31 weeks.... and feeling it.

        I am at the point in my pregnancy where I am really starting to "feel it..." I've lost that 2nd trimester energy burst and it seems as though it is difficult to do everything.  Sometimes my mind forgets that my body is off balance and slow moving, which results in me frequently tripping over my own feet.  I also frequently trip over Abbi because I can't see her if she is standing in front of me (right under my belly.) My brain will say something like, "what a nice day, I'd love to go for a run."  and my body replies, "I dare you to bend over and put your shoes on and walk around the block,  let alone go for a run."
        I am also at the point in my pregnancy where people are starting to say things.  I can't leave the house without someone (or everyone) commenting on my big baby bump.  These are a few of my favorites that I hear on a daily basis;

"Wow, you look like you're going to pop."   (If you think that now, you should see me in 8 weeks.)


"Now when are you due again?  You STILL have THAT LONG?? I thought you were due any day."

"I just can't believe how pregnant you look."  (translation;  you are super huge)

"Are you sure you're not having twins?"  (yup, I'm not having triplets either.)

"You just get bigger every week." (isn't that how this whole, "growing a tiny human" thing works?)


      Some days I can just take these comments in stride. Other days, it really bothers me and I have to leave Sunday school in tears,  vowing that I am never going to go out in public again. (or at least not in the next 8 weeks).
       But at the end of every slow moving, hips aching, ankles swelling day, I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for this new little person who will soon be a part of our family. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a mother and for these four little miracles in my life.
           I LOVE it when Abbi talks to her little brother and kisses my tummy and talks about all the wonderful things that are surely going to happen when she's a big sister (I'm just hoping she's not terribly disappointed that she's no longer the center of attention.)
          I love it when Colby and I sit down together, his hand resting on my belly, and we both chuckle when this baby starts to kick and squirm,  when Carter hugs me and says, "Mom, are you feeling okay today?"  and when Ammon tells me, "Mom, I'm going to make dinner tonight, you go lay down..."

Abbi talking to her little brother.

       I frequently think about the year and a half that I spent wondering if I would ever be able to have another baby, and the daily prayers I spoke asking my Heavenly Father for another child and I can't help but be filled with gratitude.  I am grateful for the difficulty moving, the huge belly, the stretch marks and varicose veings, the daily comments on my size, tears in Sunday school and all.... I wouldn't trade this for anything.