hopes & plans

Last weeks list:

one | send baby girls quilt to the quilter - DONE! Can't wait to get it back and start hand sewing that binding on!

two | finish baby afghan - um, yeah, no.

three | dig a few holes - nope.

four | visit the zoo - didn't have a chance this week. 

Hopefully this weeks list will be more productive. I don't think I'll be digging any holes for a while. And haven't had many chances to sit down and crochet lately, but it is a fast pattern so it will get done eventually. Once I get the quilt back that will be the priority though. I want to get some pictures of baby on/in it when she's still new new.

Other things I did instead of my list haha:

went shopping at the 5th Ave with my little sister

found this perfect little kitchen at Cover Ups in Palmer...
it was already sold but I'm so putting an order in for another one like it!

date day and pedis with my bestie
no kids! yes, it was heavenly 

Here's my list for this week:

one | visit the zoo - we'll definitely have time this week and I know Riggs would love it!

two | squeeze in one last date with Steve - I really want to try and make this happen. We aren't going to have anyyyy alone time for a while once baby is here and I already miss him because he's been working so, so much (and will the whole summer).

three | have a baby - Wednesday would be nice ;)

rainy summer days

This weekend we've had sunny days in the seventies but for the last two weeks it's been pretty rainy (and more rain is in the forecast for this week). I've been loving the rain so much. It's so cozy and makes everything so green and vibrant, plus it smells amazing. We've been managing to get outside despite the rain - and I think Riggs loves it just as much as I do.

"Simple things Sunday is about slowing down and capturing life’s everyday details. Taking joy in the simple things is the focus and Sunday is the day we gather together to reflect on our experiences from the week and share our photos with each other." #SimpleThingsSunday - Simple as That blog

pregnancy update: 40 weeks

hiking in Hatcher's Pass this morning
40 weeks exactly

How Far Along? 40 weeks. Or 40+2 depending on how you look at it. Based on my LMP my due date was June 26 (thursday) but I had a dating ultrasound at 9 weeks that listed my due date as June 28 which is what the midwives have been going by. Riggs was 12 days late so not expecting this baby too soon either.

Size of Baby: Small pumpkin - awesome. (about 20 inches and 7.5 lbs - for comparison Riggs was 21.5 inches and 9lbs4oz)

Gender: Girl!

Weight Gain: 30 pounds total. Holding steady these last three weeks with no additional weight gain.  

Maternity Clothes: Umm, yes. And constantly pulling down my maternity tanks and shirts. 

Nursery: Ready and waiting.

Movement: Really slowing down but still a healthy amount of movement throughout the day. Just less dramatic kicks and such in the last week. I think she's finally run out of room!

Symptoms: I'm still feeling pretty great. I do not feel 40 weeks pregnant, maybe more like 36? Anyway I'm so thankful to be as comfortable and active as I am. I have noticed that sleep is becoming more elusive, or at least long chunks of sleep. I'm waking up so often to pee that I'm only getting 2-3 hour stretches of sleep at a time. 

Last week on Tuesday I had an appointment at the new birth center (which is amazing, I can't wait to share pictures from when we're there for the birth! I didn't manage to get any during my appointment, I was too distracted) and Laura (my midwife) checked me. I was 2cm, 40% effaced and -3 station, so still a bit of work to do :) I'm enjoying my last couple of days alone with Riggs so much, there's no rush for baby girl to get here. 

I have an appointment Monday and then I'll have another appointment later in the week if I'm still pregnant for a non-stress test to make sure baby is happy any healthy in there. 

Cravings: Grapes, my own homemade cheese pizza (thin crust, very light on the sauce and cheese) mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

What I Miss: Not having to pee so often in the night. Sleeping on my stomach. Feeling hungry. Normal clothes. Running. 

Best Moment This Week: Getting to see the new birth center and thinking about the fact that it's where I'll meet my baby girl for the very first time! 

Looking Forward to: My appointment on Monday and spending more time with my family in Anchorage next week during the holiday weekend! Also, duh, baby being born! :)

Steve's family is in the Palmer area for the weekend - they rented a cabin in Hatcher's Pass - so we went up this morning to hang out in the gorgeous sunshine with them. We walked/hiked up about halfway to Summit Lake and it was just perfect weather. Riggs was having lots of fun 'climbing the mountain' as he called it, until he fell and scraped his knee and needed lots of mommy cuddles and wanted me to carry him. Which surprisingly wasn't too bad, despite being 40 weeks pregnant, ha. 

Steve's brother and his wife have two girls really close in age to Riggs and our baby girl, Morgan is about a year and a few months older than Riggs and Evelyn is four months old. It's so much fun to have cousins close in age to play with!

friday favorites

Good morning and happy Friday! We have family coming this weekend so I know it's going to be busy busy. I'm sort of in between due dates, yesterday the 26th being my due date based on my LMP and Saturday the 28th being the due date the midwives use based on my dating ultrasound at 9 weeks. I can't really believe that it's just about baby time. Within the next two weeks we'll go from three to four...I'm so excited and overwhelmed all at the same time. How did this pregnancy fly by so fast? Second time around is definitely much different than the first!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite things from around the internet/Pinterest world this week:

ONE | I have a feeling my hair is going to look like this for the next month

or two. Good thing it's actually kind of cute in a messy, completely-un-put-together way.

TWO | I love this bright cheery bedroom. Maybe baby girls room in about

five years from now? The colors and textures and patterns are just so perfect.

THREE | This is in my very very near future. I think I'm going to melt into a puddle.

Such a beautiful moment and I can't wait to capture moments like this with my own babies.

FOUR | These cookies look amazing. I love no-bake cookies but have

ever only had the traditional cocoa powder variety. Making these asap.

FIVE | These words really resonated with me this week. As a mom I think

it's so important. Reminds me of this essay I read earlier by Anna Quindlen

Also if you have a toddler I highly recommend this article.

J.Crew is having an amazing sale today if you like that sort of thing (who doesn't like 30% sale prices and free shipping all day?)

Have Netflix? Check out this movie about living small and purposefully. I'll be posting about how the film inspired me next week (hopefully).

Most of all have a happy Friday and a lovely weekend!

smelling the flowers at the Palmer Museum & Visitors Center

a year ago exactly
Palmer Museum & Visitors Center

I love where I live. The little historic farming community of Palmer is just an amazing place to live year round, and to raise a family. It was even voted "the best place to raise kids in Alaska" in a 2013 Bloomberg article, and for good reason. It truly is a close-knit community filled with families who have been living, farming and homesteading here since the 1930's, when the Matanuska Valley was colonized during President Roosevelt's New Deal.

I know I've mentioned all this before, but I'm reminded of it every spring and summer when I spend hours and hours every week just hanging out in downtown Palmer. It's the kind of downtown where you can just walk and walk and run into friends and chat and eat ice cream and walk some more. There is wide open spaces and parks are everywhere meaning it's very kid friendly as well.

One of our favorite places to visit when we're walking around town is the Palmer Museum & Visitors Center across from the Library, specifically the gardens there. There is just this little enclosed area filled with rows and rows of flowers and vegetables and rock gardens and flowering trees and it's just gorgeous. I love that I can stroll at a leisurely pace around the beds, taking in all the beauty around me without having to watch Riggs too closely. He loves walking 'around and around' (as he says) through all the beds and especially loves watching the bees that congregate in mass numbers on all the flowering shrubs and trees.

If you live in the Valley and especially Palmer I highly suggest a visit, and while you're there be sure to stroll around and enjoy the lovely atmosphere of downtown Palmer. I find that when I need to get out of the house and don't know what to do, it's always a great idea to just go downtown, park and wander around. It's always enjoyable plus there's plenty of coffee shops and bakery's and even gelato for when you get hungry (or need to keep a toddler happy ha).

I'll leave you with this bathroom selfie I took at the visitors center just because. I swear I look in the mirror and still get surprised to see that big belly!

PS: if you live in Anchorage and want to enjoy some fun garden time
with the kids be sure to visit the Alaska Botanical Gardens this weekend
for the Boreal Garden & Arts Fest!

hopes & plans + weekending

Good morning and happy Monday! I'm pretty excited that I've managed to post for three Monday's in a row, and I'm hoping to keep it up.

I'm linking up my hopes & plans again this week, starting with my list from last week. It was pretty short:

one | find some reading material - So glad I finally managed to get a stack of books. Half of them are from the library and two of them I bought at the local bookstore with credit:

two | chicken coop netting - this is half done. I managed to fix the spot that one of my girls kept escaping from, but I wanted to get more to replace the other heavier netting that doesn't work as well, but Lowes was out. So it's not really my fault, right? ;)

Okay, now on to my list for this week:

one | send baby girls quilt to the quilter - I'm hoping to take all the pieces in Tuesday to drop it off.

two | finish baby afghan - One strip down, 12 to go haha.

three | dig a few holes - for lilac bushes and a few other ornamental trees that I want to add around the yard. I want to get the holes down now so I'm ready for the plants whenever I have a chance to get them. 

four | visit the zoo - I'd like to get one last trip in with Riggs before baby gets here.

I also wanted to share some photos from the weekend, which was nice but pretty lonely for Riggs and I. Steve worked so much including an all-nighter so he slept until after we got home from church on Sunday. Not much time to see him! 

Saturday started out windy and rainy and we had a lazy morning. I sat on the couch working on baby girls afghan and watching the birds out the window. It was so relaxing and cozy.

Saturday evening we headed to Big Lake for a friends wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding, I just loved their rustic-botanical theme and they were amazing DIYers and made nearly everything (including a gorgeous birch arbor for the ceremony) themselves. Plus it was so good to see friends I don't get to see very often. Congratulations to Lindsey and Reid!

Sunday we went to church and then came home for lunch and finally getting to see Steve for a bit. But he had to leave shortly after waking up for a massage so while he was gone Riggs and I went outside for a bike ride. It was a hot and sunny afternoon, but I was thankful for the heat because it kept the mosquitos away. We went quite a ways, it's been surprising me lately how much stamina Riggs has, and I want to keep going on long walks and hikes so he gets even more used to it.

the countdown to the winter has officially begun...
when fireweed blooms all the way to the top it means summer's over :(

ice cream and popsicles to cool off

getting baby girl a little sun ;)

also, Riggs made me these amazing glasses and
insisted I wear them for over an hour. haha

It was a fun weekend but I feel like in some ways it was just normal weekdays for us since we barely saw Steve :( Hoping to spend more time with him this weekend, maybe even a date? That would be amazing...