I love sauerkraut.

Today is St. Pat's and to celebrate we went over to Andie and Seth's house for an awesome dinner with corned beef and sauerkraut. I know traditionally you do boiled cabbage with the corned beef, but Seth (being a smart man) went with the kraut option. I brought rye bread and Andie made sandwiches. It was delicious! I ate my sandwich plus two more helpings if beef and kraut. Yum. Then we had green cupcakes for dessert. Henry and Anna had fun playing together and I was happy with how much Anna liked the corned beef and sauerkraut. Mike says she'd turned a corner on eating different types of foods and I agree. It's really nice that she eats a good variety of foods and likes meats now. For the longest time it was no meat (I think because of the consistency), but now she likes all kinds. Also likes pizza now. Still not the biggest fan of sandwiches or things mixed together like casserole or pasta and sauce. It is really nice that now we all eat the same things at dinner. She's a good kid and I am very thankful for that. So, I haven't mentioned before, but I am pregnant and expecting another baby in October. Things have been going well so far (if being tired and nauseous all the time is going well), but I've noticed that I am showing a lot earlier than when I was pregnant with Anna. It's normal to start showing sooner with pregnancies after your first, but I was kind of surprised to already need to break out the maternity clothes. I got them out tonight and tried a bunch of stuff on. Some pants were too big, but others felt pretty comfy. I had to retire a bunch of "regular" pants and jeans tonight b/c they were getting too tight. Couldn't help in thinking, "I wonder when or if I will wear these again?". I am 10 weeks along and feel like I am already showing as much as I was when I was 4 or 5 months with Anna. It's not bad, just different. Anna has been excited and happy in thinking about me having a baby, but recently she's been saying, "I don't want you to be the new baby's mom." She'll get all upset about it and keep saying that I am her mom and not the new baby. I tell her that I will always be her mom and having a new baby won't change that. I told her today that after the new baby comes I will still make her breakfast/lunch/dinner, will play with her, help her get dressed, and put her to bed at night. That seemed to make her happier, because she then changed the subject to talking about "Beauty and the Beast". I do wonder what it will be like to have two children. The love and emotion for Anna is so strong...it is really hard to think of feeling that same way about another child. I know it will happen, but just wonder what the transition from one to two kids will be like. It is also interesting to think if this will be the last time I am pregnant. Mike and I knew we wanted more than one kid and said we'd see how we felt after having a 2nd. Something in my gut tells me that this isn't the last one....but then again I am only 10 wks along. Ask me that again come at the end of October and I might have a different answer. We'll see. So today's high and low:  The high was having dinner with Andie and Seth. It was great to have a good meal with even better friends. Anna and Henry were playing/eating outside and didn't have any major meltdowns (I think that is a direct result of them spending two days a week together now). I thinking back to my writing from a few days ago about the spirituality of a shared meal I felt that tonight and appreciated the time that we spent with the Allens :) My low today was getting sick this morning and feeling pretty nauseous throughout the day. Eating frequently helps, but there is something about the first couple hours after I wake up that is prime "If I cough really deeply or smell something sketchy I'm gonna puke" time. Hopefully that will go away sometime soon. It comes and goes, but today was a day that it was there in full force. To end today's writing I want to include a portion from a Compline Prayer from The Northumbria Community. I'll write more about how I came to know about The Northumbria Community and how I love the Daily Office. Mike and I began saying compline prayers each night last year during Lent. It was a nice way to end the day together. Each day of the week has its own compline that is named after a celtic saint. Saturdays's prayer is for St. Patrick. I know today isn't Saturday, but it is a day for remembering St. Patrick so it works. The words of this prayer gives me a quiet, peaceful feeling. It is a blessing to say for your friends, your children, your family, and yourself.
"The God of life with guarding hold you;
the loving Christ with guarding fold you;
the Holy Spirit, guarding, mould you;
each night of life to aid, enfold you;
each day and night of life uphold you."

Amen.