waiting .... thankfully!

Tomorrow is my "technical" due date.  Which, in some ways, has come very fast but in others, has taken it's pretty time.  This last week, I've been more antsy, just anticipating and hoping our little person would just come ... seriously, like yesterday! 

Though, I know there is nothing I can do to speed up the process, once again, I CAN choose to enjoy every single moment even in waiting.

If a fellow [or gal!] isn't thankful for what he's got ... 

he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get.

Frank A. Clark

Mumford & Sons is blaring in our kitchen, M'love is making his specialty for dinner (pizzas!), I just had a relaxing bath, did a crossword, my nails got a pretty color makeover from my sister this afternoon (I love gel polish!), I can see my baby dancing in me belly(!) .... at this very moment, I am so beyond just the "feeling" of joy.  I am living in a moment of thankfulness.  Thankful not only for those mentioned things, but for life's simplicity that I am blessed to witness and experience right now.  


pic pix: lil bead things we were organizing (??!!) at my sister-in-law's ... yup, the simple things! Calgary, AB, April.2012

random thoughts & things

After my breakfast (tried this french toast recipe today...yum!), a bit of cleaning up, a pleasant visit with my midwife, lunch with my beautiful friend, a long afternoon nap, grocery shopping with my sis, dinner with m'love, then the wind-down with laundry and a movie ... I now, FINALLY have time to share some written words of my string of recent/current thoughts and happenings!!  With baby's due date only 9 days away, I've been keeping myself busy busy and have been pretty quiet blogging because of it.  So, here's some of those "things" I've been busying myself with...
   

Baby of mine ...

There are limited pictures of me and this protruding belly ...  so I'm glad we took a few the other day for proof that I did actually get this big!  When I walk by a mirror, I am still in complete amazement that God actually worked out human life to happen/start this way.  It's pretty wild.  Pretty remarkable.

 

I've been on the prowl for some good book finds ... was able to pick up a few from the thrift store (along with many other treasures).  Now, if getting this baby to arrive were as easy as thrift store shopping!

Life's timing ...

Lately, I've been so thankful that there is a planned and perfect time for everything.  Had we found out we were pregnant one day then expecting the baby to arrive not even a month later ... there would've been (obviously!) no way I could have physically nor emotionally been prepared.  Being given 9 months to think about, wonder about, and begin to adjust to the preliminary grounds of becoming a parent seems hardly enough but yet, I feel like so much of me has changed and grown.  I'm ready to be mommy!   

Toy cars & cuties ...

Last Friday, I got to watch my 2 nephews and niece.  Them little smiles make my heart melt and their funny antics make my soul laugh!  And oh...they LOVE cars.

Nesting ...
I always thought it was funny, the term "nesting" - getting ready for the new baby bird to arrive.  I thought, "Really?  How much can there be to setting up your home for a newborn?".  Maybe my nesting has been different than most others (yup, I'm a nester!), but my focus hasn't so much been on baby prep stuff ... my focus has been cleaning out closets, drawers, junk, and other unnoticeable things (?).  It's all in prep for the baby, but seriously, how does my unorganized front hall closet have anything to do with baby's birth day around the corner?!?!  

Female brains, mothers' sacrifices ...

On Sunday, we celebrated my mother-in-law by way of a picnic at "our" park (we have a pretty sweet community park right across from our apartment building).  We made bbq beef on a bun(!) and had salads, strawberries, and a yummy dessert.  Food and good company is the best combination for a perfect picnic.  Next week (due to my family's schedules), we will be celebrating my mom!

Along with the mother's day theme, a friend of mine was talking about this sermon that was shared last Sunday.  The first 5 minutes (all that I've listened to so far) had some really interesting statistics about the female brain.  Those 5 minutes are worth a listen!


And ... that's all for now. xo



 pic pix: all in Calgary, AB this last week, May.2012

sprouts

It's mornings like these ... that I wish I still had Sprouts.

Just over six years ago, I opened up a little cafe in an industrial area in Calgary.  The food was all fresh, healthy and homemade (yes...I used to make bread everyday!).  Daily, a new soup creation was put on the menu (soups given names like "Billy"!), there was baking ready to be eaten, and coffee always fresh and brewed.  The view wasn't the greatest ... the cafe front was east facing directly into a lumber yard (!), but the morning sun made up for it.  Hours were from 6am-2pm ... never have I had more ideal hours.  Well, minus the round-the-clock work I did the rest of the day :)

After the breakfast rush and my soup was simmering, usually, I'd sit outside with my coffee and read/crossword-it-up before friends would visit me through the day.  As a public place, the amount of friends/family that would just "pop by" has way surpassed the amount of guests I have had in my own home!

 It was during my time at Sprouts that I fell more in love with m'love, got into some wonderful discussions/conversations with strangers and friends (that I learned a LOT from), hosted many "functions" to where close friends and new friends gathered and grew ... oh how I miss that daily community! 

Like anything, there were things that were really "hard" about it.  Running a business like that presented risks and challenges and sometimes, I didn't always feel so flexible.  I grew so much personally that time of my life (almost 2 years before I sold it), and wouldn't not have wanted to do the difficult parts because of how rich the experience was.       

Looking back, I was so incredibly blessed to have that opportunity and am blessed today to reminisce about this special, unique time in my life.  Wish y'all could've been there with me ... 

pic pix: SPROUTS Cafe, Calgary.AB, 2006-2007

lovin' it

This morning I woke up to such a beautiful surprise .... the sun!!  It was 5:45am, and the rays were already warming our room with golden happiness.  I am NOT your by-the-book morning person, but I couldn't help myself from wanting to rise that early and enjoy it.  The last week or so has been rainy & gray in Calgary, which has brought us some lush green to look at.  But let me tell you, today was a joyous awakening!

Here are some other things that I'm just lovin' this morning ...

 

 My baby bump is barely allowing me to see my toes ... but, nonetheless, if I lean forward a bit,
I can still see that they are there. Just over 3 weeks to go!!

The seedlings are coming along quite nicely.  It is feeling like a mini green house in here!

Scored this soap & soap tin with a girlfriend yesterday at HomeSense.  Yellow always makes me happy.

I've been on the hunt for a used rocking chair since about week 8 of this pregnancy!  My original thought was to sand a used one down and paint it "fire engine red".  Up until a few weeks ago, I was still without my coveted chair until my mother-in-law mentioned this gem in her basement (!).  It is in such nice condition, I don't have the heart to paint it ... I just heart it as is! 

and, of course ... m'love  :)

pic pix: Calgary, AB, April-May.2012

rain brings...

"I like rain, actually."

Bill Rodgers

There's a constant trickle of water falling from the sky ... I almost don't want to sleep for the sole reason of enjoying the sound of it coming down!  The wetness can't dampen this girl's spirits.  For rain = green, green = freshness, freshness = new beauty. 

"Rain is grace...rain is the sky descending to the earth...without rain, there would be no life."

John Updike

pic pix: wildflowers in spring, Burnet, TX, May.2010