{one}

March 19th. Spring?

We were siphoning water from our backyard rink around the 19th of April last year. Old Man Weather got our hopes up a bit with an early thaw and backyard draining in March.

{two}

April 6th. Winter?

Thankfully, this snow lasted just a day or two and we're back to semi-Spring weather. We're supposed to get some teen temperatures this week. Woo!

{three} 

I've been on a bread baking kick (or was when I started this post a few weeks ago - time to start a new batch!). Normally, I bake 4 loaves of whole wheat toast bread every week or so with my KitchenAid, but I wanted something additionally as a special bread. After a failed attempt at making my own sourdough starter and then finding out that Dan didn't really like sourdough flavour anyway, I read Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Game changer! I make a big batch of dough that sits in the fridge. I can have bread or baguettes ready in an hour or so to add to a supper - and it's literally no work! The flavour improves as it sits in the fridge. It's so, so easy and pretty too!

{four}

We had Emma, the dog, visit four different times (John Paul kept record) during the month of March. We all love Emma so much and would keep her if we didn't live in town. But the kids just love her visiting! I think Emma likes us too.

{five}

Uh, baby bump picture, anyone? 21weeks! I'm feeling pretty big all over, but according to this pic (taken at 19 weeks) don't actually look as huge as I feel. I think it's deceiving... Baby is kicking like crazy and I've felt it for at least 7 weeks already, which is much earlier than I remember with any other pregnancy. I'm thinking it must be the soft belly after 3 kids already ;) The kids are super excited that "mommy's getting fatter!" and keep telling me I'm going to win lots of watermelon stickers for my belly this summer (i.e. they like to put the stickers off the watermelon on me when I look like a watermelon).

 

20 week ultrasound

{six}

My other "baby" is getting lots of big girl hair-dos of french braids and pony tails. She is definitely outgrowing her afternoon nap, but still sometimes takes one because mommy is tired and needs to take a nap. When she doesn't nap she'll sleep through the night in her "bunk bed" as she likes to call her crib, but when she does nap... she climbs into bed with mom sometime in the middle of the night. And sometimes, she falls asleep during supper or an afternoon/evening story...

{seven}

I celebrated my 33rd (!) birthday this month. We had great riblets care of Costco (seriously, so yummy!) and leftover birthday cupcakes frozen after John Paul's birthday. Yay!

                                   

{eight}

Funny kids enjoying the sun after a cold winter. I told them we have to work on smiles again :)

  

{nine}
"Blue Day." Brought to you by new Costco spring clothes and crazy kids with an excuse for nuttiness.

 

{ten}

We are limping? groaning? attempting? our way through Lent. Every year I feel like a failure and every year Dan reminds me that I felt that way the year before too. I guess if I felt like I was nailing Lent then I'd be getting proud and failing anyway. I have plans made for Holy Week and am hoping that we can grow in holiness just a little more during this holiest week of the year.

Almost there!

{eleven}

For your entertainment. 

In Recent News...

The Millette family of the Millette Family Blog will be welcoming its newest member sometime in late June or early July. We are thrilled! Mommy is tired!

36 Weeks

This is, predictably, the countdown belly photo update of a blog post.

36 weeks today, folks! Or just 4 weeks until my due date. But who's counting, right?! Well, I sure am, although I have to remind myself almost daily that if he/she is anything like his/her older brother then I might be waddling around up to 10 days after that magic number date. Babies come when they have a mind to.

35.5 weeks, to be exact

What are we doing around here? Nesting, of course. I decided, having examined my kitchen and other rooms, that there would never be a better time to clean out cupboards and wash walls then at 8+ months pregnant. It is a slow process! And somewhat hazardous as I balanced on chairs to clean out my kitchen in the last few days.

When I asked Dan whether I should make a quilt or clean all our walls his response was, "neither." He's been suffering through my cleaning. As my brain seems to be floating in soapy water, our meals this week have been very last minute plans with little thought to making sure there would be leftovers for lunches; our kitchen has experienced a blow up of things left everywhere; and my joyous welcome of Dan for an unexpected early lunch yesterday sounded almost exactly like, "Oh darn, you're home early!" But he takes it all in stride. Yesterday, he walked in to me up to my elbows in bun dough and just set himself about making he and Joseph lunch, while washing dishes. I'm a lucky girl!

Talking to baby, or probably asking to be picked up

Joseph and I are also taking stock of baby things and getting prepared to wash clothes, carseat, and all that stuff for the baby. I have no idea what kind of timing typically goes along with all these preparations. With Joseph we were living on campus in married student housing and in my naivety I think we bought a very few things for him perhaps a week or two before he was born. He slept in a cardboard box for the first few weeks of his life. But, in our defense, we were moving across the country at the end of the school year and didn't want to collect a whole ton of baby things. Nor had we had a baby shower yet. I don't think he was scarred by the experience.

This time around, I console myself that we are a little more prepared and know a little bit what to expect. Our baby will have a bassinet. He/she will have a few gender neutral clothes, (a few girl clothes loaned by cousin Catherine) and boys clothes to choose from. And we even have some diapers all ready. What more does a baby want than to eat, sleep, and poop? We are surely ready, whenever the day comes!

Joseph and baby bear "sleeping" on the kitchen floor

The big brother has been preparing himself for months now, but I don't think he has any idea what he's in for. The other night, Joseph carried his teddy around, wrapped in a blanket, while he "sushed" it (and us!). "Shhh, the teddy's sleeping!" I'm sure he'll love to hear us telling him just that next month with a little baby sleeping in the background.

So we countdown the weeks! And if you have any love for pregnant mamas, as I hope you do, please pray this baby arrives in a timely manner!