wednesday.

i began my day with my 40-week visit to the doctor's office. no change still. no dilation. no effacement. looks like lil chica isn't wanting to budge for awhile yet. perhaps she'll be a stubborn one like me. i asked about having my membranes sweeped, as i've heard this can induce labor naturally, but my doctor said that in order to do that, i have to have a favorable cervix which means it needs to be dilated at least a little bit. so apparently mine is unfavorable. bad, cervix, bad. i made an appointment for monday and at that time they will check the amniotic fluid to make sure baby is healthy. if so, i can continue to wait it out until something happens. if not enough amniotic fluid, then i guess i'll have to set a date to be induced.

after the dr. appointment, i made my way downtown. i finished my book over some coffee at whole foods and did a little people-watching.

this store's doors were open for the first time today, so i walked over to browse.

only in texas is it still hot enough to lay out in almost-october. (okay, so maybe in phoenix, too.) i ended my afternoon with a little time by the pool and began a new book, which i'm not crazy about either. i need some book suggestions, people!

while listening to oprah, i spent a couple of hours making these delicioso beef empanadas. raisins, olives, boiled egg, oh my! i made too much dough for the pastry, so i'll just freeze it for another use. spanish rice and grilled zucchini will accompany for dinner tonight.

tuesday.

it was a rainy, gloomy day here in austin and i loved it! i decided to drive out to fredericksburg for the afternoon, specifically to eat at rebecca rather's bakery, rather sweet. holy moly, was i glad i went! i arrived just in time for lunch and their special was a chicken pot pie and since i'd heard good reviews, that's exactly what i ordered. it came with a simple salad on the side with tomatoes, cucumbers, and balsamic vinaigrette. the individual portion of the pot pie was steaming hot, creamy, and delicious. the crust was flaky and perfectly seasoned. i consumed the entire thing and almost had to roll myself out of the restaurant. of course, i did manage to get a lemon bar to go. i love lemon bars. i will have to go back to taste some of their other sweet treats. they looked so decadent.

after lunch, i walked around looking in shops and taking my time strolling the town. this might have been one of the most fun days i've had in awhile. i found an awesome game store and bought a couple of new ones for our collection.

what will wednesday have in store?

monday.

i took a poll on facebook and asked this question:

if you were having a baby tomorrow, what would you do today, besides sleep? clean? cook? spa day? bourbon?

i got some clever answers and some great ideas, so i compiled a list of things to do this week to occupy myself and enjoy my last days before becoming a momma!

- today i successfully slept in until 9:20am.
- i got a few house chores done. at this point, i'm trying to maintain a clean home so i don't have to do a deep clean again for guests. i also did some light trimming of bushes outside.
- i went to a coffee shop alone and read my book. i haven't been to a coffee shop alone in a very long time, and i'm guessing it will be a very long time before i get to do it again. i'm currently reading frederick buechner's "son of laughter," which i have to say is not the best book i've ever read. but at this point, with 3 chapters left, i'm just going to finish it. 2 cups of decaf and a brownie made my time all the more enjoyable.
- i walked laps at the mall. i was hoping this would start labor, but it was more a chance to get some exercise out of the rain and check out the lovely fall fashions that i won't be able to fit into this year.
- lastly, we decided to go to see "surrogates" at the theater. we popped our own popcorn at home, stopped and got drinks at a gas station, then stuffed them into my over sized purse. we got there almost a half hour early, watched previews and just enjoyed the empty theater to ourselves, thinking this might be our last movie together in awhile.

looking forward to my tuesday!

waiting on his dad.

this is a visual for you all to see how sweet my dog is. everyday chris calls me on his way home from work and i tell marlow after i get off the phone that his dad is coming home. he goes and sits by the front window to wait on him until he sees him drive up. there's nothing better to come home to, in my opinion.

her room.

my kind of salad.

hearty and simple. this is dinner tonight. add some bread for a side and even husband will think it's filling enough. arugula, fingerling potatoes, green beans, toasted walnuts. whisk together some yogurt, dijon, white wine vinegar, and walnut oil and you've got a great dressing! get in my belly.

39 weeks.

she did it again.

you know me. oh how i love to use up random ingredients in the kitchen to create a new meal for the week. (and this will be perfect to freeze for post-baby nights.) it's so satisfying. well, looking through the leftovers today that i wanted to get rid of, here's what i decided to use:

lentils
bacon
parsnips, carrots, celery
shallots, leeks
fresh thyme, basil, tarragon
garlic
chicken, beef, and vegetable stock
bread
chickpeas

i went to the store and bought some more beans; navy and kidney. since i wanted to throw this together quickly, i bought canned. dried are much cheaper though.

i threw together a soup really fast with all of these ingredients. it's on the stove simmering for awhile yet (the longer, the more the flavors will merry and get happy and have children), but i can't wait to eat it. i'll make some croutons with the bread that is almost stale and throw those in that the end. yum!

chris is pretty dern excited about his sabbatical coming up at the end of this year. four weeks paid vacation. woo hoo! he's hoping to attach it to his two week's off for christmas, which will = SIX weeks paid vacation! he's really counting down the work weeks he has left. in the mean time, there's been lots of talk about how we're going to turn off our heat for the winter and use up our log pile in the backyard. we've cut down 9 trees (various sizes) in our yard and have collected quite a collection of logs. we're both excited about cooler weather, but he's looking forward to having fires in our fireplace. it makes me excited for hot chocolate and yummy winter comfort foods, like soup.

picture not so perfect.

reading a pregnancy blog this morning, i found this to be rather humorous:

My friend—let's call her Karen—just sent me a picture of her newborn, and all I can say is, "Wow! That kid is hideous!" With his cone-shaped head, baby acne and puffy eyelids, he isn't winning any Gap baby model contests.

And yet, for some reason, parents everywhere insist on sending out photos of their splotchy bundles of joy to everyone in their Yahoo address book within hours of delivery. Come on, wait a few weeks! I mean, does anyone really think newborns are cute? Or do we all know they are U-G-L-Y and etiquette simply requires us to gush and keep our real opinions to ourselves?

I know I have to reply to Karen's email with an overly emotive "OH MY GOD! He's sooooo adorable! :)" or I will seem like a terrible person. But what if I were brutally honest? What if I just said, "Yuck! He's really fugly looking right now. I'm sure he'll be cute in a few months. Why don't you send me a picture then?"

austin besties.

this is my small group. i love these girls!! we've only known each other for a year, but life change is beginning to happen amongst us and it's exciting to be a part of.

emily is 3 weeks behind me and due with her baby oct. 24th!

so long summer.

sseko sandals are made by women in uganda. the straps are interchangeable and can be worn many different ways. i really like these but think a footwear purchase for next summer might be out of the question. i love the idea of buying matching ones for your bridal party. if i could plan my wedding over again, i'd definitely buy ssekos for my girls. what do you think? like or dislike?

hoot. hoot.

found this clock on etsy and fell in love with it.

confirmed.

after speaking with two nurse friends (one labor & delivery, one who tends to the babies after the birth), i've decided to start baking and freezing some goodies to bring to the hospital with me in hopes that bribery will forge a friendly relationship with myself and the staff. so far: cream cheese brownies and chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips. will be adding a few non-chocolate items in the next couple of days.

babymoon.

this weekend was our 'babymoon' where we went to san antonio for a 2-night stay right across the street from the alamo. in fact, i surprised chris with this weekend and he didn't even know where we were headed until we were on i-35 going south. i had told him i had a date night planned for us on friday. what he didn't know was that it would involve driving an hour south for our last getaway before the baby arrives. it was intended to be a weekend of relaxation and where we could just spend time together and it was exactly that. we mostly stayed in our room and watched football all weekend. i bought 3 boxes of theater candy and we enjoyed the sweets while we were lazy. i also packed food so we could eat in and save money for breakfast and lunch. we went out to dinner last night on the riverwalk and had ice cream afterwards. perhaps it was the rainy weather in san antonio, but there really wasn't much to do besides walk around the riverwalk. after we did that, we just went back to the hotel for more football. :) it was nice to sleep a lot and not have any worries.

after a hearty breakfast we hit the road this morning and got back home around noon. we missed marlow, of course, but he was in good hands with friends that stayed at our house this weekend. he's been super cuddly the rest of the day, staying nearby where ever we are.

chris was motivated to do some deep cleaning today and how could i say no to that? he vacuumed the ceilings (love having popcorn ceilings that collect so much dust), the baseboards and trim, and did a thorough job sprucing up most of the house. he did the hard stuff, which was great, because i can handle the normal cleaning this week. do men also nest before a baby? if so, i think this was his day for it.

all in all, it was a great weekend soaking up time with my husband whom i love so much. he's going to be a great daddy and i am most excited to see his heart captivated by his little girl.

showered!

a few weeks ago, my amazing friends threw me a shower here in austin. i felt incredibly loved and so blessed to have all my favorite people in the same room. the countdown is officially on. 3 weeks to go!remember when i posted about my affection for the baby toms that i saw online?! well, who woulda thought i'd get them as a gift? :) they are pink camo. i was probably most excited about this gift.

lovely ladies. em is in the middle and she's just 3 weeks behind me. our babies are destined to be friends.

my mom-in-law got to come down from dallas for the weekend for the shower. it was fun to introduce to her to my besties in austin.

jen & lydia

a few of the awesome hostesses!

i "love" incorrect 'grammar'.

very amusing.

36.5 weeks

his stance.

a great article, i think.

The Chronicles of Carey: September 4th

1998
Homecoming dance was tonight. I went. I didn't want to at first, but I'm glad I did. I think. I had the best time. I danced with Tyler Muir, Tyler Noland, Chris Troup, Jason Galimore, Zach, and Matt Crossett. You may be surprised, dear diary, but I did not dance with my love, L.J.

Wow. Are you laughing as hard as i am right now? This is good stuff, people. Entertainment at it's finest. That was in 8th grade, by the way. Okay, moving on to the next decade when i was much more mature (and reflective, you'll observe) in 10th grade.

2001
I wonder what it would be like if all the people in my sixth grade class got together again. If we had to sit by the same people we sat with then. If we were only able to hang out with each other again, I wonder what it'd be like. We've all grown apart and gone our separate ways. Would it be the same as how it was almost five years ago? I'd still be the Christian girl with big boobs.

haha! Okay, rolling on the floor now. But let's keep going, shall we?

2002
College is on my mind. I haven't been accepted yet to IU and that's been the only school I've considered so far. My SAT scores were extremely low, so I hope they look at my GPA instead.

Thankful I did not go to IU because I wouldn't have met my husband!

2003
I have drill tomorrow, Lord. I have no doubt you'll be with me. We're doing annual weapons qualification, so a change of pace will be nice.

2004
My Tuesday night with Chris was good. I took stuff to his house and we ate hamburgers, corn and green beans for dinner. I like it how neither of us are picky about food and that we don't really care to go out and spend money. Like yesterday we watched a movie, took a nap, cut his hair, and just talked.

Something is funny to me about that last one. Not sure if it's the mention of food or hair cutting. Continuing...

2005
I wish Chris and I had plans today, but it seems like all he wants to do is stay in and play on his computer. What a wasted, free day! I had mentioned several times about going to San Antonio or to visit Laura or do things in Austin, but it's frustrating. I'd like him to initiate things for us to do rather than me organize all the entertainment for us. The more iIwrite about it, the more agitated I get. I think I'll go lay out to blow off steam. Sun is good.

okay, that one was funny, too.

i'm sensing some frustration from the early years before my sweet husband was "trained" to do better things with his time than play his Xbox all the time. :) teeheehee