morning happenings

before school one morning:

 piper flossing with daddy's ipod  headphones

hugging her doll

 reading her 'where is baby's belly button?' book, then ...

running over to me,

and showing me where MY belly button is!

valentine's day

 valentine's day was definitely a hit.  piper brought home her crafts from school.  she got valentines from her mama and papa, her classmates, long distance friends jaynie and mason, and amber and b.  miss pipes loved opening valentines and if anything was shaped like a heart, she immediately placed it over her heart and declared, "heart!"

patrick gave me a beautiful bouquet of calla lilies, hydrangea, cherry blossom and eucalyptus. i got home from work on the later side, but brought home sandwiches, cheese and wine from a great little shop called pastoral. i had an almond butter, fig jam, and goat cheese (pasteurized) sandwich, which was like a pb&j for adults. patrick's was turkey, apple and fromager d'affinois. we also really woofed out with some bleu cheese and zinfandel for dessert. it was so nice to have a little glass of wine! i don't usually give patrick anything, but this year he gets a helicopter lesson (i didn't really give him anything for christmas, plus i found a groupon).  he's very excited, like a little kid.  and i'm already nervous for it.

opening valentine's day cards!
FORGOT TO MENTION EARLIER (because i'm just used to these things):
the reason her part looks so bald here is because her head was smooshed into a winter hat and she was sweaty, combined with the light ...

... and packages!  piper's mama might have eaten all the see's chocolates like a big ol' pregnant lady.

 kiss me!

date night:my friend meg from work came over and babysat on friday night, so we got to go out for a belated valentine's day date!  i took patrick to a new-er lush wine location to start off the evening (remember, i worked at the original lush wine when i moved to chicago!).  there aren't many places around here where you can buy a retail priced bottle of wine and drink it in the store. that is the kind of place i like. then patrick took me to ruxbin, a restaurant we've been dying to try, which doesn't take reservations.  last time we tried to go, the wait was 3 hours and we just couldn't hang on that long!  but this time we put our name in earlier, then went to the wine shop to kill time.  ruxbin was worth trying to go to for the second time! i'd bet even GQ thinks so: GQ's Top Ten New Restaurants in America

thanks to everyone who helped make valentine's day so much fun!

the apple of my eye

just after the new year, we were having smoothies for breakfast ...

when piper decided she wanted an apple.

i have like 100 pictures of her eating this apple:

 no easy feat when you STILL only have 4 chompers!

i don't think you're ready for this belly! 21, 23 and 24 weeks.

6 Months Pregnant: Update!

people ask me how this pregnancy compares to the first.  hmm, well, my two sided answer is that some aspects of pregnancy 2.0 are really different, though there have been a lot of similarities too.  i definitely felt more nauseous and for a longer duration this time, until about 15 weeks in.  i sure thought i felt more exhausted, but patrick says i was just as fatigued the first time around.  it's crazy dropping into bed at 7:30 during that first trimester.  i craved orange juice and had an aversion to coffee both times.  although the coffee aversion has passed now. baby boy larkin made me crave rice krispie treats in the first trimester, and piper didn't do that to me. rice krispie treats were the only thing i could eat in the morning that didn't sound disgusting for at least a solid two weeks. but both babies did demand taco bell a few times. other than those few not-so-healthy cravings, i've been lucky to eat pretty normally.

it's nice going back to pre-natal yoga with the same instructors i went to with piper.  i also got promoted during both pregnancies, but both pregnancies have hit during crazy busy bouts at work. i just realized that i pulled a 4am work night in my 24th week of BOTH pregnancies (actually this time was only until about 3:45am, and it might have been 25 weeks with the first): see here for a trip down pregnancy lane.

one of the more noticeable differences for me has been that i'm not reading pregnancy books every night this time, which was actually reading and then re-reading what to expect with each week.  this pregancy has been flying by and i can't believe i'm already 25 weeks pregnant now.  this time around i've got my hands so full with piper, that i haven't been documenting much at all, or taking many pictures.  i've managed to snap a few in the last couple weeks though, so i will at least share what i've got.  and how about a little pregnancy vs. pregnancy comparison?

21 Weeks: Pregnancy vs. Pregnancy

that's piper-belly on the left, and baby boy belly on the right

23 Weeks: Pregnancy vs. Pregnancy

that's piper-belly on the left, and baby boy belly on the right

i have definitely felt bigger and started wearing my maternity jeans earlier with this pregnancy.  part of why i moved to those maternity pants so soon this time might be because now i actually know how comfortable they are!!!!  i think i'm carrying the same way this time, kind of higher instead of a cute basketball. here's the shot i got as i was going to bed and realized i had turned 24 weeks pregnant, which is that "6 month" mark.  i feel like it's kind of a turning point, when i feel, "ok, i really am pregnant here."

24 Weeks

this was last weekend.  and in the past week, my belly has grown even more!

bending over is different now, ugh, and my back is starting to feel those long days in a work chair. some of the muscles on my right side are a little sore; my doctors thought it might be my gall bladder, but i don't think so.  i was supposed to go get an ultrasound for it (i asked if i could just have it checked out with a pre-natal ultrasound, but he told me i had to go to a different ultrasound office), but it's feeling better now, so i think it's ok.  and patrick got me a pre-natal massage as a gift, knowing that the last couple weeks have been really tough, and it was magic. so overall i feel good, it's just that the pregnancy is starting to settle in!

and for a little more documentation's sake, i felt this little boy's flutter for the first time while sitting on a bus on michigan avenue on my way to baby gap for some gift shopping at almost 13 weeks. and now, you can visually see him kicking my belly as he somersaults. he's doing great. we enjoyed watching him during his big ultrasound several weeks back and the doctor says he is still growing well!

afternoon walk

a january day without a hat, gloves, and multiple layers,  is pretty unheard of around these parts.  so are any last remaining patches of live grass. despite the otherwise dead scenery, we've had some beautiful january, AND early february weather this year.

you can kind of see how her nose looks like it's been dipped in soot in this photo.

she feel in the parking lot on our way leaving the house, fell flat on her nose, and her mother didn't even wipe it clean.

the jacket is baby zara and hand-imported from europe courtesy of auntie sarah.  thank you!

sweet tooth

just when i was thinking that perhaps being pregnant has made my sweet tooth a little less sweet, i HAD to have cake and ice cream.  i made banana cake with burnt caramel icing and chocolate ice cream.  didn't get a photo of the actual ice cream, just the recipe.