Wordless Wednesday With a Twist - Self Portrait

"I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

This is the first time I've been able (or remembered thanks to Courtney) to participate in Wordless Wednesday With a Twist sponsored by American Mum. This one was easy - just sit in front of the computer and let iphoto booth do the work. I thought it would be fun to turn myself into a work of art, so here a few pictures of me in colored pencil, as a thermal camera shot and as pop art. Head over there and take a glimpse of some very beautiful women!!!

5 Positive Thoughts for Today

1) I am officially on maternity leave (or as official as it can be for running a business out of your home). I deserve to sit on my butt and eat bon bon's right? Haha. I'll have to check with Samuel on that one.

2) I am 38 1/2 weeks pregnant and I made it through this one without bed rest & other such complications. God is so good!!! Although, right now I wouldn't mind some bed rest!!!

3) Tim's schedule has finally calmed down. I like hanging out with my hubby! And tonight is Idol!!!

4) I am as ready as I can be for d-day. The nesting urge has been out of control and therefore the house is clean, the cabinets full, gas in the car, baby stuff organized, bags packed, etc.

5) I am starting to get stronger contractions. Samuel was born 11 days early so I was spoiled in that I never had to wait for labor. I am hoping that this little girl will follow somewhat in her brother's foot steps and be on the early side and not the late side. However, I am resigning to the fact that she can stay in as long as she needs to be healthy and happy.

He makes me laugh

Yes, that Samuel of mine makes me laugh. What a funny little kid he can be at times. Last night, we were cuddling after a bath and he said "Mommy, let's talk about underwear." Sure I thought and why not make it an object lesson too. So I got out a pair of big boy underwear and he tried them on for the first time. Yes, he liked them very much but still the diaper and jammmies had to go on for bedtime. Well, Samuel was so enamored with his underwear that he decided he'd like to wear them over his pajamas. OK, why not???


It was at this point that a friend of ours, Crockett, came by to fix our furnace. Samuel greeted him, "Hello Mr. Rocket" with his underwear on and all. He then proceeded to help him in whatever way he could. "Here's your screwdriver, Mr. Rocket" or "Here's your flashlight Mr. Rocket, so you can see better." Crockett tolerated Samuel very well and in the end we had a working furnace and a little boy who now wants to wear underwear. We'll see how things go from here.

A Mystery Solved

Little Andy got the courage to ask me his question "What's in there?"

"A baby" I told him and waited for a response.

No response. He just stared at the big bowling ball of a belly protruding from my body.

"Do you want to touch it?" I asked him.

His little hand reached out and patted my belly for a split second and off he went on the playground.

It's amazing how some days a simple answer can satisfy a 3 year old and some days they can't stop asking questions. I guess the slide was much more exciting than my belly.

Boys Will Be Boys

So I wake up sick on Saturday... sore throat, totally exhausted! Thankfully Tim decided to take Samuel to the park and let me go back to bed for a little while. What a thoughtful man. Well, if you live here in Western NY, you know that April means MUD. It's just not a great time of year to shampoo your carpets! And what does mud bring? You guessed it...WORMS!!! Here is a picture of Samuel with his first worm friend. I guess he held this one for about 45 minutes. They were really bonding by the time they got home.

Daddy decided it was time for me to wake up. Samuel decided I must meet his new friend. You should have seen this 9 month pregnant woman fly out of bed as I removed my eye cover and saw a dangling earth worm before me. This is the earth worm on my bed!!! GROSS!!!

This is a picture of Samuel, a very tired and sick Mommy and his new friend in my bed. I can't believe I'm actually posting this photo but it's time to be real here in blog world. This is what I look like when I feel miserable. A true beauty..haha!

And this was the fate of the earth worm as Samuel kindly informed me, "Mommy, the worm is bwoken." It was a miracle that he lasted over an hour in one piece! Poor earth worm!

It May Be the Last Time

This may be the last time I find myself in this glorious state of pregnancy. Tim and I really have a heart to adopt children. So, we'll see what the future holds. I thought it would be wise to get some creative pregnant photos done while I had the chance. So, I decided I would post a few of them here, the rest will remain in the privacy of our home for obvious reasons. I'm extending myself a bit beyond my comfort zone by posting these on the internet. I thought they came out great and truly capture the beauty of pregnancy. So here it goes...

Many thanks to Amanda for taking the pictures. She did a wonderful job!!!

A little manly humor

I shouted from the back room, "Hey Tim, are you giving Samuel a sponge bath?"

He replies, "Sure am."

Then Samuel chimes in. "Hey Mommy, my tet-sicles are clean!"

What a good man...

It's been tough lately. Long hours at work (and I mean long, like 12-16 hour days) trying to get things squared away before baby arrives. A PhD hanging in the balance. The more he gets done, the faster we'll be done with this phase of life. An upcoming out-of-state interview for a post-doctoral position. Needless to say I've not seen much of my husband lately. Samuel's sleep has been questionable and I'm 35 weeks pregnant.

Am I tired? You bet!
Am I a bit lonely? You bet!
Am I running out of steam? You bet!
Have I talked Courtney's ear off? You bet!

In walks my husband 3 hours late last night with a rose, a York Peppermint Patty and some biscotti to eat with our decaf coffee while watching American Idol. His first words were, "I really missed you today." And I knew he meant it!

What a good man!