Autumn

The trees are losing their leaves, there is a chill in the morning and evening air, and the days are growing shorter. It is this time of year that just motivates me to get so much accomplished around the house. Spring cleaning ... what's that?! I love to do a cleaning overhall in the fall - I open the windows and the sliding glass door and air out the house before winter sets in. There are very few months of the year in Virginia when you can turn off the air or the heat, open the windows and live comfortably. This is one of those months! After I get done cleaning I light my favorite candles (juicy apple) and then sit back to enjoy the cleanliness. I get this from my mom. :)

I've been feeling a little under the weather and didn't get nearly as much accomplished this weekend as I wanted. BUT, what I did get done is a huge relief. I made 50 thank you cards and wrote return our return address on the envelopes for our upcoming baby showers. Don't know that I'll need that many, but it seemed like a good amount to make since there are two showers. I also finished the laundry, changed the sheets on the bed, and vaccumed the downstairs. On Sunday we skipped church (gasp - bad us!!) and Trevor and I went out to the "garden" (as of Sat. it was officially a garden area full of weeds) and harvested a few things. Some hot peppers and my birdhouse gourds (see above picture). Then Trevor tilled up the garden for the last time this year and stacked wood for the winter ahead. It looks so pretty and healthy again. I pulled up all my sunflowers since they were about finished and the birds/squirrels no longer showed any interest in them. It felt good to be home, together, and getting a few last outside things finished.

Trevor has really been working a lot of hours and over the past 3 weeks I've hardly seen him. He leaves for work between 2:30 and 3:00 (depending on his shift) and I get home around 5:30. He comes home around 4:00 - 4:30 a.m. and I leave for work at 8:00 a.m. I hate it it, but I just keep thinking that all of this will pay off once he starts working full time and is out of the training program. He wants to work as much as possible before the baby is born so he can take a week off and help out around here. Unless he's working he doesn't get paid. So - it looks like this might be our lives for a while longer. God will see us through, I know it. Sometimes it just feels a little helpless.

So, I'm officially 32 weeks along - into my 8th month of pregnancy. Crazy!!!! Tristen is moving quite a bit these days and quite often I'll feel a foot or something in my ribs. Not a comfortable feeling! He flops around alot, regardless of the time. Heartburn has returned and I have to be careful about what I eat and drink - although what I WANT to eat doesn't fall into the category of "healthy." My feet are swelling and none of my shoes fit - I've narrowed down my shoe choices to one pair of open backed clog type shoes that just won't work in the coming months. So, on Friday I decided to buy a new pair of shoes. I found a pair that felt really good so I bought them, took them home and discovered they were the wrong size. ARGH! Now I have to go back and get a 1/2 size bigger - I sure hope they have them! It is amazing that my feet have grown! I read in a book that your feet can grow up to a full size bigger when you're pregnant. I ask you, what DOESN'T grow when you're pregnant?! I'm surprised we're not all a bunch of pregnant Amazon women walking around with cankles and hobbit feet!! Not very attractive!

Last night we went to Ihop for dinner and I had some pancakes, which didn't set very well, and I was up pretty much all night feeling the effects of our meal. This morning my stomach is still a bit queasy and on top of it I am all congested, so I just stayed home from work. Very unlike me, but sitting at a desk all day long typing and pulling files from shelves just didn't sound appealing. So, hopefully I'll rest today and feel ready for the rest of the week. I do find it ironic that the very thing I was trying to avoid at work (i.e., sitting in front of a computer typing) is the very thing I'm doing right now!! I guess this is just more fun to type. :)

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy the beauty of the season.

HMB