Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

I think I'm actually starting to believe we'll be bringing home a baby in December. I feel like I was fairly nervous during my pregnancy with Judah, but I guess our last loss has made me even more nervous. I trust and believe that God is good, no matter what happens, but I know I should have more faith that everything will be fine. So I bought a baby outfit. It was on clearance at Old Navy - this gray, chevron-striped baby pajamas. (Because, you now, gray and chevron stripes are very hip right now and I definitely want my baby to be hip) I debated about buying it - part of me felt like I was being almost presumptuous to buy something so early. But I put it in my basket, choosing instead to hope and believe that this baby that I'm beginning to feel kicking and moving will come home with us in just a few short months. I know there are no guarantees. I have had too many friends and acquaintances walk through trying and difficult times during pregnancy. But I'm thankful...

Or maybe I should have entitled it "Baseball!!" The Cubs came to Atlanta, so we headed there to see them play. Judah has now been to four different stadiums in his two years of life: Wrigley , Fenway , Yankee , and now Turner. He loved the ice cream we let him eat, the ice we let him crunch, and the lemonade he drank. I think he might have noticed that there was something going on involving a ball and some cheering. We were happy that our cubbies won! And hopefully we'll get to more stadiums soon....

Our first morning in Atlanta, we headed to the awesome Georgia aquarium. It was excellent.  Apparently this tiny guy, the sea dragon, is actually the animal in the aquarium that is the most expensive to maintain. Even more than the giant whale sharks. Apparently they are very picky about habitats.  I love to photograph Jellyfish. And also these guys.... Kids under 3 are free, so I'm hoping we can get back down there before Judah's third birthday to take advantage.

A few weeks ago when we were in the midst of our awful, awful heat wave we went bowling with some friends. Judah wore the cutest bowling shoes ever. I think we'll be back sometime.

Here is the project I finally finished this week. It has been lying untouched for months and cluttering up the sewing room. As part of my burst of cleaning energy, I also finally finished it - a new card table tent for Judah.  I don't exactly have a source for this - I did a google search and found lots of fun pictures of tents people had made and tried to incorporate my favorite parts. So far, Judah's favorite part is definitely the mail box, which is right by the front door. He loves to pass letter in and out. I included a bird bath and bird house. I will definitely be making at least one more bird. This might be my favorite side. There are apples to pick, although the apples are currently in need of some stems. The last side, complete with a small garden where Judah can pick flowers. So far, Judah seems to be really enjoying it. I'm happy to be done and glad Judah has something new to play with!

If you needed further proof that I've been doing little besides lay around for the last 3 months, here's your proof: My sewing room, until yesterday. Yikes! And now, with my newly found energy!

1. I think that the fatigue and nausea of my first trimester is finally starting to ease. I definitely feel like I had it worse this time, although maybe it just felt worse since I'm also chasing around a two year old. Hopefully that means there will be more blogging. And a cleaner house. 2. We are now a paci-free household. Judah had been chewing on his pacis for quite a while and ended up chewing holes in the three or so pacis we still had around. He wasn't really satisfied to use a paci with a hole in it, but I wasn't about to go and buy another one when we needed to be stopping anyway. He has asked for it a few times at naps and bed time, but overall seems to be fine without it. 3. We had a picnic today. Outside. Those not living in SC may not understand what this means, but for the last few weeks our average temps have been in the mid nineties to low hundreds with humidity in the 80% range or higher. Just walking outside to the mailbox has been miserable. Thankfull...

Although not morally or otherwise opposed to alcohol, Jeff and I rarely drink. I prefer to eat my calories, and don't love the taste of beer or wine. Thus our near tee-totaling state. I barely even think about wanting to drink something alcoholic. Except when I'm pregnant. It's like because suddenly I can't drink for nine months, I suddenly feel the overwhelming urge to have a woodchuck hard cider or a nice cold margarita. Sigh. I had some very ripe watermelon in the fridge leftover from a church lunch and knew that it would never get eaten, so I decided to make my own mocktail. I threw all the watermelon into our food processor and blended it until smooth. To make my drink, I mix equal parts watermelon juice with diet sierra mist and throw in some mint leaves then give it all a stir with some ice. It's cold, refreshing, and the mint really makes me feel like I'm drinking something fancy. Any other favorite pregnancy drinks?

Wow. You know you haven't posted in a while when you get a spam  comment on your most recent post. Sheesh. Summer continues to fly along with lots of activities. The other week I made what I think is the best peach ice cream ever. I've eaten a lot of peach ice cream in my day, but this was fantastic. I only slightly modified the recipe I found here . The addition of the honey to the peaches really gave this ice cream that extra special something that made it taste even more like summer. Instead of using vanilla extract, I used a vanilla bean that I simmered in the milk as I was making the custard, which gave it a nice vanilla flavor as well. If you can find fresh local peaches (or for all you folks who live elsewhere, fresh South Carolina peaches) you will not be disappointed.