Currently...

Listening: to Ellie Holcomb radio on Pandora. In early July, we were told that our sweet baby girl might have a heart defect that would require several surgeries soon after birth. The heart is easiest for them to see in an ultrasound around week 28, so we had to wait four looooong weeks to find out for sure. Praise God, the sonogram showed four healthy chambers and good blood flow through the ventricles. While we were waiting, I found so much comfort in Ellie Holcomb's Anchor of Hope that I listened to it on repeat most days.

Watching: mostly the first few innings of Royals games... honestly, if I sit down for longer than fifteen minutes at the end of the day, I'm asleep. Daniel and I are taking a stay-cation in a few weeks, though, so we're hoping to catch a matinee. Has anyone seen any good movies lately?

Reading: lots and lots of books with the girls. We are working our way through the Chronicles of Narnia right now, and currently on The Horse and His Boy. I also read the Kindle sample of All the Light We Cannot See, and I've requested it at the library, so soon I hope to be reading that!

Eating: fresh fruit of all kinds - peaches, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, grapes, apples, etc... I can't get enough of them! I've been craving some pad thai, however, so that's another goal for our stay-cation.

Drinking: iced hibiscus tea, and lots of it! So delicious and refreshing on these hot summer days. The girls are crazy about the "pink tea" too, so I usually have to share.

Feeling: excited for our stay-cation (third mention in this post so far, so I'm sure you couldn't tell). Knowing that we are coming up on a crazy, awesome, full season with four little ladies to take care of, I'm so thankful we were able to carve out a little time with just the two of us. We've both agreed we aren't allowed to work on projects around the house, and we are planning on eating out, watching movies in the middle of the day, reading books at fancy coffee-shops, and hopefully sleeping in a little bit.

Wanting: open-window weather! The heat has really not been as bad as I expected, but I am so ready to want a light sweater in the mornings, and to enjoy afternoon walks with the girls, and for not so many mosquitoes! The girls and I saw some pumpkin decorations at the grocery store the other day, and they started screaming and squealing, because in their mind, that means baby is coming any day now... oops! I may need to tone down their expectations just a little bit!

Needing: To finish my basement nesting project... organizing all our storage and arts and crafts supplies. It was long overdue, and I'm getting pretty close, but I want to finish it so I can move on to more fun projects - like sewing pillow covers and decorating the babies' room. I know my "nesting" energy won't last very much longer (if this pregnancy is like the others, anyway), so I've got to take advantage while I can!

Thinking: A lot about how to best help Charlie transition to not-the-baby. These two girls will have the closest age gap by almost a year, and Charlie is very much a mommy's girl, so I'm preparing myself for a rocky transition with her. She also loves babies, though, so perhaps it will be much easier than I think. One of my goals for September is to put together a few "busy boxes" for her to play with while I nurse the baby. If anyone has any other great ideas for me, please pass them on!

Enjoying: Watching Charlie play more and more with her sisters. She loves to follow them around and join in whatever game they're playing. The big girls do such a great job of including her, at whatever level she can. I'm so thankful for their friendships, and I pray daily that they would only grow closer. Knowing that there's another little girl about to join in the fun makes my heart so happy!