31 WEEKS

 


31 weeks is when it becomes a little more obvious that my gait is turning into a waddle, rather than a walk. I officially feel like I am carrying a watermelon around the front of my body, all the time. Try it, walking around with a big watermelon. You’ll find yourself doing a little waddle and sympathizing with a 31 week-pregnant lady - that’s what it feels like, except your arms don't get as tired. Strangers sometimes still call my bump, a little bump, and I have to refrain from looking at them like they are crazy because it looks massive from my point of view. Granted, the change is much more apparent when I am sans clothes, and believe you me, both k. and I stare at it wide-eyed, in mild disbelief at how big it’s getting. And there’s still 9 more weeks of growing to do!

I think I can tell that she’s getting stronger because her movements sometimes hurt now. It’s not just little jabs and kicks, it’s more like the feeling of being elbowed or rolled on. Her bones must be getting bigger? Probably due to the growing size, I feel more aches in my back, hips, and in the back of my legs. Enter, pre-natal yoga. Thank you Netflix and all your yoga videos (DVDs? what do you call them when they are on Netflix? movies?) I remember when I did pre-natal yoga at about week 20, I got really bored, but now I'm do grateful for it because it helps my joints breathe.

PRE-SUMMER NIGHTS

It is mighty fine to be able to spend warm days/nights in backyards of friends, especially when it means I get full on guacamole, strawberries and sparkling beverages.

NON-ALCOHOLIC COCKTAILS

Happy Friday, blog world! And to celebrate the end of achy weekdays, maybe everyone should have themselves a refreshing non-alcoholic cocktail.  I'm a girl who really appreciates a good drank-infused cocktail, but these recent months without them have me appreciating complex drinks for different reasons. That's why I loved hearing the guys over at The Table Set discuss the glory of a well-balanced, thoughtfully put-together and refreshing cocktail that doesn't involve alcohol. They put these recipes up on their show notes and the concoctions are so creative and interesting that I had to share them here.

30 weeks

 

 


 I am feeling a bit antsy these days. It’s not anxiety, it’s not nervousness, it’s not even wanderlust. YES I am envious of all the trips/adventures that people are on and taking. Both my sisters are doing fabulous trips in Europe, I have friends on or going on mission trips to Japan and Rwanda, friends that are going on vacation to the Cayman Islands, friends that are making a trip to Peru, and friends that are moving away to different states. And YES I would love to have a getaway vacation, even for a weekend.  I admit, I spent a good hour being silly and feeling sorry for myself about how we can’t take a vacation and how my life these days and life in the upcoming months is going to be on lockdown mode.  But that by itself isn’t really what’s tugging on my dangling heart strings. I know that if I wasn’t pregnant, my wanderlust would be kicking in super strong right now and threatening to take over sensibilities, but (funny how this works!) so far this pregnant has been keeping me feeling pretty satisfied with what I have going on right now. I actually expected more instability and more episodes of feeling like I want to run away from myself, but God is good and knows what I need, and it’s been pleasant having that peace for the past few months about my current situation.

That’s the thing, I DO have episodes of envy/what-if’s/what-am-i-doing-with-my-life/am-i-ready?/second-guessing, but they are tiny shots of boomerangs that ping out from time to time, wandering, wondering, about the unknown, only to snap back again to the reality that YES I am exactly where I need to be right now.  I think it’s because there is so much PURPOSE attached to this baby growing thing that I, as a purpose-seeking (obsessing) person, cannot help be refueled by the knowledge of what I am doing.  There is nothing more challenging, refining, redefining, fulfilling, affirming, or wrenching than what K. and I are about to do here.

But back to the antsy. We’re left with 10 weeks and smack in the middle of that 10 weeks we are moving. I am so excited for the new house and the new baby and the new life, but there is so much to do. It’s a feeling of wanting everything to GO SLOW but also happen RIGHT NOW, all at the same time. Thus, the antsy. It’s comparable to knowing that there is a huge tornado coming, but a tornado that I’m excited about(?)- we just have to get ready for it.   Working full-time during my last trimester, while packing and getting ready to move, furniture selling, furniture shopping, budgeting, shopping for daycares, shopping for nursery, taking baby prep classes, saying goodbye to dear friends, reading through materials I have to get ready for natural birth/breastfeeding, doctor’s appointments, more budgeting, cleaning, moving, settling in, and then, having the baby. All good stuff. But a lot of stuff.

I guess I’m just taking stock of everything right now. It’s a TAKE-A-DEEP-BREATH-AND-DIVE-IN kind of thing, and I’m feeling tingly….

INSTAGRAM PEEKS: A FRIDAY NIGHT IN

Last Friday was one of them days where it hit 10:30 AM at work, and I.WAS.DONE. A day like that requires naps, hugs, and another nap - none of which happened during the work day. But against all odds, I made it through, I got home, and not wanting to make dinner, I drove over to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods with Rusty as company. K. was off doing what he do, so I had a little date night with myself, and liked it.

Dinner: shrimp pesto pizza + tabouleh + cheese cubes

I made myself a fancy dessert while reading through a book about Egon Schiele.

This little number was inspired by one of the recipes from Joy the Baker. Instead of a milkshake though, I dressed up the fro-yo: tart frozen yogurt with rose water poured over it with coconut cookie crumbs and cardamom sprinkled on top. Success.

New friends from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods: Toasted coconut cookie thins (SO GOOD) + cardamom + non-fat plain frozen yogurt + rose water

While thinking about painting my nails, I decided to do a little painting on my phone instead.

Ta-da

and the ever faithful, ever fluffy, and ever neurotic Rusty kept me company all throughout <3

NURSERY IDEAS

I am having way too much fun thinking about how to decorate the nursery. This is coming far from someone who didn't even think she'd have a separate room for a nursery when she first got pregnant. I also didn't see the appeal of decorating a room for ...a baby. Because the baby can't appreciate it, right? But c'mon who am I kidding. It's for the people who are going to be spending the time in the room taking care of the baby. Namely, myself, and K. And let's face it, I love decorating rooms. Moving to a new house and thinking about furniture and decor is definitely letting me work out any nesting needs I may have. 

I've narrowed down what I want to two different mood boards. It's pretty similar as you can see, the biggest difference probably being the type of furniture. Also, the question of whether or not to paint the room will probably be determined by how early we can get in the house. But as of now, the two variations I've come up with:

Nursery idea 1: white or light brown furniture + grey walls + subtle pops of color

 

links (left to right): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

 Nursery idea 2: brownish grey-colored furniture + white walls + bold pops of color

 

links (left to right): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

MY MAMA

row 1: on her wedding day
row 2: with me as a baby
row 3: with my sisters 

Being pregnant on this Mother's Day, and thinking about how after this year I will forever be a mother, I am so grateful to my mom for the amazing example that she is and has been of what it means to be a great mother and a lovely lady.

She teaches me that being a mom means taking the time to listen and being willing to constantly learn about her children. I've learned from her that being a mom means being a woman who prays. Most importantly she has shown me that being a special kind of mom means being a good example to her daughters by being true and honest to herself, knowing her worth, and constantly in the pursuit of living life to the fullest.

Thank you, mom. I love you!

OH HAPPY FRIDAY

These are some shots from Urban Farmhouse, a lovely café that my co-worker and I walk to everyday. The walk to the café is one of the many little things that help the work week go by, and albeit slow like a snail, go by it did!

This weekend K. and I are taking the second of our two Bradley classes, and then afterwards we are driving down to Virginia Beach for a Mother’s Day dinner with K.'s family. Hip hip hoorah for mothers!  I hope everyone's weekends feel long and lasting. In the meanwhile, fun links from the interweb:

1. Sometimes I browse forever 21's website to see what's up and recently came across these great dresses with high-low hems: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and then a couple of maxis: 6, 7

2. Lovely leather chevron necklace.

3. Check out the beauty department's website for tutorials, ideas and tips. Right now I'm trying to perfect the side braid in a way that works for me, and I've been testing out this one.

4. I love things like this: 25 clever ideas to make life easier.

5. Homemade junk food. I'm in.

6. One of my favorite thing to do these days is look up popsicle recipes. Must get popsicle molds ASAP.

7. Carved book landscapes - beautiful.

8. Damien Rice does hauntingly beautiful so well.

9. What I listen to at work when I need a surge of energy.

10. I am going to try to find time to try this recipe this weekend. I've been wanting to try the tart frozen yogurt from Trader Joe's so why not try the yogurt but also get fancy with a cardamom rose water milkshake?

GOING FLORAL WITH ASOS SALON

How ga-ga-gorgeous are these dresses from ASOS SALON? I think these dresses would be one of the most simple, sophisticated, and stunning ways to wear floral this spring..

I'm also loving the hair and the subtle and simple accessories.

HOW TO CURE A LEMON CAKE CRAVING.

Yea...so this totally happened on Friday night.

I got it in my head that I wanted to eat a lemon cake, and then that's all I could think about for the rest of the day. I informed a couple of friends that we needed to make this happen, and then I came up with the easiest way to satisfy one's lemon cake craving:

1) Buy a box of yellow cake mix. If they have lemon cake mix, even better, but Kroger's did not oblige.  Make the mix according to directions, and then stir in the juice of 1 lemon plus the zest of 1 lemon. Bake cake.

2) Make a lemon frosting. Mix together 2.5 cups of powder sugar, 0.5-1 stick of butter at room temp., 1 tablespoon of milk, juice of 1 lemon, and the zest of 1 lemon. I say 0.5-1 stick because you should add extra if you want your frosting to be thicker. Mine turned out more like a glaze. Or try leaving out the milk entirely and see what happens.

3) After cake cools, top with the frosting, and enjoy while talking with friends about things like home design styles and color schemes.

4) Think about making a real lemon cake from scratch one day, and eat another piece of cake with fresh strawberries on top. MMM so good.

 

Thanks ladies! 

29 weeks

What being 29 weeks means is not being able to paint my own toenails. Also, it is getting difficult to bend over this bump to shave my legs. People, don't look too closely at a pregnant lady's bare legs.



Baby,

I am so glad you are a summer baby.
You are going to be getting a lot of watermelon while you're in there these next few months.

Your dad and I have a lot of fun talking about what you'll be like. He hopes you will play volleyball, I hope you will have a creative spirit. We both hope you will be wise and strong and brave.

I really hope you like us. I am excited to see what the three of us will be like together.
I have a feeling we will be good for each other.

Love,
Your mom