Love is in the air today, and whether you hate the holiday or love it, there is really no escaping the overwhelming presence of flowers, chocolate and the color red.  Even though there are a lot of expectations that are hard to live up to, I think there is one redeeming quality the holiday has: It gives you a reason to tell your family, friends and significant others how much you love and appreciate them. It can get busy and hectic in our lives and sometimes we take the people we care about the most for granted.

So, as writer of this blog I’m taking the opportunity to tell my family how much I love them. They are always there for me, supporting me in all that I do and encouraging me to do my best. And I have a really big family, so that is a lot of love and support coming my way! Second is my friends. Some I’ve had since junior high, others since college and others more recent. I know I’ve written this before, but I have been blessed with the best friends. I don’t keep in touch with many people from high school or college, but those that I do are true friends that I’ll have forever. And, the more recent friends that I have made are amazing too. It’s great to be able to go through the same stages in life with good people who love and accept you for who and what you are.

And, of course the most important is my amazingly wonderful husband Mark. He is truly more than I even hoped to have as my companion through life and the eternities. His thoughtfulness, kindness, patience and love are everything to me and I know he was meant for me. In the past few months as we’ve been preparing for Britton’s arrival I have watched him interact with the children and babies around us and I know he will be an amazing father as well. I really could go on, but I’ll just say I love him with all my heart!

We’re keeping today pretty casual since we’re going away this weekend and will do something nice then. (More on that in next week’s post)

This past week has been pretty uneventful other than reaching 35 weeks. Only 5 more to go! I’ve sewn the burp cloths and little blankets I’m making for him, but need to put on the finishing touches. I actually sewed them! Sergers are really cool. I’d never used one before…but I actually did it–well, the straight edges of the blankets. I left the curves to Paige. I didn’t want to waste all of her thread making mistakes. Most of his clothes are washed and we’re just about all ready. A few more things for the nursery and then we’ll be done.

This week his  kidneys are finished developing, with the liver and lungs making their final preparations for birth. Even after birth the liver continues developing…that’s why some babies get jaundice, because the liver isn’t keeping up  yet.

Have a great day all!