Have you seen the movie “Away We Go?“
It’s one of our absolute favourites.

There’s this scene where the cou­ple is check­ing in at the air­port for a flight & the ladies at the counter ask for  her doctor’s note.
You only need a Dr’s note if you’re fly­ing after 8 months.
She’s only six months, she reas­sures them.

After sev­eral sec­ond opin­ions based on the size of her belly, they end up tak­ing the train.

I feel that way this week.
It’s like my belly exploded in the last 3 weeks. It’s crazy. I feel HUGE.

Peo­ple love to ask what Littlest’s name will be.
We’re not sure.
We have some favourites, but we’ll prob­a­bly wait until we see her face to give her a name.

We’ve got less than 100 days until her expected arrival.
We’re in the 6^th month now.
She’s about 1.5–2 pounds, & more than a foot long.

The trip to Atlanta has been awe­some so far.
I’ve got some drafts to post that need some tweak­ing first, accord­ing to my edi­tor.
I’ll update about the events of this trip when we return, but let me just say:

I’ve sat­is­fied sev­eral of the long term preg­nancy crav­ings that I’d been hav­ing.
I got to eat at The Var­sity. Greasy, deadly good­ness.
I had 2 chili cheese dogs & a frosted orange.
{+ John & I shared some onion rings.}
Sur­pris­ingly, the heart­burn from that meal was noth­ing in com­par­i­son to that of the pizza we ate the evening before.

I got to eat Pinkberry.
I had the choco­late frozen yogurt topped with brownie bites, straw­ber­ries, dark choco­late crisps, & oreos.

This morn­ing, I ate a lemon pop­py­seed muf­fin from a Jew­ish deli/bakery down the street from my sister’s place.

I promise, I’ve done more than eat since we’ve been here.
I’ve been really help­ful in the pack­ing process.
{Okay, so maybe the food & the cable TV have been a bit dis­tract­ing. But, I’ve been try­ing. Really.}

We’re off to Trader Joe’s to stock up on wine, maple syrup, organic choco­late, and other var­i­ous items that must last until our next trip to Atlanta. Trader Joe’s is a fan­tas­tic place I wish we had in Florida. Afford­able, good prod­ucts that we can afford to stock up on!

PS — I must share some of my favourite preg­nancy tunes as of late:

{They’re “preg­nancy tunes” not because they have any­thing to do with preg­nancy or babies nec­es­sar­ily, but I’m preg­nant & I love them. So, yeah.}

Alexi Mur­doch. {Sound­track of Away We Go}
Amos Lee. {Fan­tas­tic Pan­dora find.}
Joshua Radin. {A favourite for the last year.}
Iron & Wine. {A favourite since I dis­cov­ered them.}

I must say, I think the lit­tle one prefers faster, louder music.
She does some danc­ing in my belly when there’s loud music, that’s for sure.

25 years of life that have led to this moment.

25 years of chaos that have led to Jesus.

25 years of mem­o­ries & moments, life & laugh­ter that have shaped his character.

25 years of hard times, tri­als & tests…
25 years of life lessons, being ‘churched’ & grow­ing…
25 years of fail­ing & falling…

25 years of get­ting back up.

One of my favourite quotes is from a book by CS Lewis, Screw­tape Let­ters & it goes like this:

He {Jesus} wants them {peo­ple} to learn to walk, and must there­fore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there, He is pleased even with their stumbles.

I’ve been so pleased & proud to see the ways in which my sweet hus­band has been learn­ing to walk, humbly depend­ing on Jesus, reach­ing for grace & redemp­tion & stum­bling into humil­ity & wis­dom.
It’s beau­ti­ful & it makes me fall more in love with him everyday.

25 years of his life, & this year, he’s become a hus­band that I never imag­ined I’d have, a hus­band he hoped he could be, a man I’m so proud to know & love.
25 years of his life, & this year, he’ll become a father I’ve been watch­ing him grow so beau­ti­fully into.
Farewell to the 25^th year.
I hope this, {the 26^th} exceeds your hopes & expec­ta­tions, my love.
You have far exceeded every one of mine.

Happy Birth­day, Darling.

Happy birth­day to: my best friend, the love of my life, the father of our lit­tlest, the hus­band of my dreams.
You are won­der­ful. I love you & I can’t wait to see you grow even more over the next 25 years!