Baby Knows Best

I recently took a trip to Grand Rapids to see my mom and drove Mark's SUV there since I was lugging some big items with me.  On the drive in while listening to Mark's well-stocked iPod, a song came on that made Chickpea go NUTS with bomping.  I made a mental note to play it later, just to get to know it better.  On the way home I searched for the song and push played.  Once again, Chickpea went crazy the entire time the song was on.    

I finally had time to Google and read the lyrics on Sunday.  Mark asked me to read them out loud to him; in doing so, I became choked up and started to cry over how perfect this song is, considering it was Chickpea who called my attention to it:

All my little plans and schemes

Lost like some forgotten dreams

Seems that all I really was doing

Was waiting for you

Just like little girls and boys

Playing with their little toys

Seems like all they really were doing

Was waiting for love

Don't need to be alone

No need to be alone

It's real love

Yes, it's real love

Oh, it's real love

Yes, it's real love

From this moment on I know

Exactly where my life will go

Seems that all I really was doing

Was waiting for love...

Don't need to be afraid

No need to be afraid

It's real love

Yes, it's real love

Oh, it's real love

Yes, it's real love

Thought i'd been in love before

But in my heart I wanted more

Seems like all I really was doing

Was waiting for you

Don't need to be alone

No need to be alone

It's real love

Yes, it's real love

Oh, it's real love

Yes, it's real love...

The song is 'Real Love' sung by Regina Spektor, although it's actually a John Lennon original.  Check it out and tell me this isn't the most perfect song to add to my in-progress labor playlist*.  I'm in real love with it, to be sure.



*I'm looking for song suggestions to add to the playlist (cheekily titled 'Push It Real Good') that Mark and I will listen to at the hospital.  If you have ideas, please leave them in the comments section and I'll post the entire list once it's complete. Thanks!

Squeeee!

My good friend Erica is just one of about 5 of my friends who are pregnant right now.   As a matter of fact, she was the trendsetter, which means she is totally about to have that baby any minute now.  The poor thing was due on the 16th.  And as of right now, (THE 29th!) she's still pregnant.  BUT!  She's being induced today at 2pm and I could wet my pants over the excitement...she's about to have a BABYl!  I just keep praying everything goes well for her and the baby - Chickpea's first friend!  She is the only person I know who also kept the gender unknown, which means I'm doubly excited to get the notice that the baby is here.  We will finally know if it's a boy or girl.

Speaking of that, I had a dream last night that she had a boy and named him Nathan. If I had to put money on it, though, she'll have a sweet little red-headed baby girl.  Hopefully we'll know in the next day or so if I'm right!

Push, Erica, PUSH!  :o)

7/1/10 Update:
Erica JUST had her baby at 11:24am!!  I should have bet money...it's a GIRL and from what I hear, she has reddish hair! Cameron Grace came in at 9lbs & 22 inches long and is perfect & healthy. What a little butterlump!  Congrats Erica...I am beside myself with joy for you and can't wait to meet your little one.  YAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Bump Watch: 25 & 26 Weeks

Hola!  You might have noticed posting has been a little sparse around here.  Turns out getting ready for a baby takes work (more on that later)!  That, combined with the hormone-induced desire to chill and sleep - which, uh, isn't coming easily these days - doesn't leave a whole lot of time to come on here and bore you pretties to tears. ;o)

Today is actually the 1st day of my third - and LAST - trimester!  Oh my goshies, I don't think you know how happy that makes me.  I realize this is going to feel like the longest trimester by far, but I also think it's going to be the most exciting and busy.  Today also marks the three year anniversary of Mark and I getting engaged! Three years ago, I was woken up early in the morning from a deep sleep to see my sweetie on his knee with a shiny ring and red rose in hand; today I'm on the verge of waddling and have just three months until I'll be woken quite often from a deep sleep for a very different, yet equally awesome, reason.  Don't you just love how timing works?

Onto belleh pics!  Are you getting tired of these yet?  TOO BAD FOR YOU!  Hahaaaa...

WEEK 25:

I'm growing out of this shirt.  It's one of my favorites, too.  DANG!

This is what happens when we let the dogs in the room while taking photos.  They are craaaazy!

And this is what happens when I'm ready to be done with the photo op (don't you like the hands on my hips?).

WEEK 26:

 Hey-oh! DOGS IN THE ROOM AGAIN.

(See? Lucy just couldn't resist sticking her nose in it...)

How you doin'?  Welcome to my nekkid belly.  I made a comment last week to Mark about how I look bigger than a couple pregnant women I know who are further along than me and he said, "Babe, that's because you are ALL PARTY OUT FRONT!"  It made me giggle, because it's so true.

Don't be tardy to the party, ya'll.

Daddy-To-Be

Today is Father's Day, and while technically I'm still carrying our first child (one we've created together - these girls certainly do count, as well!), I already very much view Mark as a father - and an amazing one at that.  As busy as he is and as little we get to see him these days, he somehow is still magically able to meet the demands and needs that his pregnant wife and excitable puppies have.

I find myself spending a lot of time during these last months of pregnancy envisioning what it will be like to be a parent, a mama to Chickpea.  Sometimes I worry that I won't know exactly what to do, that my heart will break in two the first (and 100th) time I'm not able to comfort our little one as it cries.  I have lots of little worries about the "what-if's," but not one of them entails wondering or worrying about what kind of father Mark will be.

When I met Mark, I instantly knew I had met my equal and had no doubt he would make a wonderful father.  His tender heart, love and ability to care for those more than he ever takes care of himself are just a few reasons why I look forward to being a co-parent beside this man. I find myself daydreaming about the look on his face when he sees this baby for the first time, thinking about the time he will spend teaching and encouraging our baby from day one, and how much fun they will have together.  To say Chickpea is lucky to have the father s/he will have is a crazy understatement.  This kiddo won the Daddy Lottery, to say the least.

Mark, thank you for being such an amazing, unfaltering husband, and for giving me so much to look forward to as we venture further down this path we find ourselves navigating together. You make it all so much happier, sweeter, and more worthwhile. I hope I'm half the parent I know you'll be...and just having you by my side means I don't have to worry about much -- I know you'll always see to it that we are loved and taken care of in your quiet and gentle way. What a gift you are. We love you!

And to my own dad...

Thank you for your own quiet and gentle love over these past (almost) 34 years.  I've never doubted your love for me and that is a true gift for a child!  I love you very much! xoxo

Nursery Hint...

This weekend, my mom, her best friend Cindy, and Cindy's brother Kevin & his partner Don are coming to Lansing to help paint the nursery and do some gardening.  HOW LUCKY AM I?!  This marks the first real work to be done of the nursery and I'm so excited!

I'll be posting 'before' pictures of the room to share with you, along with progress photos along the way.  For now, though, I thought I'd show you the precious print I just bought for the room.  It sort of gives you a little hint into the look we are going for.  What do you think?

I found it on Petit Collage, and can't wait to see it on the wall that Chickpea will stare up at someday soon...

100 Days to Go!

I've been so, so busy and have about 6 posts in my head just waiting to get written...  However, I couldn't let today go by unnoticed: We only have 100 days to go until our due date!!

With each day that passes, I feel Chickpea kicking harder and more frequently.  And with that, my happiness and excitement grows.  I can't wait (although I will - happily!) to meet this little one.  As we get closer, it gets more and more real, but I won't allow myself to take one minute or day for granted - I know just how immeasurably blessed we truly are...

I LOVE me some Lucy!

Two years ago today, Lucy came into our lives.  Mark and I were newly married and had been mulling over the idea to get Molly a companion, since she showed signs of loneliness.  As mentioned here, Mark caught me sniffling over one of those ASPCA commercials and totally caved.

A week and a few days later, Molly had a pet and we had a little...situation on our hands.

To be fair to Lucy, our perception was skewed; Molly was pretty much the perfect dog from the day we got her.  She made it reaaaallllly easy to look like good puppy owners. We taught her a couple tricks, but other than that, she was an angel from the get-go.  So when we got Lucy - a year old at that point and set in her ways - it was a bit of a rude awakening: WE WERE ACTUALLY GONNA HAVE TO "PARENT" THIS ONE.

I recall coming home on the fourth day of having Lucy, stepping in yet another dominantly-laid puddle of her urine, getting scratched to shreds by her once again, and immediately bursting into tears.  I wailed something along the lines of, "I...I don't liiiiike her....I'm not sure I can do this!!"  It was pretty pathetic.  Mark and I talked it over and decided we would give it until the end of the week - two days more, to be exact.

Not even kidding you, the next day, Lucy showed a tiny bit of improvement.  And so she stayed.

It wasn't easy breaking her of the bad habits.  Sadly, it was clear that whoever had owned her before she was rescued hadn't spent any time with her.  She didn't even know how to sit, she jumped up non-stop (causing actual bloodshed - most likely due to anxiety and a fear of not getting enough attention), she never smiled and was very possessive and dominant over Molly - the older, bigger, more-seasoned dog in the house.  I didn't know where to start, really.  I began to show her that she would only get attention if she acted a certain, behaved way.  Being the lover she is, that eventually began to pay off and she made great strides.

Two years later, I wouldn't hesitate to say that it's this gal who is the better-behaved dog of the two.  She is my sweet little love, the one who is always there to give a little nudge and let you know she's there.  She is smiley, gentle and kind, doesn't jump or scratch, and she listens so, so well. I'm very proud of how far she's come and am so glad we gave her the chance to prove that we had what it took as a team to get past the growing pains.

I guess you could say it was Lucy that gave me the confidence to know I could be a good, dedicated mommy.  She is worth every scratch endured and every tear shed, without a doubt.  Spend just two minutes with this little lamb and you will know just what I mean.  It's impossible not to fall in love with her.

P.S. Tonight, Mark and I took Lucy & Molly to 'Cones and Bones' to get ice cream, followed by a trip to PetSmart so that Lucy could pick out a new birthday toy.  Here is a picture of her waiting to get her ice cream.  Is that a happy face or is that a happy face?

I wish you all could have seen how content she was on the way home - she kept putting her head on my shoulder from the back seat and nuzzling me, smiling the whole time.  It was too cute for words and made me so happy.  She has played non-stop with her new toy - an...ant-eater, I think, that makes a HOOONNNNNNNK sound every time she squeezes it.  Which is a lot.  Hey, guess I better get used to the noisy toys now, huh? ;o)

Bump Watch: 23 & 24 Weeks

Guess what, chicken butt?  I'm six months along now!  For some reason, being able to say '6 months' seem like we're so much closer to having a baby than even 5 and a half months did. When people would ask, "How far along are you?" and I responded with "5 months!" they would say, "Ahh, you have a long way to go..." Which, really? Isn't a very nice thing to say to a pregnant lady, letmetellya.  However, since I've been able to say SIX months, no one has said that to me.  Maybe I've just run into nicer people this week, but I can't help but think I've entered into more respectable preggers territory here.  ;o)

It's double-feature week, since I didn't get around to posting the 23-week bump pics for you.

WEEK 23:

I'm looking more and more...round, aren't I?

I'm not going to lie: I love what pregnancy has done to my body so far.  I am surprised to say this, but I couldn't be prouder of my belly right now.

  

Just ask Mark.  I lift my shirt up and say "BABY BELLY!!" at least once a day to him.  Wonder if that's getting old? I think it helps that I'm only up ten pounds so far.  Talk to me when I'm up 25...I might be a little more grumbly about it!

WEEK 24:

Yep...white definitely adds pounds. Still, this is one of my favorite maternity shirts.  It's soooo comfy!

Also comfy are my new gray All-Star Converse sneaks.  I once had a pair of turquoise high-top ones (this was when I was sporting a curly mullet, folks), so I've always had a soft spot for these shoes.  Now that I'm pregnant, I'm sort of o-v-e-r wearing high heals.  Flats forever!!

Oh, these girls.  They definitely like being part of whatever it is Mark and I are doing at any given time.  It will be interesting to see how they handle having a new baby around.

Check this out!  It's my new maternity pillow - a Snoogle (omg, best name ever!).  I've been having a tough time sleeping, so I figured it was worth a shot.  The pillow was delivered yesterday; I arrived home from work to see it laying on our bed and jumped!  Mark had apparently come home at lunch and opened it... Sure, it's not exactly scary, but do you see the SIZE OF THIS THING?!  Tell me you wouldn't jump, too, if you weren't expecting to see it!  Despite the fact that it pretty much takes up half the bed, though, I definitely like it so far.

 

Some of you mentioned being confused by my number system for these belly pictures.  Basically, I had a package of sticky letters/numbers sitting around (leftover from an overzealous wedding project idea that I never ended up doing) and figured I'd put them to use.  It was either this or yell at my computer every time I tried to electronically add numbers in Photoshop...no thanks!  ;o)