6 Month Pic - I Need To Sleep

This is my week 24 pose. For some reason, I look a lot smaller in the picture. Our boy is growing big, very fast. And he doesn't sit still. There are lots of karate chops, long elbow scrapes and bladder stomps. As of now, I consider him either a kung fu fighter or a hockey player. No one ever thinks of ninjas as babies. But, they were once... and I think I'm growing one.

Sleep eludes me. Aside from nausea and heartburn, my famous leg nerve and muscle twitches are back whenever I lay down. This first appeared in my previous pregnancy. If I stand up, no problems. If I lay down, pain, twitches, spasms and kicks. All mine. I sleep 3-4 hours a night. (Which is still better than the 1-2 hours every other night in my last pregnancy.) After losing so much sleep, you start to lose your marbles too.

The first time around, I remember "inventing" a sling-type contraption that hung from the ceiling and fit around my underarms to hold me in the standing position so I could sleep without spasms. I just didn't know what to do with my floppy neck, so the idea was left in my imagination. I should have invented this thing between my pregnancies - while I had my right mind. If I could physically kick my own hiney right now, I would.

Currently, I'm trying to come up with a way to sleep in the tub. With water. It keeps the weight off of my nerves and I don't experience spasms. Problem is, I get a huge kink in my neck after 10 minutes. I've looked for an giant inflatable bath pillow wedge, but I don't think anyone's invented it yet. I told my husband about wanting to sleep in the tub and he replied, "I have. Twice. Once, I woke up naked and cold in an empty tub." What?! Think those were his college days? Nope, he was 5. Just when you think you know a guy, you hear about his tub napping days...

If any of this is wandering or unclear, so sorry, but I'm sleep deprived. The horizon is in sight and baby is healthy. Enough said :)

A Birthday Dress Or Two

For my birthday, my husband ordered the japanese sewing book that I've been dreaming about. Isn't he the best?! Here are some highlights:

Tunics, pants, purses...

dresses...

scarves and skirts. This book has it all - except english. I'm hoping that the step-by-step photos speak the international language of "you can really do this."

The rest of my dear family gave me fabric store gift cards. Yay! I have been aching to sew. There are plenty of items in my queue, but without a doubt, some of these dresses now top the list. I'm trying to get prepared for the next whole hour that I feel well, so I can make it to the fabric store.

Thanks to all my loved ones for a very happy birthday :)

True Blue

(photo courtesy of flickr.com)

We are happy to announce that we are expecting a baby boy! There's a high probability that he'll be a fisherman like his papa.

Pregnancy diet update: Raisin Bran tops the menu for now. Also, I can't seem to eat/drink enough dairy products. Milk, milkshakes, cottage cheese, milk... you get the idea.

A boy. Oh boy. It's still sinking in. It will be interesting to see if he likes milkshakes as much as his mommy does :)

18 Weeks

Here's the latest belly pic. If you look closely enough, you may notice that my belly button has started to poke out. I'm not even half way through yet!

Being pretty much housebound, I'm going through serious thrifting and crafting withdrawals. Yesterday, I couldn't take it anymore. Since Charlotte was with her grandma for the morning, I jumped in the car and drove to the nearest thrift store (5 minutes away). While I felt sick driving and walking, it was momentarily forgotten about when I spied this miniature blue guitar for C.
(That's a 12 inch ruler next to it.) Charlotte likes her papa to play his guitar. She sits and strums whenever he puts it down. So, when I saw this mini blue version - I snapped it up for $3.00. When she woke up this morning, the first thing she said was, "Mine guitar!"

If baby #2 turns out to be a drummer, we may have the makings of our own Partridge Family band. Sans the patchwork bus.

Two Views

This is my view for about 90% of the day. Isn't it lovely? I mean it. While I am sick, my husband has not only been taking care of all the household and child duties while working full time, but he just painted our bedroom a soft shade of robin's egg blue. After 4 years of white walls, my dear H asked, "Do you want me to paint the bedroom?" (Incredibly, he has amnesia about the 387 times I've brought it up.) "Sure, that would nice" was my response. Done and done!

Here's a belly pic. I'm 3 1/2 months along. Yes, I cropped out my face again because my hair isn't combed, no makeup and I'm not smiling. Told you I'm a grumpy pregnant lady. Although, it's hard to be grumpy in my new blue bedroom :)

Baby Update - 12 Weeks

Hello, and yes, I'm still here. I've been sick and decided to not give you a play-by-play of how things are going. I've been very unproductive and so I have nothing to post in the way of craftiness, recipes, etc. My menu lately has consisted of Cinnamon Life cereal three times a day and mango-flavored coconut water - to stay hydrated. This is not a diet I recommend, if you can help it.

Baby is 12 weeks now and growing strong. Of course, Baby is also big for this stage of development. My husband and I are not surprised because we just grow gi-nor-mous babies. (Our first baby was 9 lbs 11 oz despite my not being able to eat any food for nearly the first half of my pregnancy.) We are both 5'5" or less in height. But our 2 1/2 year old daughter wears a 4t. I'll probably be wearing her hand-me-downs before long.

The ultrasound tech was kind enough to give us a 3D pic of the baby "just for fun". Wow!
Bad news: I feel like I've been pregnant for 9 years. Good news: Baby is healthy!

Cravings

Seven KFC biscuits in two days. Yup, I'm pregnant. And at least I'm able to eat something.

Thank you for all the kind thoughts and well wishes. Thank you.

Baby #2

Yes, we are excited to announce that we are expecting baby #2! At only 8 weeks, I know it's early to share. But, I've been absent from this here little blog and now you know why.

The photo looks a little "blob-y" but the head is to the right. We did see the already-formed arms, hands, legs and feet. Due date: December 9th.

After having hyperemesis gravidarum for the duration of my first pregnancy, we were positive that Charlotte would be an only child. Then we changed our minds. The desire for another baby just outweighed our fears of possibly having HG again.

Hyperemesis includes paralyzing nausea (my saint of a husband slept on the floor for 7 months) and severe vomiting for the entire pregnancy. This is waaay more than morning sickness. I was also unable to eat for the first 4 months of my pregnancy. Somehow, I, and the baby, survived on a few Ensure supplement drinks and Gatorade. Any food that I tried to consume would be immediately purged. Hyperemesis can also bring sleeplessness, depression, dehydration (warranting IV therapy), double vision (no tv or books!) and despair. The only relief comes when you give birth. I never suffered any post-partum depression because I was so darn happy not to be pregnant anymore!

It's a rough road and yes, I've been really sick. I'm a very happy mommy, but an unhappy pregnant lady.

Any prayers and positive wishes that you send our way are greatly appreciated. We are truly happy to be expanding our family!

Grandpa Makes Pop-Ups

Charlotte's artistic Grandpa made her this Wizard of Oz pop-up card. C loves pop-ups. Despite being opened and closed numerous times and being poked with little fingers, this one is holding up nicely.

You see, Grandpa docents at an art gallery. They recently held a Dr. Seuss exhibit and welcomed the pop-up creator of "Horton Hears A Who Pop-Up!" - David Carter. Our girl even received an autographed copy...

Thank you, Grandpa. Here's a peek at the inside of this incredible book...

If you're not familiar with "Horton Hears A Who" by Dr. Seuss, I highly recommend this tender-hearted story. Even at 2, she seems to understand the message, "A person's a person, no matter how small."

The Seuss exhibit spurned Grandpa's interest in homemade pop-ups and more shared craft time with our girl. I believe C made this Noah's Ark pop-up with the grandparents...

If you're interested in making your own, here's a link. It's a great project for all ages. It seems that once you get the hang of it, you can easily branch out with your own designs.

Triple Thanks

A couple of months ago, I was reading Cider and Faun when I stumbled across an offering. Andrea was giving away some tea she could no longer drink. I dropped my name in the bucket because my husband is addicted to Candy Cane Lane by Celestial Seasonings. She recently sent me a box of Candy Cane Lane and a huge bag of Mighty Leaf loose tea plus some postcards and a bookmark of her art. Her delightful etsy shop is located here. Thank you, Andrea!

Another special thank you to the Jane Austen fan writemeg for featuring one of my Pride and Prejudice bracelets on her blog here. You can also check out her etsy shop here. She crochets ipod covers, scarves and more!

And finally, thanks to Deusprovidebit for including my vintage orange napkins from acornpudding in their Impromptu Tea post.

It's a joy to connect with other tea-drinking Jane Austen fans. Thanks everyone!