a Mother's Day weekend

Here are some pictures from our Mother's Day weekend. It was filled with long walks, swimming, Saturday night date night, games with friends and some solo mommy time shopping and at the hair salon:) "buggy daddy!" Abigail does not like bugs - anything that crawls, creeps or flies. I think she gets it from me!

quick catch up

It's been a while since I've blogged or posted any pictures, mostly because our routines have helped keep us moving to the summer and the birth of Baby Harms. I am now 31.5 weeks (and counting!). I'm still feeling great, though not sleeping as well as I would hope. Rodney got home last night from his annual oil convention around midnight, didn't come to bed until 1am, and then had to deal with his wife tossing and turning until 2am. Poor guy! Poor me too (but I try not to feel too sorry for myself). The day will soon be here when I'll be thankful for six consecutive hours of sleep!

Our weekly activities have all ended for the year, so next week is potty training go time! I have a couple new tricks and rewards up my sleeve. So please be praying that Abigail will have some potty success next week:)

And meanwhile, I'm nesting, which is probably not a surprise to any of my readers who have kiddos. The most wonderful thing about having green, yellow and neutral baby gear is minimal prep for #2! For the most part, I am a frugal minimalist, so I don't really have a ton to do or buy. But I have made my life easier and added a couple additional items to my baby gear. I just made one of my final pre-baby #2 purchases (newborn cloth diapers) :) I think I'm now an official cloth diapering addict; it's quite amusing how much research and joy I have planning to cloth diaper another little one:)

With all that said, I'm thrilled that next week, my hubby will have a less busy schedule (calm before the storm). And the weekend and relaxation is right around the corner.

And as a sidenote:My husband did NOT get into the water. I guess he wanted me to get as much use out of my maternity swimsuit as possible:)

a great weekend!

Rodney was gone most of the week but home for Good Friday. Our friends, Patrick and Rachel, also joined us for the first half of the weekend, and we enjoyed church, long walks, good food, the pool and late night talks. It had been a long time since we had "caught up". Abigail kept saying, "PatrickRachel (one word) coming soon!" And then after they got here it was, "PatrickRachel," "PatrickRachel," over and over and over again.

Here is a good belly picture of me at 30 weeks. I am praying that the baby will be here sometime in the next eight or nine weeks (so that I can have a no complications VBAC). I'm still feeling great!

Here is a picture of all of us at the park. Rodney set the camera up on the jungle bars with the timer:)

Sunday we enjoyed celebrating Easter with more of our Texas friends over brunch after the first service at church and an early dinner at our home later in the day. I made a feast of roasted pork loin, sweet au gratin potatoes, homemade rosemary bread, and steamed fresh green beans. Yum! We finished it off with a dessert buffet. We had 3/4 of a key lime pie left from Saturday and two friends brought Vegan Coconut Cookies and angel food cake with fresh strawberries.

catching up with friends

Some of our Peoria/Dallas friends popped by for Saturday afternoon, dinner and evening games and dessert. It was so good to catch up and hear about their fast approaching plans to leave for the mission field. We met Lori and John before they were married, and it's so encouraging to see how God has faithfully carried them to this point as they look to serve him not just here in the USA but overseas as well. soli deo gloria!!!

"Since you're not walking yet, I'll come down to your level!"

our favorite walk and other happenings...

Abigail has currently been boycotting her afternoon nap, and I have been more and more tired with each passing day. Unfortunately, these two make a rather frustrating combination. I do try to make the most of my tired afternoons. and yesterday, I took Abigail to the pool for the first time. It will not be the last. Thankfully, I LOVE my new maternity swimming suit, and I'll be beautifully sun kissed when the baby arrives this summer.

Now that our daylight hours have increased, we've been taking advantage of walks after dinner (which makes for a very tired but happy little girl). We walk along the bayou of our apartment, often stop at a small park, and let Abigail run/walk/meander home on the last leg of her pre bathtime journey.

Here is a blurry picture of our sleepy girl after her meandering became too slow even for her pregnant mommy.

And if you have any advice on getting a toddler to take a nap, I'm desperate...

:)

some saturday photos

routines

We've had several weeks of routine - Monday errands, Tuesday church study, BSF Wednesdays, and the rest of the week to fill with trips to the library and park, lunch dates, long walks, cooking and more errands (oh and the almost daily laundry and house upkeep!). Routine keeps me sane, especially when my husband has long days at the office or on the road. He was actually in Calgary this week for work, and I'm starting to miss him even more during bathtime. My 26 week old belly is starting to make simple tasks more challenging:)

Abigail thrives on routine as much as I do. She asks everyday to go to BSF "BFee", "see pool", "go slide", "grocery shopping", and "go outside". Our summer schedule will be here in about 5 weeks, which is hard to believe, which means I need to find a maternity swimming suit! We went on a walk and visited the pool yesterday, where we blew bubbles and thought about jumping in. The water gets warmer by the day, and it won't be long until we'll blow bubbles and swim in the pool.