36 weeks!

...and it's looking like she's on track to hang in there for a potential four more weeks (hopefully not longer).  We'll see!

But before the deets, here she is in all her belly-glory :)

It appears that she is still head down and in good position for delivery, supposedly.  She's currently weighing in at a solid 6 pounds 4 ounces and should keep gaining in the next few weeks.  Elise was 8 pounds 8 ounces when she was born, so I'm curious to see if Nora will be more or less.  There's now about a five day discrepancy between my two "due dates," so I'm just going to say she'll come when she good and ready...hopefully before April 19th (that's when Jason's parents leave and we hope she'll be here for at least part of their stay!).  So that's our prayer...earlier in April :)

I'm still feeling (fairly) well...back aches, sleeplessness, occasional heart burn, and tiredness.  Oh, the tiredness.  I only have one daughter, but being the toddler that she is, I promise you she has more energy in her pinky toe than I do in my whole body these days! ;)  Jas is a great help, however, so together we're making it.  Thankful for that man.

Sweet Nora, we can't wait to meet you!

A Little Photo Shoot

Our friend, Paul, who has quite the creative eye took a few family photos for us the other day.  I'm not sure, actually, that we've ever had family photos done, so this was quite nice and needed.  He did a great job given that it was certainly windy (and quite chilly too) and it was closing in on E's nap time.

And I just wanted to throw that last one in here in the spirit of keeping things real.  We were cracking up because A) it was cold, B) we felt like quite a few of the shots we took could've been on the Awkward Family Photos website, and C) Elise was quite distracted by another little girl driving a rechargeable car in front of our building.  That all added up to some very hilarious shots to say the least!

Thanks, Paul, for capturing at least a few decent shots of us ;) We appreciate it!

I think we'll get my father-in-law to get a few more family shots (hopefully without all the wind and cold) before Nora arrives when they come in a few weeks.  Seems kind of crazy that we'll soon be a family of four...say what!?!??!!?

Getting Our Sled On...

As you may know, Slovakia in the winter is pretty typically filled with snow.  Particularly this year, well, in my opinion, at least.  We've had quite a few big snows.

Which means that during the last big snow Daddy ran out and bought Elise a sled.  This was her first time sledding and she seemed to like it.

But instead of talking (er, writing...) about it more, I'll just let these three little videos speak for themselves :)





And this last one makes me giggle...ha!  We did eventually figure out that she needed to be sitting forward on the sled and then she would go better through the snow (apparently we were a little slow...)



Ah, snow.  E loves you, but mama is ready for some sun.  Seriously, ready.  Bring it on, sunshine, let me see what you got!

Some New Living Room Art

If you follow me on Instagram (palmerponderings), you may have seen a few pics of a painting I've been working on...and now I can say it's finally finished!  I've been working on it for some time now (in the evenings after E goes to sleep, random days when I had more energy/time, etc.) and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

We had a painting I had previously done hanging above our couch.  I liked that painting alright, but it just wasn't what I wanted there longer term.  As in, it was ok, but not my favorite.  Then I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs which led me to this tutorial and I was inspired.  And so it began...

I followed the tutorial pretty strictly with the gridding, but after some intense challenges thanks to an already used and slightly warped canvas (yes, I'm cheap-o and painted over the old painting), Jas had to step in and help my mathematically challenged self.  Even now, however, it's still not perfect, but really really hard to tell unless you were to look up close.  I ended up being ok with that.

After completing the grid I took my original cup (read the tutorial for more specifics, she explains it pretty well) and filled in the "petals."  Then I went to town randomly painting all the fun colors.  I stuck to a color scheme mostly that I thought would go well with our living room.  Once the petals were finished and it had dried I took some washi tape and went around the edges (this was my alternative to painting the edges for a finished look).  I love the washi tape on the sides.

One other note, she left some of her petals unpainted in the tutorial (because it more closely resembles the painting in which she herself was inspired by), but I preferred them all painted, so I just went for it.

And with that, it got hung on the wall :)

It looks a bit crooked in the pics above (and we have horrible lighting for picture-taking), but in real life it's not.  And while it's certainly not perfect, I think it makes our red slumpy couch (ha!) look better.  Not to mention I am a fan of it over the previous painting, for sure.  So, all in all, I'd give this project two thumbs up!

Any one else out there working on a painting or an inspired project?! :)

34 Weeks!

This is getting real...whoa.  We're getting closer and closer to having a second daughter...and that is both super exciting and a bit scary (we're going to be parents to a toddler AND a baby at the SAME TIME)!

Here's a look at how the belly is shaping up...

I'm feeling fairly well during the days.  Overall, just tired and by the end of the day my back is quite achy.  I'm also not sleeping well (can't get comfortable and making frequent trips to the little girl's room :) but I think that's all part of it come this point in pregnancy.  I'm thankful I have what energy I do have, particularly with a cute little 17 month old running around.  I am taking iron tablets, so hopefully those levels will be rising and all will be good on that end.

Today at the doctor, Nora seemed to be on track for 34 weeks (or thereabouts) and was head down (so thankful for that).  However, we'll see if little lady is going to follow after Elise and come "late" (who really knows what that means anyway...it's not like she has consistently good due date, ha!)...or perhaps she'll come towards the beginning of April like is (sort of) expected.  We shall see!  We're just continually praying for her little life...ready to meet her :)