.getting there.

We're into the single digit with weeks left remaining, and I'm excited and nervous all mixed up in one.  I can't wait to be able to move without hurting, I can't wait to have the anxiety of labor over with, and I can't wait to meet baby girl.  But I'm nervous for all the changes that having another baby in the house is going to bring, and I'm nervous about how the labor will be, and when it will be here (anytime after Christmas and before the 15th works for me).  Overall I don't usually have time to think about it too much, except when I should be sleeping.  I'm able to stay active and busy with Finn and try enjoy these last few weeks of just him and me.
This last trimester has been good to me overall.  I've even been able to sleep better these past few weeks, and I cannot tell you what a relief that has been!  Last night I began feeling more cramping contractions along with my braxton hicks until about 2:30 in the morning.  I almost called the mid-wife for fear of what my body might be trying to do, but they eased off and I haven't felt them at all today.  Hopefully it was just my body prepping and doing it's thing.  You would think having gone through this before there would be less uncertainty, but in some ways I feel more.  I guess all the unknowns will be answered in the very near future, but I'm hoping we can make it through the Holidays without any surprises.

.a little bit of everything.

I've been less then diligent about keeping up with this blog the past few weeks.  It seems that every time I have an idea or something new to share, I put it off until the moment has passed and I no longer feel inclined to blog.  Life is feeling a bit in limbo right now (as I remember it did right before Finn was born), mostly because you are aware the rhythm of life that you have been used to is about to change forever, and you're not sure if your ready for that change.  I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else but me, but that's how I've been feeling and I guess I'm just trying to take it all in before it changes. In the mean time here are just some of the randomness floating around la vista dr recently.

Brushing a toddlers teeth can be quite literally, "like pulling teeth"!  Today, while getting him in the car, I noticed how awfully disgusting Finn's teeth were.  We brush everyday, but it's quite difficult to wrestle with an almost 2 year old who for some reason decided that recently he hates getting his teeth brushed.  When we got home this afternoon I plopped Finn into the medicine hold and scrubbed those white nubs down good and thorough.  Finn, of course screamed through the whole ordeal, but at least I can rest assured that they are clean.  If there are any secrets to successful teeth brushing that I don't know about please feel free to share them with me.

Making weekly menus can be some of the most tedious work.  Does anyone else feel like they cycle through the same 10 go to meals?  Especially at this point in my pregnancy, I just don't feel like branching out and trying something new that will require me to do more work (i.e. look up a recipe).  Roy is no help in this matter when asked what he wants for dinner he reply's, "food"...absolutely useless!

I'm sad that all that good snow we got last week is melting away.  Finn, like his daddy, is not a fan of the cold.  He is curious about all the white stuff on the trees and ground and wants to step in it and touch it, but as soon as it touches his bare skin, he starts shaking his hand and saying cold in his whiny voice.  I guess I'm all alone in this family as a fan of winter for right now.

I keep getting asked when baby M is going to arrive,  all I can say is her due date is anywhere between the 8th and the 18th (10 day grace period).  I keep hoping for a 38 week arrival like Finn, but I can't help but think she might come on Finn's birthday...and I really don't want that.  It's out of my control, but I'm really hoping she doesn't come on the 15th.

The last couple of weeks I've been feeling "stuck" again...trying to change and wanting to change, but not seeing any momentum change in my life.  However, I'm realizing that I'm needing a lot of patience in this matter.  I'm needing greater faith in the Lord's timing and path for us.  Even this week we have been greatly blessed with daily miracles that let me know that the Lord is intimately aware of us and our needs.  All I can do is keep trying and know that his blessings our ever present in our life, instead of wishing for instant change and gratification.

I had more thoughts, but as I've been writing they seemed to have slipped into the dark corners of my memory, where a lot of things go lately.  I'll be catching up to speed with baby at the end of this week so I won't be gone too long.

.october wrap-up.

My goodness, can it really be the second of November already?  I think we lived up our October sufficiently with the sorts of activities fall is perfect for.  This wrap up is brought to you by instagram > @suboka12 (it seems to be the easiest way for me to take pictures and keep track of all the good times we have).

We rode trax down to Gardner Village and saw the Witches.  Even though we could have driven easier and cheaper then riding, it was out of the question because Finn is in L.O.V.E with the train.  Finn especially loved all the pumpkins and insisted on touching all of them.

 The Olympic Oval had a Halloween carnival so we decided to give Finn a dry run on the whole trick-or-treating concept and then took a few laps around the ice.  I took it very slow and pushed Finn in the stroller to give me some more support, but I can definitely feel how my hips and joints are super loose now being 6 months along. 

We enjoyed a few days of cooler weather, and had our first snow of the season.  We spent the day cozied up inside playing and reading.

A few days before Halloween we carved (and drilled) our pumpkins.  Finn seemed to really dig the idea of pumpkins, and would wake up every morning and find the pumpkins out on the porch.

The weather warmed up the week of Halloween so we took advantage and took some walks to play in the leaves.

 Finn especially loved throwing them up in the air.  I discovered on this walk how incredibly "BUSY" he has become.  I turned around to put the phone back in the stroller, and turned back to find Finn attempting to get himself down into the canal (thankfully no longer full of water).  I screamed and ran getting his attention, which successfully stopped him in his tracks but had him in tears because I was yelling.  I grabbed him and hugged him saying I was sorry, but explained how dangerous it was he was trying to do.  Needless to say, I'm keeping an even closer eye on this kid of late.

 We had our annual Sullivan Halloween party filled with good food, games, hay ride, treasure hunt, bon fire, and spooky movie.  Finn and Kay are stoked for the hay ride!

Like I said before...this kid has become very busy lately so it's hard to get a picture of him being still.  I got a picture of his dragon tail...it was my favorite part of his costume that and it only cost $5 to make.

Trick-or-treating was a test of endurance for Roy and I.  Finn understood what was going on, but like I said "BUSY". He wanted to get into everything, go into every one's house, eat all the candy with the wrapper on, and grab all the pumpkins of course.  We had a good time, but we called it a night by 6:30.  We came home and had homemade soup and bread, and afterwards Roy went to work fixing a toy for Finn.  Finn cannot resist a chance to work with dads tools!  We both loved how he climbed up onto the table and got on his belly to have a better angle in which to help dad...to cute!

Finally we welcomed in November with a sick day (a mom sick day=a day in pajamas for Finn as well).  We spent the whole day watching Curious George and recouping.  Not the ideal day, but as my sister said, every kid needs a good TV day every once in awhile, but we aren't going to make a habit of it.

.nesting.

Week 28 update:

The further along I get with this pregnancy, the more different it's becoming.  With Finn I waited and waited for my nesting instinct to kick in.  I was waiting to feel all those urges to clean, organize, and prepare.  But I waited in vain, because it never came.  I think if it hadn't been for all the showers we would have been very under prepared in the way of diapers, wipes, and other little things needed for Finns arrival.  And I never got around to deep cleaning my house, or cooking all those frozen meals in preparation either.  I thought perhaps, I just wasn't the nesting type.
But folks I'm here to tell you I am!  For the past month I haven't been able to stop myself from making lists, organizing, and cleaning like mad.   I find very real satisfaction and comfort in knowing that my floor boards (which I've NEVER cleaned) are dusted, and that our office desk has been organized for the 2nd time this month.  Or that there are large amounts of diapers and wipes on order with Amazon.  It's a little bit crazy but, nesting...it's real...I'm living proof of it!

.fall walks.

With the weather finally changing over to the cooler range these past few weeks, my walks have become more frequent.  With my internal temperature ranging around 120 degrees these days, the summer did not see many walks from me.  Finn and I have especially taken advantage of our Saturday mornings, as we are often stuck without the car for part of the day.  Today was just beautiful after the rain and wind of yesterday.  The leafs down here are still in their fall limbo with some trees turned completely yellow or red, others only a few branches, and some still in full summer green.  This morning there was a distinct smell of fall in the air...kind of that sweet smell of decay as the gardens are cycling back the old squashes, tomatoes, and other such things.  As I walked I talked to Finn about how  when I was little I would spend hours out in our garden gathering the old produce that lay on the ground.  I loved to pretend to make all sorts of glorious food with all the old zucchinis and crookneck that had grown to large for harvest.  I'm sure my mother was none to happy with here measuring cups and bowls along with assorted utensils (that probably are still scattered around her yard) being taken out and filled with mud and other exotic ingredients.  But those fall days are some of my fondest memories that I could vividly recall with just a simple smell.  It was a good walk!

.seasonal goodness.

I've made no slight hint at the fact that Fall is indeed my favorite season of the year.  In fact the only thing I dislike is the short amount of time I get to enjoy it.  Perhaps it's better that way, because it makes me appreciate the few weeks I do get of autumn.
With our canyon leaf harvesting done, we moved onto pumpkin picking.  We spent a night out in the pumpkin patch mulling over the best gourds, and choosing just the right ones.  I found a nice squat round one, Finn picked an oblong medium one, and of course Roy chose the largest one that he could manage to pick up.  On our way to purchase our selection, I noticed a section that had all the gnarly, disfigured, and odd colored pumpkins that are worth more for their uniqueness.  I found a perfectly peared shaped gourd that was just begging to be bought by one who shared in it's likeness all to well.  So it was determined that the first pumpkin I chose would be representing baby M on our porch this year.  As was expected, Finn enjoyed the haystacks, and tractors much more then the actual pumpkins.

Of course we had to finish off the night with a pumpkin shake (and when I say we, I really mean me and Finn since Roy is a no go on the ice cream...especially pumpkin flavored).  I know Finn is still really too young to get or understand all that we are doing, but I want to make it magical and fun for him just the same, because that is what this time of year is to me.  Roy, as always is such a patient man with all of the things I want to do, especially since he could really care less about it all.  He knows it's important to me and so often times just asks what I want to do.  But, I've discovered that Roy is pretty much in heaven when Finn is having a good time.  So it works for both of us!

.life goes on.

I was so excited that today was the first day of October.  We went up to the Zoo this past weekend and had a good time with our cousins, Lucas and Emory.  After the zoo we drove over to Millcreek for a picnic lunch a view of some of the fall color.  The kids gathered hundreds of leaves...some pale pink, and golden yellow, while others were crispy brown or lip stick red.

 
With our little outing, I had great plans to deck the house in all things fall and get myself in the autumn state of mind today.  I put a cider scent block in the scentsy and cleaned in preparation.  But the day has worn on, and after a VERY long trip to the grocery store with a whiny toddler, and with the weather in the high 80's today, my energy and motivation have been sapped.  So instead of decorating for fall, I put Finn in the high chair with his crayons so I could sit with my ice water and blog.

Speaking of that Finn of mine...
We had an unusual occurrence this past week with our netflix.  Roy was on Thursday adding some movies and adjusting the order of the queue.  We thought we knew what we were opening up when the red envelope came in the mail on Saturday, but upon opening the pouch, we discovered a surprise..."Big Trains, Little Trains".  Since Roy and I both had not placed that DVD in our queue, our only assumption is that Finn must have managed some trickery with the blue ray while we weren't looking.  It turned out to be a movie that he most emphatically enjoyed!

I had an appointment with my mid-wife this past week and baby M is sounding stellar and moves for all to see.  Two things noted at the appointment is that she is in a breech position (which I see no point in telling me except to make me worry), and that I have excellent abdominal tone.  I don't know quite what that means, but being pregnant with what I assumed as zero tone...it made me happy.

No matter her position, baby M is definitely not staying quiet.  I have discovered that if I drink any amount of caffeine before bed, she will indeed keep me up most of the night.  I've also had a few bouts of heart burn, but I haven't figured out what food seems to be the trigger yet.

Roy seems beyond busy these days with work, callings, and skating.  When he is home though, he and Finn our inseparable.  He stayed with Finn while I went to women's conference this weekend, and I came home to discover the house in total disarray and told that the men had eaten meatballs and popcorn with orange juice for dinner.  Not exactly what I had in mind when I planned dinner, but it doesn't happen all that often so I let it slide with only a few words of exasperation.  As for the house, well of course daddy had to make every room a fun zone.  Oh well, the house is now cleaned, and I know that those boys of mine had a rumpus good time.  Next time though, I think I'll be a bit more specific about my expectations for dinner and messes.