Bikinis and Breakdowns

During the summer work weeks, Charlie and I often go to our neighborhood pool around 5-6 in the evenings. We are home from work, the pool isn't crowded, we catch up, and one of us likes to feel weightless in the water. Its great actually. I have been rocking my pre-pregnancy bikinis; however I have officially out grown those. How do I phrase this delicately? Oh forget it, side-boob is not attractive. So Friday evening, I tried out my pregnancy tankini, black and white print, trimmed in red. Once I got this on, queue the waterworks and emotional breakdown. To be honest, I do not know what the big deal was; my best guess is hormones. Its not that I am unhappy with my pregnant body; ironically I am incredibly secure rocking this little boy's baby bump. Charlie is so into this pregnancy and always makes me feel so amazing about myself and builds me up that I don't have time to be insecure about my pregnant body. However, the pregnancy tankini combined with hormones did not go over so well. In my mind, I attribute tankinis to growing up (no, I do not fret about aging either), being a "mom," something we wear to hide flaws, or something we wear becuase its not considered appropriate to wear bikinis anymore. I totally understand that others do wear tankinis while not pregnant because they feel more confident, more secure, or they are more conservative than me. To each, their own. Pre-pregnancy, I have not worn bikinis with the intention of showing off my body (which is exactly what they do), its just something I have worn since I was a little girl during the summer months. Bikinis are my norm in the summertime, so why do I feel the need to change my norm just because I am pregnant? I have wanted this belly for 2.5 years, and I have it, so let's rock it. To fix the breakdown, on Saturday morning I made a trip to my local Pickles and Ice Cream in Southpark and fixed this problem in a very "Mary" way. Behold my new maternity leopard print bikini.

Thank you Lord that you have blessed me with a ridiculous emotional breakdown, which only means that this is a healthy pregnancy and Mason is growing and developing exactly as he should. Healthy pregnancies mean tantrums and breakdowns over nothing and for that I am eternally grateful!! Have a great day ya'll.

25 Weeks

I cannot believe we only have 15 weeks to go until we meet Sweet Mason. To be honest, I am not going to update each little bullet point that I normally do for these posts. Instead I will just hit the highlights:

At 25 weeks and 1 day pregnant, I feel fantastic and trying to savor the last few weeks of feeling this way before the exteme heat, swelling, fatique, and discomfort completely set in. Little man has caused a total weight gain of 16 lbs and continues to move constantly. My belly button is in, but my former belly button piercing has flattened out and my actual belly button is getting pretty shallow. I got in trouble this week with Charlie for running up a balance on my Ann Talor LOFT card for maternity clothes, but I needed clothes and I took advantage of a promotion, so I "SAVED," right?? I continue to wait for USA Baby Charlotte to call to inform me all pieces of Mason's bedroom are here and to set up the delivery time. Charlie is adamant about putting everything together. Crown moulding is up in Mason's room and crib bedding is due to arrive any day now. I cannot wait to post pictures of his bedding.

On a similar note, as I type this, our dear friends, Ross and Lindsey, are in labor with their first child, Tatum. We received a call at 2:00 am this morning informing us that Linds' water broke. I cannot wait to go and meet this sweet child, and Mason is ecstatic, full of kicks, and ready to meet his future girlfriend. I will post pics of the happy family when I have them.

Hope ya'll have a great day.

Mason's Room is Officially in Progress

As I sit here and type this, our two dogs, Tonka and Stella, are cuddled up with us on the couch. I just keep thinking how much of a rude awakening these two are in for......but so are their mom and dad.

This weekend was low-key. We have stayed around the house and began official work on Mason's room. Let's just say, we could possibly be on a first name basis with the Lowes employees. Don't get me wrong, I have decluttered and organized what baby "stuff" we have received from people or my yardsale adventures. Charlie was adamant about painting Mason's room himself. Painting was completed about 2 weeks ago, and this weekend started the crown moulding project. So far, Charlie is 95% complete with this project. Here are some pics so you can see the nursery progress.

The paint color contrasted with the former builder paint color.







Pre-crown picture

The closet before the crown.

After the crown moulding was added.

Another picture of hubb's work.






Dad working on the lil man's room.

I love the angles in this picture.





It just makes me smile when I get to see Charlie working with all his power tools that I know he loves. I also find it incredibly attractive that my husband knows how to do things. This week, the crib bedding should arrive the nursery furniture is due to arrive any day now. Holy Moly, this is REALLY happening. SQUEEL, I just cannot believe we have been so blessed.

In other news, we are in the process of switching churches. We love our former church, but after some thought, prayer, and realization, we have decided the fit is just not quite right for this family. So I leave you with this thought that was discussed in this morning's service. You know on Sunday nights, sometimes we become overwhelmed or just not excited about tomorrow or what Monday brings. Maybe its because we have to go back to work, to the grind, to a job we find meaningless. Just remember, when these feelings overwhelm/overtake you, You and nothing are meaningless if the Holy Spirit is in the midst. Hope you have a Happy Monday!