It's not that I haven't started writing posts...

it's just that I either don't finish them or forget post them.

Sorry.

So what has been going on in our house lately?
Apples. Lots and lots and lots of apples. Like 60-80 pounds of apples.
I told you it was a lot.
It was so many they have their own post with pictures that will be coming forth shortly.

What else has been happening?
We finally started buying things for Pearl! WOOO. Well, it didn't feel like "woo" at the time, it felt more like, "ahhh! I really hate shopping!" but after hours of research and consumer reporting and price checking we finally decided on a crib:
and then we decided on a car seat and stroller combination:
The stroller and car seat aren't the most beautiful things in the world but they're the best gender neutral things I could find. Just watch, I have 8 girls. Well, at least they'll know that before they were even conceived I didn't want people to mistake them for the wrong kind of kid.
I've been doing more research too now that I'm 36 weeks- can you believe that? Neither can I.
I think we're going to go with cloth diapers. On Monday we're going to buy a set of 20 Bum Genius Diapers from Amazon. I've heard amazing things about them and I have several friends who swear by them but when I did a price comparison, there was just no way that I could justify going with disposables. Yes, it will require more work and sometimes it will be gross but 350 now as opposed to <1000 over long term is a no brainer. At least for the first few weeks we'll use the disposables though because that nasty black tarry stuff is just worth throwing away to me.
I also found this awesome site where they teach you how to make your own Moby wrap. I have a 40% off coupon for JoAnn's so I'm totally going to make one! I'm excited! I made Paul watch this instructional video about how to wear one (it's tricky to put it on) and he thought it was so cool that he wants to wear it sometimes. He's fun!

So we have been really really blessed lately. Paul's looking for an internship with the Church for next summer if at all possible. Since we've never lived in Utah and we currently live across the country, we've been trying to figure out how to get him an interview or something. We have been blessed in our friends though! We decided that we needed to have faith and so we bought him a plane ticket to go out to Salt Lake on the 18th (a Wednesday) and then come home on Sunday (his parents are going to meet him on Friday night so he'll get to spend some time with them). As soon we we did that we found out that our Institute teacher's dad works for the Welfare Department and he's looking into finding something and then our friend Karen talked to her friend of over 45 years Daryl who is Bishop McMullen (of the presiding bishopric's secretary) and she gave us the direct number to the head of Humanitarian Services! Paul called him on Friday and he said that he seemed really interested in Paul. He told Paul he didn't know if any internships were still open but that Paul would be really qualified because of his studies and such so he told Paul to send over his resume and he'd see what he could do. I Now I know that's not a guarantee and we're not getting our hopes up but it would be so wonderful if Paul could get an internship with the Church! There is just no other organization in the world that is equipped and able to accomplish all that the Church does. There is no corruption or ulterior motives or anything that is so rampant out there in the regular world.

The only worrisome thing about him going out to Utah is that it's so close to my due date. I've been telling Pearl for months now about how awesome November is- that it's my favorite month, the leaves are pretty, the people are happy and now I'm worried that she'll have taken me too seriously. Not that I'd mind if she came after Paul gets home but.... it would really be crushing to both of us if he wasn't here for her birth. Paul's flying out of Baltimore so I'm going to stay with the wonderful Erek Loosli family. I am really excited for that! We usually see them over the summer or in August but with my work schedule it's been really way too long since we've visited them (since February) so I can't wait! I love their kids and I love love Mireille- she's simply the best! I know I'll have a good visit to distract me while Paul is gone (when I think about how hard it was a year and a half ago when he went to Aaron's Camp with his dad and then I think about how hormones are going to play into it this time, I get scared). Plus, they have 5 kids and they live right across the street from a hospital so if anything should happen.... I'll be okay.
Wow.
Novel.
Sorry.
More on apples later!.