a belly shot

I can not claim to love these photos BUT I am loving being pregnant right now. I have some common discomforts but for the most part I am feeling good and happy! Each week we are trying to take shots of the belly- the thing is- not all pics are cute and I certainly need to time my picture taking a bit better! For example, these were taken right before a walk last week...week 24. For those of you who have been wanting more tummy pics- voila!

what's your pregnancy show?

When we told our friend's Doug and Liz that we were pregnant one of the 1st questions they asked us that night was "So, what's your pregnancy TV show?" I knew I had been spending more time on the couch than usual but I wasn't totally clear what they were talking about....until I became pretty much obsessed with So You Think You Can Dance!?

To top off my love of the show (no joke, I cried a few times in the season), my friend Jen and I went to go see the So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) live top 10 show at the San Jose HP Pavilion this last week! That's right folks, that place was packed. We were super surprised to find a seriously mixed crowd; everyone from Grandparents to teens were there and there were some hard core fans. Home made t-shirts and hats roamed the crowds and the lines were so long to buy overpriced SYTYCD t-shirts and wrist bands. So, if you've never seen it- hop on the "Hot Tamale Train" and watch next season.

You can catch a look at the 24 week belly at the Program stand....

sweet spot 23.5 weeks...

In the last week or so when people have asked how I am feeling my response has been something close to this: "I'm feeling really good. I think I'm in a real sweet spot of the pregnancy."

Then, today in a Marketing meeting, at work, I heard the term "sweet spot" thrown around and wondered
1. What actually is the sweet spot on a baseball bat, a tennis racket...or as I have learned, a golf club?
2. Am I conjuring up a sports metaphor for how I am feeling due to the fact that we have a little athlete inside?
3. (and this cant really be answered, nor do I really want to) Has my brain absorbed "Marketing-speak" to a point of using it in my every day life (and when did "sweet spot" become part of that jargon? I missed that memo)

These are part of definitions I found on various sights referring to the "sweet spot"
.."the sweet spot is the area of the string bed that produces the best combination of feel and power"
..."the location which produces maximum batted ball speed"
...."the location where maximum energy is transferred to the ball "


Since I only went to tennis camp for one summer (Can you picture that? Little Lizzie in her soccer shorts only wanting to play "three flies up" and seeing who could just hit the ball the furthest) and my baseball years were quite some time ago (although the batting cages will forever be a favorite of mine) AND I am not a golfer (yet)- I guess when I use the term "sweet spot" I am being mostly literal and only somewhat metaphorical.
I am, indeed, in a sweet spot. I feel good. I feel grateful and lucky and in awe of all that is happening. I feel blessed for our health and to have a loving and wonderful husband in all of this. I'm feeling a real connection with the baby. I feel alive. I feel honored. I feel like a miracle is actually taking place. It just feels sweet. It does, in a way, feel like part of those definitions (minus the hitting implements, of course) -the best combination of feel and power (ful).

maui love!

After a great weekend in Seattle with the ladies, Josh and I took off to Maui for a week. It was so gorgeous and fun! Swimming every day in the ocean and the amazing hotel pools plus doing some great snorkeling was just perfect for us for a week long baby-moon. It felt good to play in the sunshine and have solid time together. I am really grateful and happy that we took the trip. It was also fabulous to see so many families vacationing there- it was reassuring that although our next trip there will most likely not just be the two of us that it will still be fun as a family of 3! Here are some pics of us and me with the belly at 22 weeks (braving the pic in the bathing suit)....

seattle & meeting lil' parker olivia

Its been a few weeks since I have been able to update the blog- I've been in vacation mode & truthfully, happy to be nowhere near a computer! 1st stop on the vacation train was to Seattle, with my girlfriends, to visit Sarah and meet the newest member of my girlfriend clan, Parker Olivia. She was just a precious 3 weeks old when we went & it was super great to have time with Sarah and meet her daughter! It was amazing to be there, to cook meals together, help with some tasks, have a girl dinner out and to just hang out with the ladies and snuggle little P.

the boxer at 20 weeks...

We got to see the little Peanut again today! He/She is really moving around. You might assume our child will have some innate soccer instincts (and it might!) but today it showed its boxing or martial arts potential with its active arms. In fact, we saw a couple very distinct upper cuts and jabs. The baby's feet were crossed, it was turning around, its hands were close to its face & in fact, the tech told us that it looked like a little thumb was being sucked (cute.)

I had some nerves going into the morning. For some reason I was really concerned that the technician was going to spill the beans about the sex of our child. She respected our wishes and not a single pronoun slipped from her mouth. It is kinda weird that she knows if its a boy or girl and we don't but we're in for a fun surprise!

Note: My Mom sent me the tank top and I thought today was an appropriate day to sport a picture in it. Gracias Mammer.

My favorite quote of the day from Josh: "Our baby has the best spine I've ever seen." Now that's a proud Dad.

gear

Check out what's sitting in our front hallway! I'm sorry, is someone having a baby?

We were lucky enough to inherit a couple key items this weekend; a My Breast Friend (evidently, a very key item for feeding) and a car seat (which happens to have orange in it- my favorite "neutral" color) It's a little odd to walk into the house and see these items sitting there but I guess we should get used to it...more gear to come, for sure!