Barely Breathing

I miss the olden days. Not that I lived in them, but there are things about them that I really would have liked. [Sidenote: It amuses me that Miss Rose has picked up this phrase and uses it to refer to things when she was 2 or 3.] For one, I think motor transportation is highly overrated. I'd be much happier plodding along with my horse, worrying only about the upkeep of my carriage and feeding the horses hay and water. There wouldn't be traffic to deal with or road rage. No car payments or outrageous gas bills (although I'm so thankful our gas bill has dropped almost 50% since this summer!)

What I really would like to take advantage of is the time of confinement a woman entered in her third trimester. It was somewhat of a social faux paux to be waddling around in the advanced stages of pregnancy, so women generally kept to their homes and even their beds. I realize this happened more in the upper eschalons, not on the farm. But while we are fantasizing, let's just go with it!

I'm sure you can guess where this is heading. I'm entering my third trimester this week and my life is anything but slowing down. In fact, it's gaining speed. I am a pretty hearty pregnant lady so I handle it all pretty well. But there are moments where it sure would be nice to sit on the couch, watch old movies and eat bon-bons while rubbing my ever-expanding belly.

Holiday seasons are always busy in church life. There will be a bit of downtime, but there is a lot of preparation that comes before it. Early deadlines, coordination of special services, making sure all the proper information is available, and the list goes on. So work is not slowing down!

And, it's looking like we are buying a house. I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch and we still need to make sure the home passes inspection...but, we put in an offer and it was accepted. It's exciting and scary at the same time. The main motivator in all this is providing a place for my parents to live affordably and near-by family. My dad is disabled and they are on a very fixed income and although my dad has learned to be pretty self-sufficient, there is a great value to emotional support for them. Our families actually lived together for about three years until about a year ago. We will be pooling resources to buy this home and convert the garage and a family room into a complete granny flat for them.

By the end of the month we will have made our final decisions about the house--which I suspect will be favorable and it will be time to start packing. And once escrow closes at the end of December we will be on a fasttrack to get the house ready for us to move in ASAP so that we have at least a few weeks to settle in before the baby comes. It's going to be very hard for me to be limited in what I can do to fix up the house and paint. Poor Bean is probably going to have to hog-tie me in order to keep me from attempting to move things that I shouldn't. We are blessed to have great family and friends who are supportive and already offering their help.

In the midst of this, I still want it to be a special Christmas. Gracie may not remember this Christmas once it passes, but she's old enough now to be excited about the experiences. Of course Miss Rose can't wait for Christmas to come. And she turns 5 at the end of January, which I want to be special for her as well. I'm a bit nostalgic about this being our last Christmas as a family of 4. I can't wait for the new baby to join our family, but I really want to enjoy this time with the girls before the dynamic changes.

Oh, and I have about three weeks left of the two classes I've been taking.

As I run around like crazy this week, with a full to-do list at work, bringing paperwork to the mortgage broker, planning baby appointments, thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping...I feel like I'm barely breathing. I want to be confined!

But I am so grateful that everything going on is GOOD and of GOD! Good busy I can handle. Tragedy and difficulties would be much more challenging.

It's a special time in life for so many reasons and although there are days I feel like I'm barely breathing, there are days that I make breathing room for myself. And Bean is always so good about making sure I have that also. Time marches on. This baby will come. Life will be full. And I am loving and cherishing every minute of it.