Ames Johan Halvorson

At 10:30 am on Tuesday, August 19, 2014, we finally got to meet our little man, Ames (after my great-grandpa) Johan (a relative on my and Derek's side), 8 lbs 13 oz 21.5 in.

He is amazing and our hearts are overflowing with so much love and joy.

38 weeks and 3 days

Baby's c-section is scheduled for next Tuesday, August 19...we will have a brand new baby next week...like in seven days.  I'm nervous and scared and excited all at the same time!  It took us a year and a half to get pregnant and in the blink of an eye, we will be meeting him/her in a week.  

I'm ready.  Shirts don't really cover my ginormous belly, leaving me in the same dresses over and over again, I've gained the recommended weight,  my pelvis has hit it's limit of baby carrying, I can't roll over easily in bed, I'm getting up multiple times at night to go pee, I waddle like a penguin when I walk, heartburn has been pretty regular this last month, for the first time in all my pregnancies, my belly button has kind of half-popped out (mine is super duper innie and usually just stays innie), and we put up a loft bed for Hakan and Adeline in Hakan's squished twin bed from Ikea is underneath with the crib on the other side of the room...yep, three kids in one room.  

Don't get me wrong, I really love being pregnant, besides the normal aches and pains, the only issue has been low hemoglobin.  And who doesn't love maternity clothes?  But it's always a weird feeling when the baby is out, kind of a sad nostalgic feeling.  I'm also a little nervous about surgery, but knowing that it's the best decision for us and we get to meet our baby afterward, and with God's strength, we'll be fine.  My same dr. has done my other two surgeries, so as long as baby H doesn't decide to come early, she'll be doing this one too, which really puts my mind at ease.

This baby never stops moving and I feel like every time I stand up, it might just fall out.  This amount of movement makes me nervous, but also very thankful that this baby is healthy and active...just praying he/she takes it easy on us.

I have so many goals this week...hopefully I can get a few things done while still trying to relax and have fun with Derek, Hakan and Adeline.

We are so excited to meet you baby H!

Essential Oils Bag Giveaway!

We have been using Melaleuca products and their tea tree oil for over 9 years now, which is a natural anti-bacterial essential oil that we use for so many things, canker sores, acne, scratches, warts,  cleaning, insect bites, the list goes on and on, that has awesome results!  We are always trying to find the most natural, safe and effective ways to help our family, so when I was introduced to Young Living Essential oils, I fell in love!  I'm just getting my feet wet with these oils, so very new and still have a lot to learn, but they are wonderful!  If you want to learn more, you can email me at anchoredhopelacy(at)gmail(dot)com, or Lori at lorimdeters(at)gmail(dot)com.

I decided to try and make some cute bags that have pockets that can not only carry oils, but other things as well, because I love me some multi-functional bags.  This bag has six individual pockets that are big enough to hold six small or large bottles of oils plus so much more.  It measures 8" x 5 1/2" with a 3" bottom.  This is one of my absolute favorite fabrics, and I'm giving it away to one lucky oil using person!  Just enter using the rafflecopter at the bottom.

Our little baby H #3 is scheduled for next Tuesday (c-section because of our other two), so I won't be making too many bags in the next few weeks, but hope to be making more come September, so stay tuned.

The giveaway ends this Saturday night, good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Strawberries

We went strawberry picking a couple times this summer, once at Afton and once at Lorence's and always have fun doing it.  It wasn't the easiest thing for me to get on the ground and pick being pregnant, so luckily our kids and Derek did a fantastic job!  

I was able to make lots of jam, strawberry rhubarb, strawberry vanilla bean and just some regular strawberry, I think they're so pretty, I like to leave them all on top of our cabinet...weird?  Derek made a strawberry cake for Adeline, we've made some strawberry ice cream, strawberry crumble and we have a bunch of frozen strawberries in the freezer to use when we want them.

There was also a strawberry fest going on one of the days, so the kids and I had a yummy strawberry slushie.

The kids are super far down the row, but still picking.

I do not want summer to end anytime soon!  Too many good things come out of it here in MN!