bouncing baby girl

now that i feel little addelyn moving in my belly, i like to try and imagine what she is doing, what body part of hers is colliding with mine. it seems that seconds after i feel a flutter below my ribs i feel another down between my hip bones. she is too small to feel a definite kick of the foot or push of the head, so i'm imagining her bouncing top to bottom, side to side, flipping and twirling herself along the way, and i can't help but smile. i sure hope she is having fun in there.

**this little face also makes me smile.**

(my nephew)
i heard that he started officially crawling this weekend.
i need to hurry over to see him before he gets too fast for this pregnant lady...

progress

mandy over at live.laugh.love is pregnant too! she has answered some fun questions about her pregnancy, here. i thought i would take a minute to answer a few myself...i hope she doesn't mind. :)



picture taken at 22 weeks

how far along? 22 wks

maternity clothes? i can still get by with a few regular tee shirts

stretch marks? nope

sleep? i am having quite a bit of discomfort in my hips, and laying on my side (as i have to) does not help me sleep. i have also been expriencing stints of very vivid dreaming.

best moment last week? waking early, and enjoying my quite reading time

movement? yes! over the past week movement has become more defined, stronger than the flutter i felt a few weeks ago. i still am not feeling her regularly, but it is definately more frequent.

symptoms? weight gain! it has now become uncomfortable to bend at my waist.

gender? girl. Addelyn Elizabeth

nursery? we finally decided on fabric and paint!

labor signs? no, and hopefully not for quite a while

belly button in/out? in. i am fearful of that particular transition.

what I miss? starbucks. having a beer on a patio. my old exercise routine.

looking forward to? 24 week sonogram, and officially starting the nursery

what the professionals are saying. (from http://www.babycenter.com/)
How your baby's growing:
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

great with child

so, it's true, when you become pregnant, once the initial congratulations subside, you are bombarded with 'horror' stories of other women's pregnancies, 'warning' you of the huge varicose veins you are to get, the nausea, the insomnia, and there are even tragic stories about a friend-of-a-friend's pregnancy that are 'shared' with you. In fact people, women in particular, seem to stop talking about the miracle of life quite soon after their initial reaction, to your pregnancy, and instead talk about the 'torture' that is pregnancy. maybe mother's do this as a way of reminding themselves, and others, of their own strength, of the struggles and sacrifices they overcame to create life, maybe it makes them feel proud, and maybe i will catch myself doing the same thing one day, but i hope that if i do i'll remind myself of the way i felt in those first few months, as my body, life and hormones were uncontrollable, and how all those stories just added to my worry. i hope i choose to share stories of hope.
upon recommendation from joanna goddard, here, i recently finished reading great with child; letters to a young mother by beth ann fennelly. what a beautiful book.
this book is made of letters from a young mother to a mother-to-be. they are letters of reassurance, hope, humor, and love. it is, in my opinion, a wonderful read for any young mother or mother-to-be.

"we should have see-through belly buttons, a little lighted window into the warm oven where we bake that sweet roll so high and firm." - beth ann fennelly

oh, pinterest

pinterest, what a concept. i, along with many, have become slightly addicted to browsing pinterest. the inspiration bulletin board, i created years ago, has been technologically replaced by the endless display of 'pins'. (although, if i'm being completely honest, my inspiration board still houses magazine clippings i tacked on months and months ago...updating was never done on a regular basis).
this christmas i browsed my 'gift of giving' board on pinterest for ideas, and decided on attempting to recreate the following few.

these wine cork monograms were created for the wine drinkers of our fam:

inspiration found here

i also whipped up a lemon kitchen hand scrub and lavender bath salts for a few of my favorite women.

inspired by

overall, i'm pretty happy with my first pinterest projects.

happy pinning,
c

a new year

this year i resolve to enjoy the little things. i know that inevitably this year will bring changes that will profoundly change my life, however i hope to remind myself to appreciate the seemingly small daily occurrences which too will never happen again.
there is no single moment like another.



happy new year to all.
with love,
baby and me