Oh, just Monday's rambles.

It's snowing again and it's beauuuutifullll. I can't understand why everyone in Nashville seems to complain about the pretty snowfalls we have been blessed with lately. I know it seems that everything shuts down and people have to miss work or school sometimes but it seems human nature always has to find something to complain about. Imagine if everyone would just embrace their snow days at home with their families... It is so fun!

So I have the incredible desire to clean clean clean. I know I am supposed to be on the couch, but at my last doctor appointment Ms. Frizzle said everything looked so good. However, this means the 'bed rest' is doing me some good I guess. I think I'll choose small things to do through the week to satisfy my need to clean. I want to clean the baseboards really well but I think I'll wait for Zach's help on that one. Is this what the beginning of nesting feels like?

As many of you know, we are in a one bedroom apartment at Trevecca and won't have any chance of getting into a two bedroom before Eli makes his appearance. So we will be all close in cuddly here at the Baker house. It takes a lot of stress off of us in a way though because I don't feel obligated to be working to make a nursery perfect. We have sort of split the bedroom a little bit and his Moses basket that Aunt Joelle is so graciously letting us borrow will be his bed for the first few months. The space we have would be really tight with a crib, so we plan to wait to set a crib up until we move into a bigger apartment towards the end of the year. Zach and I have consolidated our clothes into one dresser and he has one for himself now. It's so funny how we start doing whatever it takes to make things good for a baby without ever thinking twice about it. I think we're starting to think like parents? In the beginning of my pregnancy, I found myself watching shows like TLC's bringing home baby and I would envy their seemingly perfect nurseries while I would dream up what I wanted ours to look like one day... But I have come to realize that will be the least of my worries once he is here. The space will be nice when we are able to have it, but the materialistic goods will not raise a newborn, only loving parents will. We are content and thankful with what we have been given and all that matters is that the three of us will be here together. That verse is such an encouraging reminder and definitely a favorite of mine. 

“Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Matthew 6:19-21

This past week Mr. Eli has somehow learned to make painful movements! I think he's just so big now that a lot of his stretches hurt... I can't believe he's going to get bigger. I act like he's eight pounds already, I think he's around 3! Hah. But I'm not very tall so his space is limited, but he seems to be making room for himself in there :) 

I am officially 29.5 weeks 

That is wonderfullllll. Let me preface this by saying, don't get me wrong, I love being pregnant, but I will be singing praises when I am done with shots and regular blood draws. They are the absolute worst. I don't like complaining or talking about it much because complaining doesn't ever do anyone good and I know someone else always has it worse, but for two seconds I'll have a little pity party. As I've said before, my blood thinning shots have to be given twice a day in my stomach and they are sometimes excruciatingly painful. The worst part is that they leave quarter size welts along with bruises that seem to last for weeks and right now they seem to be especially bad. It hurts to just have pants on. I have to continue my shots for 12 weeks after Eli is born, but once it's all over and done, I will celebrate. This morning I had a breakdown because it was especially painful when Zach gave me my shot. Poor thing, he feels so bad when it hurts, but it's not his fault, the medicine itself is miserable. I always try to be a big girl, but sometimes I just need to cry about it, so today I completely lost it. Then... after a few minutes, a good hug, and an ice pack, I opened my Chick-Fil-A sandwich and tried not to think about it anymore. This too shall pass :) 

This is getting to be another one of those long posts, but I wanted to share a song that I recently bought on itunes. Shawn Mcdonald is a Christian artist that I discovered about two years ago and I really love his music. I just bought the song, Beautiful, the other day. The song really captures what's been on my heart lately. It is such a humbling experience to be on this journey to becoming a mother. I find myself thinking, really? You entrust me with a child? With one of YOUR creations. Eli is not at all ours, but he is entrusting us to raise him into the man that he has intended him to be. There are so many factors that people may have to say or think about how 'young we may be,' or 'how early all this seems,' but I have full faith that the Lord has a much bigger plan than any of our puny minds could begin to comprehend. We may not have a mansion, 10 years of marriage under our belts, or an overflowing bank account, but I wonder if that's the very reason why he chose us for this right now. We are solely dependent on his leading and open to his direction. I am confident in his plan for us, it'll definitely be better than I could do, I know.
I feel privileged and overwhelmingly humbled to be on this journey.