Thirteen.

According to Baby Center, our Love is the size of a medium shrimp this week. I’m not sure why they veered away from their usual fruit analogy, but I AM sure that I wasn’t about to pose with a medium shrimp. Gross. So, we scoured the produce section for another fruit approximately 3 inches in length. Meet the Pepino Melon. 

 

I don’t really like melons, and I’m sure we probably won’t be eating Pepino (it smells kind of weird), but its pretty stripey exterior and 3 inch length were perfect for our photo purposes.

13 weeks finds me still feeling sick, but incredibly excited and thankful. Friday is our first midwife appointment. Mom is covering the store so that Timmy can come with and we will listen to our baby’s heartbeat together for the first time. So amazing.

This pregnancy has definitely furthered my love for Timmy, and I can’t imagine going through this journey with anyone else but him. He is so perfectly right for me, and I am anxious for our little babe to meet her father. He has already begun talking to my stomach, and he narrates silly stories of what is going on in there...
 

Being pregnant has been slightly uncomfortable, but I’m loving it.
I feel like the happiest, luckiest girl in the world! Yay for 13 weeks!

Bitty Booties

Today was a happy sort of day. Because my good friend Elizabeth came to play with me, and she brought my mom. And they were so excited to help me make some little bitty booties for my baby.

We had a blast. And for $12, I got enough materials to make at least 15 booties. I feel so thrifty! 

Two of them are made from felt, and one is made from a soft suede. They're quick and easy to make, and the embellishment possibilities are endless. I chose gender neutral colors and ribbons. (Mom and Elizabeth had to convince me that no, boys cannot wear mauve booties. Boo.)

For when she's feeling Native American.

(I AM part Cherokee, you know.)

For when she's feeling English.

(Can boys wear lace? Mine definitely will.)

For when she's feeling Japanese. 

(Rynn, who is an expert on all things Asian
says these look like they came from Japan.)

Aren't they adorable?

I can't wait to make more.

(Timmy loves them too!)

Room Service.

 (Dinner in bed, served by my handsome waiter/chef/husband.

Feel free to laugh at how he cut the onions. But doesn't it look yummy?

Morning sickness has NOT disappeared

but I've been pampered.)

Twelve.

Our little Love is the size of a cheery green lime this week.
12 is a welcome landmark in the progression of my pregnancy,
and I am excited to leave trimester one behind me.
Day one of trimester two has been fabulous,
and I am truly hoping that my morning sickness
is going to magically disappear altogether.

My tummy has a tiny little bump that I was sure only I could notice.
But last night Tim commented that there is definitely
a small something there that was not there before.

We bought a lime yesterday to visually illustrate the size of our baby,
and Lime was carried about all afternoon.
We had a little photoshoot on the front porch,
and marveled at the (relatively) large size of it.
I was actually beginning to feel rather attached to Lime,
and abandoned my initial plan to slice it in half and use it to sweeten my water.
Without my knowing, Tim decided to play hacky sack with Lime in the living room,
and somehow ended up stepping on it.
He confessed to me, quite chagrined,
“Babe, I think I made a hole in our lime. It’s leaking juice…”
It was a little horrifying.

But the good news is he won't ever play hacky sack with our baby

and he is going to be one great Daddy. 

Golden.

20 times we've met

this special day

since 20 months ago.

The anniversary

of "you and me"

and the day our life

begins.

(It's safe to say

I like life this way

and I am bursting with

big grins.)

I never knew

I'd find a "you"

so much sweeter

than my heart foretold…

and

(even when you fuss)

This thing called "us" –

it's golden.

20 Months on February 20th!

Happy Golden Anniversary

to my best friend.

Typical

Becki emerges from the back room of the store and doesn’t seem the tiniest bit surprised to find Timmy racing along the tops of the freezers. Rynn is jumping up and down with excitement and says “Oh, oh! Me too!” Caleb looks at Becki and wonders “What are we going to do with these two?” 

Rynn scrambles up the side of a refrigerator. Tim and Rynn run back and forth, swing on beams, and make a lot of noise. Tim runs straight into a long pipe hanging down from the ceiling, hits his head, lets out a loud yell, and exclaims “Wow that hurt! I think I’m tasting blood!” 

Becki sighs and smiles and suggests they climb down now. Tim easily maneuvers his way off the end of the refrigerator row. Rynn jumps onto Caleb’s shoulders. Becki photographs the whole escapade.

The End.

 

Note: All of this occurred after the store was closed. 
Note, note: We really enjoy Rynn and Caleb.

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine’s Day weekend was celebrated with a long nap, basking in the 40 degree sunshine, guacamole, Jamba Juice, travel destination dreaming, and a sleepover by the fireplace. (Which did not last all night, but should have, because sleep is sweet when flames are flickering a lullabye.) We were a little lazy, and a little adventurous, we drove long distances and we celebrated the sweet love we enjoy every single day of the year. And I broke my sugar fast long enough to delight in a decadent dark chocolate bar studded with dried pears, blueberries, and crystallized violet petals. (Talk about a magical dessert.)

It was the perfect mix of relaxing, sweet, and romantic.

Valentine's Day is the best. 

*adorable photo by Laura Zastrow Photography 

 Loving…

… my pajamas, and the fact that I've been wearing them all day.

… having a little sister who lives close enough to "pop over".

… smoothies for lunch.

… buying books for our baby.

… seeing our Apple Wellness ad in the Isthmus.

… writing and re-writing baby name ideas.
(because it HAS to be a name that writes prettily.)

… wearing Timmy's socks, they're extra big and cozy.

… having a little nephew and a big sister who sends me movies of bathtime.

… that it is February 12, and we're getting closer to Spring.

…almond scented lotion.

… my husband and his contagious laughter.

… Valentine's Day weekend.

tasting
Cranberry muffins. (Just about all I can eat these days, thanks to our little Ducky.)
hearing
Caleb Jacobson. (He makes pretty music. www.myspace.com/colormehonest)

seeing

Baby name ideas. (I can't tell you what names are in the running,
but I can tell you that Charlotte and Clarence are not on the list.)

touching
Yarn. I've been attempting to crochet a stuffed hedgehog for the baby.
(Funny thing is, I don't remember how to crochet quite as well as I'd thought.)

smelling
Everything. Really well. (My sense of smell has basically quadrupled in these past weeks.)

 

My goals for the weekend are to relax and to start feeling better. I can't control the second one, but I'm hoping my body will hear my resolve and magically decide to say goodbye to morning sickness.  

 

Also, Timmy has a Valentine's surprise in store for me this Sunday. Aren't weekends sweet?

A Conversation: About Shaving

Timmy: Babe! I have a freshly shaven face!

Me: Nice. And how does that make you feel?

Timmy: Like a gentle angel.

Yellow.

Timmy bought me a new pair of mustard yellow mittens. They pop like bright sunshine amidst a world of winter whites. Yellow is a shade of happy, and happy is the color of my heart.
 

My weekend consisted of all things beautiful, (and absolutely no football).
A Friday night sister night with my favorite little sweetheart. A lazy Saturday at Apple Wellness with a handsome husband who was more than willing to lounge on the futon and make me smoothies, in between a stream of customers. Chipotle for dinner, a secret celebration, a pajama party in our bed, and time spent watching an eye opening documentary called “Food Inc.” An impromptu Sunday road trip home to visit Mom and Dad. Sunny hours spent cozied together in their warm living room, long talks about life and happiness, and my favorite orange kitty purring in my lap. Mom-made chocolate oatmeal cookies, hummus and homemade pita chips, and warm vegetable soup. A long, starlit drive home with my best friend, a late night snack of hot cranberry muffins, falling asleep under piles of warm blankets, and the promise of a great week to come.

 
I feel full of good things. 

(And, in my mustard mittens, my fingers have never felt happier.)

 In seven short months
we will have a September baby. 

 (baby "bump" 9 weeks)

 

 Our wee one will take a breath and arrive
into the ninth month of the year.
How will our September baby first find this big world?
*She will be welcomed into a season where evenings are spent
outside under a canopy of summer constellations.
Our baby will first feel the rays of warm sunshiney weather,
will first experience the joy of green grass,
will first know a world that is everlastingly bright
and brimming with golden sunflowers.
Tiny eyes will take in blue skies
and a tiny nose will smell the sweet and spicy scent of summer air,
just beginning to cool down into autumn.
She will find a world of thunderstorms and long days.
She will greet the vividness of September and,
just learning to live,
she may believe it will always be this way.
Of course, she’ll find that, along with everything else,
seasons change.
But September sounds
like a good place to begin. 

*I say "she" because I hate to refer to our baby as "it" and we obviously don't know if we're having a little girl or boy

Oh, Happy. from Becki O'Brien on Vimeo.

Month number two is pink and rosy, 

a welcome marker in the progression of winter months.
February promises to bring valentines and candy hearts,
twenty eight days, and the hope of Spring. 

(But so far, all it has brought is a blizzard and a flat tire. Happy February.)