Five on Friday: Spontaneous Date Nights And Holy Carpet

Happy Friday, my sweet friends! I’ll start this off by saying we still haven’t met our sweet little man, but we sure are loving our last few weeks as a family of two.  Here are a few updates from this past week and weekend!

1) Dinosaur Birthday Parties

My nephew turned six this past weekend and it was so fun to celebrate him with a cute dinosaur-themed party (inspired by his latest obsession).  My sister-in-law did a great job coming up with all sorts of dino-themed snacks and it was so fun to see him pumped about his gifts and running around to give hugs to everyone.  I can’t believe I’ve known this kid and watched him grow from the time he was a baby and it reminds me what a blessing it is to grow up surrounded by family.  I’m so glad Caleb will grow up with lots of older (and close-in-age) cousins and aunts and uncles to learn from!

Being the center of attention is oh so hard…

2) Holy Carpet

Every Tuesday we host our church small group, and this Tuesday as the girls sat upstairs (the boys get banished to the basement) talking about life and identity and where we find our worth, my eyes were drawn to our front door.  There was a huge pile of shoes everyone had kicked off when they came through the door, and I couldn’t stop thinking about when Moses encounters God in the burning bush.  God tells him to take off his sandals because the ground on which he stands is holy. It is a huge blessing to host these people in our home and share life with them and I know that that time is holy and beautiful.  It may be stained and worn-in, but I’m grateful for our carpet and the fact that in those hours, it is holy ground where we encounter God in new and beautiful ways.

3) Spontaneous Date Nights

Like I’ve mentioned before, we are trying to soak in as much time as just us as we can.  I was craving some chicken quesadillas and time with the hubby, so we headed to Chili’s on Wednesday night for a little date night.  It was short and simple and nothing crazy, but my heart felt so content and grateful for the life we lead and the chance to spend some time with my husband talking about everything and nothing at all.  And let’s be real…Chili’s is stinking delicious.  One of my favorite comfort foods for sure!

4) Prepping For Maternity Leave

The long-term sub who will be taking over for me when I leave was able to shadow me for two days this week and I’m so glad we had that time! I had made (perhaps OCD-status) organized folders with all my lessons and resources for her and I’m so glad she was able to observe me teach, talk through it all, and ask lots of questions.  I feel so much better about leaving now and am glad we got that time! My students will be in good hands and I can just worry about snuggling our little bean.  P.S.  I shared a post on Monday about what my maternity leave from blogging will look like, so make sure to check that out to get a glimpse into what these next few weeks will look like!

I wish everything in my life were as organized as my Google Drive…

5) The Strangeness Of This Season

It’s been such a funny week because every day begins with the thought, “Could today be it?” I’m about 38 weeks pregnant now, so it really could be any day.  It’s weird to make plans for next week or even this weekend knowing that everything could change in a heartbeat.  Assuming little man doesn’t come in these next few days, I’ll share a 38 weeks pregnancy update next week and talk a little bit about how these last weeks of pregnancy haven’t quite been what I expected.  But for now, I’ll just say that I feel a sweet sense of peace as we wait.  I am so excited to meet Caleb but thankfully don’t feel much anxiety or fear – just joy and expectancy that God is going to do big things in us and through us these next few weeks.  So thanks for your prayers, because God has given me the peace I was hoping for in sweet and beautiful ways! I love our little family and can’t wait to meet the newest addition sometime soon.

If you’re like me and tend to stalk very pregnant friends on social media to see if they’ve had their babies yet, then make sure to follow me on Instagram or Facebook! I will probably share a quick photo and update on those two platforms before anything else, so make sure to follow me there to stay in the loop! So grateful for you all, friends.  Have a wonderful weekend!