Niblets

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers this week. Sharen's family is doing quite well. My testimony has been strengthened by their faith. Her funeral was Thursday evening. I was asked to say the closing prayer. It was truly an honor. The burial was Friday morning and quite private. Her grave site is quiet and beautiful, near a big tree on a hill in an old cemetery. Her husband Brian is a master woodworker. He made her casket himself. It was made of pine and polished with beeswax -- nothing artificial and no chemicals. It was so beautiful. I told Kyle that's what I want. Something simple. If you'd like to read her obituary, here is the link. Her daughter Brianne wrote it. The photo used is from the marathon we ran together last May. It has been such a blessing in my life to help her family this week.

In the world of academia, the phrase "publish or perish" is used to describe the process of getting tenure and keeping your job. We've been under a lot of stress lately as Kyle's been working hard to get a paper past the "rejection" point. Well, last week he got a revise and resubmit (R&R) from a pretty good journal where he submitted his dissertation. It could still be rejected if the editor doesn't like his changes, but he didn't get outright rejected, so we celebrated! We made up a song about revise and resubmit and had brownies. Hey, you take what you can get. Kyle's working on about 6 papers right now and I have to think that at least a couple of those will be published. If not, we may perish. So dramatic, huh?

Hayden had a little dance performance the other weekend. We opted out of the $100 recital and got to see this one for free. Perfect! He started hip hop again in January and is doing well. We'll see how long he keeps wanting to do it. I hope he learns enough to be a good dancer as a teenager. That would be fun.

I haven't totally rejected fashion, I just can't afford a whole new cute maternity wardrobe. So here's one recent attempt at looking cute. I have gained a lot of weight (even if it doesn't look like it) and the in-between stage is driving me crazy. The weather is not cooperating, so I'm down to just 4 pairs of pants to wear. Get warm already! My capris and skirts are waiting.

I was playing around with zippers and made this cute little pin/hair clip. I'm going to be making some more for Kara and the new baby. I think they're fun and different. Super simple too.

Here's the side view at 22 weeks. I think I've popped a bit since then (I'm 24 weeks on Tuesday). I'm trying to take more photos this pregnancy, since I think (hope) it's my last. I have very few photos of me pregnant, so I'm trying to be brave and let my picture be taken.

Kara learned how to say her L's. So sad. She still doesn't do R very well, which I'm happy about. Not quite ready for that one to grow up. Maybe by August.

If you're wondering what names we're considering, here's the short list:

Summer
Kate
Hallie

I like a few others (Allison, Molly) but Kyle is refusing to discuss. What am I going to do with that man? It's hard to find a name that fits our criteria (pronounceable and somewhat familiar, but not common or too trendy) and that fits with the other names of our kids. Any other suggestions?