welcome to the third trimester

Several nights ago, I was at a lipsense party and trying on the millionth color of the night. I never wear makeup, so deciding on a lip color was ... hard. Am I picking an everyday color even though I'm not an everyday-lipstick-wearer? Am I picking a every-once-in-a-while color which basically means the tube of lipstick will last me several years? Thankfully, I have good friends who know about makeup and told me what to do. I ended up with an everyday color as well as a bit of an intense color. But the best part about the whole night was when I had this intense color (Rhubarb) on and Sara said, "Claire, you need that color! That's what I picture you in! Your black and white stripes, glasses, fun lip color, and blogging!" This has made me laugh intermittently throughout the past weeks for lots of reasons, but one being because I hardly ever blog anymore.

I really like blogging and, trust me, there have been plenty of #thingstosay about life, but once I arrive at the coveted naptime each day, I find other things to do. But I'm making/letting myself blog today so I can share a little life update.

Colt and I just got back from our babymoon in NYC. It has always been a dream to go with him (one more thing crossed off my 30x30 list!), but even more so since seeing "Waitress" back in May. I wanted so badly to see it with him. He surprised me with plane tickets for my birthday in July and we finally got to make that dream, along with many others, come true this past week.

I'm so thankful we got some solid time together before this little baby girl comes in March. We slept in, had brunch, explored, took evening naps, and had conversations that were completely interruption-free. I really love this guy.

Grand Central Station

The New York Public Library

"Wicked"

"Waitress"

Stardust Diner

The 9/11 National Memorial Museum

Joe's Pizza

SNL Dress Rehearsal

On the SNL stage

Rockefeller Tree

Central Park

But I need to back up for the sake of the documentation of this pregnancy. Somewhere around 15-16 weeks, the nausea stopped, the exhaustion let up, my energy level shot up, and I was able to eat (and enjoy) food in my house again. But man, that first trimester was hard stuff. I felt sick, had lots of headaches, dealt with a sinus infection (my first ever), and had a constant list of things I absolutely could not eat and things I desperately had to put in my mouth within the next 30 seconds or I'd melt. But I survived. I made it through with the help of chicken noodle soup, naps, lots of eating out, Colt (who basically ran this household because I felt paralyzed when it came to chores and preparing food), and Sara Groves.

So take up what we’ve been given
Welcome the edge of our days
Hemmed in by sunrise and sunset
By our youth and by our age
Thank God for our dependence
Here’s to our chasm of need
And how it binds us together
In faith and vulnerability

This cup, this cup
I wanna drink it up
To be right here in the middle of it
Right here, right here
This challenging reality
Is better than fear or fantasy

Listening to these words reminded me that this season of feeling sick and exhausted while taking care of two children would only last for so long and that I could still find beauty in a challenging reality. I was still grumpy and unendlessly hungry and just had to have fries and a malt to survive the day many times, but there was also a calm knowing that this was all still a wonderful thing - to be pregnant with two other little people running around, reminding me what all of this was for.

Finding out our little babe was a girl was so much fun, but no surprise at all. I mean, honestly, we all knew it was a girl. In fact, when we told Duke, he was a little frustrated. "Mom! I told you it was a girl this whole time!" And it's true, he did. I'm so excited for Duke to be a big brother to two precious girls and I can't wait to see Nova fill her new big sister/middle child role.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I failed my glucose test and had to take the 3 hour one. It felt pretty devastating to me because I didn't fail with Duke or Nova. I thought something might've really been different this time. Thinking about watching what I ate for the duration of this pregnancy sounded like absolute doom. I was so relieved to find out I passed the 3 hour test and that all of my levels were completely normal.

Although I have definitely noticed how different things are being 30 and carrying baby #3, I'm still feeling great. I have always loved being pregnant and this time is no different. I am aware of the crazy blessing that it is and am very grateful.

As for now, I'm 28 weeks and my mind and days are occupied with my "Before the Baby Comes" to-do list, which has already included an exciting room change-up for the kiddos as they now share a room. It has had its challenges, but sleep is something we take very seriously in this house. We try to give grace and let the fun of sleeping in the same room run its course, but we also try to keep the shenanigans to a minimum. It's been around a month now and I think we've all adjusted pretty well.

Other than that, our to-do list includes things like building extra shelves in the kids' closet so we can add Nova's clothes in with Duke's, putting the crib up, getting the nursery ready, and many other miscellaneous things that are completely non-urgent and unnecessary in order for the baby to come but that seem like emergencies to me. Ah, nesting. I love it. It's like an excuse to be my naturally crazy self about getting things done. Of course, it feels overwhelming at times, but it's also so exciting to be making room for a new member of our family. I don't think I ever imagined living in this house with 3 kids, but here we are and we're going to make it work!

Just as suspected, this pregnancy has gone by a lot faster than the other two simply because my days are busier and fuller. And with the holidays coming up, the new year will be here before I know it. And from there, it's baby shower, final preparations, and, of course, the waiting for her to come, which is my favorite part of all.