Girlfriends, Father's Day and Short Hair

The past few days have been pleasant ones when I'm able to get my focus off of the late pregnancy discomforts! Even though the summers here don't compare to the ones I grew up with in South Texas, Iowa does get its fair share of hot muggy weather and these days seem to have suddenly arrived. I'm so grateful for our comfortable air-conditioned home right now!

There are a few other things on my mind lately that I've been grateful for. I consider them all to be blog-worthy, so allow me to share...

My Girlfriends

All last week, I knew that Darin's sister was coming by to pick up Miss Lucy on Thursday evening for a fun aunt/niece outing! Lucy loves to spend time with and be spoiled by Aunt Dawn who likes to take her to the mall and get her dinner at Chick-Filet and play on the soft-play area! Darin suggested that we use the opportunity for a date-night, and this soon-to-be mama of two didn't need much convincing to agree to the idea.

You can imagine my surprise when we arrived at the restaraunt Darin picked and the hostess escorted us to a table where four close girlfriends were waiting to surprise me with a fun girls night out to celebrate the soon arrival of Baby Boy. After I adjusted to my shock, Darin kissed me on my cheek, set the camera next to me on the table and made his exit! After a fun time of great conversation and a delicious meal, the girls and I headed to the nearest mall to go to The Gap and pick out a cute new shirt for me that is NOT maternity! How fun! I felt so blessed and supported by my friends. It's these gals (and many others who were not able to be present) that have offered so much encouragement and prayer as we hoped for a child and then witnessed the Stevensons grow from a family of two to four!

Thank you, Ladies!

Lucy's Daddy

Father's Day was pretty low-key this year and Darin was such a good sport "going with the flow" on a day that is set aside to honor him as a father. I approached the day and its activities with a "let's just see what I'm up for" kind of mentality. After a relaxed breakfast, church, a trip to Lowe's, going through the Wendy's drive-thru and a nap for all of us, we made a spontaneous trip to the closest public swimming pool and had a great time splashing in the cool water. I loved watching Lucy play with her daddy and have so much fun with him. Darin has taken to be a daddy more naturally than I think he ever expected! It is such a joy to be his wife and parent with him!

My Hair Grows Fast

I went on Saturday to get my hair trimmed. It needed it and I figured it be easeir to do it now than wait a few weeks when I have a newborn. Somehow my hair ended up much shorter than I intended it. I think I'd really love this short bob if Ihad my pre-pregnancy figure. But I'm feeling rather "pear-shaped" at the moment and the short hair is only adding to narrow on top pear-look. Oh well. My hair grows exceptionally fast and it is easier to do in the mornings (much less time spent with the hair-dryer). After lamenting my short do on facebook I had many demands for pictures, so I'll share one here. I'm making peace with it, and since the initial disgruntled-phase, I've even had a few moments where I've thought it was cute.

Well, I hope you have a great day and find many things to be grateful for!

Getting Prepared

So I'm definitely having compulsions to clean and organize my home and life that I don't normally have. This is partially hormonal, but I know it is also mental to an extent because I was the same way as I was waiting for Lucy to join our family. It's a different ball game to simply prepare the house for one new baby versus now, preparing ourselves AND Lucy for the new addition. It is requiring me to attempt to organize in ways that are challenging to me. Organizing just doesn't come naturally to me. But little by little plans are coming together. Aside from enlisting friends and family to be "on-call" to come care for Lucy whenever we must head to the hospital, I'm also just trying to spend as much quality time with Lucy as possible since her little life is about to be turned upside down! She is such a delight and is trying new things all the time:

I recently ordered this adorable wooden push-walker from Amazon (a really great source for quality educational toys... I've discovered this through my mom!). We've had it for awhile and she was really reluctant to use it at first, but now she can't get enough of it! After she takes several strides we'll cheer for her and she'll let go and balance herself long enough to clap for her accomplishment. It's fun seeing her gain more courage with her gross motor skills and to be so pleased with herself when she has success.

Lucy has also taken a greater interest in her baby dolls which is fun. As you can see above, mainly her interest is in biting them, but she also enjoys giggling and doing the sign language for "baby" when I hand her one.

Well, I think I'll go and spend time with my sweet girl now rather than continue to blog about her. But before I do, I thought that in light of my last post, I'd share the most recent belly pic (at least for my mom and sister!). We're getting closer!! : )

Eating My Words

If you've talked much with me about the pregnancy, you have heard me confidently predict that I am expecting to go at least ten days past my due date, and no, it doesn't matter what YOU may think, there's no way I'll be giving birth prior to my due date (July 7th). I've been predicting a July 17th birth.

Hmmm. I may be singing a different tune now. Yesterday my doctor estimated the baby's current weight at 6 lbs 8 oz and said he wouldn't be surprised if I gave birth two weeks from now. What?! He also predicts that if I make it to the due date to expect him to be in the 9 lb range. I have many friends who have given birth to babies this big and they have survived, but you know, I had the privilege of witnessing 6 lb 14oz Lucy's birth and that didn't look like a picnic! Since neither me nor my siblings were even in the 8 lb range at birth, I've been assuming I'd be in line with my genetics when it came to my baby's birth weight. Now it's looking like I'm inheriting Darin's genes when it comes to birth weight.

So, for all of those who have listened to me tout my over-confident predictions that I won't be giving birth to this baby until mid to late July, I am officially eating my words. I am now rooting for late June.