A little update

First off - a picture of my belly today (38 weeks and 2 days). I feel HUGE, like a bomb that could go off at any moment. Strangely, and most terrifically - besides being pretty tired and a bit uncomfortable - I feel better than I have the entire pregnancy! Hooray! Any day now, ANY DAY!

I apologize for the phone photography, but I wanted to get a little post in today and was too lazy to pull out "Annie" to do the job :)  

I have to admit, I really REALLY don't want to be one of those people who has three kids and falls off the face of the planet and quits blogging or documenting our little life (not that those of you who have done that are in anyway bad or should in any way feel guilty, it's just I really have a desire to continue documenting our family life). I have been a very avid journal keeper, since I was 8 years old. I have 15 full books of my writings from that time until about the time Sawyer was born. After that, I discovered blogging and with a combination of writing and my love of the visual and photography, I haven't written much with pen and ink for a while...and since it's public and lots of people read this (hello people in Russia? Singapore? Europe? South America? Awesome you can connect somehow to me and my little family's life :) it is not as personal as it could be, but nonetheless I am documenting bits and pieces of our life as a family and I DON'T want to give that up. That said, things have been SO crazy lately, I haven't had much time to think about blogging. Or even taking pretty pictures. But this blog isn't just about pretty pictures, even though I love to post those as illustrations from our life. It's about writing down what's happening, NOW. So, one day, be it a week or a year or years down the road, I can look back with fondness and remember the craziness happening today :)

SO.

I can't disclose everything that has been keeping us busy, but I suppose that it's no secret we are getting our home ready to put up for sale. We will be outgrowing it very soon, so it's time to move on. I will say more about that later...

BUT.

Getting it ready to photograph and show has kept me busy. We are really lucky that we are very minimal so there's actually hardly anything we have to do to get ready to show it (just a couple of minor things a trip to Ikea helped...floor lamp for a bit more light in the main room, and some canvas prints the hubs HATES to put over our super minimal almost all-white bedroom, and that's about it!) We joke that I stage it for every day so that part isn't stressful. We have no "junk" to have to put in storage, and nothing more than we need for simple living - which at this point makes us breath easier (not to mention it's much easier to keep up with the cleaning/tidying that happens daily with two little ones!) 

I did some touch ups to paint and also painted our upstairs hallway but then was banned from doing any more painting on high ladder with my big belly. So, we hired some professional painters to come paint the stairway and vaulted ceiling. They did a great job and now every surface is perfect for the next owner. Honestly, I think the next owner is pretty lucky we've done a lot of the work of making a brand new place look nice - I mean, who wants the paint that the builder chose? We've saved them a ton of time and money, as long as they like our color choices :)

I guess it doesn't sound like a lot, but it really does feel like we've been doing a lot. Not to mention, I've been finishing up my work - I did a wedding about a month ago and that took a lot of time to finish up ALL those edits, and then I did a couple of more sessions and I wanted to get everything pretty much done and squared away with my clients before I take the summer off on maternity leave...

I also had some personal projects to work on. Like designing a maternity book with all the weekly thoughts/love letters I've written throughout this pregnancy. And it's up to date - up to week 37 at least. I'm waiting until my 38 week appt on Weds to update it further. So just a few more weeks/or possibly days to design pages for and then I will get to add the birth pictures once Hazel is here. I did a chevron theme for the book, and I think it turned out really fun.

I also bought clothes for the kids to grow into (I love buying things off-season/on sale) for the next YEAR. ALL three kids. So I pretty much don't have to do any shopping for the next year, or possibly more since my kids are petite and wear clothes a long time. That may sound silly, but it brings me peace to know I will have one less thing to worry about and just a tad bit more time to simply BE with them and CUDDLE that new baby...the first year goes SO fast!

What else? Well, Jacob had to work about 90 hours the past two weeks (each week, not total), and I'm not joking. He slept about 3-4 hours a night. 

So, in some ways, we've been plugging along getting things done, and every so often I have a freak out moment where I wonder if we're crazy to be doing some of the things we are doing/planning on doing. In the end, though, it's a grand adventure. I'm old enough to know that life will NEVER really calm down, so I've got to just keep rollin' with it. 

I'm SUPER excited to have this sweet baby and be done with being pregnant. I can hardly wait to meet her. Some days I want her here NOW, others, I hope she waits longer so I can get a bit more done (ie would love to get the house photographed for our realtor before she arrives!) I'm NOT exactly looking forward to home showings - having an hours notice to make the house look magazine-like and get three kids out of the house in about an hours notice. That could get tricky with naps and nursing, and a weeks old baby - but hey! We CAN do it! And if we're really lucky, our house will sell quickly and then we'll be homeless :) Just kidding. Sort of :)

I'm also anticipating Sawyer's 4th Birthday coming up a week from tomorrow! He said he wants his new sister to be born on his birthday, so we can wrap her up in a big bow (okay, I actually did pack a big long thick ribbon in my hospital bag, just in case!) and she can be the best birthday present ever. It's a sweet wish...and could pretty easily come true! I'm not sure how much he'd like sharing his birthday down the road, but right now he thinks it's a splendid idea. My only drawback is then I might not be able to make his dinosaur cookies for his little party at his school :) I've pre-planned his little party with friends, and the date is set 6 days after Hazel's due date so I'm hoping she either comes before then or after, so that I can help wrangle the kids at the park, hide the "dinosaur" eggs, and do a few rounds of "duck duck dinosaur" (yes, he's having a dinosaur theme this year). 

Okay, so now I'm rambling. But that's okay, this is my journal and I'm allowed :) People keep asking if I'm ready for three kids. Half of the people I know say it's Crazy and Chaotic, the other half say it's easier than two. I'm certain part of that depends on the ages of the kids...mine are spaced pretty close together but honestly, I'm not worried at all. Things may be a little crazy but I'm more excited than worried about it. This is my DREAM COME TRUE. If I had got started younger and Jacob would agree, I would have twice as many little people running underfoot and into my arms. BUT that won't happen. We'll be happy with three and be thrilled if down the road we can add a caboose to our family train :)

For now, wish us luck with Hazel's arrival! If she's like her brother, she'll be right on time, if she's like her sister, she'll come tomorrow (yikes!) but I have a feeling she'll just come on her own schedule (though hopefully not too late!) It sometimes still doesn't feel real that there's a sweet girl who we will get to hold and cuddle and kiss in just a few days. I wonder what she'll look like? Her brother and sister look similar, but will she look like them, or totally different? We joke that because we're naming her Hazel she'll be the one who ends up with the blue eyes (Sawyer has Hazel-green and Aspen has Hazel-gold eyes). Anyway...only time will tell! And time is ticking, so I better get back to doing those things I need to do!

Hopefully the next post you see, will have pictures of a brand new baby girl! If any of you readers have busy, crazy lives like me, hang in there! Enjoy the ride!