seven quick takes friday

i'm back for seven quick takes with jennifer. this seems to be an easy way for me to blog amid the crazyness that is our life. enjoy.

1) i had a great appointment with our midwife on tuesday (we're 37 weeks and officially full-term, by the way). baby looks good. and, she thinks cheerio is a girl! the babe is on the small side and has a heartrate in the mid-150s, both typical for a girl. even though i've been thinking it's a boy, i'm starting to get excited about the possibility of purple and pink.

i'm also thrilled because i've not gained as much weight as i did with luke -- my goal is to stay under 30lbs, which is totally do-able at this point. with luke, i gained 35.

2) last weekend, michael surprised me and took me to san antonio. i didn't know we were going anywhere until an hour before we left -- he had my bag packed and everything! he had lined up my sister to stay with luke and wisked me away for a relaxing weekend sans child. it was heavenly. we stayed at a fabulous hotel (seriously, my favorite hotel ever) and slept in and watched tv. and walked along the riverwalk. and ate dinner without worrying about a little person's meal. and talked. and talked. and talked. it was wonderful.

the entire weekend, we only got one photo of us together and we were super hot at the time. we laughed about how we look like an "old" married couple in it, standing several inches apart with michael's arm around me. but, as i said, we were hot. so, you don't get to see that picture...just these.

3) wednesday, we took luke to the zoo. we took him a little less than a year ago, when he was really too young to care, and this year he did better. however, wednesday was h.o.t. we managed to make it through the primates, which luke loved, before he was done with it all. he still enjoyed some of the animals, like the elephants, but mostly just rode in his stroller while we walked in the shade as much as possible. michael and i had a lot of fun, even though we sweated buckets, too.

one highlight of the zoo was the train. the last time we rode a train, luke was not amused. this time, he loved it. he sat in my lap and we choo-choo'd the entire ride.

4) my last day of work is next thursday. it feels very surreal. i went to my last staff meeting yesterday. this next week will be busy as i wrap up and get everything ready for a new yet-to-be-hired person to take my place. but, i'm really looking forward to staying home with luke for a few weeks before the baby is born...that is, if i get a few weeks. michael thinks the baby is coming aug. 31. i think cheerio might be early. regardless, we're excited.

however, being an unemployed family is a little scary at this point in our lives (it wasn't such a big deal four years ago when we moved here without a job...and without kids). michael is going to start interviewing cares teams (he had his first interview today and enjoyed it) and that will bring in a little money. it also gives him something productive to do outside the house, which is good for him.

5) michael dubbed july the "month of the word" for luke. his vocabulary has exploded. he's still not putting words together for short sentences (stubborn boy...where does he get that?) but he can communicate really well. my favorite is his word for banana: beebo. it's really cute when he's asking for the banana.

6) michael is still diligently job-hunting (if you know of a church position, there is a "finder's fee"). he had an interview last week with a church in iowa, but that didn't pan out. we were pretty discouraged, but trust that God has something else planned for us. on good days, it's not hard to trust, but even on good days, it's hard to find joy and purpose in the waiting. but, he is in the waiting, right? (is that the line of a contemporary christian song? i've been singing it, whether it is or not...but someone help me out!)

7) one of my surprises last weekend on our trip was a new lens for my camera. i was pretty jazzed. for those photographers who read my blog heidi, it's a 55-200mm nikkor lens. we enjoyed taking pictures with it, though i admittedly am still figuring out how to make my lovely camera do what i want (even though i've had it over a year! gah!). i'm looking for a good deal on a 50mm/1.8 lens and then i might be set for awhile, though i'll probably put a new 18-55mm zoom on my christmas list. just to have my amateur bases covered. for the time being, i mean. three lenses in a year? that ought to hold me for awhile...

as a bonus, here's belly picture from our san antonio trip. taken at 36 weeks.

hope y'all have a fabulous weekend!!