Lately

(I started this about 2 weeks ago and kept forgetting to finish it up and publish it. Hence, some of it is kind of old news, but I'm hitting publish anyway.)

Here's a small peek into the craziness that is my brain lately:

My latest favorite nickname for Peter is "peetatoes" :) I am still not a huge fan of Pete, yet I find myself calling him that. I am working on it. I actually really love his middle name, Everest, and want to call him Everest but Kory says no...I am working on that as well.

I am completely obsessed with foxes these days. Anyone else? It's mainly in baby clothes, but I want to own every single thing I see with cute little foxes on it. I even packed Peter a fox outfit for his clothes to wear home from the hospital. (I just started packing our hospital bags this weekend after reading a million blogs about what to pack.)

Speaking of blogs, I read this quote in a blog shared by my friend, Julie, today and it's really stuck with me. "Our kids need grace so much more than they need organic vegetables." That's not a popular thought these days, particularly in a place like Oregon, but I can't quit thinking about it.

I have heard lots about the nesting instinct that comes late in pregnancy, but no one told me it became a total obsession that takes over your life! The nursery closet, specifically, has been my obsession for the past couple weeks. I worked on it every evening after work (if I was home), I dreamed about it, and I made to-do lists for how to organize it when I wasn't at home. I am happy to say it's looking good these days and I don't have any more work to do in there until we get some more baby items. 

I moved the co-sleeper into our room where Peter will sleep for a while after he's born. For now, it makes a really great pillow holder! 

I have always felt a strong need to prove people wrong. I am one of those people who thrive on doing something that other people said I couldn't do. Pregnancy has amplified that as people tend to be very negative about the end of my pregnancy, labor/delivery, and having a newborn. I would love to say I am rising above the pettiness and not thinking about what other people say...but that's just not true. I know myself well enough to know my own stubborn ways. (I painted my own toenails at 36 weeks, just to prove that I could. Granted, my belly isn't that big, so it wasn't as hard as it would be for some other gals I'm sure.)

One of the very best gifts I received at my baby shower (which I haven't blogged about yet but fully intend to) was the freedom to not write thank you notes! Before I began opening gifts, my best friend, Abby, who planned the shower announced to the guests, "You didn't even know it, but each of you brought an extra gift for Mandy. Part of your gift to her is the fact that she is not required to write you a thank you note. Is everyone ok with that?" Of course, heads were nodded and I was overjoyed! I made double sure to thank everyone in person for their gifts at least once, and then I didn't come home with the burden of a jillion thank you notes to write. This was seriously a huge blessing to me! I have written thank you notes to people who have given us gifts and weren't in attendance at the shower, but it's been very manageable to do just a couple a day. I am caught up right now and it feels good!

Because I realize my life is about to change in a huge way, I have been buying gifts way ahead of time lately. I have gifts for several people with birthdays in November already and even have a few Christmas gifts taken care of. AND, I have a list going on my phone with everything I have purchased so I will remember those gifts when I am quite sleep-deprived. It's great to feel like I'm on top of things. I feel certain it will be a while before I feel this way again. :)

I have been out of town for work 5 days in these last two weeks. Kory was gone this weekend for a retreat with some of our high school students. He will be preaching next weekend, which means he's out of commission most of the weekend preparing for and attending 4 different services. He is out of town the following weekend for a men's retreat with our church. I am beginning to think we need to have this baby so we will finally get some time together!

Our washing machine and dishwasher have both developed issues lately. Both are still working, but the washing machine no longer does a final spin cycle so clothes come out really, really wet. The dishwasher is just not getting dishes very clean, and we have tried a lot of different things to fix it. I really love watching YouTube videos on how to repair things like this, but I think it's time we just call a repair man and get a professional to fix them this time. I am not really in any shape to be taking machines apart and crawling in and behind appliances. The washing machine definitely needs to be fixed before we have a lot of body-fluid-covered-baby clothes to wash every day!

It's been pretty hot here lately! We have had a lot of days in the high 90s and that is just not typical Oregon weather! I am very ready for cooler Fall temperatures and some rain. NM and Texas are flooding and I am stuck inside because it's 99 degrees outside--so bizarre! 

Kory's birthday is coming up next week, so we are in the midst of the annual holiday I made up called "Birthday Kwanzaa". Essentially, he gets one (smallish) gift every day for a week leading up to his actual birthday. I started this tradition when we moved to Oregon and had no family or friends around to help us celebrate birthdays. Thankfully, the friends part has changed, but it's still fun to extend the celebration beyond just one day. 

                             

Ok, that's all the randomness I can spill for one day. I'm about to go for a walk with my friend, Sky, and our stroller. I'm going to try to get Sky used to walking next to the stroller--we'll see how that goes! At least he can freak out now and knock the stroller over and it won't hurt anything.