Pregnancy update: 41 weeks

Life in Limbo~

At 41 weeks pregnant, "any day now" has turned into "any minute". I have been having lots of prodromal labor. Almost every evening I have regular contractions that stop when I go to bed. We continue to read Bunny books about babies and homebirth and talk about what we will do when the baby comes out. The Hubs and I tidy and clean the house every night in preparation. It can be kinda disappointing to wake up at some point in the middle of the night and realize that, once again, it was not the real thing. The good thing about prodromal labor is that it means some of the work is being done now. I am betting that when it is the real thing, I will be glad I am already part of the way there.

I got henna on my belly this weekend (finally lol). My artsy sister, Wendy, drew a whimsical tree, along with a few little designs and an acorn for Squirrely.

All those stetch marks are left over from when I was pregnant with Bunny. I have eaten much healthier and exersized this time around. At 25 lbs lighter, none of them are even the slightest bit red. I kinda have a love/hate relationship with my stretch marks. I dislike them because they are a reminder of a time in my life when I failed did not do the best I could (I know that some women get them even if they are perfectly fit, but for me, they were due to an unhealthy lifestlye). I like them because they remind me to do better. They show me how far I have come. Over time, they have slowly faded, and maybe someday they will fade even more. For now I will camoflauge them with henna and call the whole thing art.

The finished product turned out great. I am very happy with it.

Henna was the last big thing on my To Do List.

Any day now, Squirrely. Any minute.

Back to work again today.

Like mama, like daughter!

Linked up to: My Pregnancy Journal

Summer Links--Week Eight

It has been so much fun looking through the various "Summer Links" submitted to the All Year Round Blog Carnival: Summer.  I thought it would be fun to pick a few of my favorite links from the previous week and highlight them each Sunday (I normally don't blog on Sundays, so this would be short and sweet!)

We have enjoyed the book How Groundhog's Garden Grewin the past, so we were happy to see

All Things Beautiful's post on this very book!

Here is the LINK to our little activities we did with the book waaaay back in Feb 2011--

Groundhog's Day!

Gina, from famiglia&seoul, had a great summer post about herb playdough! 

I think, come the next rainy day, we will make lavender playdough!

If you have spent any time looking around my blog, you know we LOVE nature walks!

Most every week, you will see shots like this~

Our Montessori Way has a post of 7 Nature Walks to Take With Kids.

I think we will incorporate of few of these into our daily walks!

Sunnydaytodaymama had a lot of fun with a mini sandpit.  Her son had great fun with dino excavations, making beach scenes, and finding all sorts of buried treasures!

We (myself and all the co-hosts) would love if you'd join us in this fun sharing of summer ideas!  Be sure to visit my All Year Round Blog Carnival: Summer Page (at the top of my my blog) and link up all your fun summer posts!!

An Enchanted Childhood Playschool ~ Summer Break ~ Week 6

With widespread power outages and the middle-of-the-week holiday, we only had two days of playschool. But what fun two days they were!  The playschool children seldom get to swim in the pool, because we feel unsafe taking the one year olds... but Thursday found us with just four children and none were "babies".

Friday, we did some "experimental art"!  First we drew with chalk and then used a brush and water to paint over it--looked like a pale watercolor picture. Then on a 2nd sheet of cardstock, the children used wet chalk--very vivid!

 40 weeks 5 days and counting :)

Next, we headed off through the fields to the garden!

where we visited with the chicks...

 

and ate carrots right out of the ground.

We got to watch Poppaw John (better known as Mr McGregor) dig up the very 1st potatoes...

and bring home a basketful of garden goodies!

kale, zuchinni, beets, carrots, shallots, potatoes, green tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli!

Next we stopped by the BigCreek for some creekin' and crabbin'...

and then back home for a lunch of pizza quesdillas and garden veggies!

Linking Up With~

Learning Laboratory, Made by Little Hands, Country Kids,

 Come Play Outside, and Link and Learn

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

That moment when you find yourself brave enough to jump in, "by myself, mama!"

Crafting Along with needle and thREAD

After having no electricty for 75+ hours and prodromal labor pretty much every day (Thank you God, not at night!), I totally forgot about Independence Day.  Poor Bunny had no red, white, and blue outfit to wear to the family get together/fireworks on July 3rd.  So, of course, I had to make her a pillowcase dress that very afternoon.

40+ week belly!

Bunny kept yelling "More, Papa" throughout the fireworks that he was setting off!

As for reading, I have been spending some time in Birthing From Within, again.

Linked up to:

Creative Friday, WIP Wednesday, Keep Calm Craft On, Weekend Wrap Up Party, 

Making Monday Marvelous, Delicately Constructed,

Made with Love Link-Up, and needle and thREAD

Wonderfull (Full of Wonder) Wednesday

Looking for the wonder in everyday life! 

I'd love for you to join me on this journey. 

If you find wonder along the way, please leave a link in the comments,

so others can share in your wonder!

It is a wonderfull thing to have cousins!

 They have their own cool nicknames too!

Birdy, Monkey, Bee, and my Bunny!

The Girls.. or as Nana says "The GrandBabyGirls"!

Soon to be joined.. any day now.. by another sweet little girl!

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in” ~ Rachel Carson

Linked up with:

Magic of the Mundane!

No Power, No Baby, But All is Good!

Friday evening, WV was hit was a major storm that left most of WV without power.  Friday night was not too hot (the storm had dropped the temperature well over 20 degrees) and Saturday we were able to hook up a small generator to keep the fridge cold and run one fan in the bedroom.  Phones were in and out of service (land and cell) on Saturday, so we mentally prepared to have this baby without the midwife if we couldn't contact her.  We swam in mama and dad's pool to keep cool. I had my usual on and off mild contrax.. and the midwife showed up to check on us!  We made a plan that if I were to go into labor, my dad would drive out to get her (she lives 30 minutes away.. out in the country). 

We passed the 3+ days of no electric having a wonderful, simple, quiet time. Swimming twice a day, walks, nice quiet times in the afternoon with books and nursies in front of the fan, mild contractions throughout each day (I labored like this with Bunny too), washing needed clothes out by hand and hanging them on the line, eating meals with my mama.. A nice simple life of no technology and no working.. and no baby.  I went 41 weeks with Bunny and am now 40 weeks 2 days. I feel good and am resting well and Squirrely is happy and healthy.. so all is good.

And we did not forget to take the Monday Belly Shot!
40 weeks 1 day

 

Linked up to: My Pregnancy Journal