twenty-five-week-belly.

I'm starting to feel like I'm all belly.
And it's only gonna get bigger.

I've been reading this book on childbirth the past few days.

Ina May Gaskin is like, the midwife. She has attended the birth of nearly 3,000 babies

and even has a maneuver named after her.

She's definitely a major hippy, along with her husband and fellow midwives, she's lived in a

co-op village called "the Farm" in Tennessee since the 70's.

But hey, who says you can't learn some things from the hippies?

The material in this book may be too much for the stomach of some,

 but I'm honestly finding it really helpful.

I remember being 8 years old and watching a movie with my parents, 

in this movie a woman must have given birth

and was portraying excruciating pain, 

I was so frightened that I couldn't sleep that night and ended up running to my mother in

the middle of the night balling saying I could never have kids.

I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but this book has already helped ease some fears

and actually helped me to look forward to this baby boy's birth.

Jonny's got a book too! He hasn't started reading it yet but it's all about coaching child birth.

I have a feeling he's gonna get a real kick out of it, 

and hopefully a few pointers too.

The first half of Ina May's book is all birth stories. 

And I'm now finding myself daydreaming about bringing our little guy home! 

March seems so far away,

but in reality I know it will be here before we know it!

embrace the camera

into the swing of things.

We've been back from our trip to Missouri/Arkansas for two days now.

It is always hard to get back into the swing of things

when you've spent days just lounging around, 

eating yummy turkey

(and stuffing, and casseroles, and salads, and rolls, and pies).

Oh my.

 We had a great time seeing both of our families and are looking forward to 

doing it again in less than a month for Christmas. 

I was horrible about taking pictures this time for some unknown reason 

and I only caught a few on my phone.

Christmas will be different.

Christmas will be different.

(Just gotta keep telling myself that.)

But back in Louisville, 

Jonny is studying hard and finishing up a paper.

He has finals this week, and a big paper due on Thursday. 

That night we will celebrate by going to a Getty's Christmas concert!

Festive.

I've been writing Christmas cards and getting things organized.

I'm 24 weeks pregnant today. 

I know that still leaves quite a while before the baby's here,

but I just love thinking he'll be here soon!

We keep acquiring things for baby boy, our bedroom already looks like he is here! 

merry and bright.

We are well into the holiday season around here.

We decided to put the tree up, ohhh about two weeks ago today.

ha.

I don't know what came over Jonny, 

Halloween happened and he said to me, 

"I guess we could put the tree up anytime now."

Whoa.

What?

Um... ya... okay, let's do it! 

He had been telling me we definitely couldn't put it up until after my birthday, Nov. 7th.

But my man musta been feelin' festive.

It's pretty funny, 

when our tree goes up, 

its a pretty sure shot that if you're looking for either of us, 

you can find us in the living room

admiring it's glow

and singing

"Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree"

(okay, the singing is an exaggeration...but nothing else).

We got a new loveseat too, which makes the living room extra cozy.

Let the Christmas movie marathons begin!

Do you have any favorite Christmas movies? 

We're open to suggestions!

I know a lot of you are probably thinking, she. is. nuts. But hear me out here, 

we're out of town for Thanksgiving, visiting family. 

And we're visiting family again for two weeks at Christmas/New Year's

so really I'm not nuts.

Just trying to maximize our time under the glow of the tree guys....that's all!

And one day, when we don't travel for the holidays but family comes to our house, 

we'll give Thanksgiving a real chance, 

promise.

embrace the camera

hanging out in the great smokey mountains.

This weekend Jonny took me to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. 

We've been wanting to visit since we've lived in Louisville

and my wonderful husband figured my 24th birthday would be just the occasion.

We left Friday afternoon and got back Sunday night.

It was such a fun weekend.

We soaked up, what very well may be, our last getaway as just the two of us.

Our little BOY should be here in March.

I cannot even explain to you how much I laughed and smiled over the weekend, 

we just had a great time together.

This semester has been incredibly hectic, we both have busy schedules 

and on a good week are fortunate to spend one night at home together. 

So a whole weekend of uninterrupted time with my best friend was perfect.

(Try to ignore the fact that my coat is now too small, thanks to baby boy.)

Before you get into the actual park there is a town called Gatlinburg.

It's a quaint town full of neat shops and touristy things; 

just before you get into Gatlinburg there is a town called Pigeon Forge.

That place is the equivalent of Branson, Missouri,

full of cheesy shows, go carts, restaurants and other things that suck your money.

But, finally you reach nature, preserved from the gimmicks of man

 and it is an overwhelming breath of fresh air.

 

We saw at least 30 turkeys, 

And a bear cub napping in a tree. 

Well...let me rephrase that. I saw the bear cub.

Jonny forgot his glasses!

*Just a little FYI*

The Great Smokey Mountains are home to the second tallest peak in the eastern United States.

And lest you think we didn't document baby boy's trip to the Smokey's, 

think again.

He managed to show up quite obviously in this silhouette!

Ahh, the mountain breeze was so refreshing and the views weren't too bad either.

boy or girl?

??????

It's finally here.

Tomorrow morning at 8:00 we have an ultrasound apt. to find out if 

this little bitty bundle is a 

boy or a girl

and I just don't think either of us will sleep we're so excited to find out!

I say all the time, 

"This is going to change our lives forever"

and Jonny's like, "Uh ya, we're having a baby!"

but tomorrow we'll know forever if our first child is a 

 girl or a boy

That's sort of wonderful to try to wrap my head around.

Lots of people ask if I have any intuition as to whether its a

boy or a girl

and I have absolutely no idea. 

(That's why we're so excited about tomorrow)

And most of all we are thankful that the Lord would give us such a good gift.

We don't deserve any of his blessings and yet,  

he continually pours them out on us.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

my quotable husband.

Just so you know, as I write there's beef stew on the stove. 

This beef stew smells amazing, and the aroma is filling the whole apartment.

 I kinda feel bad I'm the only one who's experiencing it right now.

But I'll get to the point of this post now,

I want to take some time to share some of the funny things Jonny has said lately. 

I don't want to forget these quotes,  so I figure if I put them on the interweb, 

I can be reminded of them every now-and-again, 

and smile almost as big as I did the first time I heard them.

Quote #1

If you know Jonny, you know he likes cookies, right?

Well, I haven't made him cookies in a good while.

(**Today I did make 9 dozen chocolate chip cookies but they were for my students...not Jonny.)

However, the other day I had made some chocolate popcorn, and he quickly finished an entire (BIG) bowl! 

To this he said, 

"I like treats, so make me treats, but with treats...treat me like a dog. Just portion some to me in a bowl everyday but keep the rest in a secret place."

No joke.

So since then I've been trying to hide "treats"

but he found some in the in the dishwasher that we never use, I need to find a better spot.

Quote #2

On Monday nights Jonny makes dinner because we have to leave for 

a class we're taking 15 minutes after I get home from work.

This past Monday night, the meal was particularly bland.

As we noticed it's blandness Jonny blurted out, 

"Over the next 50 years while I'm trying to master Hebrew, will you master the spice cabinet and know to add a bit of this, and a bit of that so that I can have a party on my tongue every night!?"

Really?

How can I say "no" when he words it like that?

...

I married a man who makes me laugh all the time. 

Even when he doesn't mean to.

Like today, when I received this text message.

Totally thought he was talking about a family called the Walker's.

But no...

He makes me smile.

And I just realized this post reminds me of this one.

busy getting bigger.

So the month of September came and went, 

It's already the middle of October now, 

things get pretty around here in the fall.

These are the trees that line a nearby street.

Even though Fall is beautiful, I did listen to Christmas music today...don't judge. 

(***I have the the best husband who knows how to get me smiling, 

and sends me links to recommended Christmas cd's on Amazon.)

We are currently negotiating a date to put up the Christmas tree.

I have so much more energy now than I did during the first trimester.

We've been waiting for this to happen.

And by "we" I mean Jonny. 

The poor guy probably thought I was never going to bake or clean again.

Pretty much every morning now I say to him,

"I'm definitely bigger than yesterday."

To which he raises his eyebrows in agreement.

My next appointment is Monday, pretty sure I will finally be over my pre-pregnancy weight.

At the first two appointments I weighed under my weight, 

I've always weighed the same, since like age 15.

Then I dropped in early pregnancy, 

because. I. hated. food.

But these days I'm embracing change in the belly region,

(and I'm hungry all the time).