My Hiatus

 While I never set out to be on a hiatus from my blog, my camera, my sweethearts on the hill, social media in general… it just kind of happened. The Facebook app doesn't even live on my phone anymore. My most favorite bloggers haven't had my attention in months. My camera has had fewer clicks in the past 6-8 months than I even thought possible. Don't get me started on the current state of my sweethearts... I'm not sure why I drifted off, but it's actually been kind of nice. It's much easier to be present and live your life when you're not thinking about how to best report on it. The downside is that the reporting is how the memories get to live on and be shared.

So many things are happening in the Agrestic home these days… some things are really heavy and scary, other things are silly and light hearted, and then there's that one really big thing that is just amazing, breathtaking, and absolute perfection.
I'll give you a quick snapshot of the past couple months … just to get you caught up.
We went back to Rosemary Beach this summer…

This time, it was for my cousin, Kelsey's wedding.

She married Heath Stone… and everything about the wedding was perfect.. the ceremony, their vows, the events leading up to and following it… absolutely beautiful!

The day before the wedding, Kelsey called me and asked me if Charlie and Sam would stand up in her wedding. I got all emotional about that for some reason. This is them…

I was pretty proud :) I loved that they had beachy little outfits to wear. They were a bit exhausted, and probably didn't perform quite as well as they did at Nicole's wedding - but they were still awfully handsome and made people smile ~
So, of course, the natural progression after a wedding comes babies… Except not for Kelsey and Heath… well, not yet.

My blog has no idea that the Agrestic Family is about to welcome a new addition! Probably in about a week (yikes!) That's right. I'm as pregnant as pregnant gets sitting here typing these words.
It has really been a beautiful pregnancy - primarily because we've been able to share this experience with our other two babies, who have been absolutely in love with the whole thing. They joined us at our big ultra sound where we found out they are getting another brother. They each got their own little packet of ultra sound pictures which they have carried around proudly. They got to squirt ultrasound gel all over my belly, which was crazy cool. They hug on my belly, smile when the baby moves, treat me like a princess, talk about it proudly with their peers and teachers… it's really been way more precious than I could have imagined.
I've made no secret of how much I absolutely love being pregnant - so despite some new aches and pains that I didn't have in my prior pregnancies, I've really tried to soak up every second of this experience. I'm down to my last week (or so) and could sob at the thought of only having a few more days of ever feeling these movements inside my tummy. Ever. Ever.
It is such a privilege being a woman. An absolute privilege.
Two theories I have about how God shapes our minds at the end of our pregnancy…
The first is that I think it is by design that the end of pregnancy becomes so uncomfortable, and in some cases painful… This is all part of the plan to make sure that us women don't fear birth. The extreme discomfort actually makes us look forward to it… Makes sense, right?
My second theory is that there is something inside us that opens our minds to being less modest, more open, a little more free with our bodies… maybe it's because we know we're getting ready to expose ourselves to all kinds of strangers walking in and out of our delivery room… maybe it's because this body takes on a new meaning, one that is greater than yourself, and not about yourself and the girl you know… We have these conversations with random people about having our cervix checked and being 3 and 1/2 cm and 80% effaced… you know, all of this conversation is a direct discussion about our privates - I mean my privates… my private privates… stuff I don't talk about with the world. But for whatever reason, it becomes "normal" at this stage in the game.
So that's where I am. Talking about my privates. Modesty out the window. Right there at that point.
So, while 3, 4, 5 months ago, I had no intentions of sharing these photos with you… I'm kinda like "what the hell"… who needs to be modest anyway.
So this is me… well, me, pregnant… not "today" pregnant… but a couple months ago pregnant.

And that's me too…

Probably more than you need to see… 
But documentation of my belly… and pictures that I've wanted to capture for 5 years now… ever since I thought I had lost my opportunity after not doing it when I was pregnant for Charlie.

Speaking of Charlie… He started KINDERGARTEN! Such a great age. And such a perfect year he is having.

He got our beloved teacher, Mrs. Phillips, as we prayed and prayed he would (except she got married this summer too! So now her name is Mrs. Moorman) Charlie makes sure to correct us every time we speak her name wrong. I've been very proud of him this year - He loves school. I've watched him run around our house saying "I love kindergarten! I can't wait to go to school! It's so fun!" How lucky are we?

And my amazing first grader on his first day of school. He has Ms. Smith, who is such a perfect match for Sam. She takes all that serious, rigidness out of this little man and simply brings out the sillies in him. He is relaxed and happy every single day … coming and going. I couldn't ask for anything more.

More first day love

During the first 2 weeks of school, the kindergarteners have staggered days and only go one day each week. This gave Charlie and I some time to hang out. We went on a nature walk on the Maryville green belt on this particular day.

What a glorious day!
Then he wanted to use the camera to take pictures of me. 
So he did.

Then he took another one a little while later…
At which time I viewed the pictures he took and noticed this little piece of lovely …

I had NO idea my stomach was showing … no idea how many other people got to witness this. This was the final day I wore clothes without a belly band to offer me a little security!

The final event I'll share with you is from the beginning of September when we spent two days out at my parents. We watched the first UT football game of the season over there while enjoying an AmAzInG shrimp boil

And then we spent the following day on the lake with them… It's been so long since the boys have been on my dad's boat that they didn't even remember it… They had a ball ~

And that's it for now… That brings us much much closer to the present. I'm going to do my very best to get you right up to date as we move on to the next phase of the Agrestic Family's legacy… bringing baby number three into the world.
I'll be back soon!