38 Weeks // The Last 3 Months

Holy cow, I can't believe that the last time that we were on here was to give an update on being 27 weeks along!  That now feels like a really, really long time ago.  I figured we'd aim for one more catch up post before the baby makes his big debut and this space turns into a photo log of him sleeping. :)

Now that February is approaching, this is a great time to reflect on these past holidays, right? :)  Michael and I stayed here this year and took advantage of the extra time to relax and be together.  I had visited my family in early December and his parents visited us part way through the month, so we were fortunate to have our family-love-tanks full as we celebrated here for the first time.  Michael was working a lot the days before and after Christmas so we took the day to relax, go for a drive, and do dinner with some friends.  Since this was the first Christmas that we were really independent as a family, I found myself thinking a lot more about what I want Christmas to mean for us and our children - what traditions do we want to keep and what purpose will they serve?  How can we celebrate in a way that makes the day Jesus-centered instead of presents or even family-centered?  (Which we hope will be a part of every Christmas.)  One thing that I did this year, that I would like to keep as a tradition for our kids, was bake Christmas cookies and mail them to parents and grandparents that we could not celebrate with.  Not only was it an adventure to be cooking all day, but it caused me to stop and think about each family member, pray for them and praise God for them.

Here are a few pictures that we took on our phones on Christmas.  The fog by the river was amazing!

In other news, bebe is doing so well.  Every time I tell Michael about how well he's growing or positioning he responds with "he's the best." :) His growth rate is right on target, to the centimeter.  I've been trying to coax him out of his favored posterior position, and at my last appointment my midwife said that he is LOA, an ideal position to begin labor!  We haven't reached our due date yet (and I in no way am at that point where I "just need to get that baby out of me," but just knowing that he is full grown and could come anytime is mind-blowing.

I have mixed feelings as we approach the labor.  Some days I feel really confident in mine and the baby's ability to get it done.  Other days it just seems like an overwhelming task that I've been given that I don't know if I will have the mental or physical strength to get through it.  Michael is wonderful (not that I should be surprised) in encouraging me that I will be able to do it.  And since we've taken a birth class and he understands more about the process than most, I'm willing to believe him, because he's learned how hard and miraculous of a feat it is to birth a child. :) I do have full faith in the midwives that will be assisting us.  I'm also very okay with the idea of transferring to the hospital if needed.  While we find midwifery care to be most ideal for us, I am not at all against doctors/nurses/medicine, and welcome their intervention if the time comes.

It has been a really great experience to set up the crib and arrange his space.  I can actually picture a baby living in this apartment now.  The reality of this fragile human being under our care is a little terrifying at times, but it makes me love this apartment more knowing that it will be his home, his first home outside of my body.

Full term!

It's been fun to see dad (what?) get bitten by the nesting bug too :)

A bonus shot of the belly.  I remember thinking that I may be blocking my stomach with the Bible when this picture was taken, now I see that there is no blocking that stomach these days!

Tonight we went out for Indian for dinner and saw a movie.  It's the first weekend since my birthday that we've felt well so it was fun to get out and celebrate.

One day shy of 38 weeks!  Ahhhhhh

Much love, K&M

27 Weeks

Good evening to you all!  We are coming off of a few weeks of colds, long work days, and snuggling every chance we got to keep warm.  I'm hoping that tomorrow is the beginning of one of the more "normal" weeks we've had in a while.  But for this lazy Sunday evening, M is sleeping next to me while dinner finishes up in the crock pot.  

Today marks week 27 of the pregnancy.... um, when did it start going so fast?  The holidays will be here and then our BABY will be here.  He's been moving so much lately, and on days that he doesn't, I miss him!  I think the third trimester exhaustion is starting to set in (although I can't find a consensus of when the third trimester actually starts) in that I may or may not have dozed off for about 45 seconds in church this morning.  I forgot what that all-consuming exhaustion felt like at the beginning of the pregnancy.  I remember when Michael and I were in Seattle when I was about 7 weeks along and sometimes I'd sleep in the car while he got coffee or did other things because I just couldn't. stay. awake.  I'd usually then wake up in a panic and want lemonade. 

Anyways, here is an overload of bump pictures from today.  

-K&M

Cultural Parenting

Before I was pregnant, I read and LOVED the book "Bringing Up Bebe".  It provided such keen observations about American and French cultural values, both in parenting and beyond.

I recently found an American blogger who hosted a series called Motherhood Around the World. It consisted of American mothers living in other countries sharing their observations about what is different in parenting in their current cultures opposed to the states.  Since graduating from college, I've begun to process what my place is in our family and in this world, and I've done a lot of thinking on cultural norms of wives and mothers as it pertains to career and education.  I found it especially interesting to see how other cultures value the woman's role in and/or out of the home.  It did seem though that from conservative to liberal cultures (as far as women's roles go), live in nannies are common in much of the world.  As I think about being home alone with our bebe while Michael works 11 hour days, I think I could really get used to the idea of another woman to be around to share the load, and even to have the company.  I love this section from the post on parenting in China (the link to the full article is listed below).

"Here, a nanny is called an “ayi,” which means “auntie” in Chinese, which I think is really sweet, because everyone feels like they're part of the family. She tells my girls that she loves them. I was coming from somewhere where I didn't have any help at all, so I thought, oh my gosh, I have some free time! It is a very normal thing here, and I can see why. My eyes have been opened, so to say! Moms just aren't meant to go at it alone. For some reason in the U.S., we have this huge expectation to be perfect and to accomplish that perfection all by ourselves. All those silly e-cards about stressed out moms who are drinking wine appear extra silly to me since moving to China, those moms just don't exist here. There's much more of a sense of a team effort around raising children."

A few of the other articles talked about strangers stepping in to help calm a child when he or she is throwing a tantrum in public.  I would probably find this invasive at first, but how great would it be to have this "team" mentality in a stressful situation, instead of receiving judgmental looks from others passing by?

Below are my favorite posts from the series:

Mexico

Abu Dhabi

India

China

Germany
Norway

Much love,

-K&M

23 Weeks // Portland

Today closes out week 23 of the pregnancy.  Holy cow, it is starting to fly!  I'm getting more and more excited each day.  He's been dancing around quite a lot in there, and I'm glad that he's enjoying the space while he still has it.

On the way to Portland last weekend we pulled over to take a few pictures - parts of the drive down to Portland are absolutely stunning.  

The main reason we went to Portland was for Michael to attend a coffee conference (because those exist) and a concert.  I spent most of the time exploring the city with our friends and dear hosts.  We also managed to visit one of the best baby stores and did some drooling over strollers.

Kiley and Justin, everybody.  Aren't the the cutest?

And thanks, Kiley, for the pictures. :)

-K&M

22 Weeks // Gender Reveal

So, we found out the gender of our bebe.  We didn't know that we were going to have the ultrasound until the day of, so it happened fast and nobody really knew when we found out.  It was kind of nice to have time to process learning this new fact about our little one.  Not only are we having a baby, but we are having a son.

Growing up I always wanted to have a boy first.  But then during this pregnancy, it just felt like it was a girl.  And everyone else felt like it was a girl!  Obviously none of us can know this but everyone seemed to agree.  :)  I envisioned a little girl full of giggles wearing bright colors.  As she grew I would encourage and challenge her to be a thinker, a learner, and be a voice in the culture around her. 

When we found out we were having a boy, we were a bit shocked.  Since then, in thinking about having and raising a son, I feel extremely honored. And humbled. This tiny body inside of me will grow up to be a man.  What?  And that's where my thoughts have been lately... moving from the excitement over general baby cuteness to realizing the sobering responsibility of raising a human being - a son, a boy, a man.  I feel so small. 

To close out, here's a picture of baby (boy!) papaya. :)

-K&M

20 & 21 Weeks // CdA Babymoon & Blueberry Picking

Yeah, things have been a little behind lately.  But Bebe is faithfully growing whether we are documenting or not!

Here we were at 20 weeks.

Last weekend we stayed the night in CdA, ID. While it's only a 30 minute drive away, the time to mentally unplug and not be working through a list of to-dos was really great. We found some new thrift stores and visited a new coffee shop, so the weekend had a different feel than our typical day trips.

Probably my favorite part of the trip was Sunday morning. We got up for kind of an early breakfast (more like I dragged Michael out of bed because momma was hungry) then we went back to bed for a few hours. When we woke up again late morning we drove to the beach to spend some time reading. There's just something about being by the water that is so therapeutic.

It was kind of hard to be excited about Monday after that weekend, but I think that even now we're both still enjoying the lingering effects of intentional time together.

This past weekend was spent at the apartment doing lots of reorganizing and cleaning.  The nesting bug has bitten me hard, I've been feeling the urge to clean and prepare almost since the beginning.  I'm just trying to act on those impulses now before I'm the size of a whale! :)

Anyways, we did take Sunday afternoon to journey up to Greenbluff,  this wonderful community of farms just north of Spokane.  You pick your own produce - it's fresh, delicious, and CHEAP!  I'm ready to move north just so that I can do my shopping there every week.

Bebe at 21 weeks.

  

Michael's lucky day - we found a grilled cheese food truck that served gluten free options!  I can't remember what all was on this sandwich but it included bacon, pulled pork, apples, and of course lots of cheese... 

-K&M