The Long and Winding Road

11 days until the due date is an obvious reminder that this pregnancy is winding down. A revisitation by our good old friend, "yucky tummy" (nausea) is another harbinger to the arrival of our new daughter. How God decided to pair such misery with great joy is still somewhat beyond me, but one day, we'll get to ask Him face to face. Sure, it's a sign of the fall - we are citizens of Heaven temporarily living in abroken world - but, the dichotomous marriage of discomfort and delight is still odd in my book.

Cristine once thought herself an extrovert, a myth thoroughly debunked when she married the Mr. Networker, Aarron Pina. If I'm sick, I'm energized by my best bro's coming over for a Lord of the Rings marathon. When she's sick, she'll kill for solitude. Tonight, it was highly out of character for her to allow a very close friend and her husband to come over with dinner. Part of the night was linked to the promise that this friend would bring a camera and take some family and hubby/wife photos of Mr. & Mrs. Preggo. Yeah, she's a sucker for creating a family photo album, so dinner was just a nice bonus after the photo shoot.

Now, her friend is neither professional cook nor photographer, but the turkey dinner and the photos were a very welcome and well executed gift. (Nice work, Camarie!) My real-McCoy Cape Cod cranberry sauce certainly didn't hurt the whole spread, either (if I do say so in all humility...). [1 bag of cranberries, a whole orange, and a cup of sugar, all thrown into the food processor. Let it sit and soak up the sugar and it's all good.]

So, thanks to a persistant friend on a mission to serve, here's how my trooper of a bride looked tonight, despite the swollen fingers and feet, humid Atlanta weather, and inescapable "full" feeling.

In this photo (right), my sad lack of tan in the middle of a HotLanta summer is an embarrassment to my Cape Verdean heritage, especially in contrast to my loverly bride's gold medal bronze. To my credit, Cristine's been wearing a one piece bathing suit all summer, so I'm at least darker than the fair skinned "Babybelly."

(For what it's worth, I don't know where the "Prince" look on my face came from in the above photo. I haven't worn that smirk since Purple Rain. Regardless, my bride looks pretty dang hot.)

Nice for the sun to make an appearance for this photo (left), you think? Too bad it can't outshine her "Preggo Glow"! Some people can pull off pregnant, can't they?


Alright, so I've mentioned that through the faithful, God has displayed great faithfulness to us during this season of our life (nice plug, eh?). When I say we've been showered with love and "blessed", I don't mean it in a trite, prosperity gospel way. I mean it in a "Wow. We're not worthy, and yet God has still shown us such great favor" kind of way. We've got the crib - covered, stroller and seat - covered, clothes - flat out covered. Thank you, thank you, thank you to our friends, small group, Oasis participants and co-facilitators. We are overwhelmed at your generosity. We're gonna need a bigger boat...

Brianna joined us for a few photos, too. Here they are to wrap up tonight's post - "Family of 3.5" and "Point at the Presleigh":