lately

Not much is new around here. I was just saying to my sister today that I don't think I'll be blogging too much until the baby's born because lately all I can sum up my life is with a few key phrases: Brett's working crazy hours; I hate heartburn! My back hurts! I love fall!

No, there's more to life than my pregnancy, but man, I forgot how miserable it is toward the end. Today commences my 35th week as well as 35 days until my November 14 due date. I think I was so determined to get through the nausea of the first couple trimesters that I forgot the clustercuss that is the third trimester. And who wants to listen to a pregnant woman complain? NO ONE, so we will move on.

I'll just share a little of this and a little of that. We went along with Brett last Saturday to a little photography studio to have some head shots taken for their new company website. Stella enjoyed dum-dum suckers and sitting on a little kids' couch that they use for props. The girl photographing Brett offered to take some free shots of Stella at the end, so that was kind of fun. On the way home, we stopped by at Verizon to get me a new phone. While we were waiting, Stella started playing with some older kids - a brother and a sister who were about 5 and 7. They were so sweet including her in their play. Another lady observing them asked the mom of the two kids, "Did they just meet now?" When the mom said yes, she said, "Isn't that a testament to humanity...." and then something about how kids just play with each other and enjoy each other's company. They don't have the social hangups like we old dinosaur adults do. When it was time to leave, Stella flung her arms around the boy and just held onto him in a big bear hug. He was laughing and saying, "STELLA, you need to go with your mom and dad!" It was a funny moment and his parents were laughing.

While Stella napped, I enjoyed the luxury of a manicure and pedicure at Anna's Nails, a few blocks away from our house, and they even did a mini massage afterward. We had to wake Stella up to make it over to our friend Ben's 30th birthday party. Doing something social in the midst of the craziness of Brett's working long hours was a welcome diversion. Speaking of social outings, we enjoyed catching Davina and the Vagabonds at Dakota with our friends, the Nagels, the weekend before. Brett loves jazz and often bemoans the fact that he doesn't know anyone else his age who appreciates it...well, lo and behold, we discovered that Brad especially likes jazz, so Brett was happy to find a kindred jazz fan.

Brett had to go into the office Sunday which was a downer, but I keep reminding myself that the crazy hours-apalooza is a temporary situation. We are trying to take one day at a time and put our trust in God to grant us the grace (as he has promised over and over in the Bible) we need for each day. Somedays I am good at this; others not very much. I am thankful that Stella is at least at an age that I can have somewhat of a conversation with and to go out on little outings. The time between when she wakes up from her nap (if she naps) and bedtime is the challenging part. It's the time I am most tired and just want to throw in the towel. I can never think of what to make for dinner as my appetite has been waning. I feel uninspired and sluggish. Why can't dinner just materialize? Why do we have to eat dinner every night? Why can't manna just fall from the sky? Ha. I digress.

BSF has been good...lately I've been getting heartburn in the morning, too (maybe it's time to cut out the morning cup of coffee?) and so during discussion time, I'm trying to suppress those painful waves of burning sensations in my throat. Standing up helps, but that would be pretty awkward considering we're all sitting in a circle talking. Ha! During the lecture time I grow very sleepy, and then before I know it, it's time to pick up Stella from her class and head home. The study of Matthew's gospel has been so fascinating to me. I love how the "homework" gets you to slow down and digest everything. We just studied the temptation of Christ in the wilderness right before his ministry began (three years before his death and resurrection). The takeaway was that Christ set aside his divine powers and resisted temptation with human reliance on God. He quoted Scripture against the devil, and his close relationship with God kept him strong as well. The devil knows the Bible very well, too, so how much more should we be memorizing and knowing the word of God?

Last Tuesday Stella didn't want to nap, so I packed up her pail and shovel, and we headed to the beach and park in Excelsior by Lake Minnetonka. She contentedly shoveled sand into her bucket while a beautiful breeze blew through the trees. Some of the trees' leaves were changing colors and the leaves were dancing over the ground with each gust of wind. I almost fell asleep because the sound was so soothing. Stella giggled at some squirrels chasing each other (pretty sure they were fighting over an acorn). She played on the playground by herself, pausing now and then to say, "Where are the kids?!" She was negotiating one of those swaying bridges, and at one point she lost her momentum on the incline and found herself stuck there standing. I heard her work it out: "Hmm. How am I gonna do this?" She then reached out to grab a railing to get herself moving again and she said, "Oh, I'm a just do it."She was so proud of herself. She also repeated a circuit of climbing some stairs to a slide, going down the slide, then giving me a hug and kiss and going back up the stairs again. I am really cherishing these last days we have just the two of us. She is my little companion and I love her so much. Just yesterday I think I was rubbing my eyes or my temples because my head was hurting. She noticed me doing it and said, "Don't worry, Mommy. Imma take care of you." Where does she come up with this stuff? I'm sure I've said something like that to her before and she just stows it away in her memory. I forget how much of a sponge she is.

The glider for the baby's room arrived this week in a huge box that Stella has been imagining is a little house. She even got the Swiffer out and was attempting to clean the floor of her box house.

Not to be THAT mom who goes into gross detail, but let's just say that Stella had the runs all day and cried every time I changed her, or at other times during the day, because her little bum was so raw. She was so miserable. I remembered a nurse telling me once that a bath of baking soda and warm water could help, so that provided some measure of relief for her. I took her outside to check if any more raspberries had ripened on our bush in the backyard, and we blew bubbles in the hopes she would be distracted from her pain. Every now and then she would say, "It hurts" and come over to me and lay her head in my lap and say, "Put cream on it?" I had sinus pressure and headache all day, too, so I was happy when Brett came home at around 6:30 or 7 and played with Stella and put her to bed. He said she was praying, "Dear Father, please help Stella's poopies go away."