Before / After

1). Before/After: The office

Not a great "before" photo, but all I could find. The new office was formerly our back porch. The pic above is a view from the dining area/kitchen to the backporch. We installed windows (where there were screens before), painted the walls, and laid laminate wood flooring (generously donated by one of Jimmy's customers!)

2). Before/After: The nursery

Blah! This was our messy office before the transformation. Now it is a beautiful baby girl nursery!

3). Before/After: The belly

No explanation needed here! I may have to update this one more time depending...

The List

Bucket lists, grocery lists, to-do lists... some people are just "into" list-making. I am one of them. I have a list of short term and long term goals, grocery shopping lists, lists of things I know how to cook, a list of all the home improvements I'd like to see done on our house (Jimmy hates that list), and weekly and daily to-do lists. And if any of you come over to the house after Baby Girl is born you will see a list posted to the front door- "Things you can do while you're here besides hold the baby" list. (Seriously). Now, I've got a new list. "Things to do before the baby gets here" list.

I shared my list with my doula and midwife earlier in the week and they both responded with a few sarcastic remarks like "yeah, baby girl will be so upset if all her books aren't arranged on her bookshelf when you bring her home". I know, I know. If all these things on my list aren't accomplished by the time she arrives, the world won't end- and baby girl won't insist on being returned to the birthing center until I have it all together. BUT... if I could get all these things done, that would be AWESOME! And if she decides to come after her due date, I'll have plenty of things to keep me busy while I'm waiting.

Matter of factly, one of the items on my list was to post pics of the Gator game to my blog... CHECK! See how fun that is?! If there were no list, there would be no opportunity for such a sense of accomplishment. I received great advice to delegate some of the items on my list- so now I have a list for myself, a list for Jimmy, and a list for my mom. (I think my mom likes the challenge of the list. Jimmy?...not so much, although he is being a good sport).

One of the most important items on my list is to enjoy the last few weeks of pregnancy I have left. I'm making time for things like napping, reading, and enjoying a Starbucks coffee and really trying to be present in the moment instead of wishing this time away. I've resolved to work at the things on my list diligently, but slowly, and to be content with wherever I am. I realized yesterday that I'm probably going to really miss being pregnant. After all, this has been such a special journey for me and once Baby Girl is here, I'll have to share her with everyone else!

Until next time... I'll be crossing off a few things from my list. Coming up soon: pics of the nursery and office remodel!!!

Baby Girl's first Gator game!

Here we are at the Florida/Tennessee game last weekend, enjoying our one and only trip to Gville for the season. I bugged Jimmy all year about getting us tickets to this game and boy did he come through (with the help of my awesome father-in-law!) We had a great time watching the boys of ole' Florida kick some volunteer booty! Baby Girl was awake and moving the whole time! How can one sleep with so much excitement all around?!?!

I'm no longer able to say that I haven't experienced any swelling during this pregnancy. By the time we sat for 3 hours driving up there and then walked up the bleachers to our seats, my ankles were so ....hmmm...odd looking that I even took a picture to document the occasion. It was well worth it!

Sporting our blue... didn't want to be mistaken for Rocky Toppers.

The marching band did a number with orange and blue recycling bins. As you can imagine, I thought that was pretty dang cool!

Great seats on the 50 yard line- and in the shade the whole game!

You might be pregnant lady if...

-You have to change toilet paper brands as to not overflow your septic tank. Number of times gone to the bathroom each day goes from 5 to 25 like THAT!

-You see the profile of your shadow cast against the side of the house from the street light, take a double (or triple) take and wonder, “Me? Surely that’s not me? No, that can’t be me?”

-Getting up out of the bed has now turned into a 3 part process: roll over, brace, push up.

-Painting your toenails, too, has become a process: take a deep breath, hold it in, bring toes close to face, paint, paint, paint, release foot, breath… repeat nine times.

-Your sneeze is now occasionally followed by “Uhhhh!” and a change of undergarments.

-Sleeping through the night has become a thing of the past, not because of a crying baby, but because nature calls… a lot!

-You find yourself wanting to organize and clean every nook and cranny of your house, which drives your husband completely crazy!!!

-You become extremely frustrated at yourself because you can’t make up your mind about paint colors, your haircut, what you want to eat- (Italian ice or ice cream?). You basically want someone to just go ahead and make all the decisions for you… that is until it comes to your baby!

-Strangers feel completely comfortable coming up and talking to you about all things baby related, followed by uninvited rubbing of your abdomen.

-You secretely don't mind the belly rubbing and obnoxious amount of attention that you know will end in a few short months!

-You are keeping a photo-journal growth chart of yourself, like your mother did back when you were in grade school. And like when you were a kid, you are tickled to death to show everyone how much you’ve grown!!!

(and last, but not least, you might be a pregnant lady if you end your list with something sappy like this…)

-You constantly thank God for this miracle of life inside of you, which you cannot even begin to comprehend, and spend hours of the day wondering what she will look like, what it will be like to finally hold her, what kind of parent you will be, and how in the world you can love someone so much whom you’ve never even laid eyes on.

Thankful Wednesday

Wednesday nights in the Hurst home, for the past couple of months, have been quiet, peaceful, restful, and reflective. Jimmy and I have been satisfying our need for autonomy vs. togetherness by planning separate activities on Wednesdays. (Give ya one guess of who’s idea that one was!) I have been spending my Wednesday nights here at the house going for walks, painting my toenails, blogging, catching up with old friends, reading- pretty much anything I want to do! Jimmy has been getting together with some guys, doing, you know, guy stuff. I was a bit reluctant at first, but after having such a great time with myself the first week, I decided this wasn’t such a bad idea- and I’m not such bad company!

While I was on my walk this evening, desperate to connect with God after a trying day, I listened to a Point of Grace song called “You Are Good”. I have to admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of the girls, but this song is really beautiful and the words just melted my heart. Here are a few lyrics from the song… (It’s also the first song on my playlist).

With every breath I take in

I'll tell You I'm grateful again

'Cause it's more than enough just to know I am loved

And you are good

So how can I thank You

And what can I bring

What can a poor man lay at the feet of a king

So I'll sing you a love song, It's all that I have

To tell You I'm grateful, For holding my life in Your hands

I got away from doing my Thankful Thursday posts (remember those?) because it was becoming too routine and methodical. I was inspired, however, tonight as I listened to this song and have decided to invest some time thanking God for His goodness. A few things on my list…

-I’m thankful that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! And that He is good!
-That He sustains us in our weakness and believes in us when we don’t believe in ourselves.
-I’m thankful that God has replaced my heart of stone with a heart of flesh and that He desires after me!
-That all of my needs have been provided. He is sufficient. He is my portion. I have need of nothing. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
-That I can boldly approach the throne of grace because of Jesus!
-I’m grateful for a healthy pregnancy and the thrill of eager expectation.
-For getting to feel this little miracle inside of me moving (almost constantly!)

If you have a minute, I encourage you to take the time to listen to the lyrics of this song and allow it to become the prayer of your heart before God.

Back to school...

For the past few weeks, Jimmy and I have been attending our Labor and Delivery classes at the Birthing Center where Baby Girl will be born! This has been pretty exciting... joining other first time parents to learn about timing contractions, natural childbirth pain management techniques, and in general what to expect from the experience. Everyone seems a little excited, a little nervous, maybe even a little scared, but most of all, eager to learn and feel (somewhat) prepared for the "big day".

I feel as prepared as I possibly can be without actually having gone through the experience. I have been reading about natural (undisturbed) childbirth for years and always knew that I wanted that kind of experience. I've watched just about every waterbirth or natural birth video on the internet and am convinced that this is the best way for me and my baby. No artificial hormones, no inductions, no scary tools or impatient doctors... just my body doing what it was created to do and the rest of us getting out of the way to allow that to happen! Often times when people hear that I am not delivering at a hospital or that I'm planning to deliver my baby in a big bathtub (!!!) their first reaction is "You are crazy!!!" and then, of course, "What if something goes wrong?" Many people fail to realize, however, that midwives are not just a bunch of hairy-legged hippy, anti-doctor, tree huggin', herbal tea drinking, yoga practicing, Birkenstock wearing, gray headed women who think modern medicine is the anti-christ. (Although, I'm sure there are a few out there). These are medically trained individuals who have more training and experience in natural childbirth than any obstetrician you can find! Should a true emergency arise, (going 5 days past your due date or having a labor that is inconveniently long does not necessarily constitute a true emergency) the hospital is only a few blocks away and has a seamless transfer agreement with the birthing center. Now all of you worry warts can breath a sigh of relief!


Believe it or not, I am really looking forward to this experience of birthing my child. Though I know it won't be easy and may not go exactly as I have imagined, it will truly be a labor of love, during which I will be coherent and involved in the decisions regarding my own body and baby. Here is a link to an educational video on waterbirth for those of you who may still be wondering, "What in the world?..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G09sMP8DqQA