Sunday 20 June 2010

30 weeks


Not much of a posting for this week, I'm sorry to say. All I have to offer is this picture of my new belly button, or rather, lack of one. Crazy weird, huh?

And suddenly everyone started responding with the almost here! line instead of oh, you've got time! when I told them my due date. Time is flying.

foods. empanadas...oreos...



29 weeks

I am behind on posting these.
The shot above was taken a few weeks after finding out I was pregnant. I bought the dress, stuffed a pillow down it, and tried to imagine what I'd look like at this point (then I stood on a stepstool because no, I am not that tall).

Now here I am in my 29th week. 


















 Whatcha think? Was I way off base? Although truthfully, I think when I took that picture seven months ago I never really thought we'd be here. This is all going by much too fast.

My favorite pregnancy-related thing that happened this week was between Steve and I. This was the week I really started thinking about labor and birthing. I have no earthly idea what to expect and have been trying to read about relaxation and visualization techniques to draw upon--somewhere I heard that holding ice cubes in your closed hands and focusing on your breathing is good preparation. I wanted to try it and right away Steve was all enthusiastically, "I'll do it with you!"

And the second my husband put the cubes in his hands his face fell and he quietly, decidedly-not-so-enthusiastically said,  
"This is going to be really difficult."
I could not stop laughing. I say it all the time but he really does it for me. Never a dull moment.

*****
oh yeah, favorite foods I fed the bunny this week:
blueberry granita with whipped cream
tomatoes stuffed with rice
panzanella bread salad
ham + cheese bagel sammiches, yum
the lightest and crispiest waffles ever (the first recipe)

Father's Day

He doesn't think he's worthy of the Happy Father's Day words because our permanent houseguest isn't here yet, but who else but a Dad would run out and buy a blender the day those lines showed up on the pee stick so he could make the mother of his future child super healthy protein shakes? Who else but a Dad would patiently allow a crazy pregnant woman's ranting 2 am phone call at his place of work when the toilet is overflowing and she is having a meltdown which would rival that of any toddler? Who else but a Dad would spend his days off stripping and priming and painting his babe's crib and room walls just to make its environment a little more cheery?  Who else but a Dad would go with his wife to a breastfeeding class and bravely endure blush-inducing questions directed at him and only him: does it hurt when your nipples are pulled on? (I am dead serious, that happened.)

My man. I gave him an extra big hug before he left for work tonight.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

St. John in our eyes.


Everyone has a different idea of what paradise is. For some, it means putting a raft into the bath-like water and floating around while immersed in a book. For others, toting a cooler and sitting in the water, drinking your beverage of choice. Or kayaking from beach to beach and snorkeling at each one. Or a Mama snorkeling while Dad and toddler beachcomb on the shore.

This was ours. We would sit in the shallow water, talk and joke, play rock paper scissors to see who would get the snorkel gear, then head out for a few minutes to what felt like our own aquarium. Sometimes Steve would grab my hand and we would point and gesture at what we were seeing in our own sign language. Or we'd hold hands and float, letting the current take us wherever. Beach in the morning, assemble a picnic lunch at Deli Grotto, and take it to go sitting on another glorious beach in the afternoon. We were getting 8-10 hours of sleep a night. Our bodies must have been in shock. At home a great night is six hours, less for Steve whose body clock is chronically confused from working nights, then switching to days to spend time with his wife.

It was a departure from our usual trips. We didn't hike. We didn't kayak. We didn't leave the island but once which admittedly we regretted doing. And while in some ways we were thinking ahead of the months to come and what trips would be like in the future with babes in tow, for the most part we were enjoying the now.

~the first time we turned the corner and saw Maho Bay. Pull over!
~watching the rainstorm come in at Jumbie Bay, going swimming in the pouring rain, then running back up the path, soaked.
~seeing the moon from our shower's skylight every night.
~our cozy little table at the window in the back room at Sweet Plantains.
~Me driving on the left side of the road.
~Favorite foods there: conch fritters and sweet plantains at Miss Lucy's, the foie gras on toasted brioche with caramelized pears at Waterfront Bistro, all my virgin drinks but especially the guava one at Rhumb Lines, the baked goods at Deli Grotto.
~Rabbit the Goat at Miss Lucy's.
~Sputtering on fumes as we rolled into town one day and barely made it to the lone gas station on the island.
~Watching Steve discover the magic of painkillers.
~Our favorite beaches which will forevermore be on a pedestal for us: Jumbie Bay (thank you Taos couple for the recommendation), Maho Bay, Francis Bay (you want to be skinny like Francis?) and Trunk Bay.
~Two words: tan lines.
~The first time Steve turned left in this left-driving world.
~Feeding the burro an apple.
~Snorkeling together, husband telling me he didn't like snorkeling without me 'cause he knew I always had his back.
~Steve's little song that he would repeat over and over again like a 5 year-old the rest of the trip...we saw three beaches...
~Our squid friends, going back for the brain coral picture, going back for the manta ray picture, and Steve diving down towards the porcupine fish.

28 weeks

In my 28th week of pregnancy I turned 31. I'm a year younger than my nonna was before she had Marmousch. And then she went on to have four more, so I think I'm doing just fine. Still don't feel a day over 18.

This was the first week of my third trimester, and I'm officially in shit-or-get-off-the-pot mode. As in, I want things done now. As in I'm driving my very patient husband crazy. The ceiling fan? I want it installed. I want these shelves removed. I want to rearrange furniture in the baby's room again. Poor pook. Poor everyone. Lamb has started to joke that I'm running a sweatshop with Marmousch as my lone employee to get knitting and sewing projects done and she's only half kidding. There is a huge push to get things done and ready. I guess this is nesting.

But by far the greatest thing from this week was the sudden shift I felt in bunny's movements. Not so quick and jerky anymore, they've become more slow and deliberate with lots of...stretching, it feels like. Starting Wednesday there was a hand just hanging out near my belly button (or where it used to be, anyway). I could feel it right below the skin. I was going up to people at work saying come feel the hand that's in my belly! I mean here I am, playing pat-a-cake with my kidley, pushing on this hand as if it's my own personal stress ball. And getting pushed back!
How amazing is this?

The food I fed.
***********
fried zucchini blossoms
octopus salad
arancini di riso
roast chicken with dates and farro
strawberry and vanilla birthday cake
and that was just my birthday dinner... Thank you Marmousch (+ Steve for cake)
chocolate-and-cheesecake birthday cake (thank you co-workers)
California and crab rolls (thank you Kat and Tim for celebrating with us)

Tuesday 8 June 2010

27 weeks

Summertime and the living is easy. That's what it feels like on vacation. I could be wrong, but I don't think the scenery's going to get any better on these bumpity bump shots than it did in my 27th week. While in St. John we took babyweibe snorkeling and while gaping at fishies with husband I wondered if this was what the little's daily soundtrack was like: hearing its mama's steady breathing the way you do when underwater with the mask apparatus on.

The summer I was 17, my sister and I were sun worshipping at San Giovanni in Italy when we spotted a very pregnant woman in a bikini. Lamb muttered eww while silently I thought it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. Fast forward to now. At any rate, I look decidedly far less goddesslike than she did, but I'm proud of this biscuit and ensuing bump so wore my bikini with head held high.

This pregnancy keeps getting better and better. We were in a jewelry store with staff milling around celebrating their co-worker's birthday, and I was asked if my baby would like some cake. Lady, I have no idea if this kid wants some but I sure do! Of course I said yes. Cake offerings by complete strangers? This is the coolest.



Yummy treats this week:
a Ritaccino
rice krispy treats
Thai iced tea
sweetbreads
roasted strawberry and rhubarb shortcake with vanilla cream
pork belly
the best pizza I've found so far in Florida
pumpkin bread
flatbread with pulled pork, figs, confit onions, and blue cheese from here
meyer lemon cheesecake (finally my cheesecake craving fulfilled!)

Saturday 5 June 2010

A little late to the game but here's {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.

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Surprise weekend

Us in Cancun, Mexico; 1990ish?

I hadn't seen Lamb since the Gate River Run and on Saturday she turned up hiding under a blanket in Marmousch's car, surprising me for my upcoming birthday. And so began a weekend spent with my favorite people...
Best-yet prenatal massage. Dinner at one restaurant, dessert at another. Squeezing hands during the Our Father in church. Painted toenails. Self-timer pictures. Nutella birthday cake. New maternity clothes. Baby's first taste of seadas. Picnicking on Memorial Day. Walking on the beach.