Holy Hormones!

I can hardly believe it, but I'm officially into my 3rd trimester!  I haven't posted much about pregnancy, mostly because it has FLOWN by shockingly fast.  I'm just now realizing how few pictures I've taken, how much still needs to be done...and mostly, how ready I am to meet this little guy!  He's moving SO much lately - mostly at night from 7-10.  Sometimes we'll just stare at my stomach and giggle at the funny alienesque movements. :)  He had the hiccups for the first time the other night, and that was especially fun.  It was just such a human thing to have...makes me realize that there is a small PERSON inside of me!  WHAT?!?!

Over the last couple of weeks I've been experiencing some more intense hormones, which has been interesting. :)  I've been surprised at how stable my emotions have been throughout the pregnancy, but right on cue I became weepy and crazy at the onset of the third trimester.  I've really enjoyed learning what's going on in my body - to understand the process feels empowering, and less like everything is being ripped out of my control (even though it really is!).

We've also been going to classes (parent, childbirth, breastfeeding) and reading books (birth partner, breastfeeding, childbirth) - whoa education!  I wanted to get the classes out of the way early, since March and April will be really busy with school and concerts and getting things ready for me to leave all summer.  It's been really fun to go together and then just talk about our reactions/emotions to the information we just learned. 

Mostly though, I'm changing and transitioning slowly but surely as I grow my "mommy heart."  It's amazing how differently I think of baby stuff and baby conversations and all the extra things I want to know.  When it's for someone you love so much, it suddenly looks and feels VERY different. :)  It's not all-consuming or anything, but it's definitely on my mind more than expected!

And so - a few hormone stories!

1. I've been SERIOUSLY nesting, and since I have had a very little amount of free time, it's felt a little frustrating, as I haven't been able to actually get much of anything done!  Last Wednesday night we had set aside a little time to move things around in the "baby room"...but we needed my dad's help.  He wasn't available like I had hoped he would be, and I just LOST IT!  Crying, feeling so helpless, I told Chris I just needed to go lay in bed and cry.  That lasted about a minute until my nesting instincts kicked in again and I found myself scouring the bathroom cupboards and labeling every box in sight.  Chris came in, had a good laugh, and we rearranged the bedroom over the weekend instead. :)

2. Friday after school my mom and I did some errands in Ames, and then decided it'd be fun to meet up with our men for supper.  Mom talked to dad, but I couldn't get a hold of Chris...for a long time...because his phone was off and went straight to voicemail.  If any of you know Chris well, you'll realize that this was, in fact, COMPLETELY abnormal.  In the entire 6 1/2 years that we've been married, I don't think Chris' phone has ever run out of batteries.  He has a work charger, a phone charger, and two home chargers.  He often plugs my phone in for me, as he can't stand for any phone to be uncharged!  At first I didn't think anything of it, but the more I thought logically (and YES, it was logical!), I couldn't figure out why his phone would be off.  I e-mailed him, knowing that he would check it if he was at work, and still hadn't heard back from him 30 minutes later.  By this time I had dropped my mom off to meet my dad for supper, and was trying to decide if I should just go home or go look for my husband on the side of the road.  I opted to go to his work office...and by the time I found him (safe and sound!) in his office, was a complete wreck. :)  I cried for a good 15 minutes, made him feel sufficiently awful for forgetting to plug his phone in, and thoroughly exhausted myself.  Good times had by all!

It's all worth it though. :)  Bring on the babe!

Cookie Love

This post has been a long time coming...sometimes it's easier to just put things off than write about them.  However, Cookie lived her life celebrating, so I guess it's about time to celebrate a life well lived!

We first met Cookie and Dave in Boondocks, Iowa at the most po-dunk truck step you will ever see.  We were living in Webster City and had signed contracts to work at Woodstock a few months earlier.  After signing, we discovered that some close friends of Chris' aunt and uncle had previously worked at Woodstock and had just signed up to work there again the coming year.  They were driving through on I-35 to visit their daughter in Minneapolis...would we like to meet up?!

Of course we said we would, so set up the where and when and looked forward to asking some questions of people who knew what in the world they were getting themselves into!  We settled into a booth to wait...and a few minutes later, Cookie came BOUNDING into the room with the biggest smile I'd ever seen.  Literally, she danced up to us. :)  It was perfect.

We became fast friends with Cookie and Dave, and ended up booking our flights over to India together.  Lots of google chat conversations about packing and logistics later, and we were off on an adventure!

Cookie and Dave are about as adventurous as you can get - they've lived in the bush in Africa, the Indian mountains, and biked across the country.  They are both Mennonite, have a wonderfully refreshing lifestyle, and are completely (what I can describe as) "free".  They are who they are...period.  And I LOVED learning from them!

After arriving in India we quickly discovered a common love of hiking, and formed a core weekend hikers group.  Without Cookie I would have been the only girl - but 55+ year-old Cookie was never one to be left at home!  So we stuck together and explored our Indian mountainside week in and week out. :)

Our first 5K hiking trip...just got our feet wet!

While this is a picture of Chris and Cookie, it was usually she and I walking/talking through the long kilometers.

The "girls" at a small shop after an especially long hike...fanta has never tasted so good!

While hiking was a major enjoyment for us, we also SERIOUSLY enjoyed exploring the long shopping bazaar in Mussoorie.  Cookie and I could shop with the best of them, and spent many a day looking at fabric or visiting the shops down in Dehra Dun looking for "just the right item". 

One of my favorite trips with Cookie and Dave was when we went to "Happy Valley", the Tibetan refugee village outside of Mussoorie.   Cookie LOVED taking pictures, and I can distinctly remember her snapping away at anything and everything.  We got to visit a training location for Tibetan artists, and I remember her being fascinated.   And of course, what's a trip to the far side of Mussoorie without a ride on the man-powered ferris wheel?!

Cookie making one of her usual faces while riding the man-powered ferris wheel. :)

Some of the best times, though, were just hanging out.  Making suppers, watching American T.V. episodes, playing games, singing songs, looking through pictures...it was all just so easy.  We've never connected so quickly and easily with another couple.  It was very special.

One of our favorite evening activities was making Brinner - Breakfast for dinner.  It was one of the few American meals that could be easily made - so we made it!  They'd make the trek down the mountain or we'd trek up, everyone would pitch in/share what they had, and we'd enjoy a true breakfast feast. :)

Some time during the spring semester at Woodstock Cookie began talking about some "gut" or "bowel" pain she'd been having.  She got it checked out at the local hospital, and then went down to Dehradun, but the doctors reported that she had "irritable bowel syndrome".  I distinctly remember Cookie reporting on her pain to our house church one day, saying that she may end up going home for treatments...or maybe to die.  At the time I wondered if she was just being dramatic, but looking back I'm amazed at how God was preparing her heart even then to accept what would come.

About a month after we left India, Cookie was officially diagnosed with cancer.  They did a surgery in Delhi, but realized that she needed more extensive treatment so they packed up and head back to America.  We got to visit them twice in Kansas after they got home - once over Christmas break (where we helped butcher a pig and played lots of Settlers of Catan!), and once to see Cookie's art show (something that had been on her bucket list - she had her own photo gallery up of all her sweet India pictures!).

The two couples at Cookie's India art show...

Cookie with Chris' aunt Kathleen

So pretty :)

Totally wiped.

And then...at least it seemed like that quickly...Cookie died.  But mostly, Cookie lived.  She talked so much about living the best life she could in all areas of her life...and one of those areas was her death.  We only knew Cookie for about 2 years, but she SO deeply impacted us, and I think about how I hope to be like her some day.  She was adventurous, gracious, joyful, giving, accepting, hard-working, energetic, loving, caring, and hilarious.  Always up for the next thing, but never wishing for something that might have been. 

Love you Cooks. :)