#arnoldadventure2018

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Harvest Evangeline turned one month old yesterday!! She loves to sleep - it seems like the only way to wake her up is by changing her diaper. She is really good at eating - except sometimes the milk comes out too fast for her and she ends up coughing a lot. Nate and I absolutely love her sneezes, because she coos right after. It's so nice to hear her voice when she isn't crying - which she doesn't do a lot. She has the biggest, most kissable cheeks! And toes! And belly! And neck! I swear, new baby scent is intoxicating. She doesn't cry when someone wakes her up, which is great because so many people love to hold her. She likes showers with Nate and me. Babies have a natural instinct to hold their breath when under water! . . . She is the perfect addition to the family. She is perfectly sweet. We are perfectly happy. . . . #arnoldadventure2018 #harvestarnold #babyarnold #babygirlarnold #onemonthold

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"But look, this one’s late. I’ll bet that when it blooms, it’ll be the most beautiful of all." . . . . . Waiting on you, baby girl. . . . . . . #mulan #arnoldadventure2018 #pastdue #babygirl #40weekspregnant #40and4 (at Tower Hill Botanic Garden)

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🌊WEEK 32🌊 Eight months pregnant!! Baby is closer and closer to being born, and now measures in at close to 18 inches, the size of a pomelo, and weighs about four pounds. Her head has a full coating of fuzz, and her skin is filling out as she packs on the pounds. She is still a little ways away from her first mani-pedi, but she does have a full set of both fingernails and toenails already. In fact, one of her favorite activities right now is sucking her thumb, which actually improves coordination and familiarizes her with her body. We have a bit of time away from when Baby sucking her thumb could be a problem - at this point, it’s probably actually a sign of healthy development. Baby is really practicing for the big stage, breathing and “swimming” like crazy. She loves to move a lot when I crawl into bed at night and lay down on my side. She is getting so big that Nate can feel her moving when we are cuddling, and I don't even have to tell him to pay attention! She is so noticeable. The past week, I've been sitting on my exercise ball and moving around a lot on it to try and get her to flip. Today at our prenatal appointment, I asked the midwife if she could feel where the baby was. She couldn't really tell, but she asked the ultrasoundist to do a quick one for me just to see the position. And baby girl is head down!! I'm so excited!! That's a huge praise. I know she is right on time but I was a little concerned! We have less than a month before our baby shower, and 7 more weeks until our precious one arrives. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has donated or given or prayed or just loved on us during this amazing pregnancy. We've received a few gifts already and we are so excited. Someone sent us some books from our registry and Nate has been reading them to baby girl so she can recognize his voice when she is here. Thank you!!! #arnoldadventure2018 #babyarnold #babygirlarnold #babybump #eightmonthspregnant #32weekspregnant #pregnancy #pregnancyupdate

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My honey bunches and I celebrated our first year of marriage together on Sunday. I took the weekend off. We went to the botanical gardens, made some of our favorite meals, spent time with friends, watched comedians, enjoyed a marriage retreat (Making Marriage Beautiful by @dorothylgreco. Totally recommended. Gave Nate and I a wonderful neutral ground to reflect on what ways we could honor each other better in our choices and in our conflicts. Such a blessing!), and we walked around Rockport. The hotel we were married at blessed us with a complimentary night's stay and dinner. We were able to go swimming and walk around, reminiscing about the day that the two became one. God has totally blown us away with His mercy and love. His gentle grace and abundant provision helped us out of a season of hurt and disappointment. He provided us with funds and apartments and just blessings upon blessings to show us that He is really for us, and loves us both individually and as a couple. I'm really thankful for the love that He showed us this first year of marriage. It's been so healing. I've thoroughly enjoyed this past year of being a wife. I love taking care of my husband. I love coming home to him at the end of the day. I love having a loyal, affectionate partner with which to tackle life. I love learning more about patience and grace and mercy. Honestly, being a wife makes me talk to Jesus more. I'm constantly asking Him how He would handle this situation, what words He would say, what would be the most glorifying to Him. I love my husband, and he loves me. We love our God, and He loves us. ❤️ Happy anniversary, Nate! I'm blessed to watch you grow as a man and in the Lord. I can't wait for our next adventure... Six weeks away! #arnoldadventure2018 #arnoldadventure2017 #firstanniversary (at Boxboro Regency Hotel and Conference Center)

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🌼WEEK 29🌼 You know, Mondays are really great because each one brings me a week closer to my precious little honey pop (I must have inherited my mom's excessive use of endearments). I've heard that I've really popped recently! 11 weeks and 0 days until June 11, when our sweet one is supposed to arrive. Even though Baby’s about 16 inches (40.6 cm) tall, the size of a pineapple, and pretty close to birth height, she is still weighing in at almost three pounds (1.35 kg), so she still has a lot of fat to pack on in the next eleven weeks. Baby’s muscles and lungs continue to mature, and she still has plenty of weight to gain, so I need to keep up with a healthy diet of protein, Vitamin C, folate and iron, so that growth stays steady, strong, and on-track. Good news: I don't have gestational diabetes! Not so good news: I am a little bit anemic, so I need to take in more iron. Baby is still kicking it up and moving around in the womb. Nate has felt her a lot this past week. Every time I try to record her, she stops. I think anytime I let her know that I know that she is kicking, she stops. 🙄 Not sure if that means she will be shy, but it sure is fun to try and catch her in the act! We are packing and cleaning and moving this week! Nate is interviewing and searching and weighing the job offers that are coming in! Praise Jesus for that. We are very excited about this Holy Week. #arnoldadventure2018 #bellyupdate #babybump #pregnancyupdate #thirdtrimester #29weekspregnant #29weeks #twentynineweeks #11moreweeks #junebaby #pregnancy #pregnantselfie #pregnant

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"Let's do a puzzle! I could kill a puzzle," he said as he promptly started walking around the room, talking about everything and anything, while I worked on the puzzle. ▪️ He really should be a philosopher. Not sure if there's any money in philosophy, but I think he'd be good at it. ▪️ Also this is a really cool puzzle because the picture on the box isnt the puzzle design, and there's a mystery included, and the puzzle solves the mystery. ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ #arnoldadventure2018 #marriedlife #marriage #puzzles #nightlife #husbandandwife

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Pret a manger . . . . . . I could eat you up! . . . . . #arnoldadventure2018 #harvestarnold #babyarnold #babygirlarnold #threeweeksold

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Happy Father's Day, babe. . . . . Nate was such an incredible husband and support during labor and delivery. He was right there with every contraction, holding me when I needed to be held, and saying everything I needed him to. When I felt that the pain was too much to bear, and when I was just screaming in pain, he smiled and told me that I was made to do this, that I was strong, and that he loved me. He was proud of me. . . . . He tends to be squeamish, but he didn't flinch during the birth, didn't ever change during labor, and he caught Harvest and cut her cord. . . . . . And he has been the most loving, most devoted, absolutely most affectionate new father I've witnessed. He's taken to Harvest so quickly. . . . . And I'm really excited to see how he becomes her entire world. . . . #arnoldadventure2018 #fathersday2018 #fathersday #firstfathersday #nateandmaddie #harvestarnold (at Emerson Hospital)

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Happy Father's Day, babe. . . . . Nate was such an incredible husband and support during labor and delivery. He was right there with every contraction, holding me when I needed to be held, and saying everything I needed him to. When I felt that the pain was too much to bear, and when I was just screaming in pain, he smiled and told me that I was made to do this, that I was strong, and that he loved me. He was proud of me. . . . . He tends to be squeamish, but he didn't flinch during the birth, didn't ever change during labor, and he caught Harvest and cut her cord. . . . . . And he has been the most loving, most devoted, absolutely most affectionate new father I've witnessed. He's taken to Harvest so quickly. . . . . And I'm really excited to see how he becomes her entire world. . . . #arnoldadventure2018 #fathersday2018 #fathersday #firstfathersday #nateandmaddie #harvestarnold (at Emerson Hospital)

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Welcome to the world, Harvest Evangeline Arnold. Born on June 16, 2018, at 10:47 am after three hours of pushing and a quick prayer session. . She weighs 8 lbs 15oz and is 22 inches long. . And she is loved. . ❤️ . . . . . #arnoldadventure2018 #harvestarnold #babyarnold #babygirlarnold #newborn

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🍉WEEK 40🍉 The day of days has arrived! Our due date is here, but Baby Girl has not made her appearance. Baby is at full birth size by now, which on average is about 7 ½ lbs. and 20 inches tall - about the size of a fresh watermelon - although these measurements could vary drastically between babies while still producing healthy newborns.  Baby’s skull is not fused together yet so that the plates of it can overlap when she is squeezing out during labor. This means that her head might come out looking a bit conical after its journey through the birth canal, but it will even out as she grows. Baby may not have any way to recognize my face when she first leaves the womb and enters the world - after all, at that point, she will never have seen anything that isn’t the inside of my uterus. On the other hand, though, Baby will prefer the sound of my voice to all other sounds, as soon as she recognizes it. Fortunately, she can learn what I sound like from inside the womb, so we've been talking to her in a soothing, nurturing manner, and show lots of love! My best friend Cheyenne is here to help out with everything this week - driving, groceries, cleaning, whatever Nate and I need! We walked up and down the stairs of the Clinton dam today and I've been eating pineapple like it's my job. And praying that Baby Girl comes soon! Any day now... #arnoldadventure2018 #babybump #babygirl #babyarnold #babygirlarnold #pregnancyupdate #pregnancy #40weekspregnant #duedate (at Clinton, Massachusetts)

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This is my handsome husband. This this the guy who showers me with endless affection. The one who constantly encourages me to be aware of everything around me and to work smarter, not harder. This guy is really excited to be a dad - even though nine months ago, he said he didn't want kids for 5 years at least. He loves love. He works hard and loves peace. He is super honest and he thinks I'm really funny. And he loves my new stretch marks and he says he is really going to miss my baby belly. I love to see how Jesus sanctifies him more and more every day. #arnoldadventure2018 #husbandandwife #husband #mylove #tarzanandjane

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🎃WEEK 39🎃 Baby is all set to be born - she is now considered full-term, and is just waiting for the right time to arrive. Her old fetal skin is falling off, and that beautiful soft baby skin is growing in underneath. Baby is probably fully grown, between 19-21 inches tall and 7-8 pounds, about the size of a small pumpkin. Bigger babies could obviously result in a more difficult labor, but this is not always the case. Baby knows your voice by now, and her brain is developing every day, as it will outside the womb. Her fingernails might even be so long they need a cut! Nate and I are pretty much ready as well!! We've got baby's room painted, her crib set up, her car seat installed, and our hospital bag all packed! It was really fun picking out a few outfits for her to come home in. I've been feeling pretty well! I'm really excited for Baby girl to get here. Usually when I wake up in the morning, my feet are normal sized... But within ten minutes of me getting up, they swell enormously. Sometimes they get so swollen that my toes fall asleep. It's not painful, I just only wear flip flops and slippers now. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with really bad back pain as well, which I manage with ice packs and the exercise ball. But besides these few symptoms, pregnancy has been a dream! It doesn't feel like it's going to end. But hopefully this is my last week pregnant! (No Debby Downer comments saying that I could be pregnant for another 18 weeks!) We are praying that baby girl makes her arrival on June 10, next Sunday. Feel free to pray that with us! #arnoldadventure2018 #bellyupdate #babybump #babyarnold #babygirlarnold #pregnancy #pregnancyupdate #39weekspregnant #39weeks #thirdtrimester

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Polyporus Squamosus ° Dryad's Saddle This is a really easy mushroom to spot and identify, as there aren't really any look alikes. They are cream colored with brown "scales" on the cap, and they have a sponge-like gill on the bottom. The gill isn't linear like what you would see in a portobello mushroom. They are shelf mushrooms, meaning that they grow horizontally on top of each other, and they grow on trees. You can find them on both dead and living hardwood trees like elm and maple! The gills/flesh somewhat smell like cucumber or watermelon. They come out in early May and they grow quickly. And it's best to harvest them when they are young, smaller than a softball. Wash them up, saute them with butter, garlic, onions! Or you can cut off the gills and get to the fleshy part of it and saute them in balsamic vinegar with onions and whatever else you'd like. They are much more tender when they are young. You can still eat them if they are bigger than a softball, but just harvest the outer two inch rim. Happy foraging! (I'm not an expert at all, I literally just learned this one mushroom the other day lol) #arnoldadventure2018 #mushrooms #mushroomforaging #pheasantsback #dryadssaddle #dinner #freedinner #nature #natural

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🐘WEEK 36🐘 Today we had our 36 week ultrasound!! Baby girl is in the head down position and is engaged nicely for her big debut! The midwives estimate that she is 6lbs, 8 ozs right now, but they said that typically the ultrasound weight can be off by as much as 5 Oz... So she may be 6.3 or over 7!! Back at our twenty week ultrasound, she was in the 79th percentile, and now she is in the 53rd percentile as far as size. She is measuring right on time!! And we are SO excited to meet her! Also, she got an 8/8 in Breathing Practice... An A+ on her very first report card! 😍 Nate and I were blessed with the sweetest and most fun baby shower last weekend. We have almost everything we need... And other things in abundance!! It was so overwhelming to have so many people loving and giving to this sweet girl who they have never met. Slowly but surely I have been sorting through all the gifts and numerous donations. I'm looking forward to washing all of her clothes and cloth diapers tomorrow on my day off 🖤 Oh also, she is about the length of a papaya, or a head of romaine lettuce. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture called meconium that will form the contents of her first bowel movements. Yum!! #arnoldadventure2018 #babybump #bellyupdate #pregnancyupdate #pregnancy #36weekspregnant #thirdtrimester #babyarnold #babygirlarnold

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Now, everyone go around the table and say one thing that you're Easter for. I'm Easter that our move went so swimmingly yesterday and we live right next to my mom. I'm Easter for my church and that Jesus died and then defeated death, all for me. I'm Easter that my family is healthy. And I'm Easter for this coconut blackberry cupcake. #arnoldadventure2018 #easter #cupcakes (at Clinton, Massachusetts)