36+ weeks: Gratuitous Photo Post!

Here's a good shot of this 36 week belly! How much bigger can we get?? 

Baby Whoosie's burgeoning collection of books and toys - lots of great hand-me-down books from the nieces' babyhood collection that I remember fondly. The latest additions are the totally weird and fantastic Ugli doll from my wonderful coworker Joni and a very soft giraffe from Rebecca in Portland. 

Feeling responsible - the carseat, about to be installed! 

Baby's first handknit - a gorgeous sweater made by auntie Bre: 

And baby's first quilt! Also made by auntie Bre (she's prolific!). It's so sweet - fairy tale themed with scenes from the Princess and the Pea, the Owl and the Pussycat, etc...And lots of beautiful, gender neutral colors :)

Below is a very precious gift that absolutely surprised me - beads from many friends and family all imbued with wishes, hopes or blessings for me in labor and for my transition to mama-hood with little Whoosie. It includes scarlet runner beans from Megan's garden, handmade beads, powerful coral, glass, ancient amber, silver words of encouragement, sparkling agate, the sweetest tiny pearls, a stolen Wilson family heirloom (Gemma!), the first ring my dad ever gave my mom, and many more. It makes me so happy to think about all of these amazing and strong women in my life and I feel very lucky to have this small representation of all of them to carry with me! On a side note, if you look closely you will see there is also an ice cream cone, a heart, a pig, and a large, blingin' faux diamond. These beads are from my 7 year old niece Julia and my 4 year old niece Harper. When my sister asked Julia why she picked the huge diamond for my necklace, she said "because it's pretty and it will make auntie KC think of me." Priceless. 

A birthday message from Julia - instantly made me burst into tears. She's a surprising and sweet kid, and her excitement about her new cousin has been so lovely to see: 

If you can't read it, she wrote, "Happy birthday, KK! I think that you are going to be a very good mama and Whozie will be cute."  

Cj nesting - painting the back shed blue to go with the marigold chicken coop! 

 We love you all and are getting so excited to meet our little baby!

36 Weeks!

This past weekend Cj and I headed off to Port Townsend for one last pre-baby weekend away, celebrating the wedding of our friends Talia and Justin. Cj took a day off of work and joined the 30 person, 40 mile bike ride that looked and sounded like a wicked blast...and Whoosie and I drove up after work :)

  We rented a little house with Bre and Brian at Fort Worden where the wedding festivities were taking place. It was such a luxury to be right on site...I have to say I had so much more fun than I anticipated! We engaged in the usual helping decorate, hanging out with friends, working on last minute details and then climbed a hill to the Battery Tolles for their heartwarming, sun-dappled ceremony overlooking the water.

When it was over, we all paraded back down the hill with sparkly streamers and bongo drums that I believe came straight from Talia's home town of Tonasket.

 Afterwards, there was wild Israeli dancing and then Brian took over dj'ing for the evening. Whoosie and I danced our pants off and didn't even feel tired until it was actually nighttime. This was big. Also? Whoosie's dance card was totally full...apparently even bike hipsters like dancing with babies in utero after a couple of drinks :)

This week I'm feeling very big, very heavy, and starting to feel ready for our little baby to come! Though of course I'm telling Whoosie to hang in there another couple of weeks - it's still too early! It feels like my body is doing a great job prepping for labor, because all of my joints have really loosened up. I keep having this crazy feeling like my left hip joint just pops out of the socket and I end up tottering/waddling around for a few hours in moderate discomfort.

We had a prenatal appointment this week and Whoosie is still solidly head down! We're now on the weekly appointment schedule which means the countdown has really begun. Also...interesting side note...Cj has consistently told me he weighed around 7lbs at birth. Not true. I was looking at his heart-wrenchingly sweet adoption baby book and note that it is CLEARLY written that he weighed 9lbs 6oz at birth. That's a big baby. I was 7lbs. Any bets on babycakes?

Cj and I have been singing and playing music for the baby for many months now, but it seems that Cj has turned heavily towards the Carter Family and other serious Americana as baby music...think he's trying to influence anyone's taste in utero? I sing "Down in the Valley" almost every day, and Whoosie usually starts moving around when I do...it will be interesting to see if there's any noticeable response to the same songs after birth!

34 weeks!

Cj and I had a lovely trip to Orcas, relaxed in the sun, went on a few (much shorter than usual) wooded hikes, enjoyed many afternoon naps, played music in the evenings and joined a post-wooden boat race barbecue, that was random and fun.

We went on a beautiful small boat tour, circumnavigating San Juan island and saw Orca whales, porpoises, seals and birds galore. Cj also informed me that his new dream job is to be a "naturalist" and learn everything he possibly can about the flora, fauna, and geographical history of an area. I think he was awed by the naturalist on our tour, who had a great flair for storytelling and an impressive body of knowledge. He is such a treehugger...

Many of you have probably already heard that we tried to go kayaking, but the company wouldn't rent to me at this point in my pregnancy, stating that I would be too hard to get back into the boat should it capsize. I explained this to Cj who said, "but really fat people go kayaking all the time!" I had to explain that the baby is not fat, and does not flop easily over an overturned kayak. Alas...

This weekend Bre is having a small mama blessing ceremony/party for me on my birthday, which I'm excited about. I believe it's a celebration of the transition into motherhood and a time to gather support for our labor/birth adventure.

At my appointment last week, our midwife gave us the good news that little Whoosie is solidly head down at this point, which may be contributing to my constant need to pee :) I know that babies can certainly move in the home stretch of pregnancy, but here's hoping he/she is comfy and stays put! She also guessed that we are having a boy, and both my mom and Carmen seem pretty convinced it's a boy...but I'm still feeling strongly that Whoosie is a little girl. This baby just has a lot of good male and female energy, and I am getting more and more excited for us to meet!

Babymoon!

We have completed the big furniture transition in our house, and are now all set up in the upstairs bedroom where we plan to sleep with Whoosie at least until spring, since the downtstairs of our house can be so hit or miss where heating is concerned. I also didn't like the idea of trying to navigate stairs while sleep deprived in the dark of night. We have a little changing table at the ready, and most of the 0-3 month clothes washed and put away in a reasonably organized manner. Thank you again to Bre, Amalia, and Lexie for the scads of adorable and useful tiny clothes!! Alicia came by this week for a walk and loaned us Josie's infant car seat, and Cj found a sweet jogging stroller at a local garage sale. Our prenatal classes continue to be helpful in preparing us to work together as a team at labor time, and we've been feeling pretty peaceful as a duo these past few weeks. We were asked the other night by our dear friends Becky and Bob how prepared we are feeling for the birth and Cj answered with a resounding "8" on a scale of 1-10. I'm more of a 5 or 6, but I think that makes sense since I'm the one doing the laboring.

Yesterday we spent a day in the sunshine at the Evergreen State Fair with Bre, Harper and Julia. Exhausting, but super fun, and I very  nearly came home with baby pygmy goats and a baby lop-eared bunny. I had to remind myself that we are having a baby, and I do not need more babies to take care of right now.

We are off to Orcas Island for a few days, reveling in our ability to skip work and go explore one of our favorite islands just the two of us. Well, our third is always present but oh so very quiet and portable. Orcas Island is where we got married, and it feels appropriately full-circle to come back now. I may even kayak.

xoxo.