HELLO HOUSE: SNEEK PEEKS

 

 print/dining/kitchenview/rustyview/bedroom/itsnicetoseetrees/hellotoes

We’ve moved! I went to work on Thursday, while K. stayed at home and worked on the logistics of the movers moving our things from the apartment to the house. (P.S. Even though it was pricey, we do not regret hiring movers – totally worth it!) The big brunt of the move is over, but it is amazing to us how there are still a hundred things left to do! K. has been like superman, getting so many things done, most of them without my help, but we will still be busy this weekend trying to cross things off of our to-do lists.

I was really looking forward to being moved in, but I was still surprised by how GOOD it felt to get home to the new place and have all our things there, ready to be lived and used in this new context. I think it wasn’t until I saw all our stuff in the house that the reality that we had bought and moved into a house really sunk in. Being in a home that we bought and worked for definitely feels different than just moving into an apartment that I know we will abandon in a year. I already love this house – not because of the house itself, but because of what it symbolizes for us. The house itself is just a building, but it is also a dwelling place where so many of our days and plans and prayers have gone into and will continue to go into, in order to make a home for a family.

THE KNIT KID

Check out the talent that goes into making these beautiful handmade/handknit pieces of clothing by Sabrina Weigt of The Knit Kid on Etsy. I'm kind of love with the texture and colors, even though I'm not usually a knit kind of girl. The colors and style give these knitted pieces a totally updated look, don't you think?

36 WEEKS = 9 MONTHS?

That’s a lot of weeks!

36 weeks is usually 9 months, which is why I get people asking me how far along I am, and when I say 36 weeks, they say, ‘Oh 9 months!’ which is when everything thinks the baby comes out, but then I have to say, ‘No, I have actually have a whole month left, because pregnancy actually goes up to 40 weeks’, which is 10 months! And then there is confusion.

I finally looked into it and figured out that there is a reason why doctors calculate it by weeks instead of months. Thinking in months is not accurate because we don’t have consistent months, like we do weeks. I was instructed to start counting from October 17, 2011, the last day of my last period, and I am 36 weeks in from that date on. To figure out the date, one would think you do 36 divided by 4 weeks, which would be 9 months, BUT that isn't entirely accurate because some months have more than just 4 weeks! Which is why, simply speaking, yes, I am in my 9th month of being pregnant, but technically speaking, I am 36 divided by 4.3 weeks, which is 8.37 months.  Simply dividing by 4 would imply that there are only 28 days in each month, which is not the case because months have 30 or 31 days.  It’s kind of like how there are 52 weeks in the year, but if you divide that only by 4 weeks, you get 13 months, instead of 12. You see?

So there’s that little FYI if you wanted to know, but REGARDLESS, the important thing is, is that I have four more weeks to go. Full term is 40 weeks. And as much as I am ready to not be pregnant anymore, I hope she stays in the oven until full term. Apparently, that is best for baby because every moment she spends in there is valuable for all the strength, nutrients, and growing that can be done. I’m not sure, however, if baby knows that it’s good for her. I’m getting the impression that she wants OUT based on how much she is banging around in there. I feel like the inside of my uterus is bruised from how much she pushes and flails around, because sometimes it really hurts! It feels like she is working as hard as she can to push at all the walls to try to burst free.

-At 9 months -

Pros: A sense of accomplishment for getting this far.

Cons: I get irrationally irritated from random unexpected things; soreness and moving in slow motion

Craving: Not anything in particular, but still eating a lot of watermelon.

Outlook on the coming of baby: I hope she stays put until close to her due date.

Feelings about husband: I’m grateful that he has been taking good care of me!

PACKING: ELDERBERRY COCKTAIL AND SUMMER SOUNDTRACK

Whenever we go to Ikea, it always seems like we never have enough time. There is tons to see and oh so many things to discover and then deliberate over to decide whether to buy it or not, even though it is not what you came to Ikea for in the first place. Almost everything is fair game, in that it looks like it should be taken home and used for some extremely functional piece of your home.  In other words, justifying Ikea pieces is way too easy. So it is mayhaps a good thing that we were rushed because we could only stick to what was on our list.  But also, we didn’t want to make any decisions based on hunger-driven-delusions, so we tried their meatballs for the first time (pretty good) and I happily discovered their elderberry drink in a juice box. I very much like elderberry in drink form, so I found and purchased an elderberry concentrate that they had in their grocery section with which to make an elderberry+pellegrino concoction which will henceforth be my packing-and-moving-week’s cocktail.

You know what else is good for aid in packing? Well, a whole week off of work would make me feel like a rockstar, but that isn’t happening. What I can easily make happen is tunes to make your booty move a little quicker between the boxes and put some pep in your step when you get sick of packing. I love making summer ‘mix tapes’ – music that highlights/describes the feeling of how great summer can be. You know, songs that you want to play while driving away from your metaphorical last day of school, towards the beach, with the top and windows down, sunshine screaming and music blasting every which way. And then songs that you play for perfect summer nights, with warm winds and good friends on a front porch, sipping on something cold.  In honor of those things, I compiled a short list for 2012's first few weeks of summer, mostly inspired by NPR's All Songs Considered podcast:

1. Bright Whites - Kishi Bashi
2. Threads - Now, Now
3. I Love It - Icona Pop
4. Fire's Highway - Japandroids
5. Shades of Love - Sumeo
6. Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson
7. Say I Wanna Know - Nick Waterhouse
8. Adventures in Your Own Backyard - Patrick Watson
9. Spiritualized - Hey Jane
10. Nothing like You and I - The Perishers

THE LU'S ARE MOVING IN

After months of planning and waiting, we finally closed on our house today! 

We are ever so excited. 

 Now, if we can somehow get through this next week of packing and moving, I will be a very happy girl!

AN ODE TO MY EVERYDAY KNIGHT

You know how you hear crazy stories about hormonal ladies during their pregnancy going berzerko, eating everything in sight, sobbing in the middle of the grocery store, being mean to their husbands etc? Well I’ve been half-expecting that crazy lady to emerge within these past few pregnancy months, but she has stayed out of sight and it’s been a relatively stable time, thank the Lord. And I’m not just saying this because I’m self-deluded, K. agrees. However, just this past week (hello last month of pregnancy) I’ve started noticing that I turn into a cranky lady real fast. It’s like the distance between calm/steady and completely irritated has gotten considerably shorter, and sometimes, especially when the day has been long, and my body feels extra heavy, I am shooting headfirst into crankypants land. Which means things like- finding myself getting super irritated by panhandlers on street corners, and thinking overly mean thoughts about drivers who don’t turn on their signal while they drive. Yesterday, the woman at the drive-through forgot to give us honey mustard and I felt irrationally upset about it. Yeeeah. It also translates into me getting cranky about having to repeat myself yet again trying to explain to K. why I want shelving in the living room, and having crankyface when we spend too long deciding on ceiling fans. I guess it doesn’t help that we are in high gear preparing for this move into the house and for those of you who’ve bought and moved into a house before, YOU KNOW. Sometimes it’s really fun and sometimes it’s plain out stressful. I know K. gets stressed about it all too, but we sail on, and I’d like to think that we help each other get through the stressful times, and the fun times are a party because we are in it together. Regardless, it’s better because we’re together. And here’s a shout out to my husband - someone who easily forgives, tries to understand (especially when I demand it), carries the heavy things, facilitates naps where he holds me tight, still tells me I’m beautiful, budgets and plans, and brings me watermelon. He is my knight in shining armor right now as far as I’m concerned. And yes sometimes even ladies get frustrated and cranky at their knights, but oh they love their handsome knights and want them around always.

MONTE

When I was driving home today I heard a song on the radio (97.3 WRIR- Richmond's Independent Radio) that sounded almost exactly like a song that I wrote a couple of years ago. Except Zee Avi was singing it.  It was both very nice and slightly depressing at the same time.  Zee Avi, that girl is making things happen for herself. And rightly so because her voice is oh-so-soothing, in a very non-obnoxious way.



P.S. Monte is also the name of my sister's bf + sister's old-gentlemanish dog!

35 WEEKS

SUP 35 SUP.

For a while, the progress of the belly was forward-marching, but in the past couple of weeks, the growth has moved outward. And so now it is super ROUND. I am a rotund lady with a rotund belly. Except for when she is moving, which is so very often, and she is big enough now that when she shifts around it makes my belly lumpy. Also, this is weird and no one has told me about this before, but I can HEAR her moving sometimes. At first I thought it was my imagination, but it’s happened enough times for me to confirm its real – it sounds kind of like the sound your bone makes when you are cracking your knuckles, but softer and more plastic-y. A pop, crackle, snap, if you will. Also, her movements are so big and her body parts do much more obvious twists and turns that it makes my organs feel strange and often catches me off guard. Lumpy, uncomfortable, jabbed and prodded, large, rotund, slow - are all words that could describe this 35th week.

One of the things I find myself doing a lot these days is staring at the calendar. There are a lot of things coming up, and it is calming to stare at those evenly spaced boxes, laid out in rows, providing a space in which to visualize my to-dos. As I eyeball the different dates and scroll through the weeks, I think about packing, trips to Ikea, our house walk-through, trips to Lowe's, the closing date for our house, delivery dates of our furniture, moving day, painting, a wedding, my birthday, and dates when my sisters and parents come in for their visit. A date that I don’t really focus on too much is my due date. In large part because I already know that the day the baby comes is going to be out of my control, and that there is no reason for me to fixate on a date which will probably turn out to not be the actual day. The time frame helps, but I am resolved to be open to whatever happens. Calm, peace, and patience - are other words that I am trying to make part of the next few weeks.

SUMMER SHOES

Heads up ladies -  ASOS is having a 50% sale on a bunch of their really lovely summer shoes that is worth checking out.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Old pictures like this are even more meaningful to me now that I am going to have a little one of my own. I am the luckiest gal in all the world to have a dad like my father and that is that.

DIY FUN

Don't these color-block coasters look rad?...Here's a tutorial if you want some for yourself. I can't wait to try making these!

MATISSE IN THE EVERYDAY

I love this compilation of Matisse paintings up against photographs of everyday life, put together by Miss Moss.   I so wish I was Paris now to check out the Matisse Pairs and Sets exhibition!

RAW AND SORT OF COMPLAINY

Blog, can I use you to vent?

I. am. so. tired. of having to go to the bathroom all the time.

Monday night was astonishing - I woke up almost twice every hour during the night to go to the bathroom. Exhausting. I suspect baby was bouncing on my bladder all night. Over the past few months, I had gotten used to having to get up 2 or 3, sometimes 4 times during the night... but 11-12 times?? REALLY?  You know what else is sad? I wash my hands after every bathroom run, and after a night of constant hand washing, my hands look like the desert. Crackly. Putting lotion on them seems pointless because I end up washing it off way too soon.

I'm trying to keep my complaints at a dull roar because objectively, I don't have that much to complain about. And wise folks tell me that this is how my body gets ready for nights of interrupted sleep when the baby is here. Which I don't doubt. But subjectively, I am turning into a crazy lady who is developing a neurosis about using the bathroom.

During the day, it is almost as annoying. I come back from the bathroom, get into working on something and then 15 minutes later, my chain of thought is completely interrupted because I have to use the bathroom again. It’s hard to focus, it’s hard to get things done. It makes me not want to drink water, even though I know I must. I feel like I am a prisoner of my body and it’s starting to really drive me NUTS. Last night, I cried into my pillow because I am physically and mentally so sick from this feeling of having to go to the bathroom, or being in anticipation of having to, all the time. It's kind of funny, except when you can't laugh about it because you are too busy peeing. I cried because I'm tired; I can’t relax, which is probably why it feels like torture.

And hey, while I’m at it: I’m tired of not being able to relax and lay on my back. I’m tired of not being able to cross my legs because I’m worried that it’s going to make the baby move head-up. I’m tired of worrying about Kegel exercises. I’m tired of not being able to lift or move heavy things. I’m tired of not being able to do a hard-core workout. I’m tired of not being able to fit into my normal clothes. I’m tired of worrying about post-labor recovery.

I know this time is temporary and fleeting, and I already feel like the due date is going to come very, maybe too, soon. But it’s just been one of those days/weeks and I'm self-medicating by venting. Thanks for the white space, blog spot.


Pictured above: 34 weeks, sans makeup, with my bare belly and giant hands

PRETTY THINGS

source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

 Miami Vice meets the Hamptons.

FRIENDS AND RVA

Here are some photos that I had forgotten about from a couple of weeks ago. There are more snippets of gatherings purposed for squeezing out more time with the Tobins, who sadly, have left RVA already. I can't believe its the second week of June now! So many things are happening so fast.

ALL THE DIFFERENT FACES

Being pregnant for the fist time is such a complex and awesome thing – what it does to your body, your brain, and your emotions – that I’m glad that I force myself to take time to try to write about it all on this blog. I’m already appreciating the ability to look back at the kind of perspective I had at the beginning of this process, and for those who care, thanks for riding along with me! 

With several months of pregnancy under my belt now, I’ve noticed that being pregnant has many sides to it – good, bad, highs and lows. It’s almost like I am different versions of myself as I run through the gamut of emotions and thoughts. They’re all me and they are all genuine, but they vary from day to day. So when people ask me how I’m doing, it’s usually one of these, or several of these at one time:


Facet A – cool, calm and collected. I got this. All of these months are so great for easing me into the process of getting bigger…and more pregnant. I’m so grateful any negative side effects or pains from this are minimal. Take your time baby, every day you’re baking in there is for a reason. God’s plan is perfect.

Facet B – whiny. I am so tired of using public bathrooms. They are gross, and I have to use them all the time. I feel huge. I am getting tired of this body. Sometimes my back and legs ache so much I can’t fall asleep. I want a giant cocktail and then I want to lay on my back in the sun. Wah.

Facet C – panicked. What the heck am I doing? Are we ready? I don’t know if I’m ready for the kind of life-long responsibility. Will I feel trapped? Will I resent her? Is my body going to recover from this?

Facet D – impatient and excited. These 8 months feel like they’ve been going on forever. Can it happen already? Come on I’m ready to meet you, baby, let’s do this! Hurry!

Facet E- lovey dovey. I’m so in love with K. and totally in love with how he loves the baby already. I can’t believe we are going to bring a person into this world together; it blows my mind.

Recently, I keep thinking and comparing my present situation to what it felt like to be standing on top of a four-story-high cliff in Curacao, about to jump into the waters below. I knew for sure that I wanted to do it, but I was nervous with anticipatory excitement because I had never jumped off something that high before. Those that went before me came back with tales – that was awesome! Heck yeah, that hurt. Oh shoot look at my bruise. Yeah, it’s kind of scary, but it’s worth it. When it was my turn, I had this crazy tingly feeling all over my body, which I’m guessing was adrenaline, and as soon I stepped off, the realization that I couldn’t go back was like a lightening bolt through my body. I remember the feeling of falling through the air and thinking, wow, this is taking a really long time, and the feeling of hitting the water, really hard (yes it did kind of hurt), and being submerged in the warm water.  When I surfaced, I could hear friends cheering and hollering and as I looked up the giant cliff, I was amazed. It felt great to have made such a great leap. Even with my nervousness, reservations and fear, I pushed myself because I knew I could do it and I knew it would make me feel alive, and I am so glad I did.