Becoming Mommy: 26 & 27

These weeks have been fantastic!! Spring is HERE, and the day we get to hold sweet girl in our arms is rapidly approaching! We had wonderful dinner with friends from church :) My brother and his lovely wife came into town for a fun weekend visit. We earned a living working! And God was as good as ever!

Cravings: I have craved a lot of sweets. I have a natural sweet tooth anyway, so really it has just been heightened by pregnancy! My favorites are Frostys and pretty much any ice cream ever.

Aversions: Nothing! This has been proven by my weight gain ;)

Baby size: Lettuce- Rutabaga

Recent Emotional Feelings: I haven't really felt one way or another, but my feelings have gotten more extreme. If I'm irritated, it escalates to mad rather quickly. I also notice I fixate my feelings on some things for longer than usual. Normally I get mad and can mellow out pretty fast. Recently, I will get mad and just let it stew in my brain until I call my mom and talk about it over and over again until she finally stops giving me pity, and I learn it's time to move on.

Recent Physical Feelings: I felt pretty great for week 26, but almost as soon as week 27 (third trimester) hit, I felt the EXHAUSTED feelings from that beautiful first trimester. I really don't mind because it's just another "Hello, you're truly having a baby" reminder, but I know that as my nesting instincts kick in it will frustrate me.

Things I’m most looking forward to in pregnancy: I am actually looking forward to birth. I am well-aware that I don't have a realistic view of it yet because of course it's going to be a brand new experience. With that being said, I think it's going to be neat to look back on it and realize how creatively God designed our bodies from a new perspective. While I do believe childbirth will be ridiculously painful, every mother says that it pales in comparison to the reward you receive at the end of it all. I *almost* tear up thinking about Andrew getting to hold Jane Capri for the first time. He claims all newborns are ugly and gross, but I look forward to seeing his perspective shift when he sees just how beautiful she is. Although, he might only admit it once the image of the blood and guts of it all have exited his brain!

Things I’m most looking forward to when baby arrives: This may sound selfish, but I can't wait to get my body back. I don't really mean lose all the weight and look thin again, but I just want to be able to move quickly without worrying that my lack of balance and coordination could result in a fall that could hurt my baby, not just me. I can be somewhat reckless with myself, and I don't like thinking I could hurt my baby. And by reckless I mean that I jump to get things down from my closet or stand on really unsteady objects to reach something; that's about the extent of my reckless activities.

Best moment of the week: I think the best moment of the week was during my quiet time one morning. I was just kind of reading my Bible and devotional and for some reason God laid on my heart to read Psalm 127. I absolutely love the Psalms and honestly couldn't remember what this Psalm was about, but I read it anyway. Here is what it says : "

¹ Unless the Lord builds the house,
    the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain.
² In vain you rise early
    and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
    for he grants sleep to those he loves.

³ Children are a heritage from the Lord,
    offspring a reward from him.
⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
    are children born in one’s youth.
⁵ Blessed is the man
    whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
    when they contend with their opponents in court."
I just kind of sat there in wonderment of Jesus and how beautifully He orchestrates life. It's funny because I have thought so much about our home lately and what we are truly building it on. We do our best to build it on Christ, but we fall short and attempt to re-work our foundation into financial stability, relational peace, or job security sometimes. As I have mentioned before, many people have outwardly and inwardly criticized our ages and believe that starting our family this young means that we have rushed into the mundane portion of life. These verses just reassured me that "having children born in one's youth" is a blessing that can't be matched by promotions or even *gasp* traveling. The Lord is faithful.

Andrew’s Shining Moment: You know, people say that when I see him as a father that I will love him more and sometimes, I just don't think that's possible!! He's so stinkin' loveable already! I know I gloat about him a lot, but he is truly worth gloating over. It's hard to pick one moment that stands out above the rest, but I can think of three right now. One morning he brought home a half dozen of Dunkin Donuts. Now, this is hard for him because he's a Krispy Kreme guy; I'm a Dunkin gal. He also brought home ice cream AND made some FANTASTIC pork chops for dinner one night. Also, none of the sweets were upon request. He did them both as surprises ;) The pork chops were a request that he went above and beyond to satisfy.