Seems like it’s been FOREVER since I’ve remembered to post a random facts/thoughts blog post.  Blogging is very time and thought intensive and it somehow seems easier to read other people’s blogs than it does to blog myself!  I have to give credit to all of the many people that make time for it; I do love reading them 🙂

The last month or so has just flown by.  Travel and shooting are quite time-consuming…

1. My garden is incredibly huge! We’ve not picked a watermelon, yet, but on of them looks like I should try it today.  It’s rather large and since I can’t seem to find any good tips on when a watermelon is ripe, I think I’ll just have to pick it!

2. Henry is talking so much.  On one hand this is a good thing.  He can tell me when he’s hungry, thirsty, wet, cold, the list goes on.  And on the other hand, he can repeat any word you say and any word he likes until I go crazy!  Sorta like hearing your name 53 million times in a row; not fun.  Especially when you answered him the FIRST time he said it!

3. Next week we head for the beach.  Does everyone know how little I like the beach?  Jeremy doesn’t really like the beach either.  We go every year to spend time with Jeremy’s family and I like that part, but I just don’t get roasting on the sand.  However, I do enjoying dragging myself out of bed before sunrise and taking pics of the kids in the beautiful light and water.  I hope to get a bunch of adorable photos of the kids (including some of Henry!)  And maybe I’ll get to post them before the end of the year 😉

4. I’ve gotten the bug to move.  I want to move to Athens.  Not have to drive there so often.  Maybe set up a small office/meeting space for the business.  I feel like if I start now, before the new baby is born, on packing and staging the house, maybe we can sell it fairly quickly and there won’t be as much work to do after the baby is here.

5. Logan, Erin, Jeremy and I made a trip to Ikea the other day.  I was on a mission to purchase a few things that will make the house more usable/show ready.  I bought a large dresser, 4 chairs for the kitchen table, a large shelving unit for Henry’s room/toys and some small odds and ends.  Half of the stuff is still sitting on the floor waiting to be put together….  Hoping we’ll be able to finish that up tonight??  

6. I’ve started the count down to Jeremy’s last day of school!  5 months is ALL he has left!!  How exciting!!  Right now he’s working on 10 papers and a sermon that are due tomorrow/Sunday.  Can you just imagine what life will be like when he doesn’t have to write 4-6 papers a week???  Honestly, he’s been doing it for so long, I’m not quite sure what it will be like, but I can’t wait to find out!!  And he’ll graduate with 2 masters, so he’ll be able to do whatever he’s like to do in either of his fields 🙂  So proud of him for sticking with this for so long; I know it’s not easy to make yourself write a paper or go to class when you could be playing with Henry or helping with dishes 😉

7. I made my first batch of applesauce the other day.  Brenda, from church, she called me the other day and asked if I’d like some applesauce, that she was making some and had plenty to share.  When she brought over her applesauce, she also brought a tub of peeled and cut apples for me to make a pie or crisp or sauce with.  Since, Henry ate all of the applesauce that she made in one sitting, I thought I’d use the apples to make more applesauce.  Turns out that making applesauce might be easier than boing water and making pasta!!  I think I should do it more often!

8. I’ve had my Uncommon phone case for a couple of weeks now, and I have to say, the quality of this case is fantastic!  It’s not too slippery and not too grippy.  It doesn’t come apart when it gets stuck in my purse.  And it’s truly cool to see my super adorable Henry every time I pick up the phone!

9. Jeremy bought me an iPad.  Wasn’t that sweet of him?  I won’t get it until the end of July or early August; they are all out of stock.  Which seems weird to me; it’s not like it just came out or is the iPhone 4.  But whatever ;-), I’m going to have an iPad.  Aren’t you jealous?  I’ll be sure to let you know if it’s great or not!

10. I’ve been reading a cool book.  Christina loaned it to mom and she loaned it to me (hope thats okay, Christina!) and I really enjoyed it.  The book is called ‘Heaven on Earth’ and it’s by Sharifa Oppenheimer.  And since you’ll never guess by the title alone, it’s about children and how they develop, learn and grow.  Starting as early as the first trimester of pregnancy and going on through mid childhood.  I found this particularly interesting:

“In the first trimester of pregnancy, the oldest part of our brain, often called the reptilian brain, is formed.  All sensory input and sensory learning are routed through the reptilian brain, which contributes toward our species survival by categorizing all stimuli as either “friend” or “foe”.  Astonishingly, this system is “grown” through the embryonic responses to the tones of the mother’s voice.  Each phoneme, a language’s smallest distinctive audible unit, elicits a unique and specific muscular response from the fetus.  The movement in response to the sounds modeled lays the down the neural pathways, or conduits of information, in the baby’s developing brain.  Through this ballet in the embryonic waters, the brain is forming the foundation of all future learning.  At birth, these movements are still visible and easily observed, as the baby’s arms and legs wave and dance.  Although they rapidly become too small to to be seen, these movements in response to sound can still be detected by instruments throughout life.”  

As you read further, you learn that what you, the mother, feels during pregnancy, plays a very large part in how the baby will learn.  I’d love to retype everything else that she says about it, but I feel that might be a bit much 😉

11. I’m officially 25 weeks pregnant.  And to be quite honest, I’d really like to be done with the whole pregnancy thing and have a baby.  But, I still have quite awhile to go before I can carry around a baby!!  I’m totally looking forward to having a new baby again!

So, I think this might be my longest post ever 🙂  And without any photos.  I’ve been using my new camera a lot and actually have quite a few that I’d like to post of Henry and the kids.  Maybe while I’m at the beach next week…