Oh The Emotions!!! or is it God's grace?

They warn you about this stuff, but I thought this was one of the few symptoms of pregnancy I had avoided... but NO WAY! I have to record this so I can go back and get a laugh or a cry out of it later. So, here is what happened last night. First of all, yesterday was just a gloomy sort of day with yucky weather. I stayed in all day cleaning and doing stuff around the house, so needless to say I was looking forward to Chris coming home. He called and our conversation went something like this...

C: What do you want to do for dinner?

To which I replied either go to the grocery store or eat Mexican.

(side note, Mexican has been my LEAST favorite food all through pregnancy. We've only eaten it once or twice)

C: REALLY?!?!

ML: Yeah, I've kind of been thinking about it today.

C: Okay, well I'll be home soon and we'll decide where we should go.

So, he gets home and I ask if he is hungry to which he says, no not really. So we decided to wait a little bit. At this point I am making a grocery list. However, in my mind I was thinking we were going to go eat Mexican b/c he sounded really excited about it.

I am getting ready and notice Chris has gotten the ice cream carton out of the freezer and is eating it. I didn't really say anything as I thought he must be pretty hungry and just wants a bite before we go out.

ML: You ready to go eat?

C: Oh, I thought we were going to the grocery store

(poor communication)

ML: I thought you wanted to go eat Mexican.

C: I just ate ice cream b/c I thought we were going to the grocery store, and wanted to curb my appetite.

ML: Well, we can go to the grocery store if you want to.

C: No, we'll go eat mexican.

(this goes on for a few minutes)

We finally decide since it is getting late, we would just go eat Mexican. We get there and are seated. They bring us out the chips and salsa, and I notice Chris isn't touching them.

I said, 'Your not hungry are you?'

He says, 'Yea, I am.'

*AND THEN IT HITS ME* "You ate Mexican today for lunch, didn't you?!!?'

To which he sheepishly smiles and says 'yes'

And here is where pregnancy hormones kick in...

I start bawling my eyes out right there. There is no stopping it. People are looking at me from other tables. The waiter has no idea what to do when he brings the food out. I just can't stop it, and Chris keeps asking me why I'm crying as he kind of chuckles.

I'm crying because I have such a sweet husband who loves me so much he would eat Mexican twice in a day with out batting an eye or saying he already had that. He is such a selfless man that loves me and this little Harper Grace so much. He is such a servant to me, and truly displays Christ like love daily. He will get up off the couch to get me a cup of water or something to eat. He goes for walks with me in the freezing cold weather at 11pm b/c I'm restless or have bad heartburn. He's learned how to cook a few meals (with my guidance :-) ) so that when we have a new little one he can help out in the kitchen. And, he puts up with my 5 billion pillows that just about smother him out of the bed so I can be comfortable.

He truly is a man of God that I am so blessed to be married to. God has gifted me beyond what I ever could have prayed for in a husband. He is going to be such a wonderful daddy. I just hope and pray that I can show him the same kind of love that he has shown me... selfless and unconditional.

So, that is what hit me as I was sitting in the Mexican restaurant last night, and the flood gates opened! Maybe it was a little bit of pregnancy hormones maybe a lot of God's grace and love shown to me through my husband that got me going. Whatever it was, I was overwhelmed to the point of lots of tears and challenged to be a better wife.

Thank you Jesus for your love and blessings.

Christopher Michael Blanton, I am one blessed woman to be your wife! I love you with all my heart and want to be a better wife to you. You are an amazing man. You've kept true to your promise that you made to me on the day you proposed. Thank you for being a man of integrity and love. I love you!

The Mystery of It All

I am so overwhelmed by what a mystery carrying a baby is as well as when she will arrive. Chris will take my big belly into his hands and get really close and say "There's a baby in there!" It makes me laugh every time! It is so amazing to actually think that I am carrying another human being, completely formed. I have two hearts inside my body right now - as well as duplicates of other organs, and it is so weird to try to encompass that. I am amazed.

I also am wanting to know when she is going to come out! The Drs give you your estimated due date, but they don't really KNOW when she is going to arrive. We have the count down going on - 37 days today - but I don't know if that is really accurate. I get excited when I think it could really be 20 days left, and then I cringe when I think it could be more like 50 days.... YIKES!

This upcoming Monday we begin to start seeing the dr weekly. We also get our last ultrasound to "guess" Harper's weight. They will measure her head, chest, abdomen, and length of her femur bone to see how big she is; however, this is not accurate and can be off about a pound either way! So, while technology is so advanced today, no one can tell me when my baby will born, if she will be born naturally or by c-section, if I will go into labor on my own or if I will have to be induced. Only my God, the one who created this precious gift of life knows and He is going to keep it a secret until he wants to surprise me and Chris. I will continue to wait on Him and His timing, regardless of how much I want to meet Harper Grace! The good news is I can't be pregnant forever, so there is an end! I will pack my bags this week - just in case - and I will continue to keep the apartment clean (well, try to) :-)

Thank you Jesus for keeping life a mystery still. Thank you that you and only you know EXACTLY what is going on with our little girl, her exact arrival time, and how big she is! You know my desires for this birth, but I must trust in you for what you know is best for me and my family.

You make all things beautiful in your time... Ecclesiastes 3:11

Preparing for Motherhood...

This morning I started stirring around 5 and just couldn't get comfy in the bed. My gigantic amount of pillows are becoming more bothersome than helpful in these last few weeks of pregnancy... somehow they have a love/hate relationship with my every growing belly! Plus they are just so darn hot!!!!!! My mother always told us the infamous stories of "well, when I was pregnant with you..." and one of them was about when she was pregnant with Johnny, my brother, who was born Feb.15, she would wake up in them middle of the night so hot that she would go and stand on the porch in her nightgown. No robe, just gown. Well, even as how cold blooded I usually am, at 5:45 this morning, guess where I was... standing on our little balcony in my short-sleeved night gown. Ahhhh... it felt so good! I really think if I could have brought a mattress, blanket, and my 5 pillows outside, I would sleep like a baby. But, that is too much work to do! :-) So as you can see, I am wide awake and it is 6:30 AM!

This week has been good. I am getting to know more and more people. I've met a precious girl that is a kindred spirit, and I know that there are many other friends waiting to be made. These next two weeks are pretty busy for us, so I'm very excited about that. The second weekend in February, Nancy and her roomies are coming to visit! At that point, I will be considered "full term" which means if I go into labor, they won't do anything to stop it! AND THAT IS IN THREE WEEKS!!! YAY! I'm not setting my heart on it, but I think it would be quite cool if Harper decided to make her debut while her Aunt Nancy was in town! But if not, I will patiently wait for her to come out. :-)

If she decides to stay put at least until her due date, we have some other dear friends, Ed and Sheree, who will be coming up the weekend before her due date to give us some great distractions from what will seem like the longest week as we wait for her to arrive.

That is all that I can think of to update you on for now. My tummy is growling, so I think I may go fix myself some breakfast. I will come back and update later if I can think of anything I've left out... Have a great weekend!