saying that. But even with the other two, I remember actually giving my body permission to go into labor. Finishing the thank you notes and knowing there wasn't much more I could do to prepare I said, "now would be fine." And a day later my contractions started with Ivar...

The best news is that I finally kicked my cold and am feeling 100% healthy. I had a few issues there for a while, but I'm feeling strong again and so, so grateful to be in this healthy and empowered place. I've got people praying for me all over the country, and that is such a good feeling.

I'll keep you posted if anything changes. Until then, know I am slowly working my way through the most divine tub of Ben and Jerry's The Tonight Dough. Oh my word, it is my dream come true in ice creams, thankfully only discovered this week.

And...I had Rory take the picture above of me this morning since I don't really have any of me at nine months with this baby. I don't have many outfit choices anymore, and most don't really show my belly very well. After I put on the dress I decided to do my hair. And then makeup. I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go. Which actually is totally fine by me. Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend.

Pioneer Woman's new kitchen line

I have followed Ree Drummond's blog for a long time. I'm always inspired by her. I like her television show (one weekend this winter I watched like 12 episodes in a row with my niece Josie. Remember that, Josie?!!) I like her writing style, I like her photographs. I like her cookbooks and everything I've ever made from them. (Her lasagna cannot be beat.)

This week she launched a line of dishware at Walmart, and I want every single item. (Except the basset hound cookie jar. No offense to that dog, I'm just not a dog girl...) But other than that, I can't get enough. When I registered for dishes, more than ten years ago, I chose all bright colored accent pieces (from The Bibelot) to go with my white plates. I still adore them. But I could definitely add to the collection. I'd take one of every tea cup and cereal bowl and ramekin above. And that pretty pitcher and measuring bowl.

So I told Rory his gift giving will be simple for me this year. Just head to the kitchen section at Walmart. I recognize I sound like a commercial right now...so I should mention I am in no way being asked or compensated for blogging about this. I just saw these pictures on her blog and I cannot stop thinking about how badly I want to get to Walmart now...

a kiddie parade

Out town had its big four-day celebration this weekend. It's sort of a mix of cowboys, guns, bank robbers and good immigrant pioneers who defend their town. We participated in Townie Night, a discounted night for all the locals and the Kiddie Parade and went to the big parade. I was looking for cowboy and cowgirl outfits for the kids and asked Elsie to try on a cowgirl hat. She looked at me like I was an idiot and told me with a scowl, "I'm going to be a kitty!" You know, because it was a kiddie parade. So I had one cowboy and one kitty.

She insisted on having socks on her hands like little paws and was very, very pleased.

Ivar got to wear part of a costume that my Grandma Harrington made for my dad, when he was a little boy. He loved being a "roadie cowboy" (his version of a rodeo cowboy) and practicing his lasso. At one point during the kiddie parade he lasso'd his foot and this cracked him up for a good half a block.

Elsie pushed around her pink stroller with her pink kitty, wearing her pink kitty skirt and waved at the very few spectators that came to watch. She was the happiest kitty in the kiddie parade.

extravagant and wasteful

I signed the kids up for preschool two mornings a week. We had our very first day on Monday and it was so fun. The kids were so excited and I love, love, love that they are in the same class. Dropping them off was more adorable than sad...they were side by side playing in the sand box and both stood to wave goodbye to me, beaming and proud to be there.

I love them so much.

Then I looked at the clock and tried to figure out the very best way to use the two hours I had before me. Time like this is so, so rare for me. Rory had hinted that I go grocery shopping as we are out of all staples in the house, but I didn't want to waste my two hours of downtime at Cub. Truth-be-told, I'm not sure how many of these personal hours I am going to have before a little baby joins the mix. This was my time and I felt very protective.

I drove to Caribou and I had my laptop along, but then realized I had forgotten my mouse and what I wanted to work on was a lot photoshop stuff...and not having a mouse would be really annoying. So I drove home and looked around, trying to decide what I could do.

I knew I should accomplish something. But I also knew I should rest. But I knew there really were things I could tackle while alone in the house. But I also knew the day was glorious and sitting in a camping chair outside would be perfectly fine too.

Sara has a new song on her new album that talks about time, and how we use it. How we are called to rest, called to play, called to relax. The song is an invitation to join her on an adventure and she says, "It will be extravagant and wasteful." Those words hit me so hard the first time I heard the song. Because that is how it feels when we're really resting. Extravagant. And wasteful. But we're still called to it. We're still commanded by God to be still, and to set aside one out of the seven days he has given to us to be restored and renewed.

I wish I could say that I poured myself an ice water and went outside. Instead a payed a visa bill, sorted a pile of papers and edited a few pictures. And all the while I wondered why I couldn't rest. And it made me think to write this blog post.

Sometimes productivity does feel restorative. But I want the lack of productivity to feel that way too. And I certainly don't want lack of productivity to feel condemning.  Because it is okay just to be.

I have another chance this week. Maybe I'll be extravagant and wasteful with those two hours.

cereal

If I could go back and retake this picture I'd put my legs together and spread them out in front of me. Might have been a bit more flattering. But the fact that I was even sitting on a curb was impressive enough and I do like how happy we all are in this shot! 

I wrote earlier this month of how I was done with carbs and grains and sugars again, and as a result got rid of all of the cereal in the house. In a hilarious twist, when Rory asked Elsie what she would like to buy with her earned quarters she proclaimed, "Cereal!" We laughed so hard. And when they came back from Target she proudly showed me her Strawberry Special K cereal that "has strawberries in it!!!"

When she got her cereal, Rory picked up a few boxes for himself, and just like that, cereal is back in our house.

I haven't had a bowl though. I'm good with my smoothies and eggs.

Actually, that was true until last night when Elsie woke up upset about something at 1:30. She was inconsolable, out of her mind, and Rory finally got her back down around 2. I could hear him clearing his throat for about an hour and finally a little after 3:00 he came downstairs and we started talking like it was the middle of the day. I followed him into the kitchen where he poured himself a big bowl of honey nut cheerios.

At first I was just going to watch him eat his bowl. But then we started talking about Hillary Clinton. And I decided to pour myself a bowl. Then we talked about Donald Trump. And poured myself another bowl. We kept eating cereal and talking about our crazy world and it was so awesome. We were equally frustrated and concerned that we were not getting any good sleep, but what are you going to do? Eat cereal. And talk politics.

There are lots of parts of marriage and romance that are hard to capture. The beauty of steadfastness, the gift of healing time, the quiet comfort of knowing each other well. Those themes don't really make their way into many movies or novels, but they're the very best parts. And now I'd add middle-of-the-night conversations to the list. Hard to explain why this moment was so sweet and romantic with two exhausted parents loading up on carbs at 3 in the morning. But we both commented the next morning how great of a night it was.

And cereal has never tasted so good in all of my life.