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36 weeks

Symptoms: Unpredictable ravishing heartburn. Braxton-Hicks contractions almost every time I walk or move very much, starting from the moment I step out of bed. Fatigue, naturally. Floating rib. Inflammation in between my ribs. Some random numbness and tingling to the inside of my mouth and lips, although the jury is still out on whether or not that’s pregnancy-related. Nothing serious or unbearable, just normal stuff that is making me very ready and excited to have this baby.

Medical stuff: I am 1 cm dilated and 25% effaced. I know that doesn’t mean a whole lot, but I’m glad that at lease something is happening.

Movement: Nearly constant. Mostly pressure but sometimes kicks that hurt me. I can really feel his little hands and feet sometimes now! So cool. And his head is down so he is in position!

Clothes: Same stuff. Scrubs are getting kinda tight and I desire maternity pairs, but it’s not worth it to buy them now. I pretty much wear the same outfits over and over because at this point even a lot of maternity tops are too short.

Preparation: We have done some things! We have a new dresser for our room, the old one is moved to the guest room, and I finally went through all of Meredith’s clothes so that half of the dresser in her room has baby boy stuff in it. The rest of the nursery is reorganized too and now there is room on the shelves and in the closet. I would still like to make the room a little more gender neutral but that probably won’t truly happen until maternity leave when I have a bit of time. We decided on a name. I have commissioned my brother to make a birth announcement template so that I just have to plug in details, photos, and then have them printed once he arrives. And I guess that’s all we’ve done, but I feel like we could bring a baby into the house at this point and be fine (except we don’t have any newborn diapers yet). Still have a few things left to get in order.

Also: My doctor is going out of town on my due date for four days, so we are going to do everything possible to have this baby before then. I’m sure her partners are great, but I have never seen anyone except her and she got me through the craziness of Meredith’s birth so I’d really rather have her there.

January 3, 2014
favorite books i read in 2013

This is the best wrap-up of last year that I have in me this year. It was a year, things happened, life is about to change a lot, and through it all I was reading books. Here are my favorites.

The Passage by Justin Cronin: This is not the kind of book that I would normally just pick up, but it was a book club pick and I’m so glad. To me, it had it all and I got seriously invested in the characters. This reminds me that I need to read the sequel ASAP.

Abhorsen by Garth Nix: Just one of the best and most unique young adult fantasy series I’ve ever read, and the awesomeness of this finale to the trilogy can’t be overstated. I highly recommend the audio version.

Katherine by Anya Seton: If all historical fiction were like this, I would read so much more of it. I just loved it all even though it had a lot of tragic parts.

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin: A large part of my year was spent reading the first three of this series that starts with A Game of Thrones. I liked it right away, but it took me about halfway into the first book to really love it. After that I was all in. This third in the series was the best yet and it prompted many heated discussions with fellow fans at work.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed: I read this memoir in two days, which is super fast for me. It has adventure and emotion and fantastic writing, and it made me want to be better.

Honorable mentions: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (I finally conquered it and it was so great, way better than I expected, except for the boring parts about whaling that I had to skim), Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (it just gets better and better and by the end I wanted to start it over from the beginning), and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (super interesting fantasy with outstanding narration if you listen to the audio).

Have you read any of these? What were the best books you read this year?

January 2, 2014
what i read : october to december 2013

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy: This is a fun read for October because it’s a little bit dark but not too heavy. It takes place mostly in our world’s Dublin and the magic is unknown to most people. The characters are different and interesting. (3 stars, audiobook)

ArchEnemy (Looking Glass Wars #3) by Frank Beddor: A fun and satisfying conclusion to this spinoff series of Alice in Wonderland. (4 stars, audiobook)

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean: There’s tons of interesting stuff here but I was hoping it’d be heavier on the anecdote side and lighter on the science detail side but that wasn’t the case. If you’re really into chemistry or physics you’d probably enjoy this but I’ve never taken a physics class and it’s been near ten years since I’ve taken a chemistry class and about half this book was over my head. (2 stars)

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: I loved this. A different sort of fantasy than I usually read, with a focus on psychics and supernatural energy and lay lines. There are a lot of likable and interesting characters. No real resolution in this first installation, but it also wasn’t completely unsatisfactory. I definitely look forward to reading the next, and I will definitely do the audio because Will Patton as narrator is amazing. (4 stars, audiobook)

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin: SO MUCH HAPPENS. It is the best of the series so far. Parts of it were shocking and took me days to recover from. I am enjoying all the storylines right now and like to think about how they will intersect each other. (5 stars)

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale: Sweet and satisfying. Love the full cast audio. (4 stars, audiobook)

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg: All of the characters are vivid and likeable. Daisy Fay has a strong voice and is extremely endearing. This is a really easy read and I enjoyed it all. (4 stars)

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn: One of the editors of Book Riot talks a lot about how she’s been reading a lot of romance over the past year because she wasn’t previously familiar with the genre. I guess she got me interested in seeing what it was like because I had never read a romance novel before so I decided to for the heck of it. I don’t have anything to really compare this one too, but it was a fun escape and pretty much what I expected. (3 stars)

I’m also so close to finishing Longbourn by Jo Baker which is awesome, but I didn’t quite make it. Soon I’ll share with you my favorite reads of the year so stay tuned!

December 31, 2013
project life 2013 : weeks 46 – 47

Everywhere lately I’m seeing Project Lifers post pictures of their 2014 title pages, and I wish I was at that point but I’m just not and that’s okay! Here is another spread for you of what I do have done.

This is from November 11 – 24. It includes an insert for a day in the life, and it appears I didn’t take a photo of the full spread without the insert. Oh well. :)

Really simple as usual. Mixing in cards from the seafoam and midnight core kits, photos with very little embellishing, and some extra journaling.

Here is the insert I did for day in the life. I posted these pics on Instagram so for the journaling I just included the time and my captions from that on plain white cardstock. I added a fabric tab and that’s that!

Since I am still caught up with editing and ordering photos I know it won’t be too hard to finish out this year’s album, and I am excited to start on the next. I am still finalizing what method I will use, but I don’t expect much to change unless it involves simplifying the whole thing even more. :)

It’s going to be a great week, okay? Okay!

December 30, 2013
quick takes (christmas 2013 edition)
one

So we had a really great Christmas. I’ll tell you about it briefly in a minute. But first, we had a comically bad Christmas Eve night. Being 35 weeks pregnant with a toddler and working full-time during the holiday season, I just knew that I was going to have a breakdown at some point and it happened. We were trying to do too much, making it to my brother’s church (45 min away) at 6pm after work, and then I really wanted to drive to look at the lights in the fancy neighborhood nearby even though it was practically bedtime and Meredith was crying and neither of us had eaten and I was super tired and uncomfortable. So I didn’t let that go soon enough and we ended up missing multiple exits on the freeway to get home and there was yelling and crying (by Meredith AND me) and it was just bad. So that’s out of the way, and hopefully I can make it the next five weeks without a repeat.

two

Christmas Day, though, was great. A nice and slow morning just Meredith and me while David slept in, then my family trickled over. Meredith was thrilled with all the company and has never been happier. We ate good breakfast food and opened gifts all together. Late in the afternoon Meredith went down easily for a nap. While she slept we tidied up the house, took some photos, and said goodbye to everyone. Then not long later the three of us headed over to David’s brother’s house for more gifts and a big dinner. It was all so much fun and not too crazy, and the only bad part was that I had to wake up and go to work the next day.

For the record, Meredith’s favorite gifts (that day, anyway) were the stickers in her stocking, a book of the Christmas story that my mom recorded herself reading, and her new baby doll and stroller. Not only did she want to sleep with her baby, but the stroller had to come into our bed too. So I think it was a hit.

three

The aftermath of Christmas is that Meredith’s room (which is also going to be baby brother’s nursery) is a complete wreck. New toys and clothes are everywhere and I’m out of room to put stuff. I’m also getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute and running out of energy to do anything at all, so thank goodness for good friends (hi Lauren!!) who agree to come over and help organize. This is a huge goal for this weekend, and if I can get it accomplished then I’ll feel so much more sane and prepared.

four

Let’s talk about some creative things for a minute. Not that I am making much progress on anything, but thinking about it and planning makes me happy. Here are the projects on my mind:
- Project Life. Status: I have pages completed through November 24. Past that I am up to date on editing and ordering photos (which I think is the hardest part) and I have my notes all in one place. So I think I’m in good shape to get caught up soon. As of now I think I am going to keep doing next year’s album the same way I have been, but I’m not ordering a new core kit because I still have a lot left. When I get around to making a title page for the next album I will share with you more plans.
- Holiday minibook. Status: Haven’t started yet, but I have all my photos ordered and the supplies & ephemera are gathered in one place. I also have a list of ideas for journaling that I want to include. I am not sure when this will get put together yet but it will happen.
- Cross stitching. Status: I haven’t been able to stitch in quite awhile. I have two projects in progress: a pretty Victorian flower and an autumn sampler. The flower comes next because it was started first and I’m far into it. After that I want to stitch a little birth thing for the babe, and then I’ll turn back to the sampler. It’s also a goal of mine to organize all my floss during maternity leave (I got this system for Christmas from my mom which I’m really excited about).
- Master bedroom. Status: I got a curtain rod and curtains hung which makes me very happy. There is still a long way to go in this space but the next things I’d really like to do are get rid of the TV, replace the blinds, and make or acquire a second bedside table.
five

I won’t be doing any recaps of the year or any resolutions/goals for 2014. I just can’t right now. I love that kind of thing and I can’t wait to read everyone else’s, but I have no idea what my life will look like in a couple of months. Right now I am thinking of doing seasonal goal-setting instead, starting in the spring. We’ll see. In the meantime I am going to keep truckin’ along, praying for energy daily, and hopefully ending up with a healthy baby in a little over a month.

Happy Friday, friends.
December 27, 2013