Category: around here

I love – love – weekends where I don’t have plans. Most of the time plans are fun, but there’s nothing like free time. This weekend was good like that. If I could, I would start every Saturday this way:

Wake up to a smiling baby ready to play. It’s early, but it’s okay because I went to bed early too.

First things first. Have a cup of coffee and some breakfast while I read for a little while. Baby is playing happily on the ground.

Get some laundry started. Meredith amuses herself – who needs a fancy water table when you have the toilet?

Go for a run. It’s not too hot out yet and best not to put it off. :)

Have some play time at home while I cool off – mirrors are loads of fun!

Do the weekly chores. Quickly clean the kitchen and sweep the floors while Meredith chomps on some puffies. I can enjoy the weekend so much  more if I get this stuff done right away.

Cook some blueberry & sausage pancake rollups. They don’t photograph well but sure are yummy!

Later we visited a book sale and I got several board books for cheap, continued work on the bedside table I’m redoing with my dad, and had dinner with David’s parents at Steak ‘N’ Shake. Sunday we visited a new church, went shopping for household sundries, I got some craft time in, and we spent the evening at home together chatting and working on a puzzle.

I’m recharged and ready for the week!

I have two awesome younger brothers, David and Barry. David is only 14 months younger than I am, while Barry and I are separated by 3 1/2 years. They are best friends, and while I don’t see or talk to them as much as I’d like, we still have a great time together and lots of wonderful memories.

David always said he’d be a lifelong bachelor. He claimed he was too selfish to get married. My husband told him over and over that all he needed was the right girl, and he’d change his mind. He was right. Basically, my brother is a walking cliche.

He and Maggie got engaged earlier this spring, and their wedding was a couple weekends ago. They wanted something small, laid-back, without all of the traditional rituals. I think they pulled it off wonderfully.

Now for some pictures! Once again, my aunt took all of these. I was too distracted. Thanks, Marchar!

This is the little outfit Meredith wore to the rehearsal:

They had a bunch of props out for the photobooth, and since my brother is a South Carolina grad, this was one of them.

Later at the rehearsal dinner Maggie’s sister’s daughter Stella (now David’s niece too) was fascinated by Meredith. She’s 2 1/2 years old. She wanted to hold Meredith, so I set them up but kept my hand there for safety. Stella took my hand and pushed it away and said, “Take your hand off.” She wanted to do it all by herself!

The newly-married couple! Maggie looked amazing.

My youngest brother Barry gave such an amazing Best Man speech. I wanted him to keep going! It was personal, funny, touching, and emotional. Seriously, some girl needs to snatch him up. When I got married he wrote me a 3-page letter full of memories. He brought Meredith a birthday gift in the hospital and makes special trips to see her. He’s sensitive, hilarious, and extremely smart. Any takers??

And of course, here’s Meredith in her wedding outfit. Their colors were black and red, so it was perfect.

Getting tired.

After a week of being sick and a weekend full of family and festivities, we were relieved to get back to our regular routine last week and enjoy a low-key weekend at home.

My due date is ten days away, and I’ve realized that it’s only my demanding job with an hour-plus-long commute that makes me feel desperate to give birth. I’m still really enjoying my weekends, when I get to relax and prepare. I would love to deliver this week for several reasons, but as of this moment I don’t feel like that will happen and I’m psyching myself up for another full week of work. I see my doctor tomorrow, so we’ll see what the plan is.

Yesterday I decided to document my day in pictures, and this is something I’d like to continue from time to time. So here’s what I did!

(All pictures taken with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. They are pretty terrible but I never claimed to be a photographer!)

9:00 a.m. – Breakfast, with a little reading on the side.

10:15 a.m. – Waxing appointment. Ouch!

11:30 a.m. – I accidentally got locked out of the house for a bit, so I took the opportunity to do some reading. :)

12:45 p.m. – Working on the blog and catching up online.

1:15 p.m. – Getting ready to go out with David. None of these clothes is maternity! A medium shirt from Gap and a stretchy skirt from H&M.

2:00 p.m. – We went and saw an afternoon showing of Super 8 and loved it!

4:30 p.m. – Working on the never-ending task of thank-you notes! I can only do a few at a time because of the difficulties I have with my hands.

6:00 p.m. – Dinner at Los Cucos with David’s family, yum.

7:30 p.m. – Watching my new favorite TV show, Secrets From a Stylist with Emily Henderson. She’s adorable (tweets and blogs, which I love) and has great ideas for the home!

8:00 p.m. – My foot gets a little love from Cleo. :)

9:30 p.m. – Reading in bed, my nightly ritual.

10:34 p.m. – Lights out!

Yesterday was a really nice day. I got a few things done, went on a few outings, and was even a little productive! Today I’ve been doing boring things like cleaning and preparing for the week, but I’m making sure to take breaks and as a bonus I have a massage this evening. :)

How was your weekend?

>I’ve been struggling a lot with energy and various discomforts, especially at work. I’ll update more thoroughly when I do my 36-week pregnancy post, but suffice it to say that I am wondering how I’ll make it four more weeks of working as a nurse full time.

>I’ve had three baby showers (a major one for family & friends, one at work, and a small one at my craft club) and have two more scheduled (at my husband’s work and at church). We have so much baby stuff now! There are only a couple major things left that would be nice to have. The nursery is completely disorganized and I really want to whip it into shape, but I rarely have the energy to do more than walk in there, take a look around, and walk out again.

>I’m still recapping The Bachelorette, and I’ve been trying to catch up with old TV shows that I’m sadly behind on. Right now it’s Glee, and next I’m thinking I’ll go back to 30 Rock. We’ve been under-utilizing Netflix and I want to remedy that. At least I’m not discontinuing it until after maternity leave is over! Also, I’m watching So You Think You Can Dance for the first time. So far I like it!

>I got about a hundred pages behind on the Infinite Jest read-along that Ashley is hosting. I blame it on the wacky page numbering of the ebook version. So I’ve been attempting to get caught up. By the way, I really like the book.

>My life consists of surviving each work day, spending the evenings collapsed in a lump on the couch reading or watching TV (the only activities that aren’t hard on my hands or body; blogging is difficult because of the carpal tunnel), eating whatever we have on hand no matter how unhealthy, trying to be more comfortable, thinking about preparing for Meredith’s arrival, and various other social engagements including church, family, and friend stuff when I can manage it.

>I’m just really ready to have this baby.