A bit of May

I cant believe we are almost halfway through May! I've been counting down to this month since September as The Month the Baby Comes. And now, here it is, just minding it's own business, casually passing by.

We have had a wonderful couple weeks. The weather has been grabbing us by the hand and leading us towards summer, giving us crisp air and clear skies. It's been HOT the past couple days and as I look ahead to a week of weather in the 80's, I say a little prayer for women who will be pregnant over the rest of the summer. Lord have mercy. 

The day before Cinco de Mayo, my mom and aunt threw us a fajita-filled party in celebration of our sweet baby. The house filled up with familiar faces and delicious Mexican food and I spent the evening introducing Matt to my parent's family-like friends. (I tried to supervise as best I could, considering most of these people have known me since the day I was born and have plenty of potential blackmail material...)

We were so blessed by that night! I was so grateful for each and every generous gift given to us, but I was especially moved by the blanket my mom's friend Sally made for our baby. It is so soft and perfectly woven together, in the the most beautiful icy blue/gray yarn! I treasure it so much, and it's not even mine! The crafter in me knows how much work and time goes into a gift like that and we appreciate it so much. It's waiting for him in his Moses' basket for when he arrives home!

Thank you again, Sally!

This past Saturday, thanks to the wonders of technology and the generosity of my mother-in-law, I sat in on a Skype baby shower with family in Alabama! It was so sweet. Packages were arriving in the mail weeks before, with notes insisting I don't open them until the party. Friday afternoon, the doorbell rang and I received the most beautiful bouquet of flowers! Barbara thought of everything; she even had Matt pick up a little pink box of cupcakes from the bakery. It was so sweet and so fun to get a little time in with our family out there. This baby has some pretty wonderful grandmas and aunties! Thank you so much, family!

On Sunday, I enjoyed celebrating my wonderful mother. Her last mother's day before she has to share it my sister and me! We enjoyed a delicious brunch at the restaurant where my brother cooks, which kept us happy & full until about 8pm. After that, we enjoyed Guatemalan brisket tacos, one of Matt's many knee-buckling meat creations. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was so glad to be with my mom. I can't remember the last time I was with her on Mother's Day.

I love her so much! 

On a much more hormonal note, I have been so overwhelmed by how much love and generosity we've received in anticipation of this baby. As I was putting things away in the nursery yesterday, I looked around and realized everything in there has been a gift from someone. Everything from the dresser-turned-changing-table I was gifted a couple years ago, to the baby shoes lined up, to his precious Moses' basket, to the banner strung on the wall (made by his auntie Brittney!), to the quilt folded over his crib, is an extension of love to us from the people in our life. There have been some moments of panic over the past 9 months, where I wondered "how we were going to ___", but God has met every one of our needs so far and we have been immensely blessed. Thank you for loving our baby so much! 

Maternity Shoot

A few weeks ago, Matt and I had the pleasure of doing a maternity shoot with Joshua Veldstra. This lucky guy is dating my best friend Brittney, so of course I've heard a lot about him and seen a lot of his photography. But I finally got to see him in action! I was a little intimidated to step (waddle) in front of his camera, since he normally shoots with models (and has been recognized several times by Vogue), but it ended up being really fun and easy. I'm hardly even still mad at him for whisking Brittney away to live in Alaska. Here are some of my favorites:

 

I can't believe I'm facing the last few weeks of this pregnancy. Since I found out I was expecting the earliest day possible (my doctor furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief when I told her I had a positive pregnancy test), it seems like this pregnancy has lasted forever. And then at the same time, it has just whizzed by.

I hardly even remember my second trimester, but this one is going by nice and slow. Despite hard days, and every pregnancy symptom intensifying in the evenings, I've loved being pregnant. (Is anyone else picturing the scene from Friends when Rachel says that a few days before her due date and then they cut to a scene of her overdue and miserable?) Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely looking forward to sleeping on my stomach and putting on my running shoes by myself, but I have been blessed with a pretty fun and easy 8 months and I'm so thankful. I wouldn't mind if he came a little early and I missed out on the last couple weeks, since my back is starting to ache and I've been in the same pajama pants for four weeks. But I'm mostly trying to enjoy it; you only have your first pregnancy once, right?

I think the main thing I'll miss is my extrovert-dream-come-true of having someone with me all the time, stirring around. This kid is so active! At my first appointment with my new doctor here, she was trying to find his heartbeat and looked up with wide eyes as my abdomen thrust around before saying "hm, you are definitely going to have your hands full...". We're so thankful to have a healthy, active baby but we are already brainstorming ways to keep up with him (as if there are better solutions than coffee).

Joshua and Brittney did a great job of finding flattering poses for us the whole shoot (not an easy task when there's a 33 week pregnant woman draped in a black maxi dress), but I especially love these last two pictures. We were about to head back to the car when Matt asked if we could take one more shot and bent down to kiss my stomach. I love how they turned out and I love how genuine Matt's face is. It's not easy getting him comfortable in front of a camera, but he loves kissing that baby. He always goes a little nuts when he hears Matt's voice. I can't wait to see those two together!

Thank you again for a wonderful shoot, Joshua! I love having such great shots of our almost-family-of-three.