Double stroller from heaven

Yesterday, we bought a double stroller. I researched like crazy. I knew a few things I wanted for sure...it had to be something I could exercise with, I wanted a side by side and it couldn't be enormous. It needed to fulfill my working out and everyday needs.

Last weekend, Jon and I took the kids to try out strollers. We tried everything at two baby stores, almost bought one, then decided against it because of bad reviews online. We came home empty handed. Yesterday, after finding something interesting online, I went to another babies r us to check out their selection...and there it was:



The baby jogger city mini double...aka...the best double stroller in the universe...aka...worth every penny...aka double stroller from heaven.

This thing had everything I wanted:

- it's compact, but not cheap
- it has great reviews
- it has sturdy and larger wheels
- both seats recline all the way back
- front wheels lock for exercising and all terrain (yanno, for all the mountain climbing I do)
- the turning radius is insane
- it feels like I'm pushing nothing...ironically it's WAY easier to maneuver than my Greco single stroller.

Anyway, it's amazing. Today I tried it out and loved it. Judah loved it. Liv loved it. Most importantly, it made my trip today considerably easy. Just one stroller full of kids to keep my eye on instead of one in the stroller and the other lagging behind. I almost felt babyless! Hahaha! I felt for the other mommies...one in the single stroller, dragging the other in hand behind her. Poor thing, if only she knew all the freedoms that come with double strolling.

So if you are in the market for a double stroller, save yourself the headache of researching and just get this one. It may be a bit more expensive, but if you use strollers as often as I do, it's worth every penny.

I Surrender...

I'm convinced...when they did my c-section with Judah they MUST have done a lobotomy too. I HAVE COMPLETELY LOST MY MIND!

Ever since the birth of my perfect child, I can't remember anything. I forget the stupidest things constantly...at home, at work, everywhere. This is a major problem for me and my compulsive organization. I'm the kind of person who can rely on my compulsiveness. If something works for me, I don't change it, so I can trust that the things I do get done a certain way...until now. Normally I keep a mental checklist of to dos....emails to write, calls to make, purchases to put in the check book...but as of late, I'm lucky if I can remember the point I was getting at.

My hormones are out to get me. Nursing keeps me just as air-headed as pregnancy did. I don't even remember how I planned on finishing this post...

Here's to surrendering to my brainlessness. Don't take it personally if I forget your name when I see you next...

Growing Up

I'm doing it. Growing up I mean.

In a moment of true honesty, I'm going to admit that I am constantly comparing myself to people younger...whether on accident or on purpose. I'm convincing myself that it's a perfectly normal thing to do in your late twenties.

During the spring, while pregnant with Judah, I went and got dinner at this great little coffee shop in downtown Palatine called Uptown Cafe. I frequent the shop, so I knew the girl who worked behind the counter. We started having a conversation about pregnancy and babies (because those are the only conversations people ever have with you when you're 7+ months pregnant). She was telling me how she knows so many people who are having babies now. I agreed and said "I think it's just what happens at our age!"...the lull in our conversation provoked me to ask how old she was. She was 18! A whopping ten years older than her and here I am assuming we're the same.

Our self perceptions become interesting when we get older. We always see ourselves as the twenty somethings thrusted into the world to become adults. But while our bodies certainly age regardless...sometimes I think it's hard to allow your mind to move forward too. I'm noticing more and more that I am growing up...I am letting go of that 21 year old Lindsey who knew everything and was considerably skinnier. I'm in love with the idea that my life experiences are aging me...maturing me. I feel wiser, smarter in the decisions I make. I feel myself thinking before I speak (something I often struggle with!). I'm slowing down...being more patient, kinder, considerate. I'm growing closer to God...my walk with him, my spiritual life.

If you are a regular here on my blog, by now you might think I'm crazy. Every other post seems to be about my age. One day it's a crisis, the next it's an

epiphany. But that's what we do when we learn...when we grow up. All life's uncertainty keeps us on my toes. Even so...within that uncertainty, I'm resting on all I've made certain in my life.

Here's to growing up...

Waiting: a candid post

Today I am 39 weeks and one day pregnant...and I feel 39 weeks and one day pregnant. This morning I had a handful of real contractions...I didn't want them to stop, but alas, they did. I don't think there is anything more defeating. So I decided to try to take a walk with liv, hoping gravity would be on my side and decide to start up those contractions again. My plans were sidetracked as I opened my front door to a total downpour. I grabbed the stack of library books and movies to return and decided a trip to the library might take my mind off things. Liv fell asleep in the car, it's still raining...and now I'm home, in my car, in our parking spot, waiting for the rain to let up and letting liv get a little snooze in (since I can't carry her into the house anyway).

If there was a bench outside, I'd probably be sitting in the rain. I'm feeling a bit emotional, the rain is fitting. And maybe I'd feel something different besides being trapped in this very pregnant misery.

The waiting is definitely worse this time. Sure, I was anxious and uncomfortable with Alivia...but there is an element of the unknown during your first pregnancy, that sort of keeps your waiting tamed. Now that I know what I need to do...and what is at the end of this road...the waiting is dreadful. I wish my water would just break....that way I'd know it was time...instead of timing contractions and praying they don't go away. Can I pray for my water to break? Does God answer that kind of prayer?

Sometimes I think that all my complaining and anxiety is the reason I'm not going into labor. As though God is teaching me a golden lesson in patience and perseverance...waiting for me to chill out, turn to him for strength, be more thankful for my current state than miserable, be anxious for nothing...He knows me well enough to know all of this would be a major uphill battle. It's in my nature to complain when in the kind of position I'm in...and if you know me at all, you know I'm always anxious for the next thing...no matter what it is. Maybe today I'll work on figuring out how to surrender when all I really want to do is fight.

Here's hoping and praying my next blog post will be loaded with pictures of my new precious baby boy.

My boy

(picture above is from April 2007 - Me and my livie, less then a week after she was born)

Today I am 37.5 weeks pregnant. In two and a half weeks (or hopefully less) I will meet my sweet baby Judah. Throughout the entire pregnancy, I've been thrilled about having another little one...but today it all hit me.

I had a doctors appointment and they gave me a free ultrasound so they could make sure he was head down. Sure enough, he was...and the ultrasound tech gave me a sneak peek of my sweet baby boy's profile. I saw his little lips (that look like momma's) and his teenie nose (that resembles his daddy's). He had his arm draped across his eyes, a trait we've become use to seeing during our ultrasounds. She double checked his little boy parts to make sure he was indeed a little boy...and all these pictures made me realize that I have a full sized beautiful amazing newborn inside of me.

It made me want to hold him, kiss him, love on him...introduce him to his big sister. I can't wait to meet him. I can't wait to name him. I can't wait to hear his cry and count his little fingers and toes. I feel insanely blessed.

It might sound crazy...but I'm ready for sleepless nights (it's not as if I'm getting the best sleep of my life now anyway). I'm ready to get to know him...get to know his cries and what he loves best. I'm ready to see how our sweet Alivia wants to help and how she reacts to a new little member of our family. I'm ready for the good and the bad...the ease and the challenges. I'm ready to hold both my babies in my lap and praise the Lord for the miracles he has blessed me and Jon with.

I'm ready for Judah Timothy Kenneth Lindstrom to arrive. I can't wait!

Existance

My entire existance has become uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure I remember this state when I was pregnant with Alivia...but this time, its worse.

I have to keep reminding myself that I have 5 weeks left. It could be 3 weeks if I'm one of the lucky momma's that goes 2 weeks early. Here's hoping.

At this stage in my pregnancy, I feel like now is the time to look back at the last 8 months and look forward to what's to come very very soon. There are some major benefits to being pregnant with number 2...for one, there is SO much less worry. Having done this once, you know the aches and pains. Even if they are different, having gone through labor helps you decipher what warrents a call to the doctor and what doesn't. I can't tell you what a great relief it is to be without the worry of it all...and while there are things that keep me thinking, overall, the emotional part of this pregnancy has been quite pleasant.

There is also a great relief in knowing that I've done this once, so I can do it again. I've experienced the terrorizing pain of labor, I've been the sleepless mom, I've struggled through my first 8 weeks of nursing, I've done it all. Some have warned me that it's different because I have a toddler at home. I've been warned about the stress and how overwhelming it can get. Please note that I have accepted that these situations may very well be a part of my future, but those who know me well know I don't do stress. I see every situation as a choice; get stressed or choose to handle it differently. I, more often then not, choose to handle it differently. Call me naive...call me crazy...but I have confidence in my capabilities as a mother, I have confidence in my calm and patient husband and I have the utmost confidence in my well behaved three year old. All this to say, I'm not worried about it. One day at a time...

Perhaps that's the payoff. I might be emotionally together and less worried overall...but at the same time I'd do anything to just be comfortable for a few minutes. This pregnancy has been different physically. My first and second trimesters were the same as my first pregnancy...but my third brought all kinds of lovely ailments to the table. Raging heartburn, swollen feet, lots of Braxton hicks, aching back, painful legs, sensitive tatas and a never ending stretching belly. I've tried desperately to be pleasantly pregnant (physically) this time around, and have found for me that it's nearly impossible.

I'm 35 weeks. If screaming "get this baby outta me!" actually worked, you'd hear it from me. But for now, I'm going to take one day at a time...enjoying my alone time with my precious Alivia...taking advantage of every moment I can spend with my sweet husband, the love of my life...taking in every last full night of sleep...and enjoying my pregnancy (regardless how miserable I may feel by the end of the day)

Quiet week

Yesterday, my sweet husband recommended that we not go on any social networks or play any games on our iPhones for the entire week, so that we'd be able to spend more time focusing on what this week is about...the great sacrifice our Lord made for us.

This is a tough challenge for me. I'm a very social person, and being a stay at home mom, my daily social outlet is often connecting with friends on facebook or Twitter. On days when I'm out with friends, I'm usually never on a social network...but I like to be connected socially, at all times...in one way or another.

On the other side, I've always felt a heavy weight to make sure my family and I celebrate the holy holidays the way they are intended to be celebrated. I hate that the birth of our most holy savior is over shadowed by Santa and reindeer at Christmas time...and I feel an urgency to reject the Easter bunny so my daughter understands that Easter is so much more than candy eggs and ham. With this said, I'm fighting against my social human nature to ensure that this week, we remember.

I'll be focusing on Christ's sacrifice. I'll be focusing on the resurrection. I'll be investing in teaching Alivia what it means when she tells people that "Jesus is alive".

Understand good Friday...celebrate His resurrection. Blessings to you, my friends.