vera corrine.

welcome to the world, little lovely. we're glad you are finally here.
born october 15, 2009 at 6:04pm
8 lb. 5 oz., 21 in.

42 weeks.

i had about 24 hours worth of contractions yesterday and lost my mucus plug (sorry if that's TMI!), so i was hoping i'd be in full out labor on my own by today, but they have subsided all together. so the plan is to go to the hospital tonight after dinner, be the lucky recipient of cervidil, and wait to see if my body progresses into labor on its own. if not, then tomorrow morning i'll get the priviledge of being a lucky recipient of pitocin. and thus the journey will begin. definitely not looking forward to labor, but this week has been pretty rough on my body and at 42 weeks today, i am ready to get this baby out. your prayers are appreciated!

i'm doing some last minute cleaning for our guests (chris's parents this weekend, my family next tuesday through saturday), cleaning out the fridge, defrosting those sweet tasties i made awhile back for my (hopefully) wonderful, helpful, in-a-really-fantastic-mood nurse, and packing my bag for the stay.

i'm feeling all sentimental today and trying give some extra love and affection to marlow. it will be sad to drop him off at our friends' house tonight, but he'll be in good hands, and i just never like to be away from him. i keep telling him that he was my first baby and that i'll always love him, no matter how things change between us. :)

nathaniel lee.

some of our favorite friends, joe & emily, had their baby sunday evening! emily was 3 weeks behind me, so you can imagine that i am a little jealous they have their baby already. :) we are so happy for them and thankful for their healthy, beautiful baby boy.

andrea got dunked!

today we drove out to guadalupe river state park to celebrate the baptism of our friend, andrea. she came to know christ in april and has been a part of our community group at church since then. it has been really cool to watch her faith and love for jesus grow. it was a fun day with friends and even marlow had a good time.

41 weeks.

i have a friend from church who wanted to practice doing maternity shots to build her photography repertoire. my friend, emily, and i were models for her yesterday afternoon.

(www.mollymoody.com)

kindred spirits.

when i was little, i used to love watching the "anne of green gables" series. that's the first time i remember learning what the phrase "kindred spirit" meant. the definition of the idiom according to usingenglish.com is this: a kindred spirit is someone who feels and thinks the way you do. i would definitely use that phrase to describe two of my friends, lindsay and janelle.

indsay and i met in december of 2007, i believe. but the little of amount of time says nothing of the depth of friendship we share. she and her husband recently moved to memphis and since, there's been a void in my life for sure. she's such a great friend and we've had some of the best conversations, though they haven't always been easy. she has been a soundboard for me when life has been hard and we have truly tried to spur each other on toward holiness.

janelle and i met exactly a year ago. it's crazy to me that two of whom i would consider to be my closest friends here are girls i really haven't known all that long. but i guess that's the way God works sometimes. janelle and i are in the same small group together. our husbands are friends and i've gotten to see her encounter all the ups and downs of life as a new mom. if i can be half as good a mom as she is, i'd consider myself doing a decent job. i love this girl! her heart is pure and she is real with you. i don't feel like i have to be anyone else but myself and that's comforting to have a friend like that.

yesterday evening we met up at one of our favorite local coffee shops. it was a surprise to me that lindsay was in town and i think they were trying to keep it a secret as long as possible, hoping that i'd have the baby by now and she could come meet the lil chica. over some tasty iced mochas, we chatted and caught up on life. it's moments like these when i walk away and realize how much God has blessed my life here with great friends. i am certainly thankful.

i just had to share.

look how stinkin cute my niece is! i can't wait to see her again.
(hope it's okay to steal a photo off your facebook, amanda!)

thursday.

this morning i took marlow to the dog park. it was so nice outside and he was inside too long yesterday. i love spending time with my puppy.

other things i did today included:
- laying out at the pool
- 20 minute nap
- hanging out with a friend; chatted and watched a movie together
- ate dinner with my hubby at one of our favorite indian restaurants
- watched 4 more episodes of 'the office'

good night!

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.