23 Weeks

This past week was busy, but not quite as busy as some weeks have been. I'm learning to cherish moments that I have to myself, or just moments in general when I can sit and rest and be still. Saturday Mom and Josh were going to come visit for the weekend and then it turned out that they just came for the day Sunday. I had already freed up my day (except for a 3 hour group meeting Saturday morning for school and the 6:00 service at church that night for volunteers) and I was feeling pretty crummy with my allergies acting up so needless to say, I was pretty excited when I realized I had all afternoon to do whatever I wanted. Which was nothing. I was so excited to just come home and lay down! And I needed it. And yes, little Miss Achiever layed around for most of the day amidst the piles of dirty dishes and laundry that needed to be done! After a while it got the best of me and I did tidy up and do some laundry, but ask my mom and Josh... my house was by far the messiest they have ever seen it! And I was embarrassed, but not embarrassed enough to exhaust myself even more with extensive cleaning. I'm pregnant. And tired. And at that point I didn't know I could take anything for my allergies so I was miserable. This is kind of a side note, but does anyone else hate that little allergy quirk where one minute you can't blow another drop of snot out of your nose because you are just that stopped up, then the next minute, you turn around and your nose DRIPS out of nowhere??? Like a straight drop of clear runny snot onto your shirt or the table or whatever? Ok, yes this is gross but it has happened to all of us. If you try to deny it, I will call you a liar. Anyways, this was the point at which I was the whole weekend... head pounding, eyes watering, nose either running or completely stopped up, and throat itching. Boo for the massive amounts of pollen rained down on us.



The volunteer service I mentioned just briefly a minute ago was actually our first service in our NEW BUILDING! Let me just tell you how proud I am of my husband and the rest of the staff of Pine Ridge Church. They busted their tails to get this building done on time and they did a fantastic job. Please join me in congratulating them on a job well done because hunny, they deserve it. And if this were any other line of work other than ministry, they'd be getting a week off work for all the hard work they put it. But... this is the ministry we're talking about, they never truly get time off. Anyways, I didn't see my husband for about a week and a half. I mean, I SAW him when I got up in the morning and kissed him goodbye but other than that, I didn't see him. He was home each night between 11:00pm and 2:00am. Yes, those were some mighty long days. Did I mention how proud I am of my husband? He told me last week "I'm not the most skilled person out there, I don't know how to run electrical lines or put in plumbing" but buddy he sure did put in some good long hours and lots of sweat. I got a call one night and he asked me if we had some Dawn dish detergent because he needed to bathe in that since he'd spend a good amount of time in the ceiling that day. What!? In the ceiling?! Wow! Like I said, he worked until he was exhausted and then worked some more. I just hope everyone at PRC knows just how hard the staff and some of our volunteers worked last week. We had some of our volunteers work thru the night! Craziness! But that IS the Pine Ridge way... we are most certainly crazy and I hope that other people can see its because we're crazy about this vision that was given to a man who was told by God to start a church in our little town. We'll do whatever it takes. Even sacrificing seeing our spouses for a week or two, even laboring thru the night, even eating fast food for 47 meals straight to get it all done because Easter Sunday it all paid off. We had over 500 people there at church and 20 of them gave their lives to Jesus!! Wow!!

Well I guess you've all been waiting for it... probably not, but here's my weekly survey anyways =)

How far along? 23 weeks 2 days (since I didn't get around to writing this until Tuesday!)

Weight gain? weeeell... I'm embarrassed and completely disappointed in myself that I have almost gained 20 pounds so far! Don't even think about telling me its ok, I'm supposed to gain weight, etc etc... because I told myself that I only wanted to gain 25 pounds with this baby and it doesn't look like that is an option now since I've officially gained 18 pounds in only 23 weeks! All I gotta say is that come August and September, if I'm not sweating, chase me so I start running because I am going to have to work HARD to get this weight off...

maternity clothes? yes, i've gained 18 pounds and i'm still wearing my skinny jeans and regular shirts because I keep thinking that as long as I'm wearing my regular clothes, I'm not fat... I did, however, wear my first maternity shirt this week... It was very comfy and very cute and I actually didn't feel as whale-like in it... I was pleased =)

Sleep? Yes please. Actually, I've noticed that I've been so exhausted lately that I will wake up in exactly the same position that I go to sleep in... how do I know this? Because my left arm is fast asleep when I wake up since it is the arm i stick under my pillow.

stretch marks? None yet but I'm feeling my skin getting tighter and tighter and I'm lotioning this bump up every chance I get!

Best moment this week? Easter Sunday in our new building with my family there. And, baby boy was kicking constantly throughout the service so I think its safe to say he likes church already =)

movement? All the time and all over the place! (And by all over the place I mean the small space he has to move around in between my hips and my ribs haha!)

food cravings? smoothies... any kind of frozen drink... maybe its because the weather has warmed up and my throat is sore from my allergies...

Food aversions? coffee

what I'm looking forward to... picking out baby Hokie clothes for my tiny son this weekend!

milestones... Babycenter says he now weighs a pound!! Oh my goodness! How cute! But he better stay in there and grow to a good healthy weight before he decides to enter this world! =)