And Brie is getting LAAARRGERRRR

Ok, time for the requisite post containing belly shots.

I will take one on (or about) the 18th of each month, and I started with my second month shot.  I'll do the classic wear-the-same-clothes-in-the-same-spot shot to make the comparisons easy, and do my best to remember to post it the next day so you guys can stay updated in real time!

Enjoy!

2 months along, and still easy to hide

For some reason I totally popped in the third month!  Much harder to hide...

Out and proud in the fourth month!

Knittin' it up

Knitting is my newest obsession.  Truly.  I knit at least a couple of hours a day, and I have been loving every meditative, quiet, productive minute of it.

It started a couple of years ago when a client of mine expressed an interest in learning, and since I had always thought it would be a fun skill to master, I decided that we would learn together.  I learned the basic stitches, made one terrible slipper, and let it go when she did.

Just look sad and say, "D'oh."

Fast forward a year and I was out of house craft projects, but not out of crafty energy.  So, I decided it would be fun to pick up again and actually pushed myself to complete a blanket.  The amount of satisfaction I got from actually finishing it got me hooked in a major way!  The process is so soothing too, the low click of the needles, the swish of the yarn, the soft feel of the fibers, it's awesome.  I highly recommend it to anyone that needs some stress relief or an easy way to pass time in waiting rooms.

Right now I am working on three projects at once, a twin brother to the first blanket (because I remember having a beloved knit blanket as a young child and hating the hour it was in the wash, so maybe my kid will like having a back up), a teal knit pouf for the nursery (ever priced one of those? At least $100!  Craziness!), and a baby hat (since I like to mix in small projects to get the rush of completion in the midst of these weeks -long big ones).

The twin brother to the first blanket

I think I am the most proud of the little toys I have made, which you have seen if you follow me on Instagram.  They are:

This project was my first attempt at knitting in the round, this little guy was my second attempt

These two, along with a skunk and bear (already done) and a bunny (I'll get to it someday) will be made into a mobile for the Bun, if I can figure out how to do that...

An oversized owl I made for Lark, which she loved, thank goodness!

A sheep made according to the pattern but with totally different gauges of yarn and needles, so what was supposed to be a huge pillow came out a teddy bear size.  Oh well, at least I had fun with all the bobbles!

A rattle that was my second attempt at knitting in the round.  I have big plans to try it again in a more traditional red with white dots pattern, but haven't quite gotten to that yet

So that, along with multiple gifts for other mommies-to-be has been my summer vacation.  I'll keep you updated as I churn out more of these things in anxious anticipation of the Bun, but for now, I'll just keep knitting, just keep knitting...

Really starting to feel it now

I was going to hold off on this post until tomorrow, but since things have stepped up a notch, I figure today is the day!

This little Bun is a mover and a shaker.  Before today it didn't really seem to be a kicker though.  It all started on Monday, August 5 with three little taps on the left side of my belly while at a stoplight on my way to work.  At first (like so many other moms) I thought it was a digestive thing, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a) I never felt anything like that before and b) it was in a place were there is only uterus.  I got tentatively excited, but decided to hold off on certainty until my next doctor's appointment, which was the next day.  When the midwife found the heartbeat, she showed me the Bun's orientation, and sure enough, the feet were right were I felt the taps!  Yay!

Since then I have felt mostly rolls and turns, which felt a little like the sinking feeling you get when you drop too fast, or like knuckles lightly moving under your skin.  I noticed the first clear kick on my birthday when I was searching for a spot for lunch, said out loud "how about Mexican?" and felt a tiny pop right below my belly button.  I figured that was the Bun's way of saying, "yay, tacos!!"  During lunch it moved a whole heck of a lot, bringing to mind a little version of the Mexican Hat Dance we were all forced to do in elementary school.  Perhaps it was the Bun's way of letting me know I made a good choice :-).  On the way to Atlanta over the weekend a song with particularly strong bass came on and it moved in such a way that I swear it was rocking out.  Gotta love a little one with an appreciation for good music.

One not so awesome discovery was on the 6 hour car ride back from Atlanta.  At first, I was worried that I hadn't felt anything in a while, but happened to notice that my need for a rest stop alternated between "eh, I can wait" to "stop NOW" in 1-2 minute increments.  Quite inconvenient for a road trip.  After a few minutes, I began to realize that the reason I hadn't been feeling anything to the front is that the Bun had started kicking towards the back, and decided that my bladder was a particularly fun spot.  Too soon, Bun, too soon!

Today, the kicks started in earnest.  Before today there was always a little doubt in the back of my mind that I was actually feeling movement.  Perhaps it was a combination of wishful thinking and GI activity, I thought tentatively.  Well, no more.  I think this Bun likes to hear a lot of voices because it has become very active during my therapy sessions.  Clear pops in the belly that tell me it is getting much stronger.  It's also getting active for longer periods, so I get to be mindful of this little miracle that goes through my day with me.  I do my best to describe it to Jeremy, but I know there's nothing like feeling it for yourself.  I can't wait for the day when its little legs get strong enough to make themselves known to the outside world, hopefully in a just a few short weeks!

For now I will savor them all for myself, and do my best to crank good tunes with lots of bass for the Bun.

Milhouse or Lisa?

What will it be?  Either way I know it has a decent chance of being a bit of a nerd, given the history of both Jeremy and I, which I love!

I was considering doing one of those super fun, Pinterest-y gender reveal parties, complete with a giant cardboard box of pink or blue balloons and themed snacks since I am addicted to throwing parties.  However, Jeremy simply can't wait that long to hear the news and is excited to find out at the next appointment, straight from the sonographer.  As a compromise I am organizing a small pool/raffle at work and exercised my crafting skills by adapting some of the cuter ideas on Pinterest.  As symbols of each gender I settled on bowtie for a boy and hair barrette for a girl since I think I would actually dress my future child in those, as opposed to the guns/glitter or mustache/lips themes that seem to be most popular right now.  I was trying to figure out the best way to make a teeny bowtie that actually looked like one instead of a regular hair bow when I got lucky and found some mini ones that are meant to jazz up wine bottles at World Market.  Score!  So now the materials are up in the office, and will be for the next week to give everyone a chance to weigh in before the big reveal on August 27.  I will wear either a mini tie or big flowery hair barrette on my lapel to reveal the news.  This way I can have my crafty fun and Jeremy can know right away.  Compromise!

Feel free to weigh in on the comments, although the raffle is limited to the Family Solutions crew :-).

Quick rundown of the stakes

Official guess log, crafted up Pinterest style

Breakdown of some old wives' tales, an exact even split!

Going public

::Insert Diana Ross' vastly superior voice::  I'm coming out!!  I want the world to know, got to let it show!!

Can I just say, it feels awesome/amazing to finally be able to talk about this pregnancy!  For far too long I have been squishing my belly with my pre-pregnancy pants and wearing super flowy or long, dark tops to conceal the growing bump from clients and coworkers.  Doctors tell you to wait until your second trimester (14 weeks) to share the news, and my parents were coming to visit me in my 17th week, so I figured I could wait to tell them in person and still let them be the first to know.  Little more challenging than I anticipated given my changing shape, but luckily my first trimester nausea was limited to the evenings, and frequent bathroom breaks are not noticeable in a busy office.  I hated lying every time someone caught me surfing craigslist for baby furniture or knowing just a little bit too much about pregnancy symptoms, but luckily I had a solid alibi in my 20+ pregnant friends.  I was so excited to tell my parents on August 9 and to make a big announcement at my birthday party on August 10.

I took a risk in the dress I wore to my birthday party in that it was rather loose and my belly was getting rather noticeable, but only a couple of coworkers later told me that had an inkling.  Right before the announcement my heart was beating incredibly quickly, as it always done in a big moment, but once I was able to say the words, "I think 30 is going to be the biggest year yet!" and smooth my dress down, I immediately calmed and exhaled with relief.  Reactions ranged from subtle "I thought so"s to screams and tears from some of my sweeter coworkers.  It was awesome.  I have been having fun over the past two weeks sharing the news in various ways, taking a bunch of fun pictures for announcements, and calling all my nearest and dearest to share the news.  Among that group of people there is a definite sense of "I knew it!" or "It's about time!" but we got a lot of that after we got engaged after 6 years together, so it's something we're used to.

Expected of us or no, we are just thrilled.  Jeremy is taking very good care of me and the Bun, as I like to call it, and are counting down the days to August 27 when we know if it's a little Lisa or a little Milhouse (no Barts, please!)

Blowing out my candle, right before making the announcement.  If you look for it, you can see the bump!

Right after telling everyone, (finally) letting it show!

Something something, Burt Ward!

That's right, from now on there will be a little more love in the house!  I'm due January 18, 2014, not aware of the gender (yet) and feeling remarkably great!  I was tired and nauseous in the evenings during my first trimester, but now I'm feeling good, except for what Jeremy has dubbed The Hunger.  Seriously, I'm eating everything.  Conversations in our house go a little like this:

Did you eat that big bag of Doritos?  I ate everything.

Did you eat all 8 of those waffles?  I ate EVERYTHING.

And so on.

So excited for January!!

Happy first anniversary!

Wow, one year in this house has gone by so quickly!  There are lots of projects that I have completed in that time, some of which I have woefully neglected to document here.  We have painted, we have crafted, we have added fun art and accessories.  I tried to upload a video to no avail, but feel free to visit my Facebook page, where it was uploaded successfully.  Here is a quick summary:

Accomplished:
Painting the:
      -living room
      -dining room
      -downstairs hallway
      -mudroom
      -stairwell
      -upstairs hallway
      -master bedroom
      -spare bedroom
      -office
      -stripes in the guest room
      -guest bathroom
      -master bathroom
      -half bathroom
      -back of the built-ins
      -front door

Stripping the dresser of eight, yes EIGHT, coats of paint down to the beautiful woodgrain

Sewing curtains for the master bedroom

Framing lots of custom art/magazine pages/fabric swatches/sentimental pieces

Making custom silhouettes for the dining room

Adding little furniture touches like slipper chairs to the living room and a storage bench to the guest room

Slipcovering the library chair

Organizing the attic

Turning the den into a library

Replacing the oven and microwave in the kitchen

Planting an herb and veggie garden, as well as two peony bushes in the backyard


Still yet to be done:
Paint the half wall in the library with magnetized paint

Make/buy window seat cushions for the library

Replace the carpet in the upstairs, but especially in the spare bedroom and on the stairs

Replace the washer, dryer, and dishwasher (eventually)

Perhaps replace the hardwood floors with darker, wide plank hardwood (someday, maybe)


Overall, I am very satisfied with where we are.  The in-laws are coming for the first time tomorrow to see all of our handiwork, and I am so proud to show them what we have accomplished!  Can't wait for many more years to come :-).