A Tiny Peek of Life Lately, Part I

1. living room redecoration update: mismatched picture frames finally painted.
2. a tour of d's station with his mama and not so baby brother.
3. surf session with friends on a random 60* day. (and an awkward sunburn for this lady)
4. tillamook cheese factory icecream sampler.
5. the results of d falling off an 8ft waterfall and landing smack on his booty.

You're 22 Weeks, Birdie Bird.

22-week birdie girl! 

Size of Baby: 28 cm long or about the size of a spaghetti squash

Total Weight Gain: My next OB appointment is at the end of this month but I'm going to go out on a limb and say I'm up 3-4 lbs, at least, since the beginning of pregnancy. 

Continuing Symptoms: "Ouch" has been the word of the last couple of the weeks. Who knew that your hips widening and muscles stretching could hurt so bad? I'm still experiencing hip pain at night, increased sinus congestion, and lower back pain at times. 

New Symptoms: Hot flashes at night time. The weather has been super, super nice this week so we've been sleeping with our window open at night. I've also had a slight increase in mood swings, a couple painful leg cramps, and I can feel my feet softening/ widening to support my frame. 

Maternity Clothes: Same old, same old. D suggested that I start looking in to getting some maternity pants. He read my mind as I'm wondering how much longer I'll be able to survive with what I have. My shirts are still fitting but some are hitting me a lot shorter than before. 

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well at night considering I wake up a lot to change positions or visit the bathroom. In the mornings it's pretty easy for me to fall back asleep, sometimes as little as a couple minutes. I've had some crazy dreams, too. (D as well- he told me one night, while he was asleep, that if I was good he'd buy me a new DSLR camera. I vaguely remember responding back with an, "okay.") 

What I'm Eating: At this point- anything to keep me full. I'd rather eat a meal than have a bunch of snacks. Dinner is still my favorite meal of the day and I'm still wanting some type of meat with it. 

Cravings: Oh boy. Easter has been a bad influence. I've been craving/ eating waaaaaaay too many Smarties. You know it's bad when you start eating it out of your Easter basket before Easter. Then move onto your husband's basket. Then you buy more to replace what you ate but then just end up eating half the bag at the beach later that day. Tootsie Rolls haven't been much different, either. Otherwise I'm craving lots and lots of apple juice, cereal, and just sweets in general. 

Special Pregnancy Moments: Birdie girl has been moving like crazy! (Sometimes I know it's related to the sugar I ingested from the Smarties.) We've enjoyed having our first family visit since moving back to the PacNorWest AND becoming pregnant. I LOVE that my little bro-in-law tries so hard to feel my stomach to see if she's moving. Birdie got majorly spoiled with TONS of cute clothes by her Nana, aunt Steph, aunt Nikki, and one of her great-grandmother's. D finally felt her kick the other night- she kicked him three times in a row pretty hard. We also had a lot of fun on Easter by surprising our parents with Birdie's name. (But it's a secret to everyone else.) 

The Peach & The Pits

The Peach 

 Getting caught up in my pregnancy journal. 

 A small glimmer of spring flowers

 Hubs finding the perfect sized pallet to use as a shelf in the dining room. 

 A pink mama-made onesie for Birdie girl. 

 How quickly March has flown by. Not to mention how unexpectedly busy it was. 

 D's grandmother sent him this little doll that he made when he was a kid. He was super excited that she had kept it. 

Oh the faces that upside down puppies make. 

The Pits

 I lovelovelove the $1 dog ropes by Boots & Barkley at Target, especially since they last so long with our two knuckleheads. I hatehatehate picking up shredded string off of carpet when they've been demolished. 

 Sigh. Once again... proof that I can't keep plants or flowers alive. 

 It's pretty pathetic that sunny 51* day gets to be called a hot one around these parts. It's more upsetting when you see that day getting pushed away by oncoming rain clouds. It poured 20 minutes later. 

Getting tons of laundry done only to ignore the final clean load, and have it sit in this exact spot for over a week awhile. 

Half-Cooked Birdie

20 Weeks, baby! 

Size of Baby: 16.5 cm or about the size of a small cantaloupe (Yum!) 

Total Weight Gain: I'm going to say about 3lbs since the beginning of pregnancy. 

Continuing Symptoms: Some days I have mild hip pain and others I don't. Experiencing more nasal congestion this week but I think because the weather has been changing back and forth between sun and rain too much. That always messes me up. 

New Symptoms: Not so much new but resurfacing: lower back pain and some abdominal pain/ discomfort. Birdie is definitely requiring some more room in her little nest. 

Maternity Clothes: Still sporting the belly band everyday I'm wearing jeans. Otherwise I'm just making due with the clothes I have. 

Sleep: I've been staying up later at night (currently typing this at 11:20pm on Saturday night) but my body sure does shut down when it's absolutely done... like falling asleep while I'm in the middle of eating some late-night cereal. True story. I've slept pretty well these past couple of weeks despite the fact that we've been keeping the thermostat up higher at night. 

What I'm Eating: Birdie has been increasing my appetite as the day progresses. Thankfully, I want to cook and I've been trying out a lot of new recipes. I've been getting distracted during the lunch hour so I'm going to work at making myself stop my day to eat better lunches this coming week. 

Cravings: Normally I'm okay with eating meat for dinner a couple times a week...if that. Not so much the case anymore- I HAVE to have meat at dinnertime, with beef being the preferred choice. Still loving fishy crackers to snack on, peanut butter toast, rice, bananas, grapes, and balsamic glaze sauce on ANYthing... and sometimes a spoonful by itself just because. This week's craving has been vanilla pudding. 

Special Pregnancy Moments: Birdie moves for at least 10 minutes at the very minimum of once per day. She wiggles first thing in the morning and sometimes for over an hour between 8pm and 10pm. Once I caught her moving at 2am when I rolled over in bed. Her kicks and punches are strong enough to see through my bare stomach but not yet strong enough for D to feel. Hopefully soon! I finally got her room very organized in its most basic, plain form. It helps that we're expecting visitors in about a week. I hope to really get a start on all of her bedding/ linens during the next couple of weeks. I love watching my belly grow, and I'm still in awe at how my body just knows how to do things. 

D and I LOVE searching/ finding second hand items that are in great condition and that have a decent price. Actually, there are only a few pieces of furniture... as in three items... in our home that are brand spanking new. Everything else has been handed down, craigslisted, or purchased from a yard sale or second hand store. There's a great second hand children's store in a neighboring town that I love check occasionally. Today was my first time in since finding out we are having a girl. 

Clockwise from top: Denim jumper with matching bloomer, floral pink dress, four unused (yes!) receiving blankets, two piece swimsuit and a lavender onesie with matching pants. My total price for all of this? $20. ($20!!!) ... I can't stop looking at the bathing suit. It's sooo tiny! 

This, That & Some Things

 I got a really ridiculously good deal on fabric from JoAnn's. When I got it home I realized that the saleslady measured out the fabric incorrectly so I received 15 yards of fabric for $19! 

 We've been redecorating our living/ dining/ kitchen area, trying to get away from a country Pottery Barn look and going towards something we actually like. First thing to change was the curtains. 

In addition to these curtain panels I made two valences for the smaller windows in the same rooms. (And still had TONS of fabric to spare!) 

 The next day I moved onto making a maxi skirt. Keep in mind the curtains above are the first things I've sewn in eons. I looked over a few online tutorials for the skirt but ended up just winging the whole project. It's definitely NOT perfect, I learned a lot through my mistakes, and I now hate working with jersey material... but I didn't give up! I just need to shorten the length a tad and- ta-da!- I'll be wearing it in no time. 

Yesterday D and I went to a first birthday party. I spent the days prior whipping up this little outfit. I also crocheted a matching beanie. I've found a new love for double-sided interfacing and it has made my onesie projects waaaaay easier and faster. Birdie bird already has a few mama-made onesies. Was is it about hot air balloons that make me smile? 

Speaking of Birdie girl... I picked this lovely up the other day.  

Here's the- free- dresser that we scored for Birdie. It's going to get all new drawer pulls and a new color. I'm so happy I found a piece in great condition, with good lines, and will double as her changing table.  

D found this vintage cradle at a local consignment store for an astonishingly low, low, low price. We've decided to sell the other one that we already had and use this one instead. Not only is it sturdier but it's also bigger than the other bassinet. This, too, will get painted and I'm going to add some simple linens to it.  

We've had a crazy spring so far: lots and lots of rain but even more snow! Unfortunately the snow decided to melt at the same time it decided to pour for three days straight. This meant that the rivers flooded BIG time and prevented D from getting to work and me from my favorite day: grocery shopping day.  

We took a risk and drove through 3 feet of water to get into town. Scariest. 3. Minutes. Ever. Our car survived, thankfully, but there were many that didn't.  

Our new addiction: raspberry cheese danishes. It kills me to look at this picture and know I currently don't have any in the kitchen.  

I always forget I'm just not a long-haired person. I try and try but it always ends up in a bun unwashed for days and very damaged. After years and years of wanting to I finally took the plunge....

 A pixie cut and 7 inches of hair later... gone! I. Love. It. SOOOOOOO. Much. 

A good reason why D should never be unsupervised at the Goodwill store- he comes home with a powder blue polyester suit. Sigh.  

Finally- I caught this sweet, sweet moment between D and Roo yesterday on our walk. It was SO nice to feel the sun on our skin. Love these two together. 

Birdie

It's a girl! Meet our little Birdie. 

Size of Baby: 14.2 cm or about the size of a sweet potato. She weighs about 8 oz according to her most recent ultrasound.
Total Weight Gain: I thought I was at 4.5lbs total since the beginning of pregnancy, but as of Monday I've only gained 2lbs total. True story.
Continuing Symptoms: Hip pain at night time. It's getting better since I've figured out better sleeping/ pillow arrangements. I'm still experiencing nasal congestion but it goes unnoticed unless it's a full on sinus infection.
New Symptoms: Nothing new within the past week!
Physical Changes: Belly is getting more noticeable, especially first thing in the morning before I eat breakfast. A couple weeks ago it would have been flat in the early mornings.
Maternity Clothes: Of course the day after I posted my last update I suddenly found myself not able to zip my jeans! I'm proudly sporting my new belly bands, and I'm so glad I already had them on hand. Shirts are still fitting at this point.
Sleep: Sleeping is still pretty consistent. A few nights ago I had a little insomnia from a busy, exciting day. The past couple of nights I've been ready for bed really early and completely pass out when I get into bed.
What I'm Eating: Over the past four days or so I've really noticed my appetite getting bigger. I'm getting hungry really fast, especially in the late afternoon. Right now I'm loving pasta with meat. Dinner has quickly become my favorite meal EVER.
Cravings: Sweets... again. I'm loving fishy crackers, milk, beef, grapes, bananas, and rice.
Special Pregnancy Moments: At the end of last week I figured out that I was feeling her move! It's still too light for D to feel. So, for the record, Birdie started moving in her 17th week. Loved seeing her move around a our ultrasound. She was opening and closing her hands and mouth. Even though we weren't shocked that we're having a girl it was exciting to get confirmation. I've just known the whole pregnancy that she was a girl. We have her name all picked out but we're not announcing it until she's born. I'm looking forward to beginning a lot of crafting projects: onesies, finishing up recovering her bassinet, recovering her glider, painting her dresser, and sewing her crib set... just to name a few!

At Low Tide

1. Tide pools around Haystack Rock at low tide.
2. A hidden cave on the backside of Haystack Rock.
3. A couple treasures we found.
4. Cloud coverage over the north side of town.
5. Beach houses I'd love to afford.
6. Beautiful clouds over the mountains.
7. A rare sighting of a sunset.