37 weeks. And oh my word.

Here I am at 37 weeks and a couple of days. After I saw this picture I did something no pregnant woman should ever do. I got the measuring tape out. Forty five and a half inches around. That is three and three quarters feet. Around. Join me in a moment of silence. I would like to say that I am happy and glowy. Um, I'm not. I'm exhausted. I'm in pain. I pee constantly. The Braxton Hicks contractions have pulled out all the stops this go around and they are not just a "slight tightening". They hurt. Honestly, with the first two pregnancies I thought pregnant woman were kinda wimpy. It really wasn't that bad. This time, oh this time, I understand. Also, as I sat down to write this post I found the post from when I was 37 weeks pregnant with Sarah. You can read it HERE if you would like. This was what blew me away, though.

37 weeks with #3:

37 weeks with #2:

(I think my exact words when I saw this picture after seeing the above were, "Lord help us all.")

I did see the midwife last week and, thankfully, I am at 1cm. Not a whole lot else to report, but I can say I would like to go into labor next Tuesday right after my cleaning lady leaves. But I'd be cool with today, too.

And some happy gardening news, the gladiolus are finally blooming!!

Ah, sugar snap peas. How I love you.

And just for kicks, here is Moses just about two weeks before Sarah was born!

Now I realize how little he was.. how truly close together these three babies will be!

And because there is just something about a picture of my babies sleeping...

Hayes Happenings

What's been going on around here:

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I have been wanting flowers in the front yard.. leave it to my handsome husband to get the job done! He had a little helper along the way.

Didn't he do awesome? It turns out it's a great time to buy plants, too. Everything was 20% off!

As an added bonus he bought me a peach tree!!

Sweet Sarah playing in the water with Grandma!

We are so glad she is back from Hawaii!

Play, play, play!

I'm really excited about this corn!!

One day short of 34 weeks. Man, this pregnancy is taking forever!

I am swollen. I am exhausted. I'm actually considering an induction.

Happy Weekend!

Inspecting.

One of my favorite thing about this phase of the garden is going out and seeing what is growing. It is so fun to spot a seedling popping up through the ground, little fruits ripening on the vine, and other plants I was unsure about seemingly thriving.

My wonderful mil let us transplant a ton of her raspberry bushes. It was a lot harder than I thought! Thankfully quite a few seem to be surviving.

Six tomatoes already!

Strawberries!

Gladiolus! I've counted and 98 of the 100 bulbs that we planted are growing!

A lone squash plant...

Sunflowers!!

Now to just wait until everything is in full bloom!

A garden update!

I am so thrilled that spring is here and that it is gardening time once again. I love this time of year! Here is what's on the line up for this year:

• Yellow squash
• Zucchini
• Sugar snap peas (so excited for these!)
• Spinach and lettuce
• Herbs (Basil, chives, oregano, parsley, chives, thyme)
• Green beans
• Cantaloupe
• Watermelon
• Strawberries
• Raspberries (although they won't produce for a couple of years.. and I am so grateful that we got all of the plant as transplants from my wonderful mil)
• Tomatoes
• Corn (which will be growing along the back fence.. I think it will look really pretty)

See all the gladiolus growing along the house?! Won't they be lovely?

And Stacey.. look at all those chives.. they are calling your name!

Here is something I am really excited about.. the clothesline! Jeremiah put it up for me and I am so thrilled to be able to hang the cloth diapers out to dry.

Oh! And the PVC pipe.. lovely though it is.. will soon be covered by dozens of sunflowers!

Coming up next.. the finished nursery and my rather large belly at 29 weeks! I sure hope this little sweetie isn't as late as Sarah and Moses!

Bye bye garden!

The last harvest...

This weekend we pulled up the beans, lettuce and all the squash plants. All that's left is the herbs, tomatoes, scallions and strawberries. It looks a little sad out there. I told Jeremiah that it was a taste of what it will feel like when our last baby leaves for college. I'm not sure he agreed :) The odd thing was - we had BEETS! I didn't plant beets! I planted lettuce, and I guess part of that mix was beet greens. I sliced and boiled them and kept them in my fridge. I am happy to report that I ate them. All of them. I am so healthy now :)

The plan.

We wanted beans. Lots of beans. A freezer full.

I'd say we have been successful.

The good and the bad.

Our garden is going crazy - it is just lovely! Isn't it amazing how you can just plant seeds and in a few weeks you have food to eat?! My approach to gardening is "plant it and it will grow". Most of the time that works out wonderfully!

Green beans! Here is my favorite way to cook them. Do not eat the entire batch yourself, though. Trust me on that one.

Scallions and lettuce and marigolds, oh my!

Who eats this much lettuce? Or scallions? What was I thinking?!

One strawberry.

In the future I think I will plant at least 30 plants :) Three just isn't cutting it.

Cantaloupe!

Yellow squash!

You can make this into a lovely bread! We tend to eat it sauteed in butter with garlic. Yum-o!

Zucchini.

Another 'what was I thinking' moment. I never, ever use parsley. WHY did I plant so much? Ditto on the chives.

The good news about all our basil, though, is that Moses just can't get enough pesto. He loves the stuff!

Our tomato plants are not doing a thing. They have been flowering for weeks and not a single tomato!

This poor squash plant as a cold. Or a fungus. Or something.

Somehow this plant looks like it's doing okay in this picture. Trust me, it's not.

So there ya have it! Our garden is growing and we are loving it!

Why I love gardening.

My baby basil plants will grow up some day = cheap pesto!

Fresh lettuce anytime!

You can grow beautiful things like this on the cheap.

Sigh. I love gardening.

How does your garden grow?

The garden is finally starting to do it's thing and it is so fun to watch our veggies grow. I can't wait until Moses and I can go and pick dinner! What fun!

Here are our beans. We've had the same problem with the birds as last year, but the netting is helping.

Lettuce and scallions.

Herbs!

A close up of the basil. They are just so darn cute!

Zucchini!

Squash!

The strawberries and cantaloupe are in the box behind the squash the tomatoes are along the fence.

We will begin harvesting the lettuce this weekend! I can't wait for the first salad.

It's garden time!

Look at this! Thank you, my sweet husband, for building the beds, preparing the soil and helping me plant!

Here it is in process!

Jeremiah and Moses also laid sod! Miah wasn't too keen on waiting for the seeds to grow. Here they are tamping the sod. Moses was quite the helper.

The beds are planted! Now we are going to bury that trash can in the far right corner and start composting!

Mo's new favorite play area. We spend A LOT of time out here!

This area will someday be home to a swing set for Moses and a clothes line for Mama!

Stinker. Stinker. Stinker. Literally. Here he is playing in where I had planted my basil.. in steer manure.

I can't wait to see things grow! This year we planted an herb garden (basil, chives, parsley, oregano, rosemary and thyme), tomatoes, strawberries, zucchini, yellow squash, lettuce, scallions, cantaloupe, grapes, and tomatoes!! Such a tense time! :) Will the seeds GROW?!!

Hayes Happenings

Pregnancy is Weird

(Warning, this update contains more info than you want to know.)

On Saturday I was standing in the kitchen making lunch and all of a sudden there was "water" all over the floor. Now, friends, just between you and I, I may have peed myself a little during this pregnancy. On occasion. This, however, was different. There was A LOT of water (or whatever). Our company had just left and both Moses and Jeremiah were napping when this happened. At first I was a bit taken back. Then I thought, "Oh man, I'm about to go into labor. This is really happening." I called the midwife; Mary Louise was on call, and she asked if I was still "leaking", but I wasn't. She said that there is another pocket of fluid that sometimes rests above your cervix, about 1 cup, and that if I did not continue to leak and I wasn't having contractions then that ruptured. I had never, ever heard this before. If it wasn't Mary Louise telling me this information I don't know if I would have believed her. And, well, I'm still pregnant so she must have been right. Pregnancy is weird. And a tease.

Paxson's

Our wonderful buddies, Stacey and Alex Paxson, came for a visit this weekend and it was so wonderful to spend time with them and their little people. Thank you guys for coming and distracting me from my lack of labor :) (Also, I forgot to mention that Stacey interviewed me on her blog last week! Click HERE if you're interested!)

Moses and Hope on a blanket ride.

The Back Yard

The good thing about my lack of labor was that we really made some headway on the back yard! We planted the grass seed and laid mulch along the back fence! We weren't able to start on the garden, but since it was supposed to SNOW on Sunday that's not too big of a deal!

The garden is going in the empty lot on the left. In time we will be able to put a swing set and a clothes line to the right of where we're hoping the grass will grow!

We were also able to plant our blueberry bushes and a few grape plants!

And, of course, the cutest little helper on the block!

Thank you, Grandma Kat, for playing with Moses so we could get so much done!

Moses

And as for a little Moses update, this guy is loving his cars, trucks, and trains. The sound effects are pretty great, too!!
Happy Monday! May my next update be telling you all about labor with #2!