Rawr! Gender Neutral Crochet Baby Liot set

I can't wait to see the sugar-booger in this get-up! I made this over the course of a couple days before Christmas for the baby. I saw the multicolor yarn at the store and had to have it even though I didn't know what to make with it at the time... the idea quickly came to me after seeing a baby lion hat on etsy. I melted and had to have one for our baby. I made the hat first and decided it needed a diaper cover complete with a tail to make it a set. The hat is SO FLUFFEH.

I love it; it's bright, gender neutral and homemade just for our baby. Plus s/he can wear it right away because I made it newborn sized! And of course, the diaper cover has a tail!

The buttons are from my own collection of buttons once owned by many of our family and friends so they are extra special.

Of course if you need a set yourself or you know a lucky mommy or baby-to-be that could use some crochet love, email me or hit me up on etsy! I even have the pattern for sale now!!!

18 Weeks Pregnant

Even though baby is just the size of a yam like one you may have enjoyed at dinner yesterday, s/he still got me a Christmas gift: no morning sickness on Christmas!!! I really enjoyed it and had a wonderful day with our family.

Baby is roughly the size of a sweet potato or yam, totalling about 8 inches from head to feet. I can really feel movements and I even just saw a little kick poke out the front of my tummy for a second!
Baby is also getting more and more aware of what's outside my tummy and s/he LOVES to lay next to daddy and Peach, too! When I spoon Shawn at night the baby tries to kick at his back. When I hold Peach, she will sprawl across my belly (I suspect she can hear baby's heart beat now) and the baby kicks and then snuggles up to her as well (can baby hear Peach's heart?). I think Peach loves the baby and the baby loves her already, too.

Thursday the 3rd will be my 120th day of Pregnancy: a very special day in Kundalini Yoga teachings/Sikhism in which the baby's soul enters its body. More to come on how we will celebrate very soon!

Christmas Cake 2012

Happy Solstice!

It's officially winter and it sure looks like it here in Nebraska. We got over a foot of snow, I believe!
So Happy Solstice today to you all, and Merry Christmas this Tuesday!

Baby is a rolling stone today. S/he's only jabbed me a few times here and there but oy! is s/he ever moving around trying to get comfy. S/he was sleepy mostly yesterday but today I believe the activity is picking up. I hope s/he reserves some energy for daddy so he can feel his or her backside against my tummy later. S/he'll lay in the front so that I can tell the difference between the squish of my belly and the firmness of what has to be a baby-back! It's so awesome that baby has gone from being poppy-seed sized to being so large I can feel his or her body... amazing.

Oh, and I can still see all the way over my toes... for now.

17 Weeks Pregnant

I feel SO. DAMN. PREGNANT.

Baby is almost 5 inches long!

I can't imagine what 30 weeks will feel like; I think my waddle has already started.
Baby is kicking regularly now and forcing me to eat things I usually don't EVER eat (my Wendy's cheeseburger was delicious, thank you) just in order to get through the day. About 10 minutes after giving into my cravings baby does a happy dance in my belly to let me know that the craving has been sated.
I gave up on the guilt that came along with my cravings yesterday for once and for all after having Jimmy Johns (with heated meat) for the second day in a row. It comes down to feeling sick the entire day and possibly puking versus eating something that I didn't intend to eat and feeling fantastic the rest of the day. I'll take the latter... especially when I only gained 1 or 2 pounds in the last 5 weeks. I think I'm looking pretty good! And we've come a long way from me not being able to eat anything.

A side note that I think is adorable:
Last night I told Shawn that the baby can see light through his/her eyelids (which are shut now) and suggested we use a flashlight to play with baby while it was in there moving around and awake. The baby should reflexively roll away from the light... well, baby went crazy for the light and started kicking towards it and going crazy. Shawn put his hand on my belly and projected the light over his fingers and the baby just went NUTS. S/He definitely knows when daddy is home, talking or near it at all; this baby just loves daddy already. So cute.

Chin Whiskers... am I pregnant or a cat?

When I fell on the stairs last week I did NOT hurt the baby. My appointment the next day for my 16 week checkup went beautifully and the baby's heartbeat was as strong as ever: between 154 and 158.

Onto the next installment of "Being Pregnant is Weird" crap: today I woke up to about 5 chin whiskers. I'd be embarassed to share this but it was just so odd that I can't help but to extrapolate. I had a rogue 1 or 2 chin hairs before getting pregnant that I would pluck every couple of weeks or so and it was no big deal, but this morning I looked like a damn cat! I'm not even kidding when I say each hair was at least a half inch long (HOW LONG WERE THEY GROWING THERE?!).
Some of you may turn away in disgust now and the rest of you who are like me are more than welcome to collapse onto your keyboard in fits of purple-faced laughter.
Some days I admit that I have a hunch that the baby is a girl and then days like today I wonder if this is from extra testosterone... or just plain hormone changes in general. I really can't make a guess. Even when I dream I don't even give it away to myself; I always see a chunky blonde baby with beautiful green eyes and it has been a boy in a couple of dreams and it has been a girl in the last couple dreams as well.

In 3 and a half weeks I'll be 20 weeks pregnant and we go to see our baby's arms and leggies and all of the baby's other body parts... except for the between-the-leg bits. We want to be surprised and I am saying this like 5 times when we are finally in the room with our ultrasound tech next month just to make sure they don't say anything, label anything or show us anything. I am going to have to look away when they check for the baby's sex because I have looked at so many ultrasound photos and videos that I would know if I saw either set. At this point I wouldn't be disappointed either way but I would be disappointed if I knew; I'd be the only one... and I can't keep things like that to myself.

Please promise to exclaim my bravery in the face of the hem-and-hawers in response to my new status as a cat. I only share because googling this morning offered me solace in the midst of other catlike mommies-to-be and I wish to pass on the feeling. Thanks.

Newtown, CT Shooting: Thoughts

I didn't post Friday because of the Newtown shooting; I still don't know what to say about it. The only thing I can even say now is that even in my limited status of "mother" that I am in now, it frightened me. I just am so happy to have our baby as close to me as possible right now so that I feel it is in the safest place s/he can be.

My clumsiness taught me about mom-worries...

20th Century Fox

"Oh god, oh god..." I screamed at first as I slid down the first two steps, "...no," the last bit came out as a whimper since I started to cry before my butt hit the step I had slid on. I was instantly sobbing from fright and worry for our baby. Shawn called out to me and started to sprint down the hall as I righted myself and continued to wail. 
I had done one of the things I have feared most since becoming pregnant: I fell on the stairs.

Shawn tried to calm me while I cried and cried. A million things rushed through my mind and I went to the bathroom to check for any amniotic fluid or blood. There was neither. I called my mom who shared a similar experience when she was pregnant with me, falling up a few stairs and landing on her knees; obviously things turned out fine for her and I.
It was only a little after 6 PM so the baby wasn't awake and kicking me yet, but at 7 PM it started to oblige as per its sleeping/kicking schedule. This morning all is still well albeit that the baby has shifted lower into my womb and is now kicking my cervix here and there. I have an appointment later this afternoon (16 weeks!) where I'll ask to have the baby's heartbeat checked via Doppler again. Until then, I can't worry about this. I prayed and Jah gave me a sense of Peace--or rather the sensation that I "should shut up and calm down; He's taking care of the baby better than we even know and has been this whole time." Even Shawn and my mother both gave me the same advice: "the worry you carry out could stress the baby more than falling like that ever could."
This put things into perspective for me and I realized that carrying around worry for my child isn't the same as carrying a badge of honor around. My child does not benefit whatsoever from me worrying or stressing out and it won't make me a better mother. I'll have to remember this later when our kid wants to cross the street, pet that big dog or go to school for the first time. And I really do have to let it go and give it to Jah, who has known, selected and protected our child before he or she was even in my body... cuz kids pick up on vibes even if they don't know what's going on precisely. And I want to help keep the good vibes going.

*jabjab* Ouch!

The baby is kicking me now with an unexpected ferocity for something only as large as an orange! I know I'm the only one who can feel it right now but I wish Shawn could feel what I feel when I hurriedly grab his hand and place it on my belly; and my parents who are already so in love with their grandbaby (and fighting about which sex it will be) when I gasp or exclaim out with a particularly strong jab.
I came to blog about feeling this... it has almost been 2 weeks since I last posted! I want to share this and to record it to remember later for myself as well. It's amazing how the idea of the baby moving inside of me seemed alien at first. It still is quite strange to think about, but once I rationally accepted the fact that this is really how humans are made and brought into the world, it's become more matter-of-fact now that I have finally started to feel jabs and rolls.


Glowing and Round-faced!

I physically feel better than I have so far; the second trimester isn't my "honeymoon" period like it is for some pregnant ladies but it is definitely an improvement from how weeks 6-11 were for me. I haven't gained much more weight since my last appointment (just a pound) but my face is rounder... like my quickly growing belly! I have to wear maternity pants everyday so I have 2 pair (now 3; thanks Mom!!!) I rotate like I used to with my regular pants.
Last week I started sleeping better after Thursday or Friday. I wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and maybe between 3:45 and 5 AM to get sick once if I didn't eat anything in the middle of the night. Then I go back to sleep with a very active-feeling belly and wake up between 7 and 7:30 AM (but I feel like I could sleep all day)! I have to eat first thing when I get up or I get sick again; I usually have cereal. Cereal is the only thing I have craved for the entire pregnancy so far. Other than that I have gone through a mac n' cheese phase, an egg salad phase, and now a (heated) turkey sandwich phase. I've been obsessed with turkey for a while now that I think of it...
I have been able to start cooking more again and now I cook most of our meals! Yay! Shawn enjoys that, too; he missed my cooking quite a bit I'm sure. Shawn is amazing at helping me and making life as easy as possible. He cleans everything and does all of the dishes so that when I am hungry I don't have to clean a bowl or plate and gag from hunger at the same time; there's always a dish ready for me! All I have to worry about is being comfortable, getting enough rest, and feeding us all.

Our next appointment is Wednesday. They're just going to check on me and maybe listen to the baby to check in on him or her. The next appointment after Wednesday we will finally be able to see our baby for the first time since 9 weeks! I'm so excited and I'm sure Shawn is, too. Imagine how big I'll be then... :o)