1 year, 18 1/2 mo, 37 weeks

These are all our milestones this week. . . we've officially been in Salt Lake for 1 year, Addy is 18 1/2 months old and we are 37 weeks pregnant. (It's also been over a month since I last updated this blog. oops!) Wow. Time flies.

So I suppose, officially, Baby Slease can come anytime. I'm trying to get my mind around that and get organized for the big event. It's hard to be motivated though because Addy was a week late and I can't even imagine this baby coming early. Everywhere I go people tell me my belly is 'ripe' or that the baby has dropped. I guess it's possible the baby could come early. We'll see. . .

Besides chasing after Addy, I've been enjoying doing a Kay Arthur Bible study on Covenant with some ladies at church, I've been swimming a mile few times a week, and I've been napping. . . a lot! Every time I try to sit down to read or practice relaxation techniques during Addy's naptime, I just fall asleep. I rationalize that it's ok because soon enough I won't be getting nearly enough sleep.

We did have a fun surprise this last weekend. . . my college roommate, Raguel, who I haven't seen in several years drove through SLC with her family (3 kids!) and ended up spending the night at our place on Friday. Luckily I had the guest room ready for my parents to come when the baby arrives because I didn't have to do a thing to prepare for their unexpected visit! :) We really enjoyed seeing Raguel and her family and getting to catch up. Even though it was a short visit, it was so much fun!

Brad has been busy with crazy work and getting ready for the new baby but he also started meeting with a personal trainer at 24 hour fitness. While it seems like a bad time to start such a time commitment as that, it's really great because he needs that outlet and time to himself. In addition to that, he's still been meeting with Daniel, the Chinese grad student at the U, each Saturday morning for coffee and discipleship. That relationship has been so neat and Brad has really enjoyed teaching Daniel how to study the Word of God himself to direct his decision making.

Addy has been quite busy lately. She's learning things so quickly and she's really growing in her social skills. She's noticing other kids now and is actually playing with them. However, she does NOT like it when other kids who are bigger than her grab her hands and try to make her do something or go somewhere. We're working on an appropriate response to that scenario instead of pushing them away and saying 'no.' I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at her social Independence. . . she does take after me.

Addy and I have been enjoying the aquarium, playdates, reading books and just spending time together. We laugh a lot and sing a lot of songs together. Addy is a hand motion pro when it comes to her favorite songs. She's also a riot when she's requesting songs or books or her favorite toys. She has her own little way of communicating what she wants that is very clear to me but even Brad needs a translator a lot of times.

It seems like we're not getting the camera out enough lately but I'll post some pictures of life lately and a video of Addy and Brad sledding this last Sunday at the park near our house. Enjoy!