Nesting and other neurosis’s

The baby most definitely has hiccups! It is hilarious. It’s head must be down low because I feel them most very low in my belly. So strange!

I may be scarce on here and around blogs for a couple of weeks. These pregnancy hormones are wreaking havoc on my sanity and I am going crazy de-cluttering. By the time the baby comes, who knows, the house might be almost empty. Wouldn’t that be wonderful…Seriously! I would appreciate prayer though during this season as I think it is driving me nuts to be honest. Just the whole I can’t take a single scrap of clutter in any part of the house **this moment**. For the record I have never been diagnosed as OCD, but can a case be pregnancy induced?  When I know that in reality there is no way this process is going to be done in one day or a week for that matter. Honestly, it is going to take a month or longer to get it all done. For one thing we don’t have shelving in the basement to put away books or store the extra grains we have from the food COOP. As for figuring out what clothes I should save and which ones should go to the thrift store. Ah. It is strange I am attached to my old clothes because they bring back all these memories. There is that shirt from my sophomore year in college. I just look at it and I am transported back.   I might just have to beg a friend to come over for a bit to help me see things in perspective. I tend to go gung ho on things till I fall over exhausted and that isn’t healthy so I have been reading about de-cluttering and the sources all say to divide it into chunks and handle chunks each day till its gone. Sounds so simple, but for my personality it takes a lot of discipline to keep the momentum going without exhausting myself. Balance again what a helpful and beautiful thing. Also we don’t have trash pick up. I have a TON of things to just throw out. Our front room is going to be filled with bags to throw out for weeks on end quite possibly. I am thankful to report that the two guestrooms in the upstairs are de-cluttered and put away nicely. Sweet sister in law Lydia helped me some with that which was so encouraging. Now I am working hard on the basement, kitchen and our closet.  I need to keep praying God would give me wisdom. Andrew has very different views on what qualifies as clutter. This nesting stage feels like some kind of neurosis. It is definently  starting to consume my days. I have this theory that having cluttered closets and basements represents not dealing with our pasts and our emotional baggage. I think that when we block those areas out of our mind it is in a sense because we aren’t willing to deal with our own pasts. Being pregnant has been a spiritual experience in that it has reconnected me to life and creativity in new ways. It has reopened past issues in my life. It has been a time of cleansing and thinking and change. A time of new seasons and new growth. These strong drives God instilled into women are just another way of God preparing women to be cleansed and ready to focus on being a fully present mother without past baggage and present distractions. It amazes me how God is at work cleansing and changing my perspectives on things. I also am beginning to see my mother in my self. Her DNA is becoming more and more apparent. The way she cleans, organizes, cooks food, scrubs the tub, folds clothes and so on. I am realizing the powerful influence mothers have on their daughters and children in general. A daughter’s standard of house keeping is often quite influenced by her mothers and pregnancy can really bring that out in a new light. Not always but often it seems like a DNA foot print although of the nurture vr. nature sort. It is all interesting. Pregnancy is amazing and fascinating. Sometimes the realization of it all it strikes me and wonder that I am carrying another human being INSIDE ME! Nothing like a wake up call as having a little nearly 3 lb baby hiccuping inside you! How strange and beautiful is that?!  

Anyways a helpful article on space and clutter is here.

Here are a few pictures Andrew and I took last night on a walk nearing sunset. The storm clouds were gorgeous towards the East and we even saw a faint rainbow.