Cinco De MIRE!

We are not big Cinco de Mayo celebrators  but this weekend brought with it a wonderful visit from Grandpa Longmire!  With all 5 of us Longmires together I couldn't help but be cheesy with the title of this post.  Since we will not be having a little boy (Robert Edward Longmire the 5th) Bob won't get his "Cinco" nor will he be born on May 5th, so a blog post is going to be the closest he gets to expressing his cleverness. 

We haven't seen Grandpa Longmire in over a year and it was such a special weekend, albeit short.  We talked about Grandpa visiting all week long and Lily was simply beside herself with glee and infinite talking subjects when he arrived on the scene.  She immediately told him all that she knew about horseys, her babies and tickles and throws.  Oh she was just delighted!

Story time is the best with Grandpa and Mommy!

Mischievous little girl showing Grandpa how she throws rocks in the water.

The next morning we decided to head to the zoo!  Lily is LOVING the zoo these days and we were so excited to take her with Grandpa.  On the way to the zoo all she could talk about were the tigers, elephants and the carousel horses that she would hopefully get to ride on.

The zoo has been updating the sea lion exhibit and every time that we have been there it has been drained.  Not this time!  Lily got to see the big sea lion show for the first time with her Grandpa.  Let me tell you, it was the talk of the weekend.  The big sea lion's name was Nick and we heard about him every time we mentioned the zoo.  So precious.

The most exciting event of the morning, however, was definitely the carousel horses.  She ran practically around and entire zoo the second she knew that we were headed to the carousel ride.  O my goodness was she excited.  Grandpa bought her two rounds of rides and she was simply beside herself with glee.

Baby Evie had a major kettle corn craving while her big sister was on the ride so I munched on a big bag of the stuff.  I am certainly glad that I did because once Lily discovered the good stuff she hunkered down in the wagon and shared only under duress.  Even when faced with the Big Apes, she was content to stare mesmerized while keeping her cheeks full.

The zoo was wonderful and firmly cemented Grandpa as one of the coolest people ever!

Sunday I was sicker than sick so our trip to go hiking in the mountains was unceremoniously cancelled.  Oh well, we decided to go to the park and spend our last few hours with Grandpa together. 

You can tell, Lily had a blast.  Before we had to take him to the airport, Grandpa took Lily out and bought her a special present, new furniture.  It was such a blessing and the furniture, Lily calls her "Princess Bed."  She is so excited and I cannot wait to get into a house and see the awe on her face when she has her own special princess room!  Thanks Grandpa!

Yes the weekend was short, but it was so wonderful to spend some time with Grandpa Longmire!  Hopefully next time Grandma Lynn can come too!  Just think, we will have two little girls they can love on.  One thing is for certain, we LOVE our Grandmas and Grandpas!

34 Weeks

I am not quite sure why 34 weeks was such a milestone for me, but at this point, every two weeks seems to be a monumental success.  Truthfully, I am really looking forward to week 36, nearly full term and only 4 more weeks to go, but 34 was big too.  I am constantly reminding myself that even though I am meeting these milestones, there is no guarantee that June 14th is the day.  Nope, its just another milestone.  

Evie Frances has been so very active lately and because she is getting bigger she is getting stronger.  Between the constant movement and occasional punch to the ribs, hip and side sometimes I feel the hours of the day just crawl by.  I am having constant braxton hicks contractions which is normal, but sometimes so unnerving.  I have had days where I have had 15+ contractions.  No they aren't painful, but they are tight and can be uncomfortable.  Her little head is way, WAY down in my pelvis so the hip, low back and ligament pain has been at sometimes excrutiating levels.  This sounds very melodramatic, but with so much discomfort I tend to feel a bit crippled.  There are days when a trip to the grocery store or Costco feels insurrmountable.  Yes, this is coming from the marathoner.  

I have been completely averted to meat lately and am contemplating taking up a vegetarian diet.  Aside from the occasional light sandwich, I have found myself wanting salad, bread, veggies or just a smoothie.  My nausea is staying at a consistent level and in case you wanted to know, I threw up this morning......HARD.  I have a little popped blood vessel on the inside of my nose and I keep seeing it out of the corner of my eye thinking it is dirt.  Please laugh......if you don't, I am just going to fall to pieces again like I did this morning.  Most days I can wake up, say my "Lord help me" prayer, and get on with my day.  Such was not the case this morning.  For a good 15 minutes, the misery beat me and I could do nothing other than cry into my pillow and let my husband hold me.  This of course came after a wonderful afternoon yesterday complete with a long and overdue pedicure followed by a wonderful dinner out.  The silver lining.

I got to help my photographer friend out again by modeling for a posing guide she was putting together.  The Lord has really blessed me with the opportunity to model for her photography.  It helps me see the beauty of creating life instead of only seeing my pregnancy through the haze of sickness, pain and vomiting.  She makes me feel a sense of wonder, awe and admiration for the woman captured in these images.  And then I remember, thats me and my little Evie.