my anchor holds

When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

Thankful, for - 

- unchanging grace, anchored in stormy gales
- a full and productive nesting day
- pretty, feminine yarn and lots of knitting to do before April
- Levi hugging and kissing his sister
- an obvious little foot camped out in my belly button
- reading marathons in blankets and when he asks for "poetries"
- trader joe's bouquets
- painting fields of poppies with my littlest students and my older kids block printing excitement
- tea time with Levi
- snuggles, Ben and Jerry's and the Oscars with Bri
- a new house for my BFF
- time spent with highrock family, playgroups, church, art meetings, neighborhood groups
- skyping with friends on the other side of the world as they await their baby girl 
- listening to new songs being written in the next room
- a finished painting for ArtSpeak
- longer days, more sunshine, March!, spring a comin'
- my sweet and silly little buddy

Dear Baby Girl: 32 Weeks

book basket bed

(posted this over on instagram this week, but couldn't help posting over here, too.. this is how we found he had fallen asleep the other night - crammed in his book basket, surrounded by his nightly reading regimen.)

thankful (a little late)

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

I Thessalonians 5:18

Thankful for- 

- a week of February vacation, lots of fun, family time and relaxation

- 7 (!!) little lent paintings, finished 

- a lovely and relaxing valentine's and my one and only and very beloved valentine

- Levi's love of hide and seek

- a reunion with an old friend

- surprise snow days

- an impromptu toddler Valentine party

- favorable tax returns

- a date with Lianna; good chats, lattes and a shared s'more crepe

- sister texts with WAY too many emojis

- Levi's idea to make a paper city, after seeing one at the art museum

- nursery duty with good friends and adorable babies

- a husband who cares about my creative work and gives me the ability to take time to paint

- ArtSpeak plans coming together, my painting going well and almost done

- this reminder (thanks, Jeniel!)

Dear Baby Girl: 31 Weeks

a warm and green outing (and some family/maternity photos)

Not sure if I've ever mentioned this here on the blog, but Brian and I lived and taught in downtown Detroit for a year (long story!). One of our favorite memories of our time there was spending time in a big, beautiful and free botanical garden on Belle Isle, which just so happened to be right across the street from us. Our winter in Detroit was a long one for many reasons and it was so nice to be able to go and hang out in a warm place full of tropical plants and flowers whenever we wanted to. Honestly, it did wonders to warm both our bodies and our spirits. 

When I was thinking about activities for this vacation week, one of my biggest goals was to find some lovely warm place like that to spend a little time..to beat some of my winter blues and remind me that spring is indeed on it's way. After a bit of research, I found out that Wellesley College (about an hour away) has quite a large collection of greenhouses/botanical gardens that are free and open to the public. cha-ching!

We invited Brian's brothers and my sister-in-law to join us for the adventure.  We also decided to take advantage of the beautiful surroundings, to take a few maternity/family photos. My sister-in-law, Rachel, brought her camera and managed to get some great shots, despite the antics of an over-tired toddler who wasn't as interested in taking family photos so much as running around the greenhouses like a crazy little imp child. :)

(people-less photos by me, family photos by Rachel James)

Dear Baby Girl: 30 Weeks