step right up, ladies and gents!

time to wager your guesses: this is definitley the biggest i've ever carried...so, care to guess the baby's weight?? (at time of birth of course, and who knows when that will be....)

(hint: Mayan was 5 lb 13 oz at 42 1/2 weeks; and Isadore was 4 lb 6 oz at 35 1/2 weeks....Wednesday I will be 39 weeks)

(just in case you forgot the face that goes with this belly:P)

random belly

these aren't the best...but i've had requests!

22 1/2 weeks

23 weeks

for the last few days i have been feeling yucky--again! no big appetite, nauseous, tired....flash back to first trimester (and much of the beginning of the 2nd.)

i am 24 weeks today, and as much as i hate to speculate b/c i think it is fruitless...i am starting to think this might be a boy! it is possible this extended yuckiness is just this baby, this pregnancy and completely unrelated to gender, but i gotta say--it's making me wonder.

the other night i had a dream that i gave birth to a baby that was a perfect 8 pounds. that was a good dream. i would be shocked if i had a baby over 6 pounds since i never have. then again i had just read someone's birth story and their baby was a perfect 8 lbs., so i was probably just integrating the information into my own dreams. ah, the mystery of it all!

I FOUND MY CAMERA!!

so get ready folks...a little preview of what you've missed before the camera got lost--and some current goodies to boot:

Mayan takes a music class on Tuesdays--her assignment was to design a percussion instrument. this is her Doomagotti:

poor papa--this is the pile of bills that constantly shuffles along the counter. bills get paid on the right, and new ones move in from the left. we split the counter half and half--no food gets on his bills and no bills encroach on my food.

i think mayan took this. it's a little crouching pharoah with Dorothy slippers.

Dia de los Muertos--our alter

after dinner we shared our favorite stories of the people we have know that have passed away. then we got silly for a family shot.

it's baby Nermie! not many things cuter than a kitten in a paper bag sitting in a ray of sunshine...

mayan getting deep into her body art

i was so excited that i found the camera that as soon as i charged the battery, i started snapping away! here is blake getting busted eating my chicken salad leftovers

here is isadore sleeping

and here is mayan NOT sleeping

aaaaand.....drumroll, please..................











belly pic #1 (19 1/2 weeks)

belly pic #2

belly pic #3

today is my 120th day since conception. the Sikh's believe that this is the day that the soul enters the child, and it truly becomes a person. i am not a Sikh but i think it is really cool to have one special day that honors the change a women has mid-pregnancy--out of the woods as far as miscarriage, belly now swelling and obvious to the world, baby is moving and feels more *real*...somehow our culture tends to really "miss it" in terms of celebrating the deeper, meaningful experiences. the change may not happen in one day but subtle, significant changes are happening and i have been trying to honor that more than ever this time around.

xo

food diary 11-16-07, belly pic

We bought vegetables today! This is very good news...I was feeling awful without a big green salad on hand...

Breakfast--the most perfect and basic breakfast: bacon, eggs over medium, toast, oj, water--perfection

After a surprise visit from the mother-in-law (!!!)..

Snack: pregnancy tea, crackers, pear, cheese

Lunch: lamb patties on pita with feta and cucumber yogurt sauce (really really yummy)

Snack: more tea i think

Dinner: (here come the veggies!) chicken sauteed with lime and garlic on corn tortillas with refried black beans, sour cream and avocado, brown rice, salad with baby greens, grated carrots and zucchini with a lime and oregano vinagarette, water


Still depending on Photobooth for belly pics--here is one by special request!

can't you guess?

Breakfast--yogurt with fresh raspberries and maple syrup, scrambled eggs, last half of leftover potato pancake (a little morning after quickie), water

Snack--apples, cheese, salami (few slices of each), cup of tea

Lunch--one perfect slice of sausage and roasted potato pizza from Pizzicato (thank you, B!!!), big ol' arugala pear salad with walnuts and blue cheese

Snack--no snack, i fell asleep

Dinner--lamb chop, risotto with peas, water, cranberry juice


So, we had our second prenatal visit with the "wives" today...Blake got to hear the heartbeat for the first time and also got very chatty and did some bonding with the ladies (it's a team of two plus their apprentice). Baby (which should be about the size of an avocado) sounds great, still very deep in my body and kicked then floated away from the doppler. Heehee....

I have been making a big effort to be really good to myself but not be nuts (that isn't my style anyway)--yoga once or twice a week, walking one to two miles a few times a week, staying very hydrated, napping when the urge hits...one of the great things about pregnancy for me is that extra nudge to be good to yourself. That is not to say I don't treat myself--in fact, the juxtaposition is that it also gives you the excuse to splurge a bit. Like the pound of fries I ate at Hawthorne Fish House the other day with Breana (that is to say I went with her but I didn't share one single fry, I shamelessly downed to whole pound) and snagging the uneaten potato cakes from my friends plates last night. Do we see a theme developing here? The current joke is this baby will be named "Tater." Fried potatoes in any form rule.


Blake misplaced the camera on his trip to Bend last weekend--so here is the weekly belly shot taken by PhotoBooth: