growing…

our garden is growing…

the peppers…

the potatoes…

 

the tomatoes…

and the baby (and my belly)…

how i spent the first week of my summer vacation…

one of the best things about being a teacher (besides the constant gratification that one is helping to change the world for the better… and, my amazingly compassionate, brilliant students) is summer vacation.

it’s even better when you’re an adult… i don’t want to knock summer camps (oh, math/ physics camp and girls’ leadership camp… how, i did enjoy you so) and endless hours in the public library (and very heavy tote bags filled with books)… but, as an adult i can make my own decisions… move about as i want to, eat what i want (four popsicles in a two-hour span… no problem!)… and, best of all, it’s not work!

i’ve had a pretty eventful first week of summer vacation… we mudded/ plastered (which i, actually, really love) the walls of a room we’re renovating, i finished up a big sewing project, rewatched the 8th season of project runway (oh, mondo… you should have won!), started a good book, ate good food… and that’s just the first five days!

(we’re at 25 weeks… actually, tomorrow marks 26 weeks down and 14 to go!)

what happens with this mama-to-be eats too much sugar (which my body process much more slowly these days), reads too many birth stories, hears too many unsolicited opinions by (sometimes well- meaning) co-workers, is running on little sleep, and has whacked out pregnancy hormones?

 

she has a meltdown… a big, solitary, freak- out…

 

so, what does she do to help her get through it?  she takes a long warm bubble bath (which the baby loves, i think) and listens to a favorite album…

and then, things start to feel okay again…

(the rain and end of the school year clean- out/ beginning of next school year, which is going to be an insane year, prep don’t really help things at all… )

 

 

 

 

23 weeks down… not a whole lot left to go…

yikes!

the baby’s hearing is developing… so, of course i play it lots of music (especially while driving to work!)… and it likes to practice its future audition for so you think you can dance in my belly!

it has some favorite songs…

(but we like the one with the swears!  hehe!)

week 21…

and, the countdown begins!

it’s been a hot hot weekend… i don’t really know what i’m going to do if this is another super hot summer… papa clay and i have had a terrific long weekend together.  (that’s what i call clayton now- papa clay!)

we kicked off our four day weekend with a sneak peek at the baby!  (and, no… we don’t know the sex… and, no, we’d rather not find out… )  and then proceeded to… eat a delicious lunch of thai food, try on baby carriers and are pretty sure we’ve settled on which one we’d like,  celebrate my 30th birthday (!!), go on a lovely hike to the high ledges, have a beautiful glass vase made just for me (photos will come at a later point), eat lots and lots of strawberries, finish writing progress reports (whoo hoo!), spend some fun time at a bbq with lovely folks, hang  out with clayton’s granny, and make cilantro pesto…

oh, and we spent some quality time with the pet turtle too!

little baby sure does like to dance around a lot…

i’ve been listening to a lot of this, this, and this… i like to think baby keeps those songs in its little head and grooves when the spirit moves it too!

how was your weekend?  i hope it was delightful too!

(you may view more photos here, if you’d like)

there is, in fact, a baby in there!

we met little baby today… well, we saw little baby…

and, we’re in love!

we saw this little baby open and close its mouth… its little bum… we watched it put its fingers in its mouth and move its arms around (this baby sure loves to move!)… we saw its long skinny feet and toes… oh, we’re totally excited!

tomorrow is my birthday (the big 3-0!), but i’ve already got my gift!  sweet little dancing baby!

and we have no idea what the sex of little baby is… we can wait… we’re going to spare this baby of being put into society’s gender role for as long as we can… (that’s another story for another day though)

we’re half way there!

these photos are of weeks 19 and 20!  i can’t believe we’re already half way through this pregnancy… at the end of this week (on friday, to be exact) we will get to “see” little baby for the first time…  and then, on saturday, i turn 30!

there is only one month left of school until summer vacation (whoo hoo!)  but, that means, these next few weeks (and the past month) will be super busy… progress reports, a massive amount of meetings, packing up the classroom, etc…

i’m very excited for this summer… i’ve got new curves and a new bathing suit… a stack of books to read… the second part of my montessori teacher training (i’ll be in queens, ny for three weeks!)… a cape cod week long vacation with one of my best friends (whom i haven’t seen in several years)… and a possible exciting trip to vermont (or further north?)… all of that on top of grilling local meats, eating local fruits and veggies… swimming and hiking… hanging out with family… can you tell that i’m really ready for the summer to be here!??