34 Weeks

Happy 34 weeks baby! People are beginning to notice you before they notice me, a trend I'm sure will continue 'cause you'll be so stinkin' cute. But yes, you have grown. The doctor estimates that you are about 3 pounds this week. 

You sure do like to wiggle, a trait you pick up from.....well maybe both of us. Like clock work I can tell when you wake up and when you go to sleep? Who are we kidding, I don't ever remember you going to bed. I haven't had to do a kick count on you since week 27, for that I'm thankful!

It is beginning to look like Christmas both in our house and around town, although this picture looks like fall, don't be fooled, I only took my jacket off for a moment. A new jacket mind you, we both didn't fit in any of my old ones. We are so very excited to meet you!

Do you remember that character from Charlie and the Chocolate factory? Violet? Yeah, those are my feet and yes, I look a little like violet, at least around my middle. 

We were without our trusty chalkboard today but I think you get the idea. 34 weeks here we come! Soon and very soon we get to give lots of snuggles and kisses. 

Week 27

As we enter into the third trimester I feel an urgent need to relish all opportunities that will become more challenging once baby arrives or at least not as simple as they currently are. Taking spontaneous day trips is a luxury we felt the need to spoil ourselves with. On Sunday after church we left for the "mountains", Oak Mountain in fact, soaking up the fall colors and soaking up our last days of our baby-less season.

View from the top. As you can see there isn't much 'height' in Alabama. 

Don't you just love fall colors. 

Our girls is at 27 weeks now.  Kicking like crazy, I used to just feel her when I was sitting or lying down but  now she is moving all around, all the time. At 2 pounds she is becoming quite the little lady. The most exciting development is seeing her movements from the outside in, when she moves and I can see it-ahhh it makes it all the more real. Welcome the the third trimester baby girl, we're sooo looking forward to meeting you and maybe someday taking you on spontaneous day trips.

Week 26

Fall is officially and finally here. If I can wear pants during my lunch hour without sweating to my death then yes, it has arrived. Alabama is famous for starting the morning out at 46 degrees and heating up to 75 by one o'clock. Crazy and difficult to dress for but it means we've finally caught up with the rest of ya'll. Pumpkins don't seem quite so out of place as they did two weeks ago on 90 degree afternoons. Who doesn't love waking up to a crisp 46 degrees?

You know what is also here? Week 26!

There isn't anything extra special about 26 weeks other than we are excited to be here! Excited and maybe a little nervous. That means only 14 Fridays (we hope) till we get to meet our daughter. Whew, deep breath, 14 weeks is a long time away right? 14 weeks ago I was not very excited and very ill. All that to say, a lot can happen to my mind, body and spirit.....and baby! 

Two places at once

Have you ever tried to live in two places at once? Believe me, I've tried it doesn't work. You end up missing one place and missing out on the place you currently live. I cannot live in both Washington and Alabama, I've tried unsuccessfully. Thus, Dan and I made the choice to be engaged- 

wherever we may live. 

I've also tried to live in both the States and Nigeria, this too was a failed attempt. This is a reality I'd rather not face sometimes; like today, when I really would love to be transported back, to live in both places at once. We've engaged ourselves in friendships and work and church here and yet every time Phyllis sends out an update from Nigeria or when friends go back from a visit I get a twinge of excitement sprinkled with jealousy. 

Oh, how I wish I could breathe in some hot, humid air from the bush. 

Or spend some time with the people I love. 

Alas, I live here and not there. So for now I'll breathe in some hot, humid air from our bush 

and spend time with the people I love, love, love. 

It's a.....

I think there are a lot of mixed opinions these days about whether or not to learn the gender of your baby. For us it was a 'yes please'. For many reasons, one of which is how exciting it is to know. I've heard though that waiting until delivery is also really special and brings an excitement and joy all its own (maybe a surprise will be for the next go round). But for this one we wanted to know. Would you like to know too?

please forgive the blurry phone picture

In case you can't read that, "It's A Girl." We now get to include the word(s) girl, of course, but also daughter, niece and she. No longer an it but Our Baby Girl! (please read a big smile in my voice as I write this) We would have been pleased with a boy or a girl but the knowing is, for us, so special. And now for you reader, we hope the knowing is special for you as well. 

Note to the reader: We are planning to keep our daughter's name a secret until after her birth, you can ask but we won't tell. Guess there are somethings still left to surprise you with. 

22 weeks

Well baby, you are 22 weeks old now. I've gone from being slightly aware of you to now very aware. It seems like last week you decided to move and kick way more than ever before (that may seem obvious but it's still very cool to experience). I've been asking you to kick hard enough for daddy to feel and like the good, obedient first born you are, you responded. On Sunday, dad got to feel you kick for the first time. But you can be a trickster sometimes, just when you are moving and squirming and he puts his hand to feel, you stop. Baby, this is not hide and seek. 

I swear the bump looks bigger in person. 

This week you've gained 3 oz, that's a lot when you are so tiny to begin with. They tell me you are the size of a spaghetti squash, only way better looking I'm sure. We love you precious one. We pray for you all the time and know life wouldn't be the same if you were to leave.

Your baby too

My brother asked me a couple months back if I was going to post weekly photos of the bump. Not thinking I would be one to participate in that trend I said "no." But this week I can't seem to help myself, especially since we (the royal we, baby and me, but mostly baby) have gone from slight pooch to really noticeable. 

And, there is also the fact that this is your baby too! Maybe you're missing seeing it grow. Maybe this is your niece or nephew, grandbaby or relative and in that case I think I'm totally justified in posting the 'bump' photos for you, 'cause I think you secretly or not so secretly care :)

To catch you up on what's been happening we have:

Thankfully sickness ended around week 16, this last month has been delightful. I think I actually enjoyed being pregnant this last month! Just tonight Dan gave a big grin at the table, he too is thankful I'm feeling better, we are eating meals now! Fully cooked meals, it's the small things folks.

And now we are in:

Yep, week 21. Past the halfway mark and fully in the second trimester. My, how we've grown (again, the royal we- baby and I). This week baby is 13 oz, only 380 grams. For you folks at home that is very tiny and yet big enough that I can feel baby move, squirm and give gentle kicks, think the size of a carrot. Super cool! Who knew that someone with 3cm legs could make such an impact!

It was hard for me to enter into full excitement mode when my head was hanging over the toilet (sorry if that is too personal) but full excitement mode is here now! We've been crafting (not Dan so much as baby and I) and decorating and cooking! Ahhh the joys of the second trimester, it is everything they say it will be and so much more. 

I want to get away

We wanted a little get-away for our Labor Day Weekend as it seems do many other Americans. Maybe you went camping or hiking or on a road trip one final time before summer's end. We did too. This time to Chattanooga. After last year's misfortune in Mobile, AL- trust me this city does not need to make your top 10 or even top 100, we decided to head in the opposite direction, somewhere a little closer and a little 'cooler' (pun intended).

What do you think of when you hear the word Chattanooga? Maybe something like:

Or maybe you are history buff, like this guy below, and you think about THE battle for Chattanooga at Chickamauga. We learned all about the Civil War Battle here (technically in GA) and on Lookout MT.(again, in GA, but who's keeping track?)

Or maybe like me you went to Chattanooga to stand on Lookout Mountain and See Seven States from Rock City.

and to see waterfalls, caves, rivers and more.

WE are back

Apologies for the gap between posts. It has been so long Google didn't even recognize me. I even had to create a new password to log in! I promise I have a good reason for my absence though, I'm sure you've heard and if you haven't, I apologize that you are learning this over a blog post but Dan and I are expecting our first baby in January! 

                          

(When I look at myself in the mirror I feel HUGE but somehow these photos don't have same effect.)

 See what I mean about good reason? The last 12 weeks have been challenging. I can't really explain it to you and I'm sure you won't really get it unless you've had some foreign creature  baby living inside of your body but trust me when I say there is nothing like it. I've been sick before, I've felt strange before, but this was not the same.

Week 18

But as the three of us walk though week 18 together, we are much happier than week 8, we are thankful that this little creature is in charge, even if it means we are just along for the ride. Thankful to be welcoming babe into our family and thankful for renewed energy to blog!

One Year Old

One year ago I was bursting at the seams, dying to tell you about our new job and move to the south. We decided to wait until we were sure we were moving and until we had notified our previous employer. No employer should find out you're leaving your job via your blog, but I'm sure you already knew that. So with great joy I began to write. It became routine and therapeutic to put down my thoughts and I so love to hear your feedback. 

You've been faithful readers, I appreciate that. It's always helpful to know that my ideas are interesting to you too.
If you haven't guessed already today is the one year anniversary of our (read the royal we, Dan is very helpful for grammatical checks and spelling assistance) blog, Happy Birthday Blog!

If you've been reading for a year, happy anniversary to you too.  Let's recount the year, shall we?

We have readers from across the world, some countries I know people who live there and some I don't, we have readers from Japan, South Korea and the UK, to name a few.

You've been with us as we quit our jobs, packed up our apartment and drove cross country. You were with us when our car cars had trouble and you watched as we discovered the South. It has been an experience; interesting, difficult, and exciting experience. Thanks for coming along!

A big shout out to our most popular post Bow to your partner. I think it must be the title?

Alien Invasion and Unidentified Objects

So we signed up for this CSA, which we love; mostly. We love that we get fresh greens each week, and I do mean fresh, not grown with chemicals or made to ripen with strange fumes. 

Bonus: We are swimming in salad greens and strawberries, who doesn't love a fresh salad? If you are looking for ideas ask us, we've made 7 different kinds this week, yes 7, one for every day of the week. I told you people we were SWIMMING in greens. 

But, what I'm discovering about the CSA is that although we have fresh produce weekly we also have fresh produce weekly that we didn't select and I'm finding myself in uncharted territory. Lovers of vegetables please HELP! I know you are probably far more cultured than I and have eaten these things before but I haven't cooked or tasted many of the items we are being given, in fact I can't even identify many of this weeks goods.

I'm pretty sure this is Swiss Chard, but what do you do with it?

 I am a recent convert. Yes, I had many microwave timers set for me as a child as I was forced  encouraged to eat my green beans. Now that I'm a believer I'm pretty sure I missed out on vegetable 101. 

Enter you, yes, you the reader. Can you identify this week's goodies? Can you suggest recipes or tips on how to cook? Or, will we be left to the alien invasion that seems to be threatening our kitchen?

PS I think this could totally pass as some kind of spaceship, hence the alien reference. 

Our First

Our first Southern Wedding, how do we look?

Our first go at a Southern Wedding went without a hitch. It was lovely. Dan's favorite part was the buffet including eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, gravy, waffles and egg casserole with grits. Can't get much more Southern than that. 

A highlight of the afternoon was a performance by former Crimsonettes. 

You can thank Dan for the video. 

Good Eats

It happened. The day I've been waiting months for finally came and went. We signed up for a CSA this year, for those of you not in the know CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I bet there is one in your community too, you should check it out! Unless of course the idea of fresh, organic, good for you stuff doesn't sound appealing. 

I think I've mentioned before that shopping at the Farmer's Market brings happiness to my day, but this takes it to a whole new level.

  Members of the CSA, pay a fee of course, but have weekly produce delivered to a pick up point. There is a bit of randomness involved, I know sounds very unlike me, but I was willing to try a little unpredictability. The Farmer delivers fresh, and I do mean fresh with the dirt still intact, vegetables and fruits to your pick up point and you, the consumer, pick up your goods. You are told the day prior to your pickup what will be in your box, see? randomness.

 Our pickup day happens every Tuesday- unless there is a tornado watch in effect and in that case we move it to Wednesday. Our farmer picks what is in season and fills you box with recipes and goodness. Last week was radishes, carrots, salad greens, strawberries and green onions, is your mouth watering yet?

If you've been watching the news you know there have been a few tornados recently, one 7 miles from our house. If you love a good home video or just miss Dan's voice see below.

Would you like a Coke with that?

Let me just preface this post by saying I do not in any way advocate drinking soda. I personally choose not to consume it- too many nasty ingredients to make it worth my while- did you know aspartame can chemically alter the genetic makeup of your brain? Who thinks of this stuff anyways?

That may sound a little two faced, I mean I did spend a whole afternoon touring a Coca-Cola museum and then raced around a sticky floor trying to consume all the carbonation my stomach could muster but I'd like to justify my actions by stating that I never drink it! Unless of course I'm in a village on a dusty road and I've just been offered a side of goat with my spicy rice and the only way this is going down is with a Fanta, but only then. 

Okay, now that we are all being honest with one another I'll share about my afternoon. It was pretty great. They even give you a free Coke when exiting. After all, they are trying to make addicts out of us. I think they are too great at their jobs. Anyway, the museum contains the how, why, history and their delight in making Coke products.  Such fun. 

Much of the museum is standard, you walk through different exhibits learning about the history. "New Coke", Classic Coke, etc. But the best part of this museum is the tasting exhibit. I think all these folks would agree with me:

And these folks:

The exhibit has stations from every continent, of course we sampled as many as we could, I have a weakness for the flavors from Madagascar and Mexico. 

If you're ever in Atlanta, even if you never drink soda, you should stop by.You may discover a flavor you can't live without.  

Catching Fire

I couldn't resist.....just a few more I promise. 

Above: Our visit. Below: President Snow in all his glory.

Above: Amy in the dining room. Below: 'the talk' about how to handle Katniss. 

I think you get the gist of it. It was a pretty great afternoon. 

P.S. This garden is also in the film....you'll have to watch to find out where.