pregnancy diaries: week 36

How far along: 36 weeks

Maternity clothes: oh yes!

Sleep: lately not so good- i'm pretty consistent with 1-2 bathroom trips each night, and have been getting a taste of insomnia. i guess my body is preparing for sleepless nights ahead.

Best moment of this week: seeing our little one at our ultrasound today! baby seiler was so much bigger than our 20 week ultrasound, and is looking more and more like a baby. especially since he/she is almost 6 pounds!

Miss anything: a flat tummy! painting my toes, tying my shoes, bending over, and standing up are all quite the challenge these days with my growing tummy.

Movement: oh yes! baby s is loving kicking me in the ribs lately. but just on my right side.

Gender: excited to find out in July! (and maybe even sooner!)

Labor signs: nothing yet- but starting to feel braxton-hicks.

Belly button in or out: out!

Wedding rings on or off: still on 

Happy or moody most of the time: i've been fairly happy lately, but am starting to get a bit more tired lately.

Looking forward to: seeing our baby for the first time. oh, and finding out if they are a boy or girl. oh, and sharing our baby name! so much in our near future!!

Baby is the size of a: large canteloupe

our baby shower- camping style!

while on our camping trip, ben's family hosted a baby shower for us. we were at a campground, and all met together at the lodge area. ben's aunts made the yummiest cake pops, and we were showered with sweet gifts. little one is sure going to be loved once they get here! not only did we have a diaper cake, but we also got a diaper wreath! other highlights of the shower we cupcake onesies from mimi (ben's mom) and our carseat & stroller set! 

thanks Ellison family for pampering us & our little one. we are so thankful for you all!

pool time with collin & summer

after we got back from our camping trip, we invited the foltz family to our pool for a swim. collin & summer came over with jon, and we enjoyed a few hours at our pool together.

 

sweet summer is getting so old- I can hardly believe that she will be in 2nd grade this year. I still remember meeting her for the first time, my senior year in high school. we are all getting a bit selfish with our time together before the foltz family leaves for Thailand. they will be missed!

uncle ben is such a fun guy. he loves pool time, and played the coolest games with the kids. my heart swelled a bit watching him with c & s knowing that our little one will someday play with his/her daddy at the pool.

I hope your memorial day was sunny and relaxing!

grandma julie

for our long weekend, we celebrated memorial day with a family camping trip. ben's family has made this an annual celebration, and gather together every year to celebrate memorial day. this year was my third time attending!

 

i was able to get a few pictures of our grandma julie too. she isn't the biggest fan of having her picture taken, so i had to be a bit sneaky. grandma julie is such a sweetheart and it has been so fun adopting her as my grandma. ben is so lucky to have his two grandmothers still living. i love these two pictures, especially the one with ben. we both came away from the weekend thankful for our family, and excited to bring a little one into such a great family (on both sides!).

 

pregnancy diaries: week 34

How far along: 34 weeks

Maternity clothes: yes, please! my shirts are getting shorter, and my pants are getting more uncomfortable. my ideal outfit is a maxi skirt with a soft tank top.

Sleep: this really comes in waves for me lately. sometimes i sleep really hard, and other nights are restless. i typically have to use the restroom at least once a night now.

Best moment of this week: realizing how close we are to meeting our little one. it has really hit me recently, and i feel like there is so much to do! 

Movement: oh yes! no more are the days of flutters and soft kicks. we are now in the rib kicks and hiccups galore phase of life. sometimes the kicks are so hard i gasp!

Food cravings: nothing particularly crazy these days... maybe pineapple? 

Gender: excited to find out in July!

Labor signs: nothing yet- but trying to pay attention for the braxton-hicks that are so popularly discussed. 

Belly button in or out: we have officially broke even, and are borderline in the outtie stage.

Looking forward to: camping this weekend with Ben's family. luckily, we will be at a campground where i may claim a bottom bunk!

Baby is the size of a: Butternut squash

sisters lunch

after two years of girls living in fayetteville, we had our last sisters lunch today. we ate at a local favorite, stone mill bread co, & had such a great time together. sisters lunch has been such a sweet time for us girls, & i cherish all the times we were able to get away and just have "girl talk" .

you may agree with me, but i think that i have the greatest sisters. we are all so similar, yet different. when we are together, our conversations are chaotic, silly, and meaningful all at the same time. for me, it has been such a joy to call my sisters my friends. growing up as the youngest, my age really separated me from my sisters. age now really doesn't matter, & they are my best friends with just a little more life experience than me.

although these pictures are not spectacular- it's more the memory of today that i want to remember!

marisa, lori, & bethany- i sure love you & am proud to call you my sisters.

a trip to florida!

for the past week, ben and I have been in orlando, florida pursuing an exciting new development involving our careers! we both have felt the Lord's calling to ministry & are so excited for this new phase in life. 

our week has been spent absorbing tons of information, and we are so grateful for all that we are learning. living in a hotel for the past week hasn't been too bad either! our down time has been scarce, so anytime we are not in meetings, we have tried to hit the pool. yesterday we took a quick dip in the pool before our dinner.

the sunny state of florida has treated us well, and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time here. the next time we are here- we hope to take our little one to disneyworld! if our schedule wasn't so busy, we would have loved to see mickey! we will only be here for a few more days and then we head back to arkansas for a very, very busy may/june. lots to look forward to!

a baby shower for my sister

this past weekend, we threw my sister Bethany a baby shower! since she is having a girl- the theme was all shades of pink! the food was breakfast themed since the shower was mid-morning. we had fruit, cinnamon rolls, quiche, cake, & candy. we also had an amazing coffee punch, which was perfect for a 10am shower. it was such a treat to help host a shower for bethany and her little one. we played fun games, and even had a sweet prayer time for the mama-to-be and baby.

we all filled out these "wishes for baby" cards and gave them to bethany to keep!

the hostesses, all wearing pink & coral for the shower theme.

bethany, we can hardly wait to see you as a mommy. your love for sweet ellanora is already so evident, and you are going to be the greatest mom to her. we are so excited to meet her mid-august!

our baseball weekend

a few weekends ago, ben & I went to a few baseball games together. ben loves baseball, and since I love him- I enjoy doing what he loves. even though I didn't grow up watching baseball, it's still fun to watch and be a part of. we luckily caught great weather for the games that we went to.

on sunday, we went to the game with one of ben's best friend, and his parents who had come from out of town. we went straight from church to the stadium which was already packed. baseball games are quite popular in Fayetteville-especially since it was such a warm day. 

ben and I are similar and different, all at the same time. ben is my "all-american" boy, and i'm his international traveler. I have been away from thailand so long, that sometimes I feel more american than thai. this summer will mark 7 years since I left thailand for college. it was such a treat travelling to thailand while we were engaged, and I would love to bring our baby back too someday. we both love celebrating our roots, and i think baseball is a great way to enjoy ben.

a picnic in the park

on sunday night, we got together with some good friends for a picnic in the park. it was the most beautiful day, and it only got a bit chilly after the sun went down. we enjoyed catching up, grilling, and watching our friends cute kids play together. 

we had such a great afternoon with our friends, and look forward to more park visits this summer. fayettevile has great parks!

breakfast for dinner

one night this past week, ben & i invited our whole family over for a breakfast themed dinner. on our dinner menu was pancakes, bacon, muffins, & eggs. it can get pretty packed in our tiny apartment, but i really enjoy having everyone over, every now and then.

while the big kids were talking, the littles enjoyed a game of uno. the littlest one is watching the big kids while playing with one of my old cell phones i keep in my toy box for them. 

once our baby comes it will the end of our "aunts & uncles only" era. we have truly enjoyed watching these kids grow up & will miss them so much when they move to thailand this fall. for now though, we are trying to make the most of our time! 

making baby seiler a quilt

this past saturday i decided to finally start making a quilt for little seiler. i had been collecting the fabric for a while, but i kept putting it off. i really want this blanket to be just perfect. 

oddly enough, i didn't really have a set color scheme- but ended up with my favorite colors for baby seiler: yellow, navy, grey, robins egg blue, and red. although the squares may seem simple, i wanted to make sure that i wasn't getting over my head for the quilt top. the actual quilting process does intimidate me though! 

wish me luck as i attempt to quilt this on my own!