Mothering the Mother

It is such a tender mercy that my mom has been able to be here the whole time. I was so happy to have her at the birth. She has taken such great care of me and Quin. I have the best mom ever.

Love Songs

I've noticed that a lot of love songs are much more amusing when you imagine they are about you and your baby. Here are some of the lyrics I have enjoyed:

"Must I always be waiting, waiting for you?"
"It won't be long now."
"Baby all I want for Christmas is you!"
"I might have to wait. I'll never give up. I guess it's half timing and the other half's luck. Wherever you are, whenever it's right, you'll come out of nowhere (actually...) and into my life! And I know that we can be so amazing. And being in your life is gonna change me... I promise you kid, to give so much more than I get. I just haven't met you yet!"

Songs that could be about the postpartum period:
You spin me right round, baby right round."
"But I won't cry for yesterday. There's an ordinary world somehow I have to find. And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world I will learn to survive."
"I don't pick up the mail. I don't pick up the phone. I don't answer the door. I don't keep this place up. I just keep the lights down. I don't live in these rooms. I just rattle around... As quietly as a mouse I roam these halls."
"You should be holding on to him girl. Just like just like you want to do. Just love him squeeze him girl!"

And my very favorite:
"I've got you under my skin. I've got you deep in the heart of me. You're so deep in my heart that you're really a part of me."

Capture the Kicks!

After weeks of trying, we finally caught some kicks on camera!!! Yay! It's pretty blurry but I'm so happy it exists :) I ate a piece of chocolate several minutes before and it looks like he liked it. (He also kicks like this when I eat blueberries.)
Featured in this video is Michael singing Air Supply in the background.
All the action is in the first 30 seconds. After that he does what he normally does around a camera and stops moving.

Also, this is what we dressed up as for Halloween:

One astronomical unit and the blue screen of death

I think it's safe to say we win the geeky costume award of the year!

Cravings!

When talking about eating and pregnancy, a lot of people have asked me if I have found my one thing. I am amused by this question because every two weeks I feel like my cravings and aversions flip. There hasn't been one food that I can always turn to and makes me feel better every time (although that has been true about the man I married :).
I can't remember week by week what I craved/averted, but here it is broken down into trimesters.

First Trimester I loved:

• Sour cream (no really, plain sour cream. Sometimes I was good and found a vehicle for it besides my spoon)
• Sour punch straws
• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Plums
• Watermelon (my favorite thing in the WORLD at that time!)
• Mangos
• Apples
• Ok, every fruit
• Otter pops
• Fruit roll ups and fruit by the foot
• Fruit juice
• Keebler club & cheddar crackers
• Toasted mini bagels with sliced ham and cream cheese or mozzarella 
• Berry colossal crunch (the cheap brand of Captain Crunch. I threw it up half the time but I wanted it so bad I didn't care)
• Mini Wheats (also threw that up most of the time but it was so good!)
• Special K (kept that down most of the time)

... and hated:

• Toast and bread
• Bananas (?)
• Chocolate (???)
• Michael's favorite deli sliced rotisserie chicken (the smell made me gag)
• Beans
• Rice
• Sweet potatoes
• Vegetables in general
• Whatever I threw up at 2 am
• Food in general on most days

Second Trimester loves:

• Sourdough bread (pretty sure I ate an entire loaf by myself in one day. Ok, maybe one sitting...)
•  MEAT!!!! ALL THE MEAT!
• Potatoes
• Bean and cheese freezer burritos
• Hot pockets
• Bananas (yay!)
• Sweet corn
• Carrot juice (what?)
• Raisins! (something I hated my whole life)
• Mandarin oranges
• Life cereal
• Hot chocolate

... and hates:

• Keebler club and cheddar crackers
• Berry Colossal Crunch
• Walnuts (ate a bad one in the first trimester)

Third Trimester faves:

• Chocolate!
• Yogurt
• Celery and peanut butter
• Every form of toast (except burnt)
• California blend of vegetables
• EGGS! (I have at least one a day. Or else.)
• Cottage cheese
• Dried apricots
• Pumpkin bread! (if only I had free time to bake some)
• Cream of Wheat

 ... and not so great:

• Starting to dislike cereal :(
• Sour punch straws
• Really sugary stuff

Now that I reflect I actually have had a "one thing" through it all... MILK! Sometimes I sit down at the table with the smallest cup in the house and take shots of milk. When Michael is around I'll slam the empty glass on the table and slur "another!"

Well, now you're probably hungry from thinking about food, so go enjoy a snack! :) Thanks for tuning in.

Growing Belly!

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months (ready to pop!)

Oh boy! A new blog!

This blog was created to share milestones and memories with my family members so they can feel connected and involved. It's also for me so I can remember all the funny quotes, crazy days, and joys and heartache that come from being a mom. I wish I would have had the idea sooner so I could put more stuff about the pregnancy, but I'll just try to summarize the first two trimesters and catch the interesting things going on in the third.
I don't expect this blog to be well written or insightful. It's meant to be more of a picture journal of my new life. It will most likely be really boring, but as Russell said in Up: "That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most."