All Things Lucy and Ethel....the names of my new stretchmarks

And the 3rd Trimester welcomed Asher and I with it's magical symptoms this week:

heartburn, backache, and oh yes more stretchmarks!!  The new stretchmarks are named Lucy and Ethel.

I notice myself starting to feel extremely armored to life when I begin to focus on material objects.  I am just like my father in this way.  Tonight my ipad screen cracked and I spent way too much time figuring out how I am going to get through work in the next week without that damn tablet while it gets fixed.  That is usually the sign when I have to pull back from my materialistic neurotic mental ramblings and read something that reminds me what life is all about.  This is where I can thank my lucky stars that I have trimmed my facebook friends list down to only the people in my life who I feel and process life in same manner that I do:  The deep feelers, thinkers, self-depreciating humorists and appreciators that I know and love.  So far, it is working.  Luke even viewed my page briefly tonight and said "all your friends talk about are yoga, peace, and love....hippies."  I told him that was the point.  But tonight I found this quote on another person's wall:

 When we speak of our hometowns, what we really mean is, ‘The place where my sisters and I grew up’, or ‘The place I met my first best friend’, or ‘The place where my kids were born.’ Yes, home is the landscape of people, places, and things upon which we live our life- but it is mostly about the people. That is why home can be a suburban neighborhood, or a struggling farm, or a ship at sea, or a war-torn nation. After all, home is where hearts are.”

That quote reframed my already overly active and materialistic brainwaves for the day.  You know I love to explore the concepts of home.  Tonight I needed to go back to those concepts and leave the iPad Screen Neurosis at the door.  My awesome friend Alyce reminded me of this book that I NEED to read before Asher is born.   My Name Is Asher Lev will be bought and probably devoured through by Monday morning.

The book is about a young artist named Asher who grows up in an Hasidic Jewish Family and has a growing passion for drawing and art!!  You know how there are books on this earth that I call my "soul books."  I think this is one of them.   I think every book I read right now I want to be a soul book.  Bloom by Kelle Hampton was soul book,  Daring Greatly by Brene Brown is a soul book too.  So were Angela's Ashes, The Little Price, The Weetzie Bat Books, and Everything's Illuminated.

1. It's A Boy! 2. Taking the Time 3. Stefanie's Baby Shower

1. We are having one of these.............

So the finalized portrait of our family will have a little baby boy in it named Asher Doran Johnson  sometime in January!!!!  I was so surprised by the following sentence it took about the whole day for me to process it:
The sonographer looks over at Luke and I and says "Look, there is his scrotum.  You are having a boy."  To be honest, I keep staring at those sonogram pictures studying his "goods" that I feel almost awkward.  I mean I can almost hear the voice of this little guy in my head saying "Mom, stop staring at my junk, you're embarassing me." I am excited for this fun filled adventure of raising a B-O-Y.  At work yesterday my co-workers that were parents of little boys kept saying they could not wait to give away all their blue stuff and that I should expect a pile of hand-me-down boy clothes in the months to come from them on my desk.  So, if anyone is having a little girl...you can expect the same from me. :)

 I grew up with a sister and LOTS of women.  Luke grew up with a brother so we have the best of both worlds emerging in this story.  I have absolutely nothing to compare it to so I think that is really good!!  I am excited!
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2. Taking the time.....

I am living one of *those* weeks this week.  It is one of the those weeks that if I do not *create* time to slow down and think and feel the smaller moments of seeing my beautiful friends, laughing with luke, and photographing my beautiful daughter then I just might run myself into the ground with only a bottle of tylenol and a migraine to show for it.  This blog is part of this endeavor as well.

I began really reading again.  I love reading books that inspire me to live a life of faith, community, acceptance, and love.  I discovered I love memoirs. I am a sucker for reading the inner processings of someone else's life.  It's nice to know someone else can take their wild thoughts and memories and share their stories with complete strangers.  The most recent memoir I read was Bloom by Kelle Hampton.  I could go on and on about that book (that is going to be a later post).

Anyway, I am addicted to Good Reads.com.  I love reading the stories of other people's lives and also the stories that inspire them.  It is like a social networking space for readers.  Also, I have a Kindle but I still have an insane love for the actual feel of a book and a pen ready to underline that amazing quote from the book.  My kindle cannot replace that feeling.  *I need that inspirational feeling* when I read a book right now.  It just feels special.  My next two books that I will be devouring on the train to KC (yes, I am taking a two year old on a 5 hour train ride to KC because I would like to spend some quality travel time with my daughter on a new mode of transportation for her.  I might be a sucker for punishment in the process) are:

...A Donald Miller book I still have yet to read and....

I am so excited about starting this book.  I love to read about how the idea of sharing is used to make a profit in the sort of economic climate we live in today. I am really not sure which one to read first :)

I have noticed in the last week that when I take the time to write and read for the sake of taking the time, I have more to show for it.  I have created more time to grow, more time to reflect, and more time to honor the gifts and relationships in my lives.  Sometimes all that comes from just making the choice to read a few pages in a memoir or write a blog about being confused by my unborn son's scrotum (who knew?)

Also, I had the opportunity to share a super fun labor day morning coffee date with one of my close friends, Marissa.   There are few things I love more then laughing, telling stories and eating good food with my friends.  Mission accomplished.  I love these opportunties with my friends and will do anything to create the time for these moment.  I don't care how long my stupid "to do" list is.

_________________________________________________________________________________. 3. Stefanie's Baby Shower.......

My very good friend Stefanie is having a babyshower this weekend!!!  I was so excited to hear about her pregnancy last January I think I started crying on the phone conversation!!!  This girl has an amazing story of  fertility challenges and finally becoming pregnant after trying for years to have a baby!!!  One of these days, after she has her baby I am going to make her write the entire story down so I can post it here.  This is Stefanie as a beautiful 32 week pregnant lady:

BTW, this is the awesome friend that lived with Luke and I during the chapter of our relationship when he was keeping a poop diary everyday.  She is a S-A-I-N-T!

I am excited to take some photos from her babyshower!!!  yay!!!  I am so excited to be present for other people's life celebrations. This is one of them :)