24 Weeks

Whoa! Where'd this come from!?



Can't deny that baby anymore! She's growing strong and kicking a ton. I think she's also falling into a schedule: I definately feel her have busy times (10:30pm, every single night) and calmer times (thankfully, while I'm at work). Every now and again there will be a little appendage-shaped bulge push out on my belly for just a few seconds. It's pretty cool :) I'm still feeling pretty great, but my energy is starting to drop off. By the time I get home from work, I have to take a nap before I can get started on the evening life (dinner, chores, etc).

We love you, Baby Girl! Keep on growing!

Idle Hands Love to Knirt

Do you remember that old saying, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop"? I'm not sure about the theological implications of that, but I do know that I'm happiest when my hands are busy.

Lately, I've spent a lot of evenings with my feet up. It's the product of a busy life plus being 23 weeks pregnant. Lots of feet-up time means lots of movie-watching time (gotta love my Austen classics, yum). That also means, lots of knitting time! Guess who benefits? BLUEBERRY!

I know, I know, she's a girl... but blue is really my favorite color and she IS our Blueberry... and I found this cone of varigated blue cotton on sale for reaaaaallly cheap at one of those big box stores. So, lo and behold, a bounty of beautiful blue (and white) baby goodies. The white is 100% cotton, too :)

This blanket kept growing. I guess it's something to do with the elasticity of the cotton, or the fact that I knit straight garter stitch on 8s, but it seems much larger than when I started. 3 strips of garter knit, sewn together, then decorated with a crocheted border. Simple and wonderful -- hours of car time during the holidays. It WAS going to be 5! strips, but Shaune made me stop :) It's got a lovely feel to it. I think I'm addicted to cotton :)

I still had a ton of blue left so I made a little hat and some shoes. The shoes, you can't see it, but they have a row of eyelets just below the top edge. I'm going to get some pretty white ribbon to do an ankle lace, kinda like ballet slippers. Can you picture it? The hat's all ruffly at the bottom edge. I LOVE this pattern and am probably going to make about a hundred more -- little cotton hats will be perfect for summer (if she'll keep them on, of course).

There's STILL blue left (but it is wearing down), so I think I'm going to make a little dress next. At least the bodice of one... I might do a cotton eyelet skirt. I have some in my stash that would look charming gathered on to a knit bodice.

Oh my... this little girl is going to have more stuff than she can feasibly wear before she outgrows it. She's not going to be spoiled... no, not at all... ;-)

Pink!

Since my whole house -- in fact, my whole world -- is in the process of turning pink, I figured my blog should play along, too. :)

Enjoy! I promise it'll be temporary :)

I Need your Help: Diapering

Dear Ladies, I need to tap your fountain of wisdom. We've decided to pursue cloth diapering with Little One and I have no idea what I actually need. Oh, I've spent weeks looking at different websites, offering more and more complicated (and expensive) cloth diapering soluntions. I can tell you one method (I'm pretty sure) we're NOT doing: I don't think I want to buy 20+ all-in-ones at more than $20 a piece. I'm leaning towards contoured diapers inside covers. Of course, I've never done this, so I could be wrong...

Here's where I need your help:

1. Did you cloth diaper? If so, what kind did you use?
2. Did you like doing it that way?
3. How many diapers do you REALLY need? I don't want to be stuck doing laundry EVERY day, but every other or every third is totally reasonable.
4. Any other advice you can offer a first-timer?

HELP! My mom asked me to pull together a registry, and I definately want to get the diapers on there if I can. Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

News!

I have news for you, cleverly displayed in this photograph my husband played with:

We got to go in and see her yesterday morning. She's strong and active, with loooong legs and arms. And a big ole fluffy baby bum! We're at 15oz -- almost a pound! -- and 10 inches long. I'm so excited :)

Did I mention, she's active? Like.. seriously. She's hardly ever still! During the sonogram, she was literally turning summersaults and backflips. The tech shook my belly to try to get her to turn certain ways, but she wouldn't stay that way long enough to get any photos. It was actually really funny. The best part (for me at least) is that the tech wasn't able to finish her "checklist" because of Baby's wiggliness. That means that I get another sono next month :) I'm certainly not complaining, because they scheduled the sono during the wait time for my glucose tolerance test (boo, not looking forward to THAT part of the visit). While my blood sugar rockets around, I'll get to watch my baby more.

Blessings to you, too, this wonderful New Year! 2011 is already shaping up to be a life-changing year!