30 weeks

Posted on August 19, 2011 by BeSquirrely

Today we are 30 weeks pregnant! If the timing is about the same as with Wren, little birdie #2 will arrive in just about two months from now. I’m getting more excited and (a bit) less anxious. Checking lots of things off my list has helped me to feel more capable and less worried about how everything is going to go.

I’ve been looking for ways to cut expenses so that I don’t have to work as much when I know I realistically won’t be able to work as much. This has helped me to feel a bit more in control at a time when so much seems a bit out of my control. Such is life…

And my growing body has forced me to slow down and savor this relatively calm time before the storm of a routine turned upside down. It’s helped me to sit on the couch or the floor with the little birdie and play for as long as she wants or reread the same stories over and over. And over again.

This is indeed a precious time, the last couple months of just us, our routine, our rhythm. Someone told me recently that the best gift I could give Wren is a sibling and it will be a wonderful thing for her and while I know this will be true, I also feel some sadness as we move on. Such a mix of emotions – thanks, hormones. Geesh.

Lovelies, have you too experienced this veritable roller coaster of emotions as you expanded your family? Any thoughts to share? In the meantime, happy weekend to you. May you savor this time in YOUR nest. XO

this week

Posted on August 12, 2011 by BeSquirrely

We thankfully felt a bit of September on our skin this week and as I write this, I’m still wearing fuzzy slippers, a fleece jacket and clasping a hot mug of coffee. Ahhhh. With the cooler temps and plunging humidity levels, we’re all sleeping better at night and I have to believe that the week has been a lot more easy-going and less edgy because of it. 85 with 80% humidity really takes it out of you, eh? I even told a few people last week to remind me never to be pregnant in the summer again. And today, I’m feeling at ease. 60 degrees and a full night’s sleep will do that to a mama at 29 weeks.

With a bit more pep in our step, we had a full week of nesting and playing…

painted the front porch of 605 with my Dad and watched the neighbor cat walk across it
grilled more pizza
enjoyed our first backyard tomato (“Mama, it’s RED! We can pick it!!!!”)
ate my body weight in fresh peaches and the season’s last sweet cherries
sorted through more baby clothes, shoes, toys, diapers
swam with the evening’s long shadows
began to transform the guest room into a cozy space for little birdie #2
moved one of the guest beds into Wren’s room and she decided to sleep in it (!) instead of her crib
shopped for a leotard, tights and ballet slippers for the little birdie’s first dance class
paid off my car loan (yesssssssss!)
started planning a mini babymoon/anniversary getaway for late September
made a peach pie and a fresh green bean salad to take to my Grandma’s 90th birthday party tomorrow

Happy weekend to you! Any big plans? May you enjoy some relaxing moments in your nest. XO

nesting: the whites

Posted on August 9, 2011 by BeSquirrely

With a taste of cooler air on my skin this week, my nesting for our next little birdie has kicked in. I sorted through most of the little birdie’s infant clothes this week: whites and colors, stained and clean, summer and fall. I had forgotten a few things: just how tiny she once was, how incredibly much she spit up, and how adorable newborn white onesies are.

I enjoyed hanging all the little white pieces on the line and marveling at the sweetness of it all. Little birdie #2 just might smell like tomatoes too as our tomato forest is quickly gaining on the line. I clearly remember Wren smelling like sugar cookies when she was first born. I don’t think tomatoes and sugar cookies are a great combination, but I guess there are worse things to smell like, right?

How’s your week going, lovelies? Has it cooled off where you live too?

yikes

Posted on July 29, 2011 by BeSquirrely

The title of this post might more aptly be called “anxious” or maybe “worried” or during a few choice moments every day, “terrified.” I know people have more than one child every single day and still others have many more than just one child (take, for example, The Mom across the street with 13!) But lately just having ONE (feisty! strong-willed!) child seems like a lot. Today marks the 27th week, which means I’m really getting into the third trimester now. This also means that there are only about three months (plus some pocket change?) left until we welcome another little birdie to our nest. Yikes!

I’m not really worried about taking care of the new baby (although I should probably add that to the worry list, ahem) or even much about labor & delivery. Been there, done that… I’m mostly worried about, well, everything else. How will I have enough love for another child? How will I keep Wren from killing the new baby when she realizes it isn’t going away? How will I find time to continue my work? How will I be able to make healthy meals and keep the house in a *reasonable* state? How will I ever have time for Chris again? How will I go to the grocery store or run an errand with a baby attached to me and a toddler running for the hills?

Again, I know people do it all the time, but I just can’t really picture how it’s all going to look and feel. I guess this is part of the wonder and mystery of life’s unknowns. The unknowns that keep life interesting, worth getting up in the morning for. Good intentions go a long way, right? Say yes, please.

In the meantime, I’m nesting. It helps to devote the worried energy to practical things, no? I decided we just needed to paint the house right now because I couldn’t take the peeling paint anymore. Great timing, ha! Truth be told, I’m just trying out paint colors on the back of the house, but the process has begun. I’ve also been organizing and reorganizing the little birdie’s toys in some new-to-us bins that I found on Craigslist (thank you, stranger!) Already, she’s discovered toys that had been buried at the bottom of the old bins. It was totally worth it. On the cooking front, I made a big pot of split pea soup the other day. You know you have a pregnant brain when it’s 87 and humid and you decide that cooking a big pot of split pea soup sounds like a good idea. Yeah. I also made a huge batch of homemade granola bars in an effort to have healthier, not-from-a-bag snacks on hand. So it feels good to be creating things, cooking healthy meals, focusing on what we have control over now because I know pretty soon it will all be thrown up into the air. And hopefully some of it will be caught.

Have any tips, lovelies? Please and thank you.

it just doesn’t get any fresher

Posted on July 14, 2011 by BeSquirrely

I don’t really like peas. Sugar snap peas, yes. But shelling peas? Not so much, thank you. So I’m not sure what made me throw a shelling pea seed pack in my cart late this winter. I think it might have been because they’re such a beautiful plant and easy to plant for tiny hands? Regardless, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made this year! Picking, shelling (shucking?) and eating the peas right off the vine is one of the little birdie’s favorite things to do right now. “S’more peas, Mama?” or “pick SELF, Mama!” are common words out in the back yard this week.

I just love to hang back and observe the little birdie in her work. She’s so focused and serious about the process. So proud of what she can do! I watched her reach high for the peas she wanted, pull hard and yank them off the vine, sometimes making her tumble back into the dirt or on top of a broccoli plant: “uh oh!” Then over again and again, undeterred.

I was full of awe at her determination and in those moments, I thought again how I had no idea I could love someone so much. At the same time, wondering how I could find more love for the other little birdie on its way. Trying to remind myself that I’ll be surprised again by the capacity to love, to expand, to nurture.

an ear of corn

Posted on July 9, 2011 by BeSquirrely

24 weeks (6 months!) and now little birdie #2 is as big as an ear of corn, plus or minus a few kernels. This image of Wren is probably just about how she might treat the new baby when she quickly realizes that she’s not the complete center of the universe. We’re working on it, but boy oh boy, her world is going to come crashing down hard. Sigh.

Any tips, lovelies?

the bump

Posted on June 24, 2011 by BeSquirrely

As you can see, I’m finally past the awkward stage of early pregnancy where people don’t really know for sure if you’re pregnant or if you probably just had a really long winter (read: brats and beer). A bit of both would likely be true… But no, I’m definitely looking pregnant these days and at 22 weeks, even the cashiers are commenting to me about how I’m going to have my hands full as they chuckle through the little birdie’s shenanigans and stare at The Bump.

We’ve had a gloomy, chilly, rainy, lots-of-movies first official week of summer here. The upside? It looks like a jungle out there! The downside? It really IS a jungle out there! Clover has overtaken our garden, hmmpph.

Got any big weekend plans, lovelies? I hope to pickle the last of spring’s radishes – this will allow me to check something off my summer list! Woot-woot!

I hope you have a wonderful, restful weekend. XO

it’s a…

Posted on June 7, 2011 by BeSquirrely

thumb-sucker! Sorry, lovelies, we didn’t find out the sex of the baby yesterday, although truth be told, this Mama kind of wanted to know this time around. But Chris wanted to wait so we agreed not to find out. Plus the tech said that the baby had its legs crossed anyway, so it would’ve been difficult to find out. It was just meant to be. The surprise at delivery IS fun too, isn’t it?

More importantly, however, the baby looks healthy. All is well. Keep on, keepin’ on.

A large heirloom tomato

Posted on June 6, 2011 by BeSquirrely

So *they* say that little birdie #2 is now roughly the size of a large heirloom tomato. I found this old photo of Wren with one of last year’s tomatoes from our garden. I’m hoping she doesn’t bite the baby when it arrives, but I wouldn’t be completely surprised…

We’ve got our ultrasound today – please send lots of good karma out into the world that all will be well. Given our history, I’m a tad nervous. And no, sorry, we won’t be finding out whether it’s a boy or a girl. We love the surprise when the baby is born. You’ll just have to wait for about twenty more weeks like the rest of us.

fig inside of a grapefruit

Posted on April 18, 2011 by BeSquirrely

Exciting news! According to the powers that be, I have somebody the size of a fig growing inside my uterus, which is now the size of a grapefruit. I bet your first thought is, but aren’t figs and grapefruit grown at different times of the year? Oh, that wasn’t your first thought?! Yes, Wren’s Nest will be expecting a new little birdie at the end of October and we are thrilled. A Halloween baby! Shall we call it Pumpkin?

It seemed more fun to write that I have a fig inside of a grapefruit than to just say I’m pregnant. Maybe this will be the new 12-week pregnancy euphemism? Speaking of pregnancy euphemisms, which ones do you like or dislike?

bun in the oven
expecting
with child
knocked up
preggers/preggo
on stork watch
in a delicate condition
in the family way

Let the wild ride begin… again!

Be Squirrely

creating a nest worth sharing

Tag Archives: baby 2