Hello folks!

We’ve been up to our ears in all things baby.  Between sorting through piles of clothes and other assorted goodies (thanks, Sarah!), meetings with a new midwife and childbirth classes, I’m feeling positively maternal. If that wasn’t enough, Murloc Baby has taken up a correspondence course in kickboxing. I’m not sure where she’s learning her new moves, but they’re effective… although it’s a bit unnerving to look down at my lap and see my stomach moving by itself.

Which leads me to… my first belly shot! Yay! I know, I know, I’m light years behind the times and over halfway through this pregnancy, but let’s face it–I had a pretty significant belly to begin with, and until recently it pretty much obscured the more subtle changes. The last couple weeks made for a belly growth spurt, though. My belly button is begging for its life, and I see maternity jeans in my near future. Which reminds me, if you’re a plus-size mom and you have recommendations, please send them my way. I’m clueless when it comes to clothing, and so far the thrift shops and mainstream clothing stores in the area have turned up nothing short of a mumu and an old potato sack.

Oh, and bonus pic: I now have glasses. This probably doesn’t mean much to you, dear Internets, but if you could have seen me in the first five minutes after leaving the optometrist’s with my new prescription, you’d understand the impact. It went something like this:

Me: “OH MY GOD LOOK OVER THERE!”

Tim: “What?!? What!?!”

Me:”That sign! See that sign!?!? I CAN READ IT! It says ‘Welcome back students!’ WOW!”

Tim: “… Uhh… yes, glasses are great like that.”

Me: “OH! And look over there! See that one?!? It says ‘Bennoch Road!’ And there! That guy’s license plate! It says…”

Tim: “… so, uhh, how long are you going to do this?”

Me: “Man! The world… it has edges.”

We had our second ultrasound yesterday, and I’m so proud to present to you, dear Internets, our adorable alien daughter.

Our first ultrasound was done in May, around 7 weeks, and at that time there wasn’t much to see. Our baby was a cashew-shaped blob on the screen (making me wonder if I’d had an affair with Mr. Peanut–it’s hard to resist the monocle) and the only thing that differentiated her from such was a heartbeat. Most cashews don’t have heartbeats. Obviously she’s grown a bit since then… and she actually looks like a baby! Yay!

She’s kicking up a storm in there, too… she skipped the light fluttering stage entirely and went straight to tap-tap-tapping, and those taps are growing stronger every day. The ultrasound showed her kicking and bouncing her little legs up and down. More pictures at Flickr!

My favorite nicknames for the babe so far:

• Little Boo
• Ghostie
• Murloc Baby
• Alien Baby
• Thumper

I’ve been satisfying my creative urges by cooking and baking. In fact, I’ve been acting the part of the housewife lately… cleaning, cooking, nesting, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen… it must be the hormones. It’s on these little domestic escapades that I wonder what it would take to fix the sewing machine I bought at the thrift store a while back so I could make something with it. Nevermind that I haven’t used a sewing machine in years, and I’d probably end up sewing my little finger to whatever bundle of fabric and fluff I attempted to patch together… ahem. OK, so maybe I’m not that domestic. It’s likely the coolest thing I’ll ever make with that sewing machine will involve a camera and a pretty girl in a pretty dress. And that’s perfectly OK with me.

I saw the new X-Files movie twice over the weekend. Yes, I liked it that much. I didn’t expect to like it… I went into the theater with very low expectations, but came away feeling surprisingly satisfied. The plot was weak, the pace was a bit slow, and it was decidedly lacking in supernatural creepiness, but I found that the Mulder/Scully character development made up for these shortcomings. Since the series ended, I’ve often wondered what my two favorite characters were up to, and it was nice to find out. In fact, the movie inspired me to dig my geeky* high school obsession out of the closet and dust it off. I’m going to spend the next few months re-watching the series from the beginning.

In other news, it should come as no surprise to those who know me well that I’m quite ready for fall. Summer and I have a tenuous relationship. I’m always happy to see it at first–after six months of cold winter hell, who isn’t? For a few weeks I revel in the warmth of a beautiful June day, basking in the sun. I might even forgive the humidity, because it’s so damn wonderful to walk out of the house without a jacket.

But after about a month, I’m quite ready to see summer go. Summer is like the house guest that overstays its welcome by six weeks. Summer is the clingy, not-quite-ex-boyfriend you just can’t seem to shake off, whose once warm and enveloping hug becomes a sticky, sweaty and entirely unwelcome grope.

Bring on the wool sweaters and apple cider, please.

And for a final random thought, you know you’ve reached full pain-in-the-ass status when your IT guy sees your name on his caller ID and answers the phone with, “Uh oh, what now?” Congratulate me!

* Not to say I’m any less of a geek now than when I was in high school… to the contrary, I think I may be more geeky. But at least now I have the confidence to geek with pride.

By process of elimination, we’ve determined that baby loves:

• Nectarines
• Stuffed green olives
• Sunflower seeds
• Meat, any variety
• Cream cheese, or anything onto which you can put cream cheese, or anything into which cream cheese goes (cheesecake being the primary suspect). This one may just be mum wanting an excuse to sit down with a spoon and have it out with a package of Philly. The temptation is strong and the will is so very weak.

And baby does not so much care for:

• Chinese food
• Chocolate in candy form (Ice cream, however, is acceptable.) If it weren’t a physical impossibility given the situation, I’d consider a maternity test.
• Vegetables

All bets are off as to what this kid will make me eat. Prior to this, I’d never much cared for meat, save for the occasional burger, but now… well, let’s just say last weekend I tore into a barbeque chicken drumstick like it was the last piece of chicken on earth and I hadn’t eaten for six weeks. It was messy and heavenly in a deliciously barbaric way, that drumstick.

Despite the fact that baby seems to have inherited my love of ice cream (has anyone found the “ice cream” gene yet? I swear, it’s there… check over by the “big ass” gene), I’ve only gained half a pound, which I’m told is good for someone my size. I don’t have much baby belly to speak of yet, although something tells me it’s growing, because I can’t suck it in like I used to. But I’m pretty sure the majority of my belly is still good old-fashioned food-baby belly… no help from the ice cream, of course.

I’m also taking two different yoga classes starting this week… I had my first beginner’s course today, and I’ll start pre-natal yoga next Wednesday. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I am not the only fat girl in the beginner’s course, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one who thinks Downward Facing Dog is the pose of the devil. “Hello, heartburn! Hadn’t seen you in a while! Wonder why I can still taste my breakfast? Hmm, could have something to do with all this butt-in-the-air business….”

I can’t honestly say I have an opinion of yoga yet, given my limited experience includes today’s class and a semester-long course I basically slept through in high school. So far the running theme seems to be learning to get comfortable in semi-unnatural positions. Oh, and breathing–lots of breathing–although I still don’t quite get that part, as during most of today’s class I found myself thinking, “Wait, you mean I’m supposed to be able to breathe in this position?!? Eurgh!” *cue collapse onto yoga mat*

I kid, I kid. The class was a lot of fun, and the instructor is very aware of different body types and how one can modify certain positions such that they get the benefit of a yoga workout without the back strain. All in all, I felt surprisingly comfortable–or at least as comfortable as one can be while stretching, bending, flexing, and pointing one’s arse skyward.

So yes, other than the icky humid weather, this summer is shaping up nicely. I’ve been on hiatus from photography stuff, at least until I work up the energy to attempt another shoot–although I have a fun idea in mind, and Danielle has offered to help me, so that may happen sooner rather than later. To be honest, I welcome the down time… I appreciate it more now, knowing the hard work that’s coming up. At the end of the day, one full-time job is enough, and I just want to relax while I still can.

Hey look! A shop update! Yay!

I have some photos from the dollfood series that came back from a consignment contract… this means two good things for you: first, I have 8×12’s of most of the new photos on hand, so those prints will ship the next day (Sunday obviously being the exception, and this is assuming I don’t get a sudden influx of orders for the same prints–that would be nice, but has never happened, so!). And second, the prints cost less than they did on consignment! Yay!

I’m in the process of putting the series up right now, so go see!

Also, it appears I’ve been named ThisNext’s “Expert Maven” for all things handmade. I’m not sure why (I’ve been neglecting ThisNext recently, alongside most of my other regular Internet endeavors) but now I have to live up to my title, don’t I? And thanks to baby fever, I have a new excuse to window shop and recommend more handmade products!

New posts coming soon. I’m currently experiencing an unexplained revival of first trimester ickiness. Let’s hope it’s short-lived. 7 p.m. is a perfectly appropriate bedtime for an adult, yes? I thought so.