Picture update

Here's the bump at 26 weeks.  Sorry for the blury picture...I'll try harder next week.  :-)

Baby Likes...

...her mama's favorite cookies!  Click on the recipe to open a new window with the picture...then you can print it and get baking!

If a picture is worth a thousand words...

Then this post might need to be long.  I've had so many computer issues in the last several weeks!  Now that I've got the Internet working again, I can no longer load pictures onto the computer!  But it has been so long that I thought I could at least write a picture-less update...

If you notice the pregnancy ticker at the bottom of my blog, we're at 26 weeks and counting!  Only 14 weeks to go!  The bump is growing...and moving!  Baby Daddy and I like to guess at what baby part is sticking out or kicking at me.  It seems that Emerson is still enjoying enough room to turn somersaults inside of me.  That is certainly what it feels like when I lay down and try to sleep!

But really, things are great.  I'm dealing with aches and pains related to an extra number of pounds and a shifting center of gravity...but I'm still sleeping well and able to get through the school day (and even get a few things done at home in the evenings).

Random pregnancy trivia:
1. Still no stretch marks (unless you count those from puberty:-P).  I lather on the cocoa butter each and every morning.  Fingers are crossed....
2. Belly button is....flat.  Not an innie and not an outie.  It's just flat!  I felt sure it would pop out by this time!  But my mom's never popped, so I might not have the turkey timer after all!
3.  I'm thrilled each time I run into someone I haven't seen in awhile.  There's no longer any awkward questioning...just "When are you due?!"  or "Well, I see congratulations are in order!"  Hurray for obvious pregnancy and no more ambiguous fatness.
4.  I think Emerson had the hiccups three times today.  I think.  A gentle kick, repeated regularly like, 20 times in a row... Is that hiccups?

Something I've wanted to say...

I thought that if I started a baby blog, I'd have endless things to write about.  Pregnancy makes it very easy to obsess!  Symptoms, emotions, nurseries, tiny socks, planning...there's so much!

But I'm often hesitant to hop online and type up whatever random pregnancy thing is on the forefront of my mind.  And I think I know why.  There's something I want you to understand.

I wasn't always pregnant.  *Duh.  Thanks, Beth.  Everybody knows that human gestation is only 40 weeks.  Of course you weren't always pregnant.*

What I mean is that I've wanted to be pregnant for a long time.  And, for many people, wanting to be pregnant isn't enough to make it happen.  I mean, wanting to be and not taking any...ahem...precautions...doesn't mean it's gonna happen.

And technically, the truth is that I have been pregnant before.  But not for long.  Our first pregnancy happened after several months sans precautions.  I remember being surprised that it took so long!  I come from a very, very fertile lineage.  (My parents combined have 14 siblings, who have gone on to produce my 45 first cousins.  Who in turn are producing countless second cousins...)

So after too many months of a disappointing single pink line on the stick...I came to the conclusion that it wasn't time.  I knew I couldn't control God's timing, so I went on with my life.  And, of course, that's when it happened.  Late period, two pink lines, joy and elation, peeing all the time, calls to the future grandparents, etc.  I was PREGNANT!

But then...There aren't really words to describe how I felt when I realized that we were losing our baby.  So many hopes and dreams and such powerful love...and yet we were powerless. 

I want you to know that I've been pregnant before, and it did not go as I had planned.

Praise God, this pregnancy is different.  You've seen the proof, right?  I want you to know that I realize how lucky I am.  And I'm not blogging to mindlessly brag about my pregnancy...I'm blogging to celebrate and cherish it.  This connection I have with my daughter, the fact that God is knitting her together in my womb is a privilege and miracle that I wasn't sure I'd ever get to experience.

And so, if you're reading this, and pregnancy hasn't been an easy thing in your life...if you've suffered through miscarriage or infertility, or even if you're waiting for the lack of precautions to pay off with the double pink lines...I feel for you.  If I know your story, I pray for you.  And our experiences remind me that much more to be grateful for what God is doing in my life.

The First

Since morning sickness hit in early July, I have hardly touched my sewing machine.  I spent the summer sitting on the couch, eating the same awful pretzels and bananas, trying not to throw them up.  Then school started.  And although I was feeling better, my sewing room was suddenly packed to the gills with stuff from the junk guest room that will now be the nursery.  After a few hours of cleaning, purging, and organizing, the sewing/guest room was finally ready to be used!  I had a project to work on that I had promised to a friend...but last night that project was finished and the sewing room was calling me! 

Now, I've sewn things for babies.  And I've sewn things for little girls.  But I have never sewn anything for MY very own BABY GIRL.  Until now.

I used the free pattern here, which I've used before.  But I had to add a ruffle because....BABY GIRL!  It was so fun to turn some pink flannel and an old brown T-shirt from my stash into a cute little bib that Emerson can drool and spit up on!  And there's something special about spending time making something for someone that shows that you love them.  I'm sure my infant will be aware of the time I spent sewing her ruffles.  Ha.

What about you?  Do you sew?  Craft?  Cook?  What do you do when you need a creative outlet or a special gift to show you care?