A few pics.

Here is me, bare-foot and pregnant in the kitchen :).



Here is a closer-view belly shot, though I'm not showing enough for it to be super obvious:



And here is my handsome husband tearing apart the overgrown trees and bushes in our overwhelmingly "gardened" yard:





It sounds like we're from the 1950's, fulfilling our perfectly appropriate marital roles... no such luck :)

Too Tired.

One of my hidden quirks is that I sometimes find myself hysterically funny. I know you would never guess it; but really, my sense of humor (that rarely leaves the inside of my brain) is one of my favorite things about myself :)

This quirk in particular seems to intensify under serious lack of sleep... This makes my future in motherhood look very interesting. It is only under serious lack of sleep or highly effective drugs that I would probably ever post a blog such as this! But I am just deliriously delighting in myself for no other reason than because.

This has come to my attention today because I just wrote something in an e-mail that cracked me up... Yes, I am laughing at myself. Even worse, you may not find it the least bit funny :) But, in my current state, I am perfectly comfortable with that.

As an expression of how I feel today, I wrote:
I sometimes feel like a huge boulder the size of the sky is coming toward me ready to swallow me whole... That's an exaggerated expression of how I feel about all of this change in my life all at once :)

Blessings!
Natasha

Some of August 2007

Here are some pictures from August.

-We spent a weekend with some friends in "The Valley", explored Cape Split (absolutely gorgeous!), and randomly visited a goat and llama farm.
-We also received a visit from our dear friends, Adam and Heather Durkee. They came all the way from Virginia just to spend a day with us :) (jk!).
-We received a long awaited visit from my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew, who are fabulously wonderful.
-Our good friend Shannon Skafte took some beauitful pictures of us at the Tangled Gardens in Grand Pre, NS, on our way home from Convention last weekend.

Enjoy!

Cool Slideshows!

The Conquer.

I just wanted to let you know that, after much scheming and strategizing against the enemy, we have conquered the fruit flies!

Many of you offered wonderful advice, but the war tactic that has proved most effective is this:

Take out a glass. Half-fill it with apple cider vinegar. The strong smell will attract the fruit flies. Put some dish soap on your finger and just swoosh it around in the vinegar. This (obviously, as my husband says) breaks the surface tension of the vinegar. That means that the fruit flies can no longer land on it. So... they drown! We have plastic wrap over the top with fruit-fly-size holes in it. This is so they fly in and then can't get out. They fly around for a while until they have to land, and then... they drown!!!

Happy hunting all you fellow fruit-fly-haters!

Natasha

Things you may or may not want to know!

Wow, I'm really pregnant!!!!!

So, I know I haven't posted pictures yet; it's because I feel a lot like my house right now... unkempt. I promise they will come.

But I am totally showing!!! My belly feels huge and I love it!!! I officially don't fit in any of my old clothes and the few middle-ground WalMart options we purchased are no longer satisfactory. (They still fit, but they're not enough. Really I desperately need preggo pants.)

So while Lynn and I were in Halifax for the Leadership Summit (which is a whole other topic and was amazing!), we went shopping for a Maternity store. I was so overcome by how cute everything was!

I tried on several options and fell in love with a number of different outfits. While I was trying them on, though, the store clerk said, "You should try them on while wearing the belly pillow." Then I realized that the strangely shaped white thing I had vaguely noticed on the chair in the corner of the change room was a makeshift belly so I could see how well the clothes would fit until the end of my term. (Captain obvious here.) Lynn agreed that I should try the outfits with the belly pillow. I felt a little silly, but thought, "Yes, that would be a very wise thing to do."

The problem, though, is that I am a very slow processor... I was just adjusting to the idea of having a growing belly, in a maternity store trying on real maternity clothes. When I strapped the belly on... well it kind of shocked my system...

I took one look at myself in the mirror and burst into hysteric bubbles of laughter and tears. I'm not sure how loud I was, but Lynn began laughing from outside the change room. I couldn't come out... I felt nervous and embarrassed, while feeling excited and anxious. Lynn finally peeked in which made the convulsions worse. I tried to go to him to lean in on him the way I tend to do when I feel embarrassed or shy, but then... I bounced!!! The carefully crafted pillow snugly tucked beneath my maternity outfit hit his midsection just as my forehead reached his chest... and I bounced back!!! This of course increased the bursts of spasmic laughter as it shocked me even further...

This was quite a fun experience. I had to take out the belly to calm down again and remind myself that I don't have to jump to month number eight, but the Lord allotted time for people like me who desperately need it for adjusting during periods of drastic change.

So I am thrilled to be showing, and love being pregnant! But I am also thankful that further growth will come gradually. It is a scary thought that one day in the not too distant future this child is going to be too big and need to come out of my little body!

Just in case you were wondering, though... I may be small, but have good birthing hips! :) (Okay, so it's not the hips so much; but I don't know how awkward it is to write about personal body parts on a public web log... The term "hips" seemed the safest at the time.)

God bless!
Natasha

Help Wanted.

Okay, what's the deal?

How do you get rid of fruit flies???!!!

I'd really like to know.

Natasha