26 Weeks

(Sorry these are so late! As of July 24, I started the 7th month and 28 weeks, but I've been lame about uploading photos)

Less than 100 days left! (As chalkboarded last week!) But it's so exciting--out of the triple digits and into the doubles! That is so crazy! I can't believe how quickly October is coming up...and how much we have left to do! But we are getting some things done. I'm working on one of the last paintings and the mobile, although my felt skills are questionable at best. I also got the orange yarn for his pumpkin hat, so that should commence soon as well. I've also picked up a few crochet books, so maybe I can teach myself to crochet before Wallaby arrives.

We did finish up a few things though. James got the last shot glass shelf up, though we had to put it up between the two existing ones. If we'd kept the same spacing and put it below, Wallaby may soon have been able to reach the glasses, but if we put it above, you couldn't see them (and since I have them in chronological order, I'd have to have switched two entire shelves instead of just one.) It looks really nice though, and I'm really pleased with the display! It feels good to have it finished. On to the pantry next, I guess. I'm also finally finishing up the coasters for my friend's mom--I think there's only one left since I've been working on them at work. Then all that'll be left is attaching some felt to the bottom and delivering them. Overall I'm feeling pretty good and I'm sure we'll be able to finish everything up soon. Part of the problem is we're so tired in the evenings on work days and I can't really lift things that easily anymore, so I need to wait for James' help. We'll spend some quality time in the nursery this weekend, and I'm sure we'll see some improvement.

We spent a nice weekend in Coronado with a family friend and her friend. It was nice to get away for a few days. Friday night we had pizza from our favourite pizzeria, and after calling to confirm their goat cheese was made with pasteurized milk I was able to indulge in the deliciousness of their chicken apple sausage, goat cheese and kalamata olive pizza. SO GOOD. We took two cars to the zoo on Saturday, and it was a good thing because I got tired after 3 hours of walking. We left them to explore the rest of the zoo and grabbed some lunch on the island (Nicky Rottens, really good), then picked up some puppy supplies (flea shampoo, bones for a treat, bags) and headed back to the house. We washed the pups and let them chew on the bones for a while, which will hopefully help clean their teeth a bit. We even got into the hot tub, which helped relax my hip. Before anyone protests, it was set to 90 degrees, which is perfectly safe. Pippin has developed a verifiable phobia of fireworks, and spent the last half of both her evening walks being carried by James and then shaking for the next half hour at home. Poor girl. We spent Sunday walking around town, grabbing lunch at the Tavern (onion rings!) and popping into shops before James and I headed home. I hope our friends enjoyed their last evening there. It was a nice break, especially considering how humid Orange was when we left.

It's been a bit of a difficult week though, and I'm pretty sure knitting isn't going to help much. I've heard symptoms aren't supposed to kick up until the third trimester, but mine seem to be a few weeks early. My left fingers are super sore when I use the muscles in my hand. I imagine this is what arthritis feels like, but I'm wondering if carpal tunnel migrated to the other hand? It's just between the first two knuckles for the most part. My hip has just been killing me. Mornings are especially bad, but I can only sleep on my sides, which I'm sure isn't helping. And turning from side to side is becoming a monumental effort. Of course, as soon as I get comfortable I have to get up to pee again. I think my personal best is 9 times in one night. It drove me crazy. The chiropractor says it's getting better, but I'm still being reduced to clamoring for the Tylenol around 8 or 9 pm at night. I'll try a new, fluffier pillow between my knees tonight, maybe that will help. And my feet are swollen! My shoes had been tight for a while, but it got to the point where when walking my toes started to go numb! Mom sent me some super cute ruffle flip flops in fuchsia! They're so cute! I've already worn them once when running errands and they're just so fun! They're way more comfortable than my flats, thank goodness.


Weekly update:

How far along: 26 weeks

Total weight gain: +11 (according to my scale)

Favourite clothes: That new nursing sports bra is comfy and supportive, even if it squishes me a bit

Sleeping: Tossing, turning and getting up to pee all the time. I can't wait til I don't have to sleep on my side

Best moment: Tickled by kicks (I don't know what he was doing, but it felt like being tickled and made me laugh)

Worst moment: I haven't really had a worst moment, my days aren't that bad

Miss anything: Sleeping on my back and stomach, eating prosciutto 

Cravings: Onion rings 

New symptoms: Swollen feet, pain in my left knuckles 

Looking forward to:  Visiting my parents for the Scottish Games on Labour Day

Pregnancy brain moments: Oh, I can't remember anything anymore

Listening to: The Islander by the Navigators

Crafting: I finished a new necklace, and am still working on those coasters

Baby projects: Mobile, paintings, pumpkin hat

26 Weeks: Wallaby is the size of a head of lettuce

26 week belly photo

It's so big!

25 Weeks

I am 3.5 months away from giving birth. 15 weeks. Just gonna let that sink in a little bit.

Alright, I lied. I'm gonna ignore the fact that this baby is going to have to come out at some point. We'll just stay in comfortable denial for now.

4th of July was an absolute blast! Not literally, as we didn't see any fireworks other than on TV, but James and I spent the day cooking. I started the morning making the pastry dough for pasties, and have decided that the best smell in the world is the smell of butter and flour combining into dough. The kitchen and my hands smelled wonderful. We also made a vanilla bean cheesecake, although I think it needs to be a bit heavier on the vanilla and grilled some hot dogs for lunch. We ended the night with the pasties which turned out pretty well. I added some extra seasonings, remembering how bland it was last time, and have decided that I need to find a different dough recipe, but it was an overall success. While we were finishing, the fireworks started going off. Living so close to Disneyland and hearing the fireworks every night, I thought the dogs would be fine. They were, until the jerk in the apartments next door lit off a bottle rocket right as the dogs were walking past. Pippin spent the entire night shaking at every little pop and literally climbed up James' legs into his arms (he got some pretty bad scratches) and would not leave our sides all night. The only silver lining to this is that being scared wore her out so thoroughly that she slept through the night instead of barking every 30 minutes like the past two nights.

I found a recipe for prosciutto wrapped nectarines that were grilled and sounded fantastic and automatically instigated a craving. I must have researched "prosciutto while pregnant" for at least an hour online, and getting no answer resorted to calling Blue Shields' Prenatal Nurse line. This nurse line is advertised as only employing nurses who have at least 10 years' worth of experience in prenatal care but both times I've called it, it's been completely useless. This time, the nurse told me that because she didn't know the type of meat I was referring to and my doctor hadn't specifically told me I could eat it (though he never said I couldn't) I should just avoid it. Regardless of the fact that she said cooked/heated lunch meats are considered safe to consume. Instead of actually looking into it and seeing if it's considered safe, she just went with her "gut feeling" on the matter; very scientific I'm sure. Of course, the nurse at the doctor's office didn't know what prosciutto was when I called the next day either. (How is this even possible?! They're totally missing out!!) When I brought it up with the nurse practitioner at my doctor's appointment, she couldn't believe that they wanted her to specifically list the items I could eat--just confirming my belief that nurse lines (everywhere) are completely useless. Most of the time, they tell me to go to the ER when I call...I've pretty much stopped calling them. Then I got pregnant and thought it would be nice not to have to bother my doctor's office about little questions like lunch meat, but I still get horrible advice. PS: James totally bought me nectarines and prosciutto to have on Monday (and OMG SO GOOD)

I've mentioned before about reading posts online and hearing stories that people don't seem to have a filter when it comes to pregnant women. This includes not only comments about how big someone is, but about how small someone is. I was at the gas station, getting a propane tank refilled for my boss, and it came up that I was 6 months pregnant (has it really been half a year already?!) The attendant's response was "6 months?! And that's all the belly you've got?" I'm sure she meant it as a nice comment, but there are two things these kinds of comments (and this is the 4th I've gotten in the past 2 weeks) make me think of: 1) I don't look pregnant, just fat. There's no doubt my waistline is gone. So when you tell me I barely look pregnant, it makes me think you just think I'm fat. Thanks. 2) Something is wrong with my child because I'm not as big as I'm "supposed" to be. Now I'll spend the night worrying about my baby. Thanks. How about a "6 months? You look great!" That's a good choice...then I neither feel fat nor like I'm doing something wrong. And oddly enough, while you may not be able to tell, I feel enormous, thank you very much.

A whole bunch of symptoms just cropped up this week: I woke up Saturday with a cramp in my leg! Woke myself (and James) up by screaming at 5 am...I've never had a leg cramp. I get cramps in my feet sometimes, but nothing that makes me scream. This was horrible. I could still feel it a day later--right below my knee, in the center of the calf. It felt like a rock and it's still sore when I stretch out my leg and flex my foot. Cravings are also back--I fell into the stereotypical pregnancy craving of a pickle one night. We had gone to Albertson's to pick up a DVD from the RedBox and all of a sudden, I thought a pickle sounded great. Not a jar, not with ice cream, just a single pickle. (They sell them individually wrapped!!!) It was delicious. Every day I work, I slip my flats on in the morning and have to wedge my feet inside them. It seems like my sweet are swollen in the mornings...or maybe little gremlins are making my flats tighter each night. Yeah, I'll go with that explanation instead :) The tightening feeling I've been getting in my lower abdomen for the past few weeks has been confirmed as Braxton Hicks contractions, which is crazy. It kinda drives it home that we only have 15 weeks left to go!

The realization of how quickly time is going by really sunk in when I realized how soon October would be here. My boss' wife has offered to throw me a baby shower, and I realized that we probably needed more than one crib sheet and a Raffi cd on our registry. We ended up spending over 2 hours in Babies R Us on Friday, scanning things, then going home to look at reviews and reconsider some of the things. We're slowly working through those lists of "Register for these things!" and making our own list of what we feel we need to register for. There's not much that we truly need aside from a place for him to sleep and a car seat and a way to carry him (like a sling), but there's so much fun, cute stuff out there that would be useful. We found some really cute nursery decorations that include sheets, wall appliques and even a valance, all in an adorable under the sea motif (the even had a lamp!). And there's this adorable mat that looks like a lamb!!! (I have a deep love of a few things: miniature items, gimmicky items and items that look like something else). So we had fun with that and are finalizing it all--we're registered on Amazon and Babies R Us if you're interested in seeing what we found and it's under Emmi (there's another Emily Lawrence in Orange having a baby--caused some confusion when I was searching for it).

Whale triptych!

I did finish a craft for the nursery this week! I tried to make the mobile, but failed miserably. I'm not great at felt crafts I guess. I'm not giving up, but I needed a positive experience that could provide closure (ie: something I could finish!) I found the cutest pin on Pinterest: a three panel painting of a whale and its spout. The pin took me to an Etsy store selling the paintings for $150; quite a bit out of our price range. Despite my severe lack of artistic ability, I thought I might be able to pull off something similar. I changed the shape of the whale to something I thought was cuter and added some dots on the spray painting. I did at least two coats of each colour, even the white to cover my freehand pencil drawings. The turquoise took 5 coats however (luckily that was the least complicated painting). I think it turned out pretty cute and will look adorable in the nursery--and considering my normally horrid art skills, I'm really happy with it. And it was nice to do a project that I actually completed. I have an extra canvas and think I might do a seahorse silhouette on it--I found a shape I like a lot and I might do a blue on white instead of white on blue. I'm not sure. Or maybe a sand dollar. Or maybe a sea star. Either could be cute. Maybe I'll divide it into four parts and do each! Anyways, it was great to have a finished project. We'll keep working on the nursery until it looks like an actual bedroom instead of a storage unit, but it'll take time since my hip is preventing me from doing anything and James has a normal 9-5 (or 8-6) work schedule.

Weekly update:

How far along: 25 weeks (Now less than 100 days left!)

Total weight gain: +14 (Doc said I was good though it kinda shocked me)

Favourite clothes: Flip flops--my trusty flats are cutting off circulation because my feet are so swollen...

Sleeping: Late. I blame James for putting the puppies in bed with me in the mornings, which makes me snuggle up even more.

Best moment: Every time I feel him kick. I love that feeling.

Worst moment: Waking up with the leg cramp---seriously?!

Miss anything: Cider. And cold prosciutto.

Cravings: Prosciutto-wrapped grilled nectarines, apple slices and gouda, dill pickle

New symptoms: Leg cramps!! Braxton Hicks (confirmed as such!) Swollen feet. 

Looking forward to: This weekend in Coronado with Peggy

Pregnancy brain moments: I totally started sobbing in the middle of target after reading "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. 

Listening to: American Beauty by the Lost Trailers and Christian Kane's album "The House Rules"

Crafting: Started on the felt mobile. Hopefully it'll look as nice as I imagine it to

Baby projects: We're finishing up the registry as someone up here has offered to throw me a shower and worked on the nursery over the weekend. It's starting to come together!

We had to move the profile shots due to lack of room in the nursery and the
shot glass shelves in the living room

Can I still see my feet? Kinda...If I lean over...

There it is!

25 weeks: Less than 100 days left! Wooo!

Bloodline by James Rollins

Let me start this review with two confessions. 1) James Rollins is my favourite author, so I'm not exactly impartial (though I think my adoration is well-deserved). 2) I love Da Vinci Code-esque books. Let me be more clear. Dan Brown can't write and what he does write is obviously fiction. However, I will sacrifice writing quality for a good story, and because of that I enjoyed Da Vinci Code. And that sub-genre has become my favourite: full of action and adventure, conspiracies, mysteries and ancient secrets (usually of a religious bent) that will change the world if revealed all wrapped up in a gripping story. I can usually tell by the cover of a book if I'll enjoy it, though I have been wrong occasionally.

And that's how I picked up my first James Rollins book. I started with the third one in the series, Black Order. I picked it up in an airport and while I loved the story and finished it to find out what happened, I couldn't stand the protagonist, Gray Pierce. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way and I found myself unable to relate to him and couldn't find him sympathetic--I couldn't root for him to win. While I enjoyed the story and the action, my dislike of the main character prompted me to put James Rollins on my list of "Authors to Avoid." I need this list because cover art tends to rope me in and I'm usually a few chapters in before I look at the author's name. I avoided his books for a few years, but eventually forgot his name and ended up picking up Map of Bones. To this day, that book remains my favourite. I consumed it within a day and went searching for the next book in the series--Black Order. A few pages in, I started getting deja vu. It took me a while to remember that I had in fact read this book, and that I disliked it. And even though I didn't like Gray at first, I found myself falling a bit more in love with him with each book. I think I caught up with the series by The Doomsday Key and have spent every year looking forward to the next release. I've read every book he's written, including his stand alone action books, both novelettes and his "children's" series (which is way better than Rick Riordan or Michael Scott and really need more recognition). I have yet to start the fantasy series he wrote (under the name James Clemens), but they're on my list. His writing is consistently wonderful, even when his stories don't grab me (Altar of Eden wasn't my favourite, sorry). The 8th (and latest) book in his Sigma Force series came out in late June, entitle Bloodline.

Similar to Michael Crichton, James Rollins bases his books on real science. I realize this is a fiction book, and the science he describes is not necessarily possible in the way he describes it yet. However, a lot of the science and advances he describes are based on real experiments, he simply takes the conclusions to the next logical step. Bloodline is no different in this respect. The books have begun moving away from the mystery-shrouded religious object (though one plays a minor role in the prologue of Bloodline) and more toward government conspiracy. I'm a little disappointed, especially since the prologue (which was released as a sneak peek) seemed to promise a more mystically-linked book, but nonetheless, Bloodline does not disappoint. The action sequences are fantastic and gripping. We get to meet new characters, one of whom has four legs (seriously, I wish I could train my pups so well--they still struggle with "Come"). We see developments of older characters as well--not only does Rollins finally address the Gray-Seichan relationship (almost and implicitly, but it's something), but we see Monk return (yay!) and an unexpected development that I won't give away. Bloodline also provides some answers to the Guild and its origins; at the same time that the Guild is being torn asunder and dispersed, a new antagonist to Sigma rises from its ashes and brings up a whole slew of new questions. Despite that, the wrap up still answered things satisfactorily, and I was pleased with the neat little package that was left, with some tantalizing loose ends that are just begging to be tugged on. It was a great read, and as always, I had no difficulty imagining myself in the characters' world.

As with all my favourite series and authors, coming to the end of the newest book is bittersweet. Due to work, it took me 3-4 days to finish Bloodline (as opposed to the >24 hours for Devil Colony), but the end still came too soon, as it always does. I love losing myself in the world of whatever book I'm reading, especially Sigma Force's world, and the end wrap-up is satisfying, but I hate having to pull myself out of that world and wait at least another year for the next chance to immerse myself. Yes, I can reread the books, but it's not the same as the first time read. (Yes, it's totally a first world problem). Rollins' writing is neat, succinct, witty and engrossing: his actions scenes would give the Die Hard franchise a run for its money and the characters are fleshed out and fully human. The fact that it took me a while to warm up to them is part of the humanity they possess. I can't wait to see where Rollins takes the series next; not only in the development of the "new" antagonist, but also in how the relationships develop. And I really want to see more of the new characters Tucker and Kane; I was disappointed they didn't become regular Sigma members at the end.

While Bloodline is the 8th book in the Sigma Force series, you could read it as a stand alone book if you wanted to. Having a background in the series would allow for a richer read with less chance of confusion, but I think that for the most part, Rollins does a pretty good job of not needing the background. I would recommend the book, and the series, to anyone who loves action books or those mystery-conspiracy books I'm so fond of. The writing is excellent, and plays out like a movie in your mind. Now, to settle in for the long wait for Rollins' next book...maybe I will go back and reread the series...again. If you pick up one of the Sigma Force series, let me know your thoughts!

Sigma Force Series (in order):
1) Sandstorm
2) Map of Bones
3) Black Order
4) The Judas Strain
5) The Last Oracle
6) The Doomsday Key
7) The Devil Colony
8) Bloodline

Shorts:
Skeleton Key (featuring Seichan)
Tracker (featuring Tucker and Kane)

Standalone Books:
Subterranean
Excavation
Deep Fathom (Sigma Characters)
Amazonia
Ice Hunt (Sigma Character)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (*Ok, I haven't read this one)
Altar of Eden

Children's Series:
1) Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow
2) Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx

Father's Day DIY

Since this might become a craft-y blog, I wanted to try my hand at a tutorial! Yay! And for once, this is an idea of my own, not even inspired by any other idea I saw. Instead of using someone else's tutorial, as I so often do, I had pored through Father's Day's gifts and just couldn't come up with something for my dad. He's almost impossible to shop for anyways, but I wanted to do something special for him this year. I had made my mom pearl earrings for Mother's Day (I love pearls and when I saw them online, I just thought they'd look beautiful on her) and I didn't just want to buy something for Dad this year. The plan was also to make a card because every card I read was "funny," but not actually funny, and a little insulting too. I decided  making a card would be better. However, that didn't quite happen. Sorry for the lack of step-by-step pictures, I was focused on finishing it, not on making a tutorial.

We celebrated Father's Day a week late because we were going to visit the next week. This gave me a little extra time to work on it. I bought a few sheets of nice scrapbook paper, 12x12, in our favourite colours: blue and gray. I bought a little too much: 6 pages of gray and 2 sheets each of 3 different blues (light blue, dark blue and a teal-ish blue). I spent a few hours measuring out 1 inch strips onto each page with a pencil. On each strip, I used a corresponding sharpie colour to write down a memory I had of my dad, or of my dad and I. Most of them were little things from my childhood, although a lot of them involved the interesting food we experimented with. Some examples:

-Playing space invaders on the way home from German School

-Playing Slug Bug in the car with our unique point-scoring system and rewards

-Melted cheese plate with A1 sauce

-Finding milk duds in my salad, or grapes in my sandwich

-You singing "Zoom ditty dit da" while drying my hair after my baths

-Getting lost on our mystery trip bike rides, asking for directions and finding out our apartment was right down the block

Those are just a few of the memories that I wrote on those strips. I filled up almost one page of each colour, taking turns writing on the colours so there would be approximately an even number of each. Then I carefully cut the sheets up into the strips (I really wished I'd had a paper cutter for this). I used a pair of needlepoint pliers to grab the end of each strip and wrap it up into a spiral. I pulled out the needlepoint pliers shortly after beginning to wrap in order to shape it into a circle. It's kinda like quilling, which is amazing, but I didn't have the proper quilling tools, so I had to just make do. I wasn't sure the spirals would stay all wound up, but luckily they held their shape pretty well. (By the way, I totally wish I could actually quill--it's SO COOL!) I used a mason jar from the craft store to hold all the memories. It ended up being about 3/4 full, which was perfect. I still have strips left, and we can both continue to add memories in the future. He can pull out a spiral, and read a memory, and see what things I remember most about him and our relationship. It's definitely a cheesy gift, but I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I think my dad liked it a lot too. And sometimes, it's not the big, flashy gifts that make an impact, but the little ones that have thought and effort put into them. 

So here's a picture of my Father's Day gift to my dad. If you want to use the "tutorial" and make your own , please do so. I've included a picture and I'd love to hear about it if you decide to make one! It's very versatile and would work with almost any relationship. It might be fun to do as a couple too. Use your favourite colours and throughout the year, write down memories that make you smile on your colour and put them in. Then on New Year's Eve, you can pull out each others' and read them! (Or something like that)
Happy Crafting!

Spirals and pretty colours!

24 Weeks

Well, I saved something from last week's post for this week because it was technically the first day of the 24th week. James felt the baby kick on June 26!!!! YAY! JAMES FINALLY FELT WALLABY!!!!!! I'd been getting frustrated since I could feel him pretty regularly, but James still hadn't felt him. Now, I've definitely pegged him as a morning person and his kicks have even moved my computer once! Feeling him kick is so reassuring and I adore that feeling. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

I can't believe it's July! Only 3 more months left! And so much to do! We picked up a crib on Friday from Craigslist and James spent the rest of the day changing it from a dropside crib to a non-drop side crib. It's a nice piece of solid wood furniture, and looks good in the nursery. This is also why I spent Monday cleaning up and organizing it. It doesn't look like a lot has been done, but everything is organized, and just needs to be moved around to figure out how the crib, changing table/dresser and my sewing table are going to fit along with the glider (another project is to sew covers for the glider that aren't hideous, but beggars can't be choosers and I can't complain about the price). It felt good to get that started, and to get a lot of the craft supplies organized, but it was exhausting and I may have pushed it too far; I was in a lot of pain by the time I finished last night.

My lower back is starting to ache a bit, which isn't comfortable, but isn't too bad yet either. My hip, on the other hand, is a big problem. Big and bad. It feels like it's not in the joint correctly; like it needs to crack. But it won't. The pain spreads from the hip to the lower back on that side and into my tailbone. And sitting on a hard surface, or standing, or walking quickly becomes excruciating. Especially when I put all my weight on that leg--like when walking, or pulling on pants, etc. I really hope this goes away. I told the chiropractor about it, but she didn't really help when I mentioned it last week and I'm not holding out too much hope for Thursday either. I see the doctor (or the nurse practitioner) soon, so I'm waiting for that since this is quickly getting to the point of interfering significantly with my life.

Other than that, it's been a pretty relaxed week. We went to a pool party on Sunday, and I made buffalo chicken dip, which is fantastic, if I do say so myself. James and I have been snacking on the leftovers. I've been absolutely ravenous lately, eating everything, all the time. I've discovered the deliciousness of stuffed portobello mushrooms--Fresh & Easy has some great ones where you just put the tray onto the grill for 25 minutes and it's done. They're stuffed with some mixture of spinach and cream cheese and other delicious ingredients. Seriously, it's like heaven. I ate both of them in one sitting before moving on to dinner. This is not helping with my feeling of hugeness, but I seem to always be hungry now. I'm trying to keep it balanced, with fruits and veggies, but I have to admit, I don't always do the best job at it. But at least I'm making an attempt and eating things like mushrooms and asparagus and nectarines.

Our sleeping bag also arrived from the UK on Monday! It looks great, and it's surprisingly light too! I can hardly wait to go camping! But we do need recommendations on where to go, since I have no idea about down here. I'm so looking forward to it though. For now, we'll make do with James' little grill and our tiny cooler, and just bring non-perishables for the most part. Eventually, we want to get a camp stove and pots as well as a cooler that holds ice well. I just think it's going to be so much fun!

We also went test driving cars on Sunday. Since we eventually want two kids, and the dogs' kennel takes up 2 seats on the backseat, we've come to the conclusion that we really need a larger car. With the kennel and the stroller in the "trunk" and two car seats in the backseat, there won't be much room for luggage when we take trips. Admittedly, the need isn't quite here yet, but it was still fun to look. We drove the Rav4, Highlander and Mazda CX5. The Rav4 drove nicely, but the third row seats were ridiculous; even I didn't fit, with my legs all squished up. Definitely not a good long term solution. The CX5 has great mileage, but was so uncomfortable: the seats were hard, it was super loud and you had to keep your foot pressed down on the pedal constantly. The Highlander was great though: not only did the third row have a decent (not great) amount of room, but it was super comfortable and drove so smoothly, quietly, and handled great. This would definitely be a car that would last us a good long while. And, most importantly, it's not a mini van. Anyways, I'm not sure when we're looking at needing a new car, but probably after Wallaby arrives. I'm sure we can make do with the Prius or Matrix for at least a while. But it was still a lot of fun to drive and look around at features, etc. (We did get a salesman in trouble because he ditched us as soon as he found out we weren't buying for a while--and we had questions and wanted to test drive, but he was nowhere to be found. The fleet manager helped us instead and he was very nice. But had no idea how to talk to women; it was hilarious. And awkward.)

Weekly Update:

How far along: 24 weeks

Total weight gain: Still no idea--my scale is so inconsistent.

Favourite clothes: Really, I've been lazy and enjoying my new sweat pants

Sleeping: If James puts the pups in bed with me in the morning, I sleep in super late, but otherwise, Wallaby wakes me up
Best moment: James feeling the baby kick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worst moment: My hip pain Monday night and Tuesday

Miss anything: Feeling full with a normal sized meal

Cravings: Nothing in particular, I don't think. Anything someone mentions sounds delicious though

New symptoms: The hip pain...it's bad

Looking forward to: 4th of July off with my hubby

Pregnancy brain moments: None this week! Yay!!

Listening to: The Necromancer by Michael Scott. Then The Enchantress (don't tell me what happens!)

Crafting: Coasters, mobile, some others in mind

Baby projects: The nursery is coming along nicely. I also want to learn to crochet so I can make some arigurumi sea creatures for the baby.

24 Weeks: Wallaby is over 1 ft (12 in!) long!
That's an ear of corn!
And Dad felt you kick for the first time 6/26!

24 Week belly

24 Week belly zoom. It really popped!

23 Weeks

Late again. Since this is becoming my pregnancy journal, I should probably be better about updating it, but for some reason I'm not. It was a very busy week: our anniversary and a weekend in Northern California made for quite the busy time.

It was a really fun weekend! We packed up the dogs and left Orange as soon as James got off work. Aside from construction (with no vehicles or people present) closing the 5 down to one lane, it was a pretty smooth drive. Saturday was St. Luke's patio luncheon and it was fun to look through the silent auction (I even got some canning jars!) and see some friends. We got to see Brave after the luncheon, which was very good, especially the music. We also had a lovely dinner at one of our favourite Italian restaurants in the area--calamari dorati and some sort of chocolate truffled ice cream for dessert--fantastic! Sunday was church and it was great to see mom's parishioners. We had lunch with a friend of mine from high school in Livermore and then James had to head back home with the puppies since he had work on Monday. I stuck around and had afternoon tea with another friend and dinner with another. It was a very busy day. Monday I made butternut squash soup and raspberry-balsamic vinegar pie with another high school friend (it was quite the Athenian reunion weekend!) Unfortunately, she had to go to work before the pie cooled, but she brought some over on Tuesday and it was delicious. I went to mom's belly dance class Monday night, but I pulled something in my stomach, so I wasn't really up to dancing. After mom's bible study on Tuesday, we went shopping. The ruched shirts I got from Target are all of a sudden a lot shorter and keep showing the panel of my jeans--not so attractive. We got a few more shirts that will actually fit since they're tunic length. By that point, it was time to head to the airport for my flight home.

Instead of taking SouthWest to John Wayne, I decided to save some money by booking a JetBlue flight into Long Beach instead. I'd had previous good experiences with JetBlue, so I wasn't that concerned. Now admittedly, I probably should have just peed when I got through security and I should have eaten before, but I didn't and I hadn't. Either way, I figured that arriving by 8:15 would be fine. Maybe I should have taken the hint when I couldn't log in because they had my name listed as Emilyb and then told me I couldn't choose that seat (the one I'd booked) because it was already taken (yes, by me!) The flight was delayed. First just by 20 minutes, then we would be taking off by 7:35 at the latest (7:00 flight), then they just stopped telling us anything. Around 8:00 they told us that the men inspecting the plane had just arrived. Finally, we were boarding, but still didn't take off. I was still in pain from whatever I'd pulled in my stomach, but it's not like people are actually kind and help a pregnant woman with lifting her carry on over her head, no. Finally, I was seated and figured they would turn off the fasten seat belt light soon so I could finally pee. Instead, when we finally took off, it was like leaving from Newport, with the engines cutting off once you're so far up. I already don't like flying, so that wasn't much fun for me. Add to that the engines continuing to get louder and quieter the entire flight, the plane dipping up and down whenever it felt like it (steeply enough to move me in my seat) and the PA system not working properly and I wasn't doing well. The fasten seatbelt light finally turned off after the flight attendant came around with drinks, so after the tray tables were down. She also got my drink order wrong, blaming it on me, saying I spoke too softly--real nice...maybe you should listen better. Then the light went back on before they collected trash, so I didn't get a chance to pee the entire flight. In addition, Long Beach drops you on the tarmac and it feels like you have to walk a mile to get to the terminal, and a bathroom. We finally arrived two hours after we were supposed to land, meaning I was starving, in pain and exhausted. A sure combination for grouchiness. But James was there to pick me up, with James Rollins' new book Bloodline as a surprise for me (I didn't have time to pick it up myself, like I intended to).

Weekly Update:

How far along: 23 weeks

Total weight gain: No idea, but I'm eating everything in sight!

Favourite clothes: My new ruched shirts are so comfortable and I have one in orange with thin white stripes. It makes me think of summertime and fresh-squeezed orange juice

Sleeping: Surprisingly well. And I'm sleeping in a lot more too

Best moment: Seeing all my friends! I miss them!

Worst moment: The entire flight. 

Miss anything: The usual: sushi, margaritas, etc. But to be honest, I don't miss it all that much.

Cravings: Asparagus with balsamic glaze. Again. So good. Oh, and baked brie--totally safe since Fresh & Easy's brie is made with pasteurized milk.

New symptoms: Whatever that weird pulled muscle feeling was that lasted three days. Also, I'm pretty sure I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions--at least there's this tightening feeling in my lower abdomen, so I think that's what it is.

Looking forward to: My sugaring appointment and getting to work on the nursery!

Pregnancy brain moments: I completely forgot to pack a real bra for the trip; I only had my sports bra, which was problematic. Luckily I packed enough underwear this time. (Yes, this time. I need to write everything down)

Listening to: "The Warlike Lads of Russia" by the Navigators. Based on my music choices, I think I'd do well in Newfoundland (The Navigators, and (of course) my favourite Great Big Sea)

Crafting: Still working on those watermelon coasters, but there's about 8 different projects in the works

Baby projects: Same as last time--getting the nursery habitable, the mobile, etc, etc.

23 Weeks: Wallaby is the size of an eggplant

23 week belly

23 week belly zoom