We’re getting closer to the big day. I am 35 weeks pregnant today, and I have 29 days until delivery. I’m getting ever so impatient. I can’t wait to get Miss Abby Jo out of my belly and into my arms. She’s taking up way too much room in there.  I’m feeling pretty good these days, considering. I’m tired a lot. I have way less energy right now than, I think, ever in my life. I don’t sleep well because of being uncomfortable and incredibly annoying leg pain. Otherwise, though, things have gotten better in the last week. 

Last night, my girls (the ones in my Bible study small group) gave me a baby shower at the church. Stacie and Ann guided the process, but the girls, I understand, did most everything. I was so excited about it. They put so much effort into it. I felt incredibly loved the whole night. I got lots of great stuff for Abby Jo, and I am excited to go through it and see what I’ve got. I tried to open things quickly so people didn’t get bored with the whole process, so I don’t even really remember everything that I got. I know I got a lot, though. My church has really made me feel incredibly loved and appreciated since I’ve been there, and I loved every moment of my shower last night.

This is a photo of me and my girls at the beginning of the shower.

My beautiful cake which Ms. Linda made for me. It was beautiful and delicious. The best part…the girls had her write “Congratulations Rachel…You Rock” on it. Made my day!

Me and all my girls at the end of the night. Top row from left: Emily, Myra, Ashley H., me, Ashley C.  and Casey Bottom row from left: Esther, Hannah, and Kenzie

The night was perfect. I loved every bit of it. The girls are great, and I love them all to death. I added all 100 pictures from last night into two albums on Facebook. Here is the first album and here is the second one.

Lastly, here is this week’s Babycenter.com update:

Your baby doesn’t have much room to maneuver now that he’s over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds. Because it’s so snug in your womb, he isn’t likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he’ll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

I started this post a week ago, and it it has sat half-way written as a draft since then. Better late than never. Our anniversary was the 16th.

Today is mine and Chris’ eight year anniversary. I know everyone always says the same thing, but, really, it has flown by. Having babies every two years really speeds up time. There have been some hard times mixed in with mostly good times, but they are all worth it. I am married to a wonderful man. He has his faults like we all do, but he is a good man. He takes good care of me and our children, and I’m so very thankful for him. I told Amy earlier today that I think this day eight years ago was the happiest day of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than the day I married Chris. You would be hard pressed to find a girl more head over heels in love with a man than I was with Chris. I look forward to spending the rest of my life with him.

In honor of eight years, I thought I would blog eight of my favorite memories with Chris (in no particular order). 

1. One of my favorite memories if from when we were dating. We used to go fishing together a lot before we had kids. Chris has an old fishing boat that we loved to take out on the river. On one of these trips, the fish weren’t biting and the sun was blazing. We tied the boat off, and jumped in the water. We climbed up on a piling by the old coal chute, and jumped off. I remember teasing Chris because he was a little nervous about jumping off of the piling. I was much more into jumping off of things than he was. That reminds me of the time that he got mad at me for doing a double somersault off of a thirty foot high ledge into a creek in Oakdale…but that’s another memory. Anyway, that perfect summer afternoon, swimming in the river by his boat was awesome. It will always be one of my best memories with Chris.

2. Another great memory is from our wedding day. My husband is six foot tall, but seems much bigger than another guy the same height because he is so big and broad. He is characteristically known for being strong and tough and…big. On our wedding day, as my father walked me down the aisle, I finally was able see Chris’ face over the heads of the guests (our church had two aisles instead of one center aisle), and he had tears in his eyes as he watched me walk toward him. I felt so loved and so special in that moment…seeing my big, strong man with tears in his eyes as he watched me, his bride, walk to him. Happiest day of my life!

3. Watching Chris as he became a father for the first time was pretty awesome. Kyra, our first baby, was born by c-section after 12 hours of labor. I was very tired and very scared in the operating room. Chris sat beside of me, and stroked my forehead while Kyra was being delivered. He cried when he saw her, and watched with this really cute expression on his face while they cleaned her up. They bundled her up, and gave her to him. She looks so little in his arms. He was so precious to me in that moment.

4. This one goes along with number three, but it cracks me up. The first time Kyra needed her diaper changed when a nurse was not around was right after they had got me up and into a chair for the first time since my surgery. I was in a lot of pain, and couldn’t get up at the time. Chris had never in his life changed a diaper, and he was the only one available to do so. Poor Kyra needed her diaper changed, and he had to do it. I remember sitting in the chair trying not to laugh at him as I coached him through changing his first ever diaper…which happened to be one of those terribly sticky and hard to clean meconium diapers. Poor guy. He didn’t even have regular baby wipes, because I didn’t know they would have those and didn’t bring them to the hospital with me. I don’t remember the first diaper I ever changed…or even the first diaper of my first baby’s that I ever changed…but I’ll never forget Chris’ first diaper changing experience. 

5. I love picking Chris up at the airport. He’s not left too many times, but when Elijah was a year old he went to Vegas for six weeks to work. We missed him so bad, and I was so happy when he came home. I remember picking him up at the airport. The kids and I were waiting for him, and I loved seeing his face light up when he saw us. Seeing Chris bend down to scoop Kyra up as she ran to her Daddy was priceless. I love the father that he is to our kids.

6. When we were dating, Chris and I didn’t have a lot of options of things to do together. We went to a church that had a stipulation against going to the movies, and that was the main thing people did on dates. Besides going out to eat or going shopping, there wasn’t much else to do.  So, we spent hours and hours driving around in his pickup truck. We mostly drove with no destination, and talked about everything under the sun. Occasionally, we would think of some place to go during our driving around, and we would end up at Cade’s Cove or the zoo. One day, neither of us had to work, and we were driving with no particular end in mind. We kept seeing signs that said “See Rock City”, and we thought, “Hey…we should see Rock City!”. So, we drove a couple of hours to Chattanooga, and went to Rock City. We saw seven states from Lookout Mountain, squeezed through “Fat Man’s Squeeze”, walked around and held hands, gazed out over Lover’s Leap, and it was lots of fun. I got back to my house by like six that evening, and showed my mom a penny that I had pressed for a souveneir. Then…then I got grounded for two weeks for going to Chattanooga without permission. We had such a tortured romance. I’m surprised sometimes that Chris had the patience to put up with all the strings that come with dating a girl so much younger than him. When we started dating, we were required to take one of my brothers along with us wherever we went. So, the point of this memory…Chris stuck it out with me through a lot of inconveniences he wouldn’t have had to deal with if I were the same age as him, and I am thankful he was patient. I like to think that he thinks it was all worth it. 

7. This memory is part of the previous one. Chris worked security at the Honda plant at that time, and he had a pair of handcuffs in his truck seat. While we were driving towards Rock City, I was playing with them. I put them on my wrists, and snapped them shut…after I had asked and made sure Chris had the key with him. So, I try them on, decide I don’t want to end up in handcuffs, and then say, “Okay. Unlock me.” Chris just laughed at me. The handcuff key was on his key ring…which was attached to his truck key…which was in his ignition. Yeah. I couldn’t free myself until we stopped. So, for about an hour, I rode handcuffed. The really funny part came in when we were driving on a four lane highway, and there was a man in a truck driving beside of us. I reached up to scratch my nose or something, and happened to look over at the guy beside of us. He had this crazy look on his face, looking at me, and then I busted out laughing. I’m sure it looked more than a little suspicious to see a handcuffed, sixteen year old girl riding in a truck with a 23 year old man. Good times…good times.

8. When I was pregnant with Elijah, Chris’ great-grandmother passed away. Her funeral was scheduled for the same day as my ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby. So, after a very somber day with his family, Chris and I went to Knoxville that evening for the late ultrasound appointment. With one baby girl already, Chris was hoping so bad for a son. Chris is not a real excitable guy when he’s happy. Now, if he’s watching a football game that isn’t going his way, that’s another story. Where positive emotions are concerned, though, he’s not really outwardly emotional. I wanted a boy really bad, because I knew how much Chris wanted a son. I was halfway holding my breath during the ultrasound, until she said, “It’s a boy!”. I looked over at Chris to see pure, unadulterated joy on my husbands face. He got a little teary-eyed, and, as soon as we left the office, he was on the phone calling his mom. Chris doesn’t ever feel the need to call people up to share good news. Seeing him so happy was really, really a happy memory for me. 

I could list memory after memory from our years together. Picking eight favorites is hard. If I think much, I’m sure I would think of others that I enjoy more than the ones I listed. We’ve had a lot of good times together…as a couple and as a family. I’m exceedingly blessed to have a man who loves being a father as much as Chris does. I don’t take it lightly that he takes such good care of us and gives us all his time. 

I am proud to be married to you, Christopher. I love you so much. Thank you for eight great years. 

I am 34 weeks pregnant today…36 days from delivering. I am sooooo ready to have this baby girl. I’ve had more pregnancy related miseries with this pregnancy than any of the others. I have had a UTI for almost four weeks now. I’ve been through two rounds of antibiotics already. I felt better while I was taking them (except for the fact that they made me sick to my stomach), but, about two days after I finished the course, my symptoms came back both times. I went back to the doctor today for another test, which showed that my infection is still there and getting worse again. They put me on a different antibiotic this time. Hopefully, this one will help me to kick this infection for good. I’m so tired of it.

Besides this stubborn bladder infection, my hands and feet have been swelling. I never had any swelling with my other pregnancies. I don’t like it at all. I hate the way they ache when they swell. It’s very distracting. Anyway, all that complaining to say, I’m ready for this little girl to get here.

My girls are giving me a baby shower (along with Stacie and Ann, a couple of my friends at church) on Tuesday, and I’m very excited about it. After that, I think baby preparations will kick in to warp speed. I’ll know what I have, and what I still need. Then, I’ll be getting everything ready for a few weeks, and then she’ll be here. It’s really not that long. I haven’t done anything to prepare for her. I’ve done things to make our household run a little smoother after she’s here, but I’ve not done anything to actually be ready to bring a new baby home.

My friend, Heather, sent me a crib set that her daughter, Natalie, had used, and I am sooo excited about it. It is adorable, and it will go so well with Kyra’s room when we eventually move the girls into the same room. Owen still sleeps in the crib (though less often…he’s spending more nights with his brother and sister), and so I’ll wait until a couple weeks before she’s here to put it on. I can’t wait, though. I know seeing the crib all made up in an adorable, girly, pink crib set will make things seem so real. Thank you, Heather, so much. You’re such a sweet friend.

I know this post has gotten kind of random, but I’m tired. Here is the 34 week update from Babycenter:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she’s born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you’ve been nervous about preterm labor, you’ll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

It’s Saturday morning, and my house is eerily quite. The kids all spent the night with my mom last night, and Chris worked last night so he’s sleeping. I’m left all by my lonesome. I know most moms would kill for the quiet time, but I don’t really like it. Saturday mornings are supposed to have noisy kids eating dry cereal in their pj’s and watching cartoons. Days like today make me crazy happy about this big family we’ve made for ourselves. Lots of silence is not for me. An hour or two to take a nap when I’m tired is good. Hours and hours on end with no one to talk to gets me down. I like people. I like my little people. I miss them when they’re gone.

I made myself a smoothie for breakfast. Frozen blackberries, a peach yogurt, a banana, and some orange juice. Turns out, without my little ones to share with, I made myself two smoothies. That was slightly reminiscent of when I was first married. It was a huge adjustment for me to learn how to cook for two people instead of the meals for eight people that I was used to cooking for my large family at home. I have to keep an eye on myself, or I start to have that whole empty nest thing going on about twenty five years too soon. If I’m not careful, I might start thinking four is not enough. 

Did you know that when you don’t have little hands in your hair or little feet in your back while you’re trying to sleep at night that you wake up a lot earlier? I’ve found this to be true. I woke up at six o’clock this morning…and then at eight. I finally got up at eight thirty, and wasn’t sure what to do with myself. Usually, when the kids spend the night with a grandma, Chris is off work and they keep the kids so we can have some time together. With him sleeping today because he worked last night, I’m just kind of…here. Blogging about nothing.

I guess I could find some food that requires chewing and not just sipping, take a shower, turn on some music, and get some cleaning done. I think that would be the responsible thing to do. I might turn on some cartoons just for the heck of it. Does Pepper Ann still come on tv on  Saturday morning? Probably not. 

I am 33 weeks pregnant, as of today. This has proven to be a difficult pregnancy in so many ways. The beginning was hard emotionally, because of the baby I lost a few months before, and then physically because of how sick I got. I stayed somewhat sick despite the medicine for so many months, and was just extremely tired with this baby. I had a brief period of feeling generally okay, and then the last few weeks have gotten hard again. The UTI that sent me to the hospital a couple of weeks ago really put me through the ringer. The antibiotic they gave me for it made me sick. I got better after I started taking it, though, but, a few days after I ended the course, the UTI came back over this past weekend. I was pretty miserable for a couple of days. They put me on a stronger dosage of the same antibiotic, and I’m taking it more frequently as well. It has made me feel a lot better. I went to the doctor today, though, and she said she was afraid that this particular bacteria is sensitive to the antibiotic but is not really being completely taken care of. She is afraid that when I finish the course, it will just come back….that I’m only feeling better while on it. So, she’s going to check on that, and possibly switch me to a different antibiotic. As if that isn’t enough, this is the first pregnancy that I’ve had any trouble with swelling. My hands and feet have been swelling for at least a week…maybe more…and they really hurt a lot when they do.

So, all of that whining to say…I can’t wait for Abby Jo to get here. I only have six weeks left, and I won’t be pregnant anymore! Yay!! I am not a fan of pregnant…it’s just those adorable little babies you get at the end that make it worth it.

Other than the UTI stuff, everything looked good at my doctor’s appointment today, and I go back in another two weeks.

Here is what Babycenter.com is saying about Abby’s progress:

How your baby is growing:
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. He’s rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren’t fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don’t entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

I’ve made a bit of progress on getting stuff sorted through and taken to Goodwill. Getting rid of clutter around here sure is nice. I have more to do, but it’s slow going in my hefty condition. I’m getting there, though. I am super excited about my baby shower coming up at the church. My Bible study girls are planning it for me, and that makes it even more special. I really can’t wait. Velvet and Angie (Chris’ mom and aunt) have been sending home adorable baby clothes with me pretty much every time they keep the kids lately. I get so excited over baby girl clothes. It is getting close. I just can’t wait to hold my baby girl.

Only 43 more days to go!

Chris: “Whose cheese is this?” He held up a piece of cheese that had been left on the kitchen table.
Elijah: “Owen.com”

I think maybe our lives have been taken over by all things computer in this house.

It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged. I’ve been busy…and sick. I have had a lot of fun over the last few days, though. 

Amy and her kids came for a short visit over the weekend. They got here early (early) in the morning on Thursday, and stayed through about noon yesterday. We didn’t do a whole lot because of how I am 32 weeks pregnant, and that translates to tired, sore, and swollen feet. We watched several movies, spent a lot of time on the couch with my feet up, and broke up a lot of kid fights. Turns out, nearly two years later, our kids still only like each other about half the time  a third of the time  thirty minutes a day. Okay, maybe a little more than that, but not much. We’ve decided that, in the future, we’re going to have to divide the Maxwell kids from the Harmon kids for a portion of each day. They just get too much of each other, and then we all go crazy. Anyway, we did do one fun thing while they were here. On Friday, we skipped Friday school at church, and took the kids on a field trip the Children’s Museum in Oak Ridge. That was a lot of fun. My camera battery was dead, so I didn’t get any pictures. Amy did, though, and I’ll have her send them to me so I can post a link to them later.

It was great to see my friend again, and it’s awesome to think that I’ll see her again in right around forty days…when she comes to be with me when my baby is born! Exciting days these are!

On Sunday morning, Chris had the opportunity to preach at our church. He did really well, and I was extremely proud of him. It’s cool for me to see how he’s evolving as a preacher since he’s been in Seminary. He preached on “Have You Been With Jesus”, and it really ministered to me. It’s exciting to get a little taste of what Chris will be doing as a Chaplain. We also had Awana Sunday night, which is always fun. Chris led a discussion in our Journey class with the teenagers, and it was good to hear them discussing how they could do more for God. We really enjoy working with the young people at our church.

Yesterday, we got to go out and enjoy some of the great weather we’ve had for the last few days. It has been unseasonably warm. We played outside yesterday in short sleeves! Chris had to go to the range yesterday, so, even though he didn’t get the whole day off, he was off by three, so we took the kids and went to the park. His mom met us there, and then ordered pizza for all of us while we played. It was awesome.  A great day with our family. Here’s a link to my Facebook photos from yesterday. I’m still having trouble uploading photos directly to my blog. I’ll get Chris or Amy to help me update my wordpress sometime soon, so that I can do that again. For now, I’ll just have to link you to Facebook.

Kyra just finished taking her last couple of first grade tests, and she is now…drum roll please…a second grader! I’m awfully proud of her. She’s made a lot of progress academically since the beginning of the school year. When we started the school year, she really struggled with reading. She spent half of her school days crying over how her words were too hard and she didn’t like reading. She has made tremendous gains in reading, and does quite well now. It’s been an interesting adjustment for me. I have to make sure she’s not standing behind me while having a private instant message conversation, or it’s not so private anymore.

So, that’s a bit of an update on us, for those who are interested. 

For those of you who are not my Facebook friends, I thought I would post this thing that’s been going around Facebook for a while. I knew you’d be sad if you missed out on learning 25 random things about me.

1. I really love music, and I will often play a song for someone that I think will mean something to them. It bothers me to no end when they don’t listen to the lyrics. My brother, Jason, is the same way. Just listen to our lyrics and we’ll be happy.

2. I never wanted a lot of kids, but I find myself now pregnant for the fifth time…awaiting the arrival of the fourth little baby to make her way into this home. I guess I didn’t know I would like my own kids better than other people’s. 

3. I don’t really like women’s Christian fiction. I love fiction. I like Christian books. However, this specific genre bores me. How many times can they write the same story and people still read them? I’ll take John Steinbeck over Janette Oak any day.

4. When I was a young teenager, I assumed I would go far away to a secular university, get a degree, start a career, and then meet the love of my life and live happily ever after. When I was an older teenager, I changed my plans. I’m now 25, and have been married for the last eight years. Plans change.

5. My current favorite musical artists are Caleb and Sol Rexius. I love them! You should check them out…http://www.facebook.com/pages/Caleb-and-Sol/27320564482?ref=mf .

6. I have five brothers and no sisters. One older brother, Aaron, and four younger brothers, Jason, Malachi, Lucas, and Seth. Two of those brothers are tied for “favorite brother” status. They go back and forth. 

7. I lead a Bible study small group for the teenage girls at my church. I really enjoy it, and I think my girls are awesome. They’re kind of my favorite people. 

8. I spent most of my life only allowed to wear skirts, dresses, or culottes. Turns out, I’m a lot happier in blue jeans. 

9. In reference to #8, the dress wearing didn’t make me any more feminine. I just showed a little more leg on the way up a tree than your average tomboy. 

10. In reference to #9, I am still a tomboy. When Amy came to visit the summer of 2007, I taught her how to catch crawdads in the creek at Frozen Head. (I did this while wearing a skirt.)

11. Sarcasm is my native tongue, and I appreciate it in other people. 

12. I hate labels. They rarely fit, and they mostly just make otherwise kind people act foolish and mean.

13. I love going to college. I find that college students get my humor, professors like me, and everyone is less judgmental. The social side of things is refreshing, and the academic side is stimulating. My world view and understanding of life in general has expanded dramatically since going back to school.

14. In reference to #13, contrary to popular belief, this hasn’t made me liberal. 

15. I find Reformed Theology and The Emerging Church very interesting. 

16. I am developing an allergy to people who treat people badly (either to their face or behind their back) in the name of Christ, and I’m sickened at the (many) times I’ve self-righteously done the same thing.

17. I spend a lot of my days cleaning pee (or worse) out of the floor. I think Dante should have included potty-training in his Inferno.

18. I have gotten a bad sunburn pretty much every summer for my entire life. I’m apparently a slow learner. 

19. I have a super sensitive gag reflex. I can barely take a Tylenol without throwing up. If I am the only adult in a group of kids and someone pukes, don’t expect me to clean it up. I can’t. 

20. I don’t talk baby talk to my babies. I think I’m incapable. My voice might get higher and softer, but I don’t do baby talk. I may not say anything to you (out loud) if you talk baby talk to my kids, but I will be a little weirded out by it. If you talk to them that way when they are four, I will lose a measure of respect for you.

21. I went skinny dipping one time. It was fun.

22. I’ve never drank alcoholic beverages of any kind, but I once got a little drunk off of prescription cough medicine when I was a teenager. Turns out, you’re not supposed to drink it straight out of the bottle. 

23. I almost ran away from home when I was fourteen, but I backed out at the last minute and told the boy that was going to pick me up at the end of my street at 2 a.m. to take me to the bus station that I changed my mind. 

24. Every time I drive onto a military installation, I cry a little bit.

25. I am both sad about and looking forward to moving away from East Tennessee for the Army.