While waiting....

We are in waiting mode here. Waiting for school to start next week, and waiting...waiting...waiting for a baby to arrive! I am 37 weeks pregnant now, and our baby girl is doing great. I'm "allowed" to go into labor any time now, and if I'm at all in tune with my body, I think it won't be long. Another week, maybe. (And yes, that does mean she'll most likely get here just in time to delay our start of school!)

I am tired and sore...not sleeping well, and bad sciatic nerve pain. So very ready to hold this little girl in my arms and welcome her into our family. And while I struggle with patience, the girls aren't even pretending to be patient! ;) They ask me multiple times a day if maybe, just maybe, now I might be in labor! They talk to their sister through my tummy when they wake up, and before they go to bed. They've drawn pictures for her and helped me sort her clothes. They've made up songs about her, set aside beloved toys for her, and prayed for her every single day. I can hardly wait to see them finish becoming big sisters to this precious baby girl.

And quick before this waiting period is finished, I should post some of my maternity pictures! My friend Holly took them and I love them to pieces. (I've mentioned her before; she's our amazing family photographer and if you haven't seen her website yet, check it out here!)

Lamont is hoping to take about a week off work when she arrives, and we are all so excited to have some time together as a family to enjoy each other and rest!

Come as soon as you're ready, little girl...we can't wait to love you forever.

Working on catching up....

So, we went to the ocean...a month ago....

I'm really behind with blogging this summer. Really, really behind. Every week, every day, has been packed so full, and it has all been so wonderful but so exhausting. And I've taken pictures...some of them, at least...but have not been doing anything with them or keeping up with blogging.

And that's ok! But soon we will have a newborn around here again, and then all hope of cataloging this summer's pictures and activities will definitely be gone, so I'm going to make an effort to catch up a bit before that happens. Which brings us to the ocean. :)

We went with Lamont's family, just for the weekend, to Cannon Beach, OR. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but both of the days we were there were about 80 degrees and gorgeously sunny -- which does not happen on consecutive days at the Oregon coast! Such a treat, and it meant endless hours of happy beach time. (Plus a few sunburns. Not for the girls -- I do protect my children with sunscreen, really! But one of these years I'll grow up and realize that I need to put sunscreen on myself as well.)

On our way back, the girls and I dropped Lamont off at the Portland airport, and he flew to San Diego to spend five days at a conference. Which would have meant I would be driving all the way home with the girls all by my (at the time) seven months pregnant self, except that it didn't! Because my awesome friend Anja lives in Portland, and it just so happened that she was willing to take some time off and come home with us for the week! We've been friends for 20 years (*whispering* Forget I said that, because it makes me sound really, really old!), and I've missed her terribly since she moved to Portland a couple years ago, so it was a huge treat to have her company not just for the road trip but for multiple coffee filled days. :)

Aaaaaaand, here are a few ocean pictures!

She spent about half her time at the beach happily buried in sand. I...don't really know what to say.

This castle had about seven incarnations and withstood many mighty waves! (Or didn't...which is why it had so many incarnations...lol.)

Sandy bliss!

Pregnant women bonding.... (OR, This is how we do it!)

She was just a few steps behind me as we slowly made our way to the side of the pool to watch our children's swim lessons. We lowered ourselves into the pool chairs, hot white vinyl under the 90 degree sun, with matching weary sighs, and drawn by the sound of the sigh, our heads turned toward each other at the same moment.

There was a pause, then a quiet nod of recognition from each of us. I see you, heavy and tired. Drooping yet also bursting with life, with the new life you're carrying, and with the promise of a time drawing near. I feel your restricted breaths and the nerve pain in your legs and the aching back and the stretching, always stretching, and the tiny fists that punch your bladder so relentlessly. And I feel your heart full of longing and love for the one who has taken over your body so completely, and the waiting...and waiting...and how it is drawing to a close. I see you.

"When?" I ask her.

"End of the month," she replies quietly. And then, "You?"

"Beginning of next."

A pause, then a hollow, plaintive whisper. "It's...hot."

I close my eyes, sun beating on my face, and feel the trickles of perspiration over far too many surfaces of my body. And her statement resonates as something profound to each of us, and eventually I answer her....

"Yes." Sorrowfully, slowly. "Yes."

There is nothing more to say, and for the 29 remaining minutes of the swim lesson, we are content to keep each other silent company. It is easier, sitting in the sizzling heat next to each other. There is a comfortable camaraderie in the discomfort, in the sharing of the heat and the sticky vinyl chairs and the endless, restless shifting of limbs.

The half hour ends and our children climb from the pool and shiver over to us for towels, laughing and dripping and sparkling in the sunshine, claiming to be cold now that they've left the water. And she and I turn to each other again, eyebrows raised in mutual amazement, and shake our heads over the unfairness of the heat distribution.

Finally, a ghost of a smile, as she asks, "Tomorrow?"

And I smile back at her, "See you then."