21 weeks and Loving it!

It is official! I love my pregnant self! It is such an amazing thing to be able to grow a baby! I feel it moving daily now and every time it's like the first! Such an exciting feeling! The baby is growing all the time and I suppose it will continue to grow the entire pregnancy, duh, but the changes are noticeable week to week. I feel great and have a decent amount of energy to put to good use. Organizing the house in preparation for our new arrival, envisioning how we will set it up to create baby space.

Right now I am listening to some lovely music and I have a small speaker on my belly for the baby to hear. It's cello music right now which is very soothing and beautiful. It is nice to relax to myself after a busy day at work with many issues to resolve. It was a successful and fulfilling day however and I am so grateful that I have such an amazing co-worker/boss, Jami Mitchell. She is the best. I love my job and I love Doe Bay!

This is the cafe building and it also houses my office. River took this dusky shot from his kayak!

It has been hard lately to keep a positive attitude when my spirits have been dampened by the news from back home that my Grandfather Ron Linneman, has decided not to continue chemotherapy and is now under the care of hospice. He has battled this cancer for about a year really, though they didn't know what it was until last fall. It's really hard to be away from everyone right now, so far removed from the situation, nothing I can do to help. I try to remember the amazing things about him, I see him in my memory as strong, broad shoulders tan from the sun, working outside whether it was hauling hay or mending fences, he was always working hard on a task. I'm sure I will have more memories to share about Gramps in future entries but for now I need to remember he IS still living and just send him peaceful and happy thoughts of comfort and love even if I can't be there to express them directly.

Dad, Me, Granny and Gramps taken during my visit February 2011, just after we found out I was pregnant! It was great to share the news first hand!

River had a poignant trip to Indiana and Ohio. He was able to spend a few days with his father who is also ailing from cancer. His dad came and stayed at Marlene's house, River's mom, where Ryan, River's younger brother, and his three girls were able to visit as well. They even went to the zoo together.

Here's a picture of our sweet nieces, Amelia, Ava and Bella.

Baby Girl! Oh, the sweetness to come!

Our Baby Girl!

I am so excited to announce that our ultrasound came out perfectly with everything normal and healthy and it looks like we are going to have a baby girl!

The second picture is a view of the belly
and head. You can see the dark spots of the location of the eyes and a nose with nostrils in the middle. The brightest part is the lips and chin.

The Happy Parents to be!

More details to come soon!

19 Weeks! I Feel Movement!

Fabulous flutters! It has been a big week for me and the baby! I am really progressing into being pregnant! I started to feel the baby begin to wiggle and squirm this week!!! They say the baby is the size of a Mango and funny that I ate a fresh mango tonight! My belly has grown quite a bit these past 2 weeks, in fact it has been getting in the way a bit more! I bumped into it with the car door as I closed it! Didn't realize it was sticking out so far.

River is coming home tomorrow! He has had an awesome time in Indiana visiting his mom and many other family members. I look forward to seeing his pictures and hearing the stories of his experiences there. I will be catching an early ferry tomorrow to head to Seattle. After River gets in we will get dinner at Pabla, a vegetarian Indian restaurant near the airport. It is my favorite spot to

hit whenever I am around that area.

The photo on the left was taken at 18 weeks and the photo on the right was tonight at 19 weeks.

On Tuesday, the day after I pick River up, we are going to visit my midwife Cynthia again. We will be heading over to the hospital to get our first ultrasound! This is also the time when they can tell whether it is a boy or a girl! So in my next post I should have that exciting bit of news. We are very excited to find out and to share! I have been thinking of names lately but nothing really stands out as a certain choice. River and I bounce ideas off of each other but nothing has quite the right fit yet.

I am planning to have a baby registry on Amazon.com, but at the same time we hope to get many of the items we need gently used and/or passed down to us. My friends are gifting us with a very nice car seat! Thanks Joern and Tiffany! I am looking into this high chair right now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohnizuQBfUg . The brand is Svan and it is made in Sweden. It is made of wood and doesn't take up much space, which is important. It is adjustable to grow with the baby all the way into the teen years! This also means it has a sturdy construction and it's long-lasting life means it won't end up in a landfill any time soon!

More on all of this when I return from my trip to the mainland! I'll leave you now with one more belly shot! Now that's a belly full of baby!

May is upon us!

Last Saturday I went out to a party some friend's were throwing in celebration of various birthdays which all fall in Taurus. It was a small quirky group and we enjoyed the various dress-up party favors the hosts provided, such as many colorful wigs and accessories! It felt really funny to leave the house at 9:30pm to go to a party on the other side of the island (a time I am usually cozy in bed these days!) But I am so glad I went and danced and had a great time with friends. There were plenty of organic strawberries to feast upon, some even covered in chocolate!
This is my friend Susie in the photo with me. She's an artist, belly dancer, and has a huge wolf-like dog named Max.

Yesterday I took River to the airport and had to say goodbye for 10 days apart. He went back to Indiana to visit with his family. His dad has cancer so he wanted to spend some time visiting with him. Today I talked to him while he was walking in Foster Park with his mom and brother Ryan amongst tulips flowering and trees in bloom. He arrived perfectly to spend Mother's Day with his mama! Another weird synchronicity happened to River on his way. He was in the super busy O'Hare airport in Chicago changing planes and he ran into his cousin Dave Augenstein! He was one of his cousins that came to our wedding but they haven't kept in touch very well and Dave had no idea River was coming to Indiana. It was really random and they even ended up on the same flight together to Fort Wayne! It was even weirder to Marlene and Ryan who awaited River at the baggage claim to see another relative walking up with him! So strange the way the world can bring people together. Sometimes the chaos all makes sense.

My 17 week belly

Lately I have been more moody, hopefully not too crabby! I have been a little more emotional than the earlier months and that is a welcome relief. It felt strange to not have a good cry when I felt like I was supposed to all overwhelmed by pregnancy hormones. Touching moments in movies really get me these days! I've been napping more too. About an hour a day really gives me a boost. The night before River left he made a wonderful salmon dinner with wild rice and asparagus with a salad. It was nice to get the fish in my diet. Still have a little left over so maybe I'll make some nori rolls with it, like a California roll but with salmon!


Only 1 week and a couple of days until we have the ultrasound and hopefully find out what our baby's sex is! I don't have the camera (River took it to Indiana) to take 18 week pics which is what I am today. I actually have a 2nd camera that was a recent gift so maybe I'll fire it up and give it a test run! I definitely think I have grown, as has the baby, in the last week. I hope everyone has a lovely Mother's Day!