36 Weeks In All Its Glory

Hello Many....or special few lol...Readers!

I know that I said time would fly in my 32 weeks update and guess what - I was RIGHT. I love it when I am right!!! :) Here we are four weeks later and only four weeks to go. Crazy!

You know God? He's smart. Four weeks ago I would not have said that I was ready for Liam to come. But now - yesssss I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am imagining delicious treats such as: laying on my stomach, easily turning over from one side to the other in bed, ankles that resemble days of old, wearing a wedding ring, and seeing my facial space diminish to its previous plot of real estate instead of its current expanded state :).

Here we go.... Mr. Liam in all his glory at 36 weeks!

Yes....that's a face that says "WOW." I mean what else can you say???





Needless to say, I am just not expecting a petite baby boy. And I am good with that! I have known many a petite woman who have delivered big babies - and let's just say - I have always been average v. small so I am confident these hips can handle it. LOL. My guess is that Liam will weigh in at 8lbs and 3oz. And I don't think he's going to be early. Or at least very early. Just a gut instinct...but the doctor did confirm that at 36 weeks we are dilated at a big fat zero so I think I am pretty right on!

I can't believe how quickly it has gone and on the other hand - finding out I was pregnant on November 17, 2010, seems like an eternity ago.

Oh SO much has happened since our last update! Beautiful and very special showers have been enjoyed, Liam's room has really started to take form, and Caleb and Chloe have arrived back in Tulsa. It really feels like a season of blessing.

I know I mentioned a room update picture for Liam's room - but I am thinking that will have to come next week. :) But in the meantime, here's a shot of the glider that I ordered and the blanket and pillow that goes with the bedding. I am so happy with the way it's all coming together!



So, in case you were wondering, I am still relishing food. LOL! Listen people, I have four weeks left of this excuse and I have zero intention of squandering the enjoyment. Soon enough - I will be back at my Friday noon Weight Watchers meetings with Dana (did you know they have a nursing mom's program???) and starting up my running and working on strengthening my core. Until then - bring on yummy stuff that comes with July 4! Bring on dates with the husband and late night Braums stops. Bring on frozen anything - coffee, icees, ice cream - yes and amen.

I cannot believe how crazy and miraculous pregnancy is. I cannot believe that the first time I saw Liam on the ultrasound he was a little white blip and now he is so developed that we can't get good pictures of his face anymore because he's down in the nether regions preparing for his big debut.

God is so creative. To be pregnant is to watch God do His thing - all on His own. I mean, the only cooperation needed is to make the decision to give an unborn child the right to life. Other than that - God has an intricate plan of preparation for creating each unique life and weaving us together with extreme detail. I cannot wait to get that little boy in my arms and study every single inch of him. I cannot wait to try to see which part is me and which part is Zion and which part is any other family member. My brother actually has distinct attributes of my grandfather and I have a few specific features from both of my grandmothers - so the possibilities are just endless and that is so amazing! Isn't it crazy when you look at some siblings and they look just alike and then other sets of siblings who get such different gene mixes? God is beyond my comprehension and that's such a good thing.

So four weeks till the due date means that in approximately four weeks I will be giving birth. Hmmmmmmmmm. How do I feel about that I ask myself. Well - hmmmmmmmmmmmmm........... lol! At this point, I am not nervous. I feel strangely confident - which can only be attributed to God's grace and Holy Spirit. We went to a birth class at our hospital and got some good strategies for handling the experience and we are really excited that we are going to have a doula walking us through labor. Bernadette is a great friend and momma of seven beautiful children. She's done natural birth with almost all of them and so that gives me a big shot of confidence that she'll be able to walk me through. I think my desire to do a natural birth came when I started running in 2009. I was NEVER a fitness buff and when I say never....I mean I never worked out. Seriously! And then, all of the sudden I started training for a 5K. Before I knew it - I was crossing that finish line with a decent time and wondering who this new girl was. By the time longer distance running started - I realized how much I was capable of physically that I had absolutely no clue about until I tried. And with that realization came the urge to want to, at the least, pursue delivering a baby without an epidural. My mom did it. My mother-in-law did it. I have know many women who have done it. So - I am committed to giving it my best. I am not putting a ton of pressure on myself - but at the same time - I really believe I can do it. There will be a wonderful team of people around me and a God who overcame death right there with me. So those are my thoughts today at least. :) We'll see how it goes right?!

I hope you've had a good week so far and are gearing up for a great July 4 weekend! It's one of my favorite holidays because I met Mr. Spencer for the first real time on July 4, 2000. That's right ELEVEN years ago!!!!!!!!!! Still love watching fireworks with him and feeling the spark.

I am thinking there will be a few more than normal baby-related blogs coming up in the next few weeks since we're now in the homestretch. I don't post every blog update to Facebook because I don't like to over-do it. So if you're that nosy person (like ME!) feel free to check back in on the blog periodically and see how the progress is coming.

Love y'all....
Abi

Two Little Thoughts From My Heart

Oh blogging world..... for some reason my brain hasn't been coming up with great content for the past few weeks! It will occur to me to blog - but what? But here I am and here you are. So today, I thought I would just share a few thoughts that have been rumbling around my mind/spirit over the past week. They're not connected but maybe you need to hear them just as much as I need to ponder them.

First, I do not consider myself a pregnancy expert by any means! Whew!!!! But - one thing that I do feel has been a great decision is getting chiropractic adjustments throughout the pregnancy. I have had no back pain to speak of and very little hip pain and I think it's really helped to stay in alignment. Hang in there because I am going somewhere with this!

My chiropractor has adjusted me once a month, but in the last month leading up to delivery, he will adjust me once a week. He explained to me that as the body prepares to give birth everything starts shifting a lot more and it is important to stay on top of keeping it aligned. Makes sense!

So here's thought number one: We all know what transition feels like and often, we can feel the new season coming right at us when it is time. I am a visual person. So - thinking about our bodies shifting so much in preparation for birthing and then thinking about how that parallels to our lives when the new is upon us makes sense to me. And what's important when we're in that preparation/shifting time? Alignment! I don't know about you - but for me - alignment comes straight from the Word of God. The Word keeps me lined up with truth instead of the fake truths my mind would love to dwell on. You know what I mean! Those fake truths that are based on fear, past disappointments, and a lack of believing that God is who He really says He is.

So if you're like me and KNOW that you know that change is upon you - watch that alignment and know that you need extra doses of truth to keep you ready to fully step into the new at the right time and in the fullest way.

And here's thought number two (briefly!!!): I Samuel 17:50 "So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword."

Zion and I were reading this chapter on Sunday and that verse just jumped out at me! The sword would have been the expected weapon of choice to take down the giant in front of him. It's what others would have used. It would have been a well-approved decision. It wouldn't have raised eyebrows or garnered verbalized criticisms as the shepherd boy approached the tall giant. But our friend David had never even trained with a sword, let alone possessed one. He didn't know any better so he confidently picked up the simple stones and a sling. It was what he was comfortable with and what the Lord had been training him with. Yes - the Lord HAD been training him to kill a giant while taking care of sheep. The two seem like such different circumstances and skill sets don't they? But - His ways are higher than our ways....and just plain different than our ways.


Sunday School anyone???? Bringing it back to the animated pictures!

So wherever you are, and wherever I am - I think it's good to take a moment and remind myself that God is my trainer. He is my provider. He is going to get me to the right place at the right time. I WILL be prepared to take on giant in front of me that stands in the way of my destiny - regardless of what my preparation looks like. And you will too!

Love y'all,
Abi

I'm Funny

...or I wish I was funnier in my blogging world. :) Some of my favorite blogs to read are the ones that are just plain funny. My friend Brooke is hilarious and I seriously always laugh out loud at her stories. So I have determined I need to up the funny quotient of this here blog.

....however....if I have to determine that I am going to be more funny - will it actually be funny? LOL Probably not! And yes - this is a random post just because it's what's on da mind.

What I can tell you is that I married to a funny person. The other week he came out with a real zinger and I seriously laughed for five minutes. You may not find it funny like I do but here it goes... we had just tried Dickey's BBQ at Kingspointe Village. We're fans by the way! As we were driving away we were talking about what we liked about it. One thing he really liked was that it wasn't a 'sticky bbq' place. It was clean and it felt clean...which led us to talking about Rib Crib. Which doesn't feel clean to him. He's describing his dislike of RC when he pulls out the bottom line "I just feel obese when I eat there." And thus my laughter began. It's hilarious to me number one that his lean self could feel obese at all. Number two, that he used the word obese. And number three, that being around heavy bbq food made him think of that. I really like Mr. Spencer!

Here's another funny: I snort a lot now. I think that I've always had a hidden snort tendency but there is something about pregnancy that has made me snort more while laughing. And I do it in public - which makes me laugh all the more.

Here's one last one. This one may just put things into perspective for you more than crack ya up. :) We celebrated our sixth anniversary a few weekends ago and we were at a pool relaxing. Now mind you - when celebrating one's wedding anniversary - there is a desire to feel sexy, beautiful, romantic, etc. But in the current state of this body - those feelings are a tad hard to come by. So there I was - lounging in my swimsuit and all of the other tan skinny girls that this pool seemed to attract. Yessssss - I had to walk back and forth in front of them a few times to grab a towel, etc. And that point - you really just have to have a quiet little laugh on the inside! I mean, you KNOW they are checking you out as you strut in front of them with your quite large middle (and that is seriously no exaggeration my friends). But what can a girl do other than embrace those significantly less firm and significantly less small thighs, chubby arms, circular face and a baby that prefers to push straight out for space? Embrace the beauty baby!

So I think I'll be on the lookout for the funny a bit more. I bet you had some funny things happen over the weekend. Don't you wish we could grab coffee and belly laugh over them???

Love y'all,
Abi

Can I Just Say....

.....Some days I wonder if the 'wonder-wife' thing will ever really kick in for me. Now hear me out. Granted - I am in the third trimester of carrying a baby boy but I don't remember being oh so different from this before pregnancy. It's like I get done working and I just want to stay glued to the couch.

I hear all the time - rest all you can while you can before Liam comes. And I do get that concept. Frankly - I think that I have the resting thing down for the most part! LOL. But seriously - I want to be a woman of excellence! Not just one who does a few things well and lot of things passably. Yes - that Proverbs 31 woman thing is in the back of my mind. But don't you feel the same way from time to time?

It has always been a good concept for me to take things one step at a time. So for tonight - I will head to the kitchen and unload the dishwasher and perhaps keep a few loads of laundry going. It's a little step and I think it's something. :)

Hope you've had a good day. My day has been good but I am about to add a shot of at-home-productivity to it so that we can end on a strong note. And who the heck knows - I may go crazy and take a little walk before going to bed. CRAZINESS!!!! :)

Love y'all and keeping it real,
Abi