First Hike

Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park provided us with our first hike of the year. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day. And a bit nippy as you can tell by how bundled up we were. We were inspired by TN State parks "First Hike" initiative which is loosely associated with a Gaelic tradition called first footing. When we actually looked up "first footing" it really didn't seem to have anything to do with hiking, but it does involve the first person to step over your threshold in the new year and New Year's wishes and good luck, etc.

Dane was extra attentive to make sure that Baby and I didn't fall off any cliffs!

Belly Central

Miriam came over today and wanted to take some belly shots. It really is amazing to see how big I've grown. I have nothing to compare this baby to, but it seems to me that the little Forlines is very active. Parts of my belly are constantly roaming around.


I am 38 weeks and 1 day today. So I'm expecting to feel some labor pains at any point in time even though it could still be 4 weeks away. (I hope it's sooner than that)


I'm seeing the Midwives every Monday now. The plan is to have Dane, Miriam, and the two midwives at the house for the birth.


If you ask us if we're ready, we'll say no. We have no idea what this parenting thing is going to be like, or what Baby Forlines will be like. So for now, we just pray for grace.

He who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else. -Samuel Johnson

Merry Christmas to everyone! It has been a good Advent Season. We are awaiting many things...the celebration of Jesus' birth, the coming of our own little one, and ultimately the second coming of Jesus when all will be made right!

We enjoyed a last little road trip (before we are three) to Memphis last weekend and got to see some of our best friends. The Pates Family Singers, featuring Matthew Clark, put on their second annual Advent House Concert and we got to go again! How many years in a row do you have to do something before it becomes a tradition? This just may be a tradition for us. It's a perfect way to celebrate the season with others.

Abbye and Matthew on the guitars and Jeff on the drums

We were inspired once again by the Christ Community Church (or network of house churches) in the Binghampton neighborhood of Memphis. The church(es) is/are doing so much of what Jesus wants us to do. Loving our neighbor as ourselves, caring for the poor, being a witness to the nations, etc. We long to see that in our neighborhood in Nashville.

My body continues to grow with this baby inside. When I look at this picture Dane took, I don't feel that big, but I don't think the picture is lying! We're as prepared as we can be for labor to start any day now. The birthing kit is ready and I suppose my body and the midwives will know what do when the time comes. I think I've prepared as much as I possibly can for something I've never experienced.

37 weeks and 2 days

Have a wonderful Christmas!

I'm a week late on our Thanksgiving post. Has it really only been a week since Thanksgiving?

James, Stephanie, Tyler with Spark Plug, Ryan, Dylan, and Emmy Grace

We were in NC with Mom and Dad Haas and big brother James and his family. We also got to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Haas for a day. Unfortunately the rest of the siblings couldn't make it:( We arrived Wednesday and left Saturday, so it was short but sweet.

A bunch of monkeys!

Literally sweet...Dad taught us how to process the honey from his bees. We're hoping for bees and their honey in our future here in Nashville. When we arrived, Dad was working on mounting his 10-pointer deer head (European style), and mom and I worked on a quilt for the baby during our time there. After we left Dane said it felt like we had been at a folk festival. I classify that as a compliment!

See part of the process...

And it still needed strained and pasteurized and put in jars!

See, bees are harmless!

This week has been eventful with getting our first ever live (as in re-plantable) Christmas tree on a very dreary, rainy day, a Christmas concert (Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God"....celebrating the glorious story of Jesus...I highly recommend it), a neighborhood potluck, a "run-out-of-gas-on-the-side-of-the-road" experience, and it has all culminated in a stomach bug for Dane. He's been out of commission today. Dane being sick is so rare and seeing him like this makes me realize how much I love him.


We're seeing the midwives every two weeks for the next 2 visits and then we start our weekly visits until Baby Forlines shows up! The time is closing in very fast bringing with it excitement and more and more understanding that soon we're going to be Daddy and Mama to a little person outside of the womb. Does anyone else find that slightly unbelievable?

33 weeks on Thanksgiving Day

Happy Birthday To Dane

Yep, he's 32 today, and as spry as ever.

We've been celebrating all weekend. We had Dane's favorite meal on Friday (pizza, apple crisp and frozen vanilla yogurt) and then went to Chris and Rachel's house for the carving of pumpkins.

Can you tell what they are?

The extended family came over to the house on Saturday night for a "hymn sing" per Dane's birthday request and a hot dog and marshmallow roast over the "fire pit" Dane made out of his parents old grill

Our old piano never sounded so good

We were going to sing in the living room, but we had enough room in the middle hallway to stuff everyone in there

Saturday morning we went out to a farm in Goodletsville to get a load of old composted horse manure to put in the garden beds that Dane revised a couple of weeks ago. We picked it up from a farm that has been in the same family since the 1700s! There is just something special about that kind of longevity. We were planning on shoveling from the big pile into the back of our truck, but the old farmer got out his front-loader and a couple of scoops filled up the back of the truck. We didn't get as much exercise, but it was faster. Just down the road from the farm was a little produce stand called "The Garden" that was alive with fall fare. We got a pumpkin, a couple of squash and a jar of honey. We also scoped out some of their huge pumpkins to get some advice for next year's pumpkin growing contest! I think we're going to win.

The newly filled garden beds

A Walk in the Park

Dane had Fall Break last week, and it almost made me feel like I was on vacation too. We took walks every morning before I left for work, in lieu of my early morning swims. A walk with Dane is just so much better than swimming.

I only have to work until 1pm on Fridays, so this past Friday we planned a hiking excursion. We settled on Montgomery Bell State Park, which is where we got married. After we arrived at the park, I realized that it was our 4 1/2 year wedding anniversary to the exact day! After our wedding ceremony (those many years ago) Dane and I hiked a short distance on a trail near the chapel before joining everyone else for the reception. So on Friday we started on that same trail, but hiked the entirety of it while doing some reminiscing over the past few years. I wouldn't trade them for anything. Dane is an incredible husband.

A moth we came across in the middle of the trail. It was so beautiful, with such intricate detail.

Bye for now!

Life's progressing along

I meant to do this post a couple of weeks ago after our mid-wife visit, but two weeks worth of time just got away! Dane's work has been very very busy, but thankfully this next week is fall break for him. I've heard stories of "The first year of teaching school", and now we're living it. It's a lot of figuring out and keeping up.

We've had a couple of visits lately from people that we love. Abbye came for a weekend from Memphis and it ended up being a restful weekend (as she had planned) for all of us. We love Memphis friends!

Abbye with her urban wildflowers to beautify our home

An urban caterpillar to take notice of on a walk

Mom and Dad came for a visit last week after spending some time in Missouri with Mom's parents helping them out after Pappaw's back surgery. I took Wednesday off to spend time with them. We enjoyed Dad's plethora of technology and watched a couple of movies on his laptop. Mom and I went for a visit to Goodwill and made some good finds. Then on Friday night I went out to Miriam, Adam, and Joseph's home in the boonies and had a delicious supper that Miriam just whipped up.

The baby is growing at an amazing rate! I've gained about 20 pounds already and apparently only two of that is baby, so maybe it's just me that's growing at an amazing rate. I love feeling and seeing the baby move. Little human inside of me, being created day by day.

Dane had a dream the other day about a baby that looked a lot like him. He described feelings of tenderness for the baby in his dream that he's never felt for a child before. Isn't that sweet? Most people are predicting a boy. I have no idea.

27 weeks today

I went to put on my pregnancy picture clothes and then realized that Dane and I matched!

Does anyone want to buy an antique couch? It's beautiful, but it won't fit in the room where Baby Forlines will stay, so we're trying to get rid of it.