Tuesday 27 April 2010

22 weeks

Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.

Pictures taken and writing written last week, honest. But I'm just now getting around to pressing 'publish.'

Still here, getting bigger every day. Getting more and more comments and opinions every day. Pregnancy is full of such interesting jargon--due, expecting, showing...and pop. You've popped! 

Running has suddenly gotten more difficult this week. That awesome (and necessary) rhythmic component of running is having a rough time keeping up with all these changes. Some days I get out there and my stomach feels like a lead ball not wanting to join in with the rest of my body. And some days are better than others. I wonder how this will pan out? Still, regardless of the quality of my runs it always feels wonderful afterwards to at least have done something.

We are chipping away at our to-do list. And I'm coming dangerously close to knowing our credit card number by heart from all the online ordering going on. The last time that kind of memorization happened, a wedding occurred shortly thereafter which--while beautiful--became a little bigger than the both of us. Steve tries his best to reign me in, and it usually goes something like this:

Tania: Oooh, a package! I wonder who it's from? One of our friends must have sent us a gift!
Steve (insert exasperated tone): Yes. Our friends the Gilt Groupe sent it.
Tania: Oh wow, we're so lucky to have such great friends! That's so sweet of Gilty! I love her. 
Steve: Did we really need this? How much did this cost? Let me see the packing slip.
And I'm running away at this point, or doing a little dance to put a smile on the guy's face. It doesn't take much. Nowadays it seems like he's constantly looking at me as though seeing me for the first time.

 You love being pregnant, don't you? he'll say.
And I honestly do.

***
Foods that gave me a thrill this week:
beets (?!)
bagel with cream cheese and pepper jam
rhubarb-and-strawberry anything really, but mostly cake and yogurt
frosted flakes with whole milk
vanilla milkshake
goat cheese cheesecake (never actually got to have that, am still dreaming about it in the middle of week 23)
***


Thursday 22 April 2010

Happy Earth Day

Some things I'm proud of that we do now:
  • Finally ending my hunt for the perfect reusable grocery bag. Not having enough hands to lug a bunch into the house (and being too impatient to make multiple trips) I went with one huge one and so far love it. It lives in our car so I (usually) don't forget it.
  • Our lil' container herb garden, thanks to Marmousch (best Easter present ever). It's awesome to be able to go in your backyard and pick fresh basil for the homemade pizza you're making.
  • Our reusable cloth napkins. I bought a pack of forty at Love for Earth. They are wonderfully soft and have made me forget all about the darned disposable paper towels that we used to run out of so fast.
  • And even though it's not solely for environmental reasons, I'm proud that we've survived over six months in Florida with one car between us. I didn't think that was possible to do in this land of no public transportation. But we've grinned and beared it, done it and are doing it. 

Things I want to be able to be doing by Earth Day 2011:
  • Composting
  • Using cloth diapers on the little. Everyone tells me I'm crazy (including those in my life who will actually be helping with diapering)...and I have no idea how to wrap my head around the from where's or how many's. But would love to try. 
  • A dishwasher (conserves more water than washing by hand) would be nice. Better than nice. But that's not going to happen until we move to different digs. One can hope, right?

Wednesday 21 April 2010

Dear Sky,

If you could please make it safe for my parents as they board their flight from Rome to Atlanta in order to get back home tonight? You know--good visibility, no turbulence, no volcanic ash, and all that.

Thanks.

Your fan,
Tania

Tuesday 20 April 2010

My favorite toy so far.

I'll admit I've already bought a few toys and softies here and there. (I may have even bought two sets of equally  gorgeous crayons--crayons! As if the kid's coming out of the womb ready for some outside-the-lines coloring.) Anything for the peanut, right? But my favorite toys are the old-fashioned wooden ones. And a push toy? All the better.


This is my favorite favorite, made by Pop's Wooden Toys. Sure, I could wait to post a picture of our little nanner toddling along pushing it in a years' time, but right now we're having so much fun terrorizing our beasties with it that I couldn't help myself.

Monday 19 April 2010

21 weeks

Me in my yoga pants, since this was the week I took my first prenatal yoga class.

Another week, flown by. This is all going way too fast. Sure, there's the ick moments (heartburn and tension headaches) but they're far outweighed by all the fabulosity that abounds with being pregnant (people feed you, friends loan you clothes, jeez I sound like a charity case don't I?). But the greatest thing week 21 brought me were without a doubt the kicks. FINALLY! Those kicks that I've been waiting for, those unmistakable pangs that shout, I AM HERE AND HERE TO STAY!

I love those kicks.

These ones are infinitely better than the early stuff, the 17- and 18-week itty-bitty bubblings that made me wonder if I was just imagining the entire thing. You'll just know, people would say. You'll feel a flutter and will know that's it. I was so excited. I decided that wherever I was when I felt that first ka-boom I would let everyone know, be it at work, in line at the post office, whatever. But that moment never came. It took a series of what the...? and is that....? which led to I guess this is...


But now it's like a whole different world in there. So thank you, biscuit, for taking the guesswork away. It's all very sci-fi and wonderful and weird that it's actually happening to me. Steve's even felt, twice now, both times what I think are sweet sweet hiccups. I grabbed his hand and put it on my belly and we could both see my stretched skin jumping every few seconds. We just sat there, enthralled. This kind of entertainment blows our netflix subscription out of the water.

This week Steve discovered the power of the pregnancy card. We were on the wait list at our local breakfast joint when I got the sudden urge to puke my brains out; while I was searching for some discreet vegetation across the street (thankfully didn't end up needing them), Steve went inside and asked for a few saltine crackers for his nauseated and knocked-up wife. And within thirty seconds he had a bowl of saltines and hot-from-the-oven cranberry muffins and the promise that we had been moved up the list to be seated next. Ah yes, the pregnancy card. Good stuff.


I am still eating clear through the state of Florida. These days I sometimes don't even bother to close my mouth while I'm eating so as to inhale more food. The shamelessness is at an all-time high.

Foods I went nuts over this week:
peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich
whipped tofu and seaweed salad with tamari sauce drizzled on top
Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches
white chocolate bread with peanut butter on top
muffaletta sandwich
roasted rhubarb
orange creamsicle slurpee
rhubarb, banana, and oj smoothie

I can't believe that in less than four months a baby will be here and I'll get to keep it and play with it and hold it and...everything!

Friday 16 April 2010

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. -SouleMama



Thursday 15 April 2010

Hope you had a happy tax day.

Looking forward to next year.

p.s. Marmousch saved this tee, mine as a baby. Isn't that sweet?

Wednesday 14 April 2010

My Baby Poon's Little Hat

No, we're not naming our baby Poon...I just like to say that word. I have a Pook in my life and right now, a Poon.

 Here is one of the Poon's first gifts...and isn't he or she lucky? When my dear friend Kat gave this to me my heart started hurting. For she made this. She took time out of her hectic life with a 5-year old and full-time job to crochet this beautiful hat for, at the time, something that was approximately the size of a kidney bean. 

Isn't Poon lucky to have such an auntie in his or her life? 

And guess who's happy that soon they can stop modeling all these baby things?





Tuesday 13 April 2010

4 things to be excited about



eating roasted rhubarb tonight {photo}
the series premiere of 9 by Design (Steve got me their book for Christmas last year, and it's awesome.)
the new season of Glee!
yoga in a few hours {photo by sunsinger}

Sunday 11 April 2010

20 weeks

Twenty weeks. Halfway, everyone says. Another milestone.

Let's see. This has been a fun week. I think we're hitting our groove. It's wonderful to live in Florida right now and we've been taking advantage of the glorious weather by hopping on our bikes and going to the beach, enjoying the sun (while I babble out loud from my books), then stopping off for food on the way home. Last week it was pizza and stromboli, this morning eggs benny and pancakes.

Anxieties and emotions are being dealt with in a better way, the silly why do we need to buy a rug since the baby can't walk anytime soon argument has been forgiven (Daddy didn't really mean that, baby bear). Yesterday Steve looked at me while I was lying awake in bed and said, "You have no idea how happy this all makes me." Pure joy at that memory, forever and ever. It's really happening. When I'm shopping at Publix or walking through the halls at work I see the eyes darting almost immediately to my stomach. Am I still in the is she or isn't she phase? One of my patients practically jumped out of bed in an effort to grab the bump. I should mention he was an old man, confused like nobody's business. How can something be so sweet and creepy at the same time? Pregnancy seems to elicit all sorts of reactions.

The stripping, sanding, and painting of my crib--Marmousch had saved it all these years-- has begun. Steve has a lot of work ahead of him, but when finished I'm sure it will be something to be proud of. We joke that we'll start a tab for the kiddo for all the hours logged into it. Bill it to baby :)

Foods I got excited over this past week:
nutella (Steve's hiding it as we speak. I had to draw the line.)
donut holes
spring rolls
ham and swiss cheese on a toasted bagel
Indian food: saag paneer and warm naan
grapefruit halves with sugar sprinkled atop
pancakes from The Lemon Tree

a bit from last week's letter:...I wonder which toy or blanket you'll be inseparable with. You know, the one that goes everywhere with you? What kind of theme will you request for your 4th birthday party? What weird foods am I going to be successful at getting you to like? What nutty things are you going to say that we'll be repeating for years to come?
Can't hardly wait.

Thursday 8 April 2010

me + my bike

The weather here has been too beautiful to not go outside, so the other day I suggested a bike ride to Steve. So let's do the bridge, he says. But. I have a canary-yellow beach cruiser. It's made for flat surfaces, see. Boardwalks, ice cream cone in hand, leisurely riding. This is no mountain bike. And certainly not suitable for the 17th street bridge with nothing but a dinky shoulder separating me from the careening traffic.

But my dear husband made this sneering snorting noise as if to say, of course you can get yourself and that bike over the bridge. And next thing I know, I'm pumping my legs a mile a minute and reaching the top. Big ridiculous smile on my face like a prize idiot.

So thanks Pook, for without you I probably wouldn't have done that (as silly as that sounds). Bicycle (and I) could totally handle it. Looking forward to lots of beach days via my ray of sunshine this spring and summer.

photo credit: Brian Auer

Our Easter

Has it honest to goodness been four full days without posting our lovely Easter portrait? I use the term portrait loosely. Steve worked the entire Easter weekend, which meant that while I was out picnicking with family and friends, he was doing this:









He's going to be thrilled about that shot.


So here we are, seconds before scooting out the door to take my better half to work (isn't he cute in his scrubs?). Me stuffed to the brim with marmalade cake, deviled eggs, rhubarb and strawberry pie, saffron pasta salad, and grilled salmon; his poor belly probably empty but armed with leftovers to get him through the night.











Friday 2 April 2010

Happy Easter Weekend!

I love this holiday. It's the most important one in our faith, and this year feels all the more magical.

Thursday 1 April 2010

Strawbrunes

Happy birthday my baby Strawbrunes! Last night at midnight I picked him up and sang Happy Birthday to him while sitting on the edge of his beloved tub, and tonight we'll sing it again as he eats his strawberries. Yes, the boy loves strawberries. It is one of the most adorable things Steve and I have ever seen.

Easter making

Before the food making comes the prettiness. Little snippets around our little home: