Five on Friday: Nesting Projects And Baby Updates

As the weeks pass by and Caleb’s due date gets closer and closer, these final weeks of teaching are dragging on a bit.  For some reasons I describe below, it was a tough week of teaching and being on my feet.  Beyond our small group (which was wonderful), our week nights have been slow and sweet and involved lots of resting and just soaking in some time together (plus a wild Duke game or two).  Even still, I am so glad to be at the start of another weekend!

1) Valentine’s Day Dates

Although we did go out to a fun brunch on our Friday off last week, we decided to do a mostly low-key Valentine’s Day since I was feeling pretty tired.  Two friends spoiled us to a yummy lunch with some delicious chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert, and then Sunday night I cooked us a delicious maple-glazed salmon recipe  from Lexi’s Clean Kitchen.  We finished off the night with some microwave blueberry crisps and a fun movie on the couch! Not the craziest Valentine’s Day off our lives, but I loved getting to spend that time with my guy and soak in our last weeks as a party of two.

Note the bag in the background…yes, we did wrap our Valentine’s gifts in leftover Christmas bags.

2) Sweet Time With Friends

On our four days off I was also able to spend some much-needed time with a few girlfriends! One sweet friend treated me to a pedicure, another friend and I met for coffee and dreamed about her upcoming Europe trip this summer, and I spend this Monday afternoon sitting at my friend Kylie’s kitchen table swapping stories about pregnancy, babies, and life.  I am so grateful for all the women in my life and how they love me and encourage me so well.  P.S.  Kylie just started an adorable blog called Fellowship and Lattes, so make sure to pop over and check out her new online space!

3) Nesting, Nesting, Nesting!

Both hubby and I did lots of little nesting projects, although Jordan was more on it than me.  We finished our hallway (see below for picture or check out this post to read more about the five things we did to update our hallway) and hung some pretty pictures from Ikea.  I cleaned out our pantry and did some organization and laundry in the nursery and Jordan did lots of cleaning plus some closet organization.  And the one that about made me cry when I got into my car Tuesday morning? He cleaned out the inside of my hot mess of a car from top to bottom and installed the car seat, even finding a way to attach my too small garage door opener to my sun visor so I wouldn’t constantly have to search for it.  This week I felt oh so grateful for a husband who loves me and serves me well when I didn’t even know I needed it.

4) Baby & Pregnancy Updates

I posted a nine month pregnancy update on Monday, and it’s safe to say that the 48 hours before I posted that and the few days since have been some of the hardest of this pregnancy so far (stop reading here if pregnancy details weird you out).  Let’s just say that Caleb completely dropped this weekend, and the pressure and crampiness I felt these last few days were incredibly uncomfortable and hard to deal with.  But our doctor’s appointment this week confirmed that things are moving along well and Caleb is head down with his head about as low as it could possibly be (almost so much that my doctor laughed during the exam as he pointed it out).

The doctor didn’t make any promises about him coming early, but he did say all signs are pointing to things moving along pretty well and warned me that when it does start, there’s a chance my labor could be quicker than it is for some first time moms.  Here’s hoping he’s right and Caleb decides to show up earlier rather than later, because I am currently waddling around like one unhappy hormonal penguin and would love for our little man to make his way out instead of just chilling for a few more weeks.

5) Some Prayer Requests

In the same vein of that last point, would you all be praying for me as things get more and more uncomfortable these last few weeks? At our small group this week the girls prayed for endurance, perseverance, and comfort as I wait for Caleb to arrive, and my heart and my body are in much need of those things.  I felt really discouraged on Monday and Tuesday being so uncomfortable but not knowing what it meant. I feel better now that I know the discomfort came from things actually progressing, but I’d love some prayers for occasional relief from the pain and pressure of him being so low or an escalation that leads to him actually making his final appearance! For now, we’re just soaking in slow moments together, knowing that our family will only get that much sweeter whenever little man decides to make his appearance.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for sharing life with us!