Once there was a snowman...

This has been one bizarre winter.
This is a typical January day, just one week ago.

And today?

Sunshine, jacket-free, and piggy toes.

But we're not complaining!

4 weeks to go!

And then I will certainly be ready to get my hormones back in check and my body back into shape. Seriously, I think I get a little winded every time I have to bend over to put on my shoes.

And the pregnancy hormones! Can we just talk about that? I cried the other day because the cow milk I bought from a local farm smelled too cow-ey. I think I got so used to the smell of our goat milk that I was overly sensitive to the change (we have sadly said goodbye to our goats--they're off for breeding!). The planned meal for the night was a cream of broccoli soup, and I could not even think about cooking with that milk--let alone eat anything made with it. Luckily, I was able to pull together a chicken noodle soup instead.

The next week or two will call for massive amounts of cleaning, washing newborn clothes and blankets, cooking and freezing up extra food, packing hospital bags, and then we wait! I'm already dilated to a 2, so there is hope that my labor will be even faster with this baby #3. After about 17 hours of labor, I was only at a 3 when I checked in with Dorothy. After 10 hours of labor and contractions down to 3 minutes apart I was--again--only at a 3 when I checked in with Lucy. I'd love to be anywhere but a 3 when I check in for Ezra!

But for now, I'm off to...nap. All this talk of prepping for baby has plum tuckered me out.

waddle. waddle. waddle.

That's about all I do the days: waddle.

We're about 6 weeks from the due date now,
and I am certainly feeling like I'm 34 weeks pregnant.

The reality that I will have 3 kids in a few weeks is starting to sink in.
I am excited to meet my baby boy,
but also incredibly nervous every time I think about it.

For now I'm happy to waddle around,
savoring every moment with my little girls.
And in 6 weeks, hopefully I will feel a little more prepared
to let my heart stretch even more and become mama to a
whole new little one.

Books for the New Year!

We had a wonderful Christmas with family!
But it is feeling good to be back in our old routines.
One thing I was really missing was READING!--
with my little ones and reading for myself.

Here are a few of our favorite books as of late:

1) Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin

This book is a great tool for introducing
your children to an orchestra,
and the poetry is truly wonderful!
You will love the description of each instrument!

2) Snow

We're still waiting for our first winter storm,
but this book certainly gets us excited.

The descriptions of snow and the winter
are, once again, wonderful.
I also love the pictures by Lauren Stringer--
one of my favorite children's book illustrators.

I've mentioned this book before:
3) Winter is the Warmest Season

Written and illustrated by Lauren Stringer,
it is where I fell in love with her art.
I also love how the book makes your little one's think:
Winter may be cold outside,
but we fill it with hot soups, warm baths, fires and candles,
toasty layers of quilts, and lots of together time.
She proves winter really can be "the warmest season."

And this one, 4) Hattie Big Sky
was a random grab from the YA lit section.
I saw the Newbery Honor Award and figured I would give it a shot.
It was another wonderful book!
I loved the combination of early homesteading history
with tensions from WWI.
I also enjoyed that the ending brought some surprises,
not always what you expect in YA lit.

I am hoping to get more reading in this year
than I was able to last year.
However, I'm sure things will get MUCH more
complicated when little Ezra makes his appearance.

I'll just have to read my little heart out for the next 8 weeks
to get a good head start--just in case!