18 days

18 days until are actual due date. Really it could be 17 days depending on how you look at it. I think it is time I update this whole being pregnant for the last 37 1/2weeks and the fact that we are officially considered full term at this point.

To me,

some thoughts to remember:

- you LOVED being pregnant

- this is the sexiest you have ever felt in your life

- baby hiccups are amazing, but at night they keep you up

- the first time you felt his hiccups you thought his heart beat was dropping!

- August 6th you heard the heart beat, to your surprise you cried a little

- the first time you felt the Kid move, you mistook it for the beans you had for dinner

- you thought you were huge right away, boy you had no idea what was to come!

- "Holy Moly" was the phrase we used the first several weeks to describe us having this new creation in your belly (thank you to our niece Miri)

- at 36 weeks, though you loved pregnancy, it became official, you were ready for the Kid to come out

- you washed all the clothes that were hand me downs and neutral items at week 36 along with 3 dozen cloth diapers

- you didn't sleep through a night since a few days before you found out you were pregnant

- your favorite time with the Kid was in the mornings...though you loved it all

- if the Kid moved, it wasn't enough to just feel it in the inside, you just had to touch your stomach and follow his every move

- you had lots of dreams where you would look down at your stomach and you could see the Kid's hand or foot poking out of your skin!

- you had no real intuition if the Kid was a boy or girl though you said him most of the time. it just didn't mean you thought of the Kid as a boy.

- at some point, early November, Bryce could lay his head on your stomach and hear the Kid's heart beat

- you loved watching your stomach look like an invasion of aliens with Bryce

- you also loved having Bryce's hand on your stomach and would often grab his hand quickly if the Kid was doing something awesome

- you had no idea your life would begin to change before the Kid was "out", your life changed June 25th when the blue stripe popped up

- 37 weeks in and you have no idea what gender this baby will be, what it will look like, what kind of personality traits it will have, etc....but you are in love with the Kid already

- growing a child inside of you is hard work!

- you are married to an amazing man, who listens to the Lord, who loves you deeply, always wants what is best, works hard, is not selfish, listens to your concerns, desires, and silliness no matter how tired he is, and he is the most handsome man you have ever met...he is and will be an amazing father

Those are some things I wanted to look back on later on in life, may be even later on today! We are excited for what is to come. We cannot wait to hold this child, speak blessings over him or her, share all kinds of Jesus stories, teach the ways of the Lord, and encourage the Kid to become who God wants him to become...to be a lover of people, to give his life away, and to follow Him no matter the cost, no matter the place or region, and to go without knowing.

thought a pic of me right after I was born would be fun!

danger and i went on a canoe ride yesterday evening, it was beautiful

big bellies can still get in a canoe but only with help!