the weeks are flying by!

I feel like life is flying by at warp speed right now. I thought the last few weeks of pregnancy were supposed to go slow?! well, that just doesn't seem to be the case :)

I am definitely and thoroughly enjoying my relaxing days right now. This is the first time I haven't had a job in a loooooong time so it was super hard to adjust to (slowing is not my specialty), but now I'm really enjoying it. yesterday I just went and sat at the park, in the sun, and read a book. it was marvelous! and as of Friday, I was officially 37 weeks (technically full-term). It is so insane to think that our baby will be here in *about* 3 weeks. we are so excited to meet her and see what she looks like! Hopefully we'll get out today (IN THE SUN!!!) and take some better pics of my belly before it disappears.

and I really am enjoying my last weeks of carrying this baby inside of me. it's such a miracle and I feel so blessed. and I really enjoy watching/listening to Brandon read to my belly. I can't wait to see him with her :)

and Brandon graduates from Multnomah on Friday!! woot woot! his brothers and sister-in-law are flying in on Thursday to celebrate this one with us. it will be so much fun to have them all out here at one time--the first time for a couple of them. hopefully I'll be good and take lots of pictures.

Also, if you think about it, please pray for Brandon as he continues his search for a job for the fall. we know God has a plan and will continue to take care of us. Brandon has worked so hard to get to this point and we're just praying that an awesome teaching job will come up in the Denver area. Thanks!

Woodburn Tulip Festival

I had heard this festival advertised several weeks ago and wanted to see what it was all about. We decided that it would be a great thing to take Kathi and George to while they were in town for graduation. George loves taking pictures of flowers so we thought they would really enjoy it.
There were ACRES and ACRES of tulips! it was much more massive than i had imagined and so so beautiful. i'm so glad we decided to go and see it.







my toenails matched these purple ones perfectly!!



oh friends, how i wish all of you could come here and enjoy our last few months in this gorgeous city/state!

Brandon DelGrosso MA

Well, finally here are some pictures from last weekend when Brandon graduated from Western!

On the Friday night before graduation, they have a really nice banquet that all the graduates/spouses and visiting relatives may attend. It was a good kick-off to celebrating this huge milestone.
God is so good. He has always been faithful to us and it has been especially evident in the area of Brandon's schooling. God has really gifted Brandon in so many areas and it makes me so happy to see him finally stepping into some of the new roles that he will have!

Here's Brandon chatting with 2 of his good friends, John and Steve, before graduation on Saturday.

receiving his diploma from Marc--his professor for all of his church history course work. OH! and I don't want to forget to mention that Brandon won the church history award for his graduating class!! see, he really is a rock star.

praying over the graduates

so happy he's done!

This is Ken and Joy. They have each mentored us individually since about 6 months after being here. They have also kind of adopted us into their family for holidays and such since we don't have any family around here. It has been so nice to get to know all of their family and to share Thanksgivings and Easters with them.


And it was so special to have Kathi and George here with us to celebrate as well!

upcoming posts:

1.Western Graduation Weekend

2.Awesome Reminder from God that He is taking care of us!

Baby Shower and Life

Ok, so as a rule of thumb, you should always charge your camera batteries BEFORE big events that you want to remember :) That way you can actually get lots of pictures of the gorgeous party and special people who are celebrating your unborn child...note to self.
Brandon was actually able to snap a few pictures before the camera died, but I'm kinda sad we didn't get any of us together or of me with the awesome gals who organized the party. Oh well, that's just how life goes sometimes. Here are a few pics of the super cute party to celebrate lil Miss Clara.

this kind of shows an overview of people enjoying themselves at the party :) Jessica did a great job of setting everything up!

ok, not the most flattering pic of me, but I wanted to note that I DID wear a dress and my belly is GROWING!!! :) in this pic I'm talking to my boss and Ella the little girl I nanny for

aw, isn't this cake super cute?! Jessica did a spring/bird theme for the shower. I loved the little nest on the cake. very feminine and cute!

Thank you Jessica for all the hard work you put into the shower! It was beautiful!
We were just sooooo blessed by all the people that came to say hi and bring gifts for Clara. We got to see a bunch of people from all different parts of our life here in Oregon--from families that I have nannied for, to Brandon's cooperating teacher, church friends from 2 different life groups, and school friends. It was awesome. I just felt super loved and cared for. It was great to talk and catch up. People kept asking me how much longer I had. I would say 6 weeks...and the more I said that, the closer it sounded :) It still blows my mind to think that we could be looking at our baby girl in less than two months. Wow. I can't wait. I can't even put into words how excited we are, even if that feeling is mixed in with a tiny bit of nervousness :)

I also made a big change this last week in my prenatal care. I switched from seeing a midwife in the hospital to deciding that I wanted to give birth in a birthing center with a different team of midwives. It was a big decision and I couldn't be more excited about it! I won't bore y'all with all the details, but I'll just say that I feel such a peace about this decision to give birth naturally and can't wait to start my prenatal appointments with my new midwife!

Oh, and I only have 4 more days of work left! Holy Cow! That is also something I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around--going from working 50 hours to working 0 hours will be a crazy change, but it will be good. It will be good to rest, get my house under control, feel organized, and enjoy waiting for Clara.

AND probably the biggest news around here this week is BRANDON IS GRADUATING FROM WESTERN SEMINARY on Saturday!!!!!! I am seriously in awe of my husband. He is a rock star and has worked so hard to finish his first grad degree. I can't wait for his parents to get here on Thursday and to celebrate him this weekend. He deserves every bit of it. I love you, honey!
(I'll make sure the camera is charged so we'll have LOTS of pictures of the graduation weekend :))

Oh How He Loves Us!

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I have had this song stuck in my head for about a month now. It has spoken to my heart on countless occasions during this month. It has been so good to just dwell on the simple but incredible truth of how deeply God loves me and to try and grasp that reality. Daily He shows up, in both little and small ways, declaring His love.

One HUGE example of this happened on Monday. I had a conversation with my boss about my ending date for work. Now, I have been very ready to be done working. Not that work has been horrible in any way or form, but I could just sense that it was time. natural transition as I prepare to start my own family. SO, we have this conversation where she lets me know that the new nanny taking over my position needs to start a little earlier so instead of me having 6 weeks left of work, I now have 3 ( one of which will be spent training the new gal). I was just shocked and a little overwhelemed. Questions started running through my mind such as: what will we do with 3 weeks less pay? what will I do with all my time waiting? etc. But I assure her that we will be fine (they offered to pay me through the end of April) and that that should work out fine. Evidently I didn't hide the shock on my face very well, because she called later in the day to let me know she wanted to talk about it that evening. I thought this would be a good chance for me to tell her that I wasn't upset or mad just a little surprised about the change in events.
To make a long story very very short, we talked and I am still leaving work the 3rd week of April but they are paying me through the middle of May! I was in complete shock. I felt/feel so loved and blessed by both my employers and by God. God knew our financial needs and provided in the most unexpected (and quick)way. He knew my physical/emotional needs and has provided above and beyond what I expected. He could have chosen another way to provide for us but for some reason decided to do it this way. Even if we had to go without the pay, He would have sustained us. It wouldn't mean that He loves us any less. His love is perfect and unchanging.
I am so grateful for how He loves me. I am not an eloquent writer by any stretch of the imagination so thank you for bearing with me, but I just felt compelled to write this. I hope that wherever you are, whatever you are doing today that you will know and feel the intense love of God today.
If His grace is an ocean, we are all sinking.

cute tiny diapers :)

just got these in the mail and had to post a pic :) aren't they so tiny and adorable?! ok, maybe that's just the hormones talking...

Brandon's new kicks and my growing belly

yup, that's right. Brandon had some Christmas money left and we decided to randomly go to REI for him to try on some chaco flip flops. I bought some last spring and pretty much never take them off. After realizing that we had our dividend from last year plus the %20 off for being members we figured it would be a great deal for him to buy some actual chaco sandals. yup, he loves em :) and i love the green.

here's the crinkle-taggie toy that i made from the tutorial that i posted about earlier. i love it and hope Clara does too.

yay, the front of Clara's quilt is finally done! this Wednesday I'll be working on the border around it. it's slowly coming together :)

wowza! hard to believe that she'll be here in 9 short weeks! did i mention that i only have 7 weeks of work left?! i'm pretty excited about that.

oh, and this is a pic that brandon took of me last week while i was folding some baby clothes that i just washed. he thought it was pretty funny that i can fold clothes on my belly :)

nothing much to say

hello friends. so much to talk about yet nothing to say. that's how i feel lately. soooo, maybe i'll put my thoughts in point format in order to blog about something today :)

*last week's vacation was lovely. i found myself with a crisis on sunday night though when my mind told me that i had to get up for work in the morning but the rest of me said that i was already done working forever :)

*the list of things i accomplished on my list last week:
1-lots of sewing! once i take pics, i'll post them
2-lots of cooking! i actually made meals every night, double the portion that i normally would, and froze the other half for later.
3. lots of cleaning! i had it in my little head that this would be the last good chunk of time i would have to clean and organize before miss Clara came along. this thinking made me super productive. i love the feeling of a freshly spring cleaned house :)
4. good time to myself. :)

*i am now on day 3 of this work week with 2 sick little girlies. one has the croup and possibly an ear infection (going to the dr. this afernoon) and the other has pneumonia and an ear infection! needless to say, i am soooooo grateful for the sunshine that we have. it gives me a little respite to all the days inside.

*and lastly, i believe i am going to order my cloth diapers this week sometime. it makes me oh so happy and excited for Clara to be here. and i can't wait to dress that little tush in some cute cloth :)

so productive!

I've been so productive this week that I've had off that I haven't had the time to blog! :) Hopefully I'll slow down today, get some sewing done and have some pics of my new creations.