Recovery Day & Nesting Begins

After the whirlwind that we had on Friday and Saturday (see Baltimore post below if you missed that one), we spent Sunday just trying to get back into the swing of things at home.

We headed to church in the morning, where Joshua made me so proud. They were doing a wrap-up of Bible School from the previous week and asked if any of the kids who were there wanted to come forward. I figured he'd be glued to my lap with a look of terror on his face, but he ran right up the aisle and stood there with the other kids. They sang a song and he did the motions like a champ. I almost cried at how proud I was of him. Imagine how I'm going to be when he REALLY does something impressive!

Joshua was begging to get outside and ride his tractor, so we parked in the driveway for a few hours after lunch while he worked in the yard. He rode and rode and rode until his little eyes were getting heavy and we worked our way inside for a nap. Then I worked at laundry (which I'm convinced multiplied on its own while we were in Baltimore because I swore I was caught up before we left) and cleaning and did some cooking ahead for the week.

In the past few weeks my nesting has really kicked into gear. Perhaps I'm feeling the time crunch as the number of weeks left until Baby's arrival ticks down into single digits. Or maybe there really is something to the nesting instinct. I've not yet taken to scrubbing woodwork and moving furniture as I did in the weeks leading up to Joshua's birth, and honestly, I'm not seeing that kind of motivation coming my way anytime soon. Jason did, however, convert the toddler bed back into a crib with Joshua's help on Sunday evening. We had forgotten just how chewed up the crib was from Joshua's woodchuck days, but I'm not too worried about it since our little girl will likely go through the same thing sooner than we're ready to admit. I then started the transformation into red ladybugs and am really happy with how things are starting to look. I only have the crib done and the changing pad cover on with a rug on the floor, but we're getting there. It's going to be really cute once it's all done, I think. Newborn clothes are hung in the closet and other necessities are starting to find their way into the drawers where they belong.

Our family had the joy of welcoming the first of the Richard cousins' Baby Boom 2009 babies (the second of 4) this weekend. God bless my cousin Stacie for enduring one of the most intense labor and delivery stories I have ever been privy to (including the 477 episodes of A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby that I've watched). If there were medals to be handed out, she'd earn one....hands down. Adorable Anna arrived on Sunday evening after a very long weekend for Mommy and Daddy (and everyone else!). Just being on the receiving end of the text messages (I believe there were 53) with updates, and hitting my knees in prayer for her and the baby, and then seeing pictures of this precious, perfect, peaceful little girl and the love that everyone has for her has been so exciting and so surreal all at the same time. It's almost impossible to believe that we are blessed enough to be able to experience that for ourselves again in just 9 weeks. It terrifies me and makes me so excited that I could burst all at the same time. And knowing that all of the people who were on pins and needles for Stacie, Noah and Anna this weekend will also be praying for our baby warms my heart. What a fantastically supportive, loving family we are blessed with.....for saying prayers, for sending text messages, for making phone calls just because, for holding babies, sharing clothes and gear, and giving much needed advice, that's what it's all about. And I'm so grateful to be one of them.

In more baby business, I'll see Dr. Miller this afternoon for a check on our little one. We've graduated to 30 weeks pregnant today. I suspect that we'll be scheduling our final Trisomy 18 ultrasound for growth measurement in just a few short weeks, so that'll probably be the last peek inside until we meet her in September. I'm anxious to find out how she's growing, because the kicks I'm feeling are coming with such force these days that a few have actually taken my breath away. I'll go on record as guessing that this baby will be larger than Joshua was just by the force I feel behind those movements.