Pregnancy Brain

I've had 2 experiences with pregnancy brain that are worth sharing.

My first experience happened when I was about 12 weeks along. Micah and I were out somewhere, but we had both of our cars. So, after he walked me to my car he said he'd call me (so that we could finish the conversation we were having.)

As I'm sitting in my car, getting ready to back out, I notice him reach into his pocket and pull out his phone. I immediately think, "hmmm, I wonder who he's calling?"

And then my phone rings. :)


The other experience that is note-worthy happened on Micah's birthday, when I was right at 20 weeks.

We were at a friend's house after going out to dinner with them, and I notice a box for a Christmas tree they just bought, sitting in their living room. As I was reading the outside of the box it struck me as odd that it listed, "682 tips" as one of its features.

I turn to my friend and say, "Who needs 682 tips to put up a Christmas tree?!"

And as soon as the words were out of my mouth I realize the error in my thinking! :) But, it gained them a laugh at least, so that's good, right?

I hope you enjoy your day, no matter the current state of your brain.

Merry Christmas!

Hope you're all taking a moment (or the whole day!) to remember the sacrifice God made on our behalf by sending His son, Jesus to earth as a baby, to be a living example for us.

We serve a loving and merciful God. :)

Link Love

Remember my last link love post? Where I had spent quite a while reading a whole year's worth of posts on this blog?

Well, I've done it again. Only this time, it was another friend's blog I'd been neglecting so badly.

Some of the highlights:
- Her daughter dancing around the living room.
- Her daughter singing her ABC's and Jesus Loves Me.
- Her PARKING LOT delivery! If this is the only one you read, it's definitely worth it!!
- A story about a pelican.
- A horrible poop story for all you moms out there.

It was definitely a delight to be able to catch up on so many of her posts! Hopefully I'll keep on top of them now!

Week 12

The fun week!!

We told my parents first, on Friday, August 21st. I told my mom by showing her the e-mail I was planning to send my co-workers the following Monday. She had started trying to read it out loud to my dad and brother, but couldn't make it through without crying. Hehe...so she knew what was going on, and I'm pretty sure dad and Justin were confused! But, Micah helped them out by finishing reading.

They were all super excited, to say the least! My brother's wife Ashley was expecting a little boy due in September, so it was fun to think about the cousins being so close in age.

As soon as dad figured it out, he called his mom (who lives just a few minutes away) and told her to get over there RIGHT NOW! He told her he had some news for her, but that she needed to hear it in person (he made it sound so serious!) She put up a fight, but finally came over (in her night gown!) to hear our news. :) Though, dad did try to convince her that he was moving out of state, before he'd let us spill the beans.

Next up: calling Micah's parents and siblings. We even got to go over to Joe and Jessie's house and tell them in person. We also called all of our closest friends that night (or tried to - Joy wouldn't answer her phone!) but swore them all to secrecy, especially where Facebook was concerned. We were so nervous that our church body and co-workers would find out before we got to share our news!

Saturday we continued to call the people we weren't able to get a hold of Friday night.

Then, Sunday morning at the end of service, Micah made an announcement about our children's ministry program, and "oh by the way, my lovely wife is pregnant!"

Monday was fun too. I sent the same e-mail I let my mom read to my co-workers, which announced that not only was I expecting, but that I'd also be leaving at the end of August. Micah sent his e-mail, which made most people laugh - but some send us sympathy replies, offering prayer and meals and so forth! :)

I must say - it was well worth the wait! It was super fun for Micah and I to have a secret that no one else knew for a short time. And, it was also super fun to tell all of our friends!

I'm sure other things happened this week, like my first experience with pregnancy brain, but those were by far the most fun! I'll post about the pregnancy brain soon!

Psalm 70:4

It always delights my heart when I'm reading God's word and come across a portion of scripture that I learned a song for at camp. I love that the Word is truly hidden in my heart to be drawn upon whenever God triggers my brain to remember it.

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
"Let God be magnified."

Then, once the song/verse has been brought to my mind again, I'm able to meditate on it through out the day and continually ponder - am I rejoicing in the Lord? Am I giving glory to the God of my salvation for all of life's coincidences blessings?

Week 11

This is the week we went to my husband's family reunion! It was so much fun to see a lot of his siblings and various other family members I've never gotten to meet before. My mother-in-law planned all the meals for the reunion, which was nice. We got to play games, sing songs, and I got to spend some time in the kitchen with my sister-in-law Michelle.

Once again - SO HARD not to share our news!! But, soon. Very very soon!

The company my husband works for (and that I still worked for for another week or so) had a couple company wide soft ball games on Wednesday the 19th and Thursday the 20th that I went out to enjoy. Though, I ended up leaving because I wasn't feeling well.

I think this was the week that I figured out I could fight queasiness by just eating lots! :) I hadn't eaten regularly enough that day, which I'm sure is why I wasn't feeling the best.

Making Laundry Soap

Thanks to my friend Shawna, I made my first 5 gallon bucket of laundry soap a while back.

She was kind enough to provide me with all of the ingredients I needed to make the soap, and this link for directions. All I had to do was spend about $6.50 on a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Not too bad for 5 gallons of laundry soap.

And, the next 5 gallon bucket won't be that expensive either, because the only things I'll have to buy that go round are a bar of soap and some washing soda. I won't even have to buy borax, cause she gave me plenty for my next batch too!

This is quite the money saver, which is very helpful right now because I seem to be going over my grocery budget pretty regularly, though I'm trying to be better at that.

If you're not already making your soap - consider giving this a try. I think it'd cost you about $15 to get started (including all ingredients and the bucket) but the ingredients should last you for 4 or 5 batches (5 gallons each). And, if you already have some of the stuff laying around - even better!