7 Quick Takes Friday - Vol. 1

--- 1 ---

I'm still on bed rest to prolong my pregnancy, but I've made it to 33 weeks (!!), and I'm starting to feel better about how things are going. I know that the 10-ish pounds of babies in my belly are starting to tax my body, and that full-time rest is really the only thing I CAN do to help our little girls grow and develop some more. It helps that simply getting out of bed and walking to the couch (roughly 20 feet) is exhausting. I'm grateful for how well my husband has stepped up and taken over the housework and cooking. He's been wonderful, and to top it off, he never makes me feel guilty about not being able to help. I've definitely had a few guilty days, and he's been great about cheering me up and assuring me that my job is to be lying down.

--- 2 ---

This Sunday is Mother's Day, and I've been thinking a lot about how lucky I am to have been raised by my mother. She is an incredibly selfless, loving, giving woman. Mother's Day seems like a different idea, now that I'm more or less on the other side, and the more I think about motherhood, the luckier I feel to have her as my mother. She has also been fantastic while I've been off my feet: cooking and grocery shopping so that Dan doesn't have to worry about coming up with dinner from scratch every single night, and helping me immensely with getting ready for our babies. I feel so lucky that we're able to give her grandchildren, because I know she will be a fabulous grandmother too.

--- 3 ---

The Time magazine cover showing the woman breastfeeding her nearly 4-year-old son bothered me a bit. Not because I am anti-breastfeeding, and not because I think those who breastfeed past 12-18 months are doing something wrong. Quite the contrary; I'm excited to try breastfeeding our twins, and I think that there are certainly health benefits for keeping it up beyond 12 months. I'm more bothered by the idea that this mom felt it was appropriate to pose with her son for a magazine cover. His name is on the cover. Things like magazine covers don't disappear overnight. It's one thing for her to partially expose her body for millions of people to see, but quite another for her son to be involved in this picture. He may be too young now to know what's going on, but he won't always be.

--- 4 ---

Since my bed rest is the type where I'm allowed to go between the bed and the couch a couple of times a day, I do get to see the rest of our apartment most days. I usually spend about 2-3 days a week in bed the entire day, and the others I split between the bed and the couch. This last week, every time I walk past the nursery, I find myself pausing in wonder. I look at their cribs and imagine going in there to pick up tiny baby girls to feed them or change them or play with them. Even though my belly is the most prominent part of my body and I can embrace my wiggling, kicking babies, I still can't quite believe it. Life is a miracle, indeed.

--- 5 ---

I've spent a lot of time pondering the cost of groceries this last week, mainly because I think it's the area with the most flexibility in a household budget. You can choose whether you would like to prepare food or buy it partially prepared; whether you need to buy packaged or bulk food, whether you are a one-stop shopper or willing to go to several stores to get the best deals, whether you use coupons or not . . . you get the idea. I want to write some posts about grocery budgeting and how it works out for us as a family of 4, though that might be something that comes later on this summer or in the fall since I think our life will be very full soon! If any of you have good grocery-budgeting tips, please share them in the comments or email me!

--- 6 ---

The weather here has been fantastic! I love getting to look out the window and see the sunny blue skies and all of the trees and flowers. I feel as though I've experienced spring more fully this year than in years past, even though it's all been inside, simply because I've had to stop and look to see what's going on. I see the changes, day by day, and can take pleasure in the trees changing from masses of pink flowers to lovely light green leaves. I fully understand the meaning of my "spring green" crayon as opposed to my "green" crayon (I think I'd had that one down for a couple of decades, actually.) In all seriousness, however, I feel surrounded by the beautiful green newness of spring, even if it is from our third floor windows.

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Finally, I'd like to say how happy I am to be blogging again. I love putting my thoughts into words, and I can't think of a better way to share our journey and our new family with family and friends far and near. I'm also grateful for the friends I am making blogging, both those I've met and those I have yet to meet. I'm truly blessed to have all of you in my life!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!