Sometimes It's the Little Things . . .

HOME!!! After a tough week in Grand Junction we are finally back home. Tim's beautiful mother passed away on Sunday the 23rd and we had a lovely funeral service and burial for her last Wednesday. We are so sad to see her go and Tim misses her greatly, but we are glad that her long struggle and battle with cancer (for 11 years!) are over. As sad as it is that we should both have experienced the death of a parent this early in life and so close together (only about 6 weeks between), we consider ourselves fortunate that we are able to understand and relate with each other so well over the grief. God has really blessed us through this in that He has given us each other to lean on and new life (in the form of a beautiful baby girl) to look forward to. Here we are experiencing firsthand life and death within the period of a couple months, and all we can do is praise the Lord for it.

Very shortly after getting home we paid a visit to one of our own OB doctors. I do not have to take the medication to stop contractions anymore, as there really is no point. If I should go into labor at any point from now on they will just let me go and the baby should be fine. Hurry up and wait, right? That's what Tim keeps saying. It's a little frustrating to have contractions so often and know that they're not being very productive. They're not really painful still, but they are uncomfortable and wear me out. Ah well, I am praying for patience and doing my best to trust in the Lord's timing. Just over 3 weeks now until the actual due date!

We have to admit, it's been kind of nice to be back at work. There's definitely something to be said for routine, especially for people like us. But it was also nice to have a three day weekend right after getting home, so we had lots of time to catch up. We spent the majority of Memorial Weekend at home and boy were we productive! I'll attach some pictures of the progress we made. Tim finished and hung the shelves that he was making for the nursery, and they look very nice. My husband has some talent, that's for sure. And he makes it all seem so easy! We went shopping for plants for our garden and flowers for my flower pots (always fun to shop for) and planted those on Memorial Day. I love having pretty flowers to look at and am excited to watch our garden grow. I'm so glad we were able to finish those things before Baby comes. Tim got a lot of work done in the yard, too, so the weeds are now under control. Our landscaping came back really well from last year and we are pleased. I spent some time cleaning inside, too, and doing a little of what they might call "nesting". We feel much more prepared at this point.

The weather was beautiful all weekend. I think it may be the nicest Memorial Day weekend I've ever seen. That probably only happened because we didn't try to go anywhere. It seems like every time we go camping or something on that weekend the weather is crappy. Like last year. We've been reminiscing a bit about our camping trip with Chrisann and Clint last Memorial Day. The weather was pretty bad but we had a lot of fun and are glad we were able to do that with them in their camper at least once.

On Monday evening we had a little barbecue with our small group and that was a lot of fun as well. What an amazing group of friends we have. We are so thankful for the support group that we have here, especially now during these hard times. We barbecued at our friends Evan and Kristen's house and they even had a new little outdoor fire pit that we used for making smores. There's just something so great about sitting around a fire with friends and talking. AND it helps keep the mosquitoes away! :)

So we've been back for a week now with no trips in sight other than a short trip to the hospital at some point (we've got a bag somewhat packed and have considered what we will need to throw in). We are thankful that we were able to make the trips that we did and spend time with our families through all this, but now we are just looking forward to being home for the next couple of months.

Here are some recent pictures:

First four pictures: Our vegetable garden with it's wee little plants, tomatoes!, my flower pot on the front porch and then my barrel on the back patio

Next three pictures: The shelves are up in the nursery!

Wasn't it nice of me to make them such a cozy place to sleep? Brats.

One of the best parts about the weekend was that we got to see some good friends from out of town: our friends Joe and Liz Messer from Omaha and my friend Erin Reese from St. Louis. Erin brought baby gifts, including this cute little John Deere onesie that her friend made! Check out the little ruffles on the bum. :)

Finally, there's me at 36 weeks. Look at that tummy! It's definitely lower now.

That's about all that I can think of to post for now. Soon enough I'll be posting baby news and pictures, and that will be much more exciting. :)