I'm Proud of My Size...

Please take an IPOMS picture. With maternity clothes on your (still hot) body. Please? For me?

Click this

baby being born and stuff

(in tasteful pictures. don't worry, it's not "gross", pinky promise)

Seriously, one of the THE. COOLEST. THINGS. EVER.

and yes, I cried.

but only a couple of tears. 

I'm just a jumble of messy these days.

6 months on Thursday!

Hi peeps :)

So let me introduce you to my "bump" 

(and all the other curves that have seemed to chub up too!)

My little mister is training for the Fetus Olympics, mainly in men's gymnastics.

He is getting those roundhouse back handsprings down,

most likely to impress the Fetus Olympics judges.

I can see him wiggle jiggle from the outside and sometimes 

when the Mr. mister isn't looking

I try to get him to move :D

He likes to wake me up at 5ish in the mornings at times 

and spend up to an hour practicing his sweet dance moves 

(5am is NOT the right time for a Ute Rave, but he doesn't listen to me)

If I time it just right, I can catch the little monster's feet (or hands...or talons...not sure)

underneath my fingertips. 

It feels like big muscle twitches with marbles behind them. 

But when he wiggle jiggles, that's a VERY weird feeling. 

That one I don't have anything to liken it to.

It would be like if you swallowed a tiny baby and it's wiggling around.

That's the best I got...

Yesterday I was laying down with my head in my mister's lap, 

watching my tummy and watching the news

then he says, "Whoa, it's alive"

and I thought he was talking about something on TV

 (but that didn't make sense...)

I looked up at him and said,

 "what, you mean that raptor in my belly?"

"yeah."

"you actually saw it this time?!"

"yeah."

"toldya it was cool"

...

then we went to bed at 9:30 like an old married (read 'boring') couple.

Squishy

I decided on my first Monday of summer break, I was going to be extra productive and clean my house! 

I am such a nice wife sometimes ;)

Figured I would start in the bedroom and work my way west.

Instead of walking all the way around the bed this morning to straighten out the blanket 

and finish up making our bed, 

I did the lazy girl's method of "drop and flop" onto the mattress and pull the covers to the edge.  

I wasn't thinking and as soon as I was laying prostrate on the mattress, I DEFINITELY felt this smallish, weird, lumpy, solid thing in between me and the covers. 

Oh, hi baby, I forgot you were there. My bad.

Then after a suitable apology, I did the mommy thing and

stayed there. and then laughed at us.

just to get him riled up.

I'm so mean ;)

Mister Daddy didn't like it so much though, he thinks I'm hurting the poor lil scoundrel. 

1) I did NOT actually "drop", more like laid down

2) there is so much fluid and a big fluffy cushiony placenta in the front of him, 

I really doubt he would actually get hurt

so you no worry for that Mister.

Super extra cool links

Hi.

So guess what I came across? Some pretty awesome linkies. 

This one is an interactive photo of a woman's profile with clear skin so you can see all her organs.  You can move the meter on the side to see just how a female's body has to "make room for baby"

It's really neat.

This one is an interactive timeline full of 3d images of a developing fetus and tells you a few facts of what is happening on the week you choose. It's amazing how fast they develop and start to look like little miniature humans!

This one is a little more complicated on the site, but has REALLY cool interactive videos of a developing embryo - fetus in a timeline set up.  **Note, if you find the ones that say 5 months and 6 months--that's where updated pictures of Fetusaurus are.  Well, not him SPECIFICALLY, but you get the idea :))**

So in order to expose my little raptor baby to lots of different sounds, I've been playing my music a notch or two louder and even singing along more.  

I want to set aside 20-30 min/day to talk or read to him. 

I checked out some audiobooks from the library too, for our reading enjoyment of course ;) 

I'm sad the library didn't have any Harry Potter in cd form, 

I feel obligated to expose this lil man to only only the magical world that is Hogwarts 

but also to Jim Dale, because he has one of the bestest voices ever.

Because I like to read {totally not blog related}

This post is about books. And me. And really has nothing to do at all with babies,

 but I will do what I want :)

But don't you worry, we will get back to our normally scheduled program in no time ;)

What are you reading right now?

"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte

and

"Heist Society" by Ally Carter. 

Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?

Good question. I was thinking "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", but I'm an impulsive reader so this selection could change at any moment

What 5 books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to? 

Pride and Prejudice. 

A Wrinkle In Time

The Hobbit

Ender's Game

Anne of Green Gables

*All of these I have started at least twice but have never finished*

What magazines do you have in your bathroom/lounge right now?

Um, none, actually.

What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?

The first Twilight book, it was terrible so I didn't continue

Beowulf. Yuck.

What book seems really popular but you actually hated? 

Twilight. These books don't SEEM popular, they are.

And they are garbage.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis

What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone? 

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Animals in Translation

anything by Sharon Creech

What are your 3 favourite poems? 

I love just about all of e. e. cummings' pieces

Tyger, Tyger by William Blake

and

Flower in the Crannied Wall by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

oooh and Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Where do you usually get your books?

Amazon or Scholastic or Savers/DI for "real" books

Nook store for the nook ones 

Where do you usually read your books?

Bed, couch, car, classroom

though treehouse and hammock would be the most preferable

but not always (um, ever) accessible

When you were little, did you have any particular reading habits? 

I would walk to the library near my friend's house when we would play together pulling the little red wagon of books (just like in Matilda). 

And I'm such a weirdy that I would take my language arts textbooks home from grades 1-5 and read EVERY SINGLE story during the first week of the school year. 

I would wake up "early" on the weekends just to sneak in a quiet hour or two 

to eat up another chapter of my latest find

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?

"Heaven is Here" I read it in one sitting, from 6ish pm to 3ish am. a couple weeks ago. 

I had a massive headache for the next couple days from all the crying.

Have you ever “faked” reading a book? 

Yep. In school, because I had already read all the stories beforehand so I would stick another book inside the text book. I thought I was so sneaky.

Have you ever bought a book just because you liked the cover?

Oh, yes.

What was your favourite book when you were a child?

Loved the Roald Dahl books, Alice in Wonderland, 

Winnie the Pooh (the old school ones, not the Disney garbage), Golden Books, anything by Richard Scarry

 and any kid detective stories.

What books changed your life? 

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Artist's Way

Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet

What is your favourite passage from a book?

A few:

When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape. Often, of course, the situation is too tough for him.
In the same way the human being struggles with his environment and with the hooks that catch him. Sometimes he masters his difficulties; sometimes they are too much for him. His struggles are all that the world sees and it naturally misunderstands them. It is hard for a free fish to understand what is happening to a hooked one."

-The Chosen by Chaim Potok

“She laughed when there was no joke. She danced when there was no music.
She had no friends, yet she was the friendliest person in school.
In her answers in class, she often spoke of sea horses and stars, but she did not know what a football was...
She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.” 

-Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
-Anne Frank

Who are your top five favourite authors? 

I take favorite to mean- "authors who have published multiple books/pieces 

and I liked their style so much I have read 90+% of their books/pieces"

Jerry Spinelli. 

Sharon Creech. 

Oscar Wilde (he only wrote one novel though, but his other works are awesome too)

J. K. Rowling

What book has no one heard about but should read? 

Dolly Parton's autobiography. That woman is a hoot!

What are your favourite books by a first-time author? 

Cheesy, I know but I have to say: Harry Potter. 

J. K. just kept getting better.

Shannon Hale was/is pretty awesome too. Her first book got a newberry nom.

What 3 books are you an “evangelist” for? 

anything by Sharon Creech including:

Walk Two Moons, Heartbeat, Granny Torelli Makes Soup, Love That Dog etc.

What is your favourite classic book? 

I've only finished a few "classics"

I did like "Of Mice and Men" Steinback and "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

You should know...

Dear Baby,

Here are some things I already know about you:

I know that you love it when I eat ice cream, steak, french toast, 

indian food and any kind of really juicy fruits

You love to sucker punch me in the stomach and round house kick me in the guts over and over, 

so I take that as the karate dance of approval.

I know that you are a dude baby 

so you most likely don't want your room to be decorated in chandeliers 

and painted metallic magenta with zebra stripes

And you probably don't want obnoxiously huge fake flowers 

strapped to your noggin either

You would probably prefer to have dirt on your face 

and a super hero cape tied to your neck

(batman? superman? thor?)

I know that you are about 11inches long and weigh almost a pound. 

You have all your bones in the right place and the right length 

and have been growing for just over 22 weeks.

I've seen your face 

(but it looked more like the Jolly Roger face, 

like a creepy Jack Skellington facade than a cute baby bean face)

I've seen your feet (which are very LOOONG by the way)

and your fingers and hands

I've seen your ribs and lots of your organs

I know that you will probably have blue or green eyes

blondish hair (but maybe red someday! or maybe curly too!)

and I'm hoping for freckles, even though your Daddy B isn't

Here are some things you should know:

This world is a really crazy place. 

There are a lot of bad things and there is no way I can protect and shield you from all of them

and there is no way that I can prevent all of them.

Bad things will happen to you.

I don't want them to

because honestly, they really REALLY stink sometimes.

There is a lot of sadness in the world.

You will feel sad sometimes

Not just the kind of sad that comes from feeling cold or wet or hungry

But the really deep down kind of sad

The kind that hurts in the deepest parts of you

Life is tough, not going to lie.

You will feel jealousy, anger, regret, guilt, resentment, shame, fear, sorrow and pain

But guess what?

You will also feel joy, love, gratitude, pride (the good kind), 

excitement, wonderment, happiness, comfort and peace

There is a lot of good in this world too.

Not just plain ol' good, but some of it is really really good.

Promise. 

It's ok to show that you're happy

It's ok to be proud of yourself, of your accomplishments and who you are

It's ok to love yourself

It's ok to take compliments, even if you don't truly believe them

It's ok to cry sometimes too. 

No one is perfect. Not even Daddy B or Momma B.

We make mistakes. Sometimes a lot of mistakes.

But that's ok too. 

We try again. That is what tomorrows are for.

I worry and your daddy worries

but that's only because we care about each other

and we care about you, even though we don't know much about you,

yet.

Daddy B always reminds me to take my vitamins, 

he cleans the kitchen for us and kisses my belly sometimes.

I show off your pictures

 (sorry, I know you're naked but they're the only ones I got)

and watch your video over and over of your sweet little face

But please keep on cookin'

Momma loves you but she doesn't want to meet you just yet!

Oh yeah, and one more thing

I've been meaning to ask...

What is your favorite type of music?

Do you have any requests for artists? bands? particular songs?

I'd be happy to make you a playlist :)

That's all for now.

xoxox