stu.. stu.. studio (a tribute to phil collins)

Update!
So we finished the texturing and painted the walls this weekend.
It. Is. So. Awesome.

Texture.



Paint.

We used a new, non-toxic, NO VOC paint from home depot and it is great! No smell at all and the coverage and colors available are really beautiful. I'm going to use some of the other colors around the house! This color is called "Ray of Hope" I thought that was appropriate. It's a lovely, yummy shade of yellow. I kept joking that I wanted to lick the walls, (my husband said I could...)

So, our dogs have a habit of getting messy whenever we let them in the studio while we are working.
When we were hanging the drywall Bob and Lucky would come in and eat the scraps off the floor and when the scraps were gone, they would lick the floor (don't worry, it's not harmful to them).
So, there we were painting the walls on Sunday morning and the dogs were out in the yard and would not stop barking so we let them in the studio.

Lucky promptly went and sat against the wall I had just finished painting.

Mick came over and leaned (he's a leaner) against a wet wall.

And Bob, my darling Bob. Walks right in and starts licking the walls. I am not kidding, I was laughing so hard. So then he comes over and sniffs the paint tray and takes a big slurp! We were hysterical! Then he licked his nose and got paint all over his nose... It was priceless.

Next on the agenda, baseboard, insulate the attic, finish the electrical and get our final inspection. We'll be moving stuff in this weekend!

xo

everyone who's easily amused raise your right foot

try this:
1. raise your right foot and make clockwise circles
2. now draw the number 6 in the air with your right hand

he he he

xo

hee hee hee whooooo

So we went to our childbirth class last night and all and all it went good.
There wasn't much new information (I've read a lot of stuff) and all of the other couples in the class aren't due until June (felt a little like a major procrastinator), but there were a couple tips and just some general stuff about the hospital I didn't know. We watched the dreaded live vaginal birth video, but it wasn't as bad as I remember it being. Big difference between being pregnant and watching a baby's head crown and being 15 years old, sitting in health class with your friends...

Our teacher is one of the nurses at my doctor's office and a massage therapist and a doula, so like I said there were some good little tips. Like did you know that the scent of peppermint oil will relieve nausea? She also showed us some different pressure points to have our partner massage and we practiced "breathing through the pain" with a bag of ice on our arms.
The best part though was when my sweet, sweet husband surprised me and signed me up for a massage. She has a table that the belly part comes out of which means I GET TO LAY ON MY FRONT SIDE AGAIN!!
I'm very excited, if you couldn't tell...

Other than that, yoga was awesome yesterday. I went in feeling a little fragile (I had gotten myself pretty worked up the night before and I didn't sleep well) and I swear, my teacher is the greatest, she's a mind reader. We did the cleansing breath exercise that I love. You sit on the floor with your fingertips touching the ground next to you, like roots, and then you breath in through your heart center and imagine the breath traveling up your throat and into your forehead, on the exhale you imagine that breath washing over your forehead and down your shoulders and out your finger tips. It is such a great way to get rid of any residual "dirt" you've accumulated in your head. So we did that, followed by lots of yummy spine work and then we did a whole series of warrior poses. I left class feeling much better!

Saturday is 37 weeks.
Sweet baby Ray will finally be ripe!
So I guess he just has to decide what day he wants his birthday to be...

xo

week 36

I was without my camera this weekend but we will get a week 36 and-one-half, shot today.

xo

i wish you could hear me laughing

xo

just call me chunky chunk

I had my first weekly doctor's appointment today and I have gained 6 pounds in the past 2 weeks!

That's a personal best.

People keep saying things like: "you're about to pop" and "you're probably due any day now, huh?" and I still have one month (or so) to go.
You know this last part is really fun, in it's own way too. I don't feel quite as cute as I did say, 3 months ago, but in my humble and totally personal opinion, I think my belly is gorgeous. I am going to draw some sort of beautiful and intricate henna design on it one of these days. My own little temporary tattoo (because I am 27 and I still can't get over breaking my parents' last rule; there were only three: no smoking, no piercings and no tattoos). Speaking of tattoos I had a dream the other night that I got this awesome lion tattooed across my back only he wasn't scary at all, he was just relaxed and loungin' and looking all powerful. I think it was a metaphor for feeling courageous... Anyway the weird part was that Sweet Pea, from Project Runway, was the one giving me the tattoo... ok, let's not analyze this one too much.

On another note I'm going to make myself a t-shirt that reads: "Basketball Smuggler"

Whadda ya think?

xo

last but not least

xo

studio update

Yay! Look at all of this progress!

storage closet


start of drywall


starting to tape


Ahhh...


xo

week 35

seriously, look at this:



That is a whole lotta belly!

I had this whole thing planned where I was going to write about this pregnancy in retrospect. You know, what I've learned so far and the silly things I worried about in the beginning, but here I am at the computer, and I can't remember one of the things I wanted to say. It was going to be sentimental and deep, I remember that much... (ah, pregnancy brain, how I love you)

All I really have to say this week is that we have not packed a bag for the hospital yet.
We haven't taken our "childbirth class" and we have not toured the hospital.

And we are perfectly ok with that.

xo

questions

do you ever feel like you've been invited to a party that everyone can't stop talking about but no one gave you the directions on how to get there?

I'm sort of feeling that way today.

This reminds me of how I felt at the very beginning of my pregnancy. A little alone, a little unsure. I've started reading a new book and it shall remain nameless until I get a few more chapters under my belt but so far it's pretty good. This sums it up nicely:

"Through soul searching
and listening more deeply
to the women I was working with,
I finally understood that women
have to prepare for birth
in their heart and soul,
not their head.
And that giving birth is something a woman does
in her body,
not in her head."

I also like this quote:
"If you bring forth that which is within you,
what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you,
what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
-Gospel of St. Thomas

So I am asking for your help. I want to create (and share) a virtual birth quilt.
Send me your birth stories (whatever that means to you) and then we can all share them and look at what a pretty collection of accomplishments they make.

Here's one of my favorites from my new book. This is the story of Fina, a family maid in the 50's and 60's.

"When her first two children were born, she lived in a rural area in central Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais. She worked in the fields and went into labor while picking and harvesting, but went right on working because she knew she would have the labor pains anyway, so she might as well work until the water broke. When her water broke, she walked home and gave birth."

This one makes me smile because it takes all of the mystery and the secrecy out of having a baby and boils it down to the simple idea of giving birth. No decisions to be made about what drugs to use or avoid, no doctors trying to sway you one way or another. No know-it-all outsiders trying to prove that they did it best. Just the basics. There was a woman, she had a baby in her belly. The baby decided it was time to come out. The End.

So send me your stories and then we can all sit down with a cup of tea and enjoy them together.

xo

i heart you

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is
different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
(Billy - age 4)

week 34

we took this one really early in the morning so the lighting is definitely not the greatest but here it is; my ginormous belly. I think it's already doubled in size since we took this picture. It sure feels like it has.

Life is just truck, truck, trucking by. I feel great, pretty tired by the end of the day but great. It's hard not to notice how large my belly is and other people are noticing too. People keep asking me "when are you due?" and every time I think they're saying "what do you do?" (I tend to forget I'm pregnant when I'm in public). Just the other day, the girl at the coffee shop asked me "when are you due?" and I thought she said "what do you do?" just out of the blue like that so I said "sorry, what?" and she said "oh my god, I am so sorry, you are pregnant aren't you?"

I felt like such a tool.

Ha ha! I finally fell asleep while standing up.

He always makes me laugh when we take these photos. It's like posing for Austin Powers!

In other news, I have been searching high and low for a great thin crust pizza recipe and I found one. Now this may sound strange but just follow these steps:

1. Preheat a pizza stone (it's best with a pizza stone) at 450 degrees for at least 15 minutes. Get it nice and hot.

2. Take a flour tortilla (I know!) Use a thick one, like mission brand or whatever your supermarket sells.

3. Use a little olive oil first and then the sauce and then whatever toppings your heart desires.

4. Slip onto the pizza stone and cook until the cheese melts and the tortilla gets crispy.

Seriously, this is so good. I was totally surprised. Me and my husband ate 5 pizzas last night! I've never liked the thick, grocery store tortillas for mexican food (too much dough) but they are perfect for this recipe!

xo

and just in case I don't see you; good afternoon, good evening and good night

Ta Daa! A new and improved, short blond 'do. 

(and a picture of what I look like eating cereal. I know you always wondered..)

I am settling in nicely to my new haircut and actually it feels soooo good to not have all of that heavy hair. It was quite the salon visit getting it all chopped off. I warned the stylist before I came in that I was going to cut all of my hair off but when she actually met me I think she was still a little nervous until I said "don't worry, I've had short hair before." She was very nice and did an excellent job. Not too shabby for picking the salon out of the phone book! 

More studio and week 34 pictures to come. Just wanted to end the suspense for those of you wondering if I went through with it. Hope your weather is sunnier than mine (more snow, ick).

xo

D-Day

 No, not that D-day.

Haircut and color at 2:30 today.

I'll report back.

xo

retail therapy

wish list

aden + anais

burp catcher

sleepy wrap

(I already bought one in orange)

bronwen handcrafted

antique linen bib

tummy tub

(i love this photo)

nature baby website

xo

week 33

Let me just sum up how I feel right now.


tee he he...

Really, I'm crabby.
I'm hungry but too tired to go get the food I really want (A big container of fruit from whole foods and chicken noodles from Toy's Thai).
I'm tired but too hungry to sleep.
I tried eating some leftovers and now I have terrible heartburn.
I can feel every pound that I weigh. It's hard to get up, it's hard to lay down.
It's hard to walk and impossible to stand for very long.

I feel exactly like Alexander in one of my all-time favorite books:
"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."

I think I'll move to Alaska...


No, it's really not that bad. It's just way more fun to complain when you can see the bright side and laugh at yourself.

Here are some lovely pictures of my week 33 belly. Large and in charge. That's me.









Be sure not to miss these other good books:

"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"

"Caps For Sale"

"Harry The Dirty Dog"

"In The Night Kitchen"


aahhh... Nothing like a trip down memory lane to revive the spirit.

xo