a new perspective and Easter

I am 35 weeks now and I feel like the baby is coming so soon now! I feel enormous and the baby has dropped and it feels like he is sitting on my bladder. I also am starting to have some lower back pain when I walk or stand too much. I know it sounds like a lot of complaints but I am very happy and content that Elias is where he is! Over the past couple of weeks a few things have happened to us and friends that has given me a new perspective. One of my friends lost her baby, another gave birth to a preemie at 32 weeks, and we also found out officially that we will only be here in Australia for 2 years. These things have made me realize that my baby is exactly where he should be and he is growing the way he should (or he would not be giving me the pains he does). I have also tried harder to slow down and enjoy the experiences that I have here. I have made some wonderful, supportive friends here and I live in a beautiful country and now that it is fall going outside is stunning with all the fall colors!

Brian has a much deserved 5 day weekend now. The Australian government celebrates Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Anzac day (their version of veteran's day) this weekend. The last 2 months have been very busy for Brian at work. He has had a lot of extra work and had to work longer hours. So hopefully he can relax a good bit this weekend. That being said, we decided to use a lot of the time to get ready for Elias's arrival. We finished the nursery today, and did a couple loads of baby laundry. Tomorrow we are dropping off my car for some routine maintenance, so we don't have to worry about that later. We are also going to install the infant car seat and move more toys/organize the toys in the playroom. We are also going to try to go on a hospital tour tomorrow, they only run them when they have adequate nurse staff to spare. The last 2 weeks we have tried to go they said it was too busy and they could not do it. Hopefully it will be on tomorrow! It sounds like a lot of work but we have a bit of fun planned too, we are going to go bowling while the car is being worked on and Brian is going to watch Caleb while I get a pedicure one day this weekend too :)

This weekend more importantly is also Easter. We are having a family over from the embassy, "the girls" as Caleb calls them for Easter dinner. I am going to cook the traditional Easter ham with au gratin potatoes and whatever green vegetable looks good in the store this afternoon when I pick up the other stuff. I am happy to have a full house for Easter, it is such a joyful holiday! It does not seem to be a big celebration here. I asked the ladies in my Bible study how it is celebrated here and they did not really have an answer. They did say that they eat chocolate eggs and have Easter baskets. Also the stores have been selling hot cross buns for a couple of months now, which by the way are delicious! They have a lot of different flavors, raisin, chocolate, chocolate coffee, yum! It is not a big church holiday, they don't dye eggs or dress up. But they do get a 5 day weekend and school holidays are on now (they last 2 weeks) so a lot of people go away.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend, remember to celebrate the true meaning, the resurrection of our Savior!

Here are some pictures of the nursery. Elias will be in the pack and play for a month or so while Caleb still occupies the crib, but as you can see it has a bassinet, so it will work out fine. The decorations are all decals since we can't paint. Brian picked the theme this time :p