21 weeks, no chicken yet

Crazy week: I self-hypnotized myself through a root canal while Dan did all kinds of tree science and preparations for classes starting next week at OU. Tonight was the first night we could do my 20ish week portrait. Before dinner, we went to uptown Athens, and Dan got some cool photos of me. I am 20 weeks, 5 days; OVER halfway there!!!

what's going on with the baby. During our ultrasound this week, we discovered our baby is still a boy. Dan loved seeing him squirm and kick and jump. His spine, leg bones and skull are visible. He has BIG feet and his nose is still large. He has great lips that look like my moms. Which is good, because she has beautiful lips. He weighs 10 oz which is perfect. According to my doc, I am too perfect with all my numbers. He kicks me and I can feel his hiccups (which is just the COOLEST, weirdest feeling, and tends to only happen at 3 am). I feel like my whole life is shifting and i am more concerned with what to find/buy for the baby than I am for myself.

Next portrait? So, I really wanted to incorporate a chicken into my 20 week portrait last week. My vision was me looking quite artsy and maybe a bit odd. But last Friday was rainy and cold and I just wasn't in the mood to go to my friends farm and pose with some poultry. I still love the idea, so my 24 week portrait will absolutely incorporate some farm animals. I promise.

Books: I am loving searching/picking out books for the baby. Our favorites are vintage books, like we read when we were small (36 years ago...) and we look on Etsy and Ebay and Amazon for cool retro books ALL THE TIME. Dan snuck these photos of me reading a Dr. Suess book I have never seen. I am going to put these photos in the baby book (i have yet to construct) so our boy can know that I loved him even before he was born.

Photography: I have seven shoots in the next 10 days. EEKS. And an incredibly full April. I am so happy to be working again, the winter and all of the snow really slowed me down. Tomorrow I get to shoot two high school seniors (who are sweethearts, which of course, I love). Yay for good warm weather and daylight til 7:30. Happy spring!

my office/dining; after/before

My new office/dining room after:Here is the space Before:This is my office and eventually, dining room (we just need to find a LONG rectangular artsy chunky table and perfectly mismatched chairs). I left one day and asked Dan to paint two of the walls. I came home to a full room of green. AND... I love that all four walls are olive green. This space is the center of our house, and you have to walk through it to get to EVERY room, so it is pretty important. I just love it. I tried to make it feel personal, and cool. Like this little space above the music bookcase. From the left, A crate from our wedding party holds: the first card Dan gave me, a doorknob from our first rental in Oregon (it was broken before I took it I promise), an owl Joanna gave me, our prom photo (from 20 years ago), and a photograph of my grandfather, who I never met, who I am told was an incredibly snazzy dresser.

This color makes the space feel earthy and cozy. The curtains (from Ikea) and a new light (from Lowe's) update the room have more - in comparison to the before photos. I wonder, Do we need a rug?

This hanging terrarium is my most favorite Christmas present from Dan's mom, Carol. I look at it every day, and those tiny plants and rocks make me happy. If I had the guts, and Dan's guts too, I would paint the ceiling metallic tangerine. Maybe even stripes. Because I love orange and green together.

I heart the green glass bird. I bought it in uptown Athens, just because.
Here is what the my desk looked a week after we first moved in. Crazy messy. And what is with the desk on a diagonal? I didn't want to face the wall, because of fun shui, but dang, that is some serious clutter.

Nursery: In case you are wondering why we tackled the dining room before the baby room, the reason is: Just because the room was driving us both nuts. The baby room is next. Currently there is a big pile of baby stuff shoved against all four walls and some NASTY wallpaper still needing to be removed. My friend Joy is helping me with the room, and we decided that the color scheme is orange, brown, baby blue and white. Last week, I found an awesome twin bed, for me, and we are picking up the crib (from my dear friend Corey) in three weeks. I think once I see the crib and the bed in place, I will be able to make more decisions about color, bedding, decoration, etc. Yay. I promise to post photos, once some changes occur.

Marvin the terrible/great

Marvin must know I am pregnant. He has NOT left my side - especially since Dan has been in Panama. He loves to sleep in the bed with me, which has great since he's a 35 pound heater. He spoons my low back and it feels REALLY good. Is that gross? Is it possible Marvin knows that I need him, 1. because I miss Dan and 2. because he is an economical heat source?

On the other hand: He hates me leaving him at home alone and is acting out, like a dang toddler. Today, I came home from a 3 hour photo gig, to find Marvin had strewn a package of chili powder all over the kitchen floor. The white kitchen floor. Yesterday, he illustrated his lack of appreciation of being left alone, by decorating the dining, living and bathroom with an entire box of black garbage bags. He didn't chew or tear any of them, but still... Pain. In. the. Ass.

I'm thinking he was proud of himself, because I found him, waiting for me, on my freshly made bed. Wallowed in the pillows. Without a care in the world. I could have sworn I shut the bedroom door. Thank goodness Dan is home in three days. Somebody needs to go for a long long run.

up before dawn

we are moved in and so happy and excited to be in our new/old home. Yesterday, between trips of boxes and furniture, Dan and I walked through OUR backyard and concocted grand plans of where to plant our garlic & onions. We (mentally) removed a few bushes and one tree. It was so incredibly fun. I cut flowers for the kitchen while our neighbor Buzz (what a cool name) was painting his fence. The seller left several beautiful rocks (one pink quartz) and such a small thing made me happy.

Inside, we have a calm chaos. Boxes are neatly stacked in each room. The kitchen is getting thorough cleaning and a new faucet and a rug today. The dining room is going to sit furniture-less for a while, until I find a rectangular dining table and an assortment of non-matching chairs. I want them to all be different colors and country. We need a different light. The current chandelier is super Macintosh and just wrong for us. We are painting it white and olive green with a tangerine ceiling!!! It sounds a tad bit army, I know, but it will look great. Color on the ceiling is one of my most favorite things and for the center of the house, I think it will be superb. Our bedroom just needs a closet reconfiguration. It has dusty blue walls and the original wood windows and doors and is perfect.

However, my office is a hot countryass mess of to-dos. The Laura Engals blue & pink floral wallpaper is going to lovingly get ripped down. My antique desk may or may not fit through the door. The ceiling needs serious repair. Fun. I will have to set up shop in the dining room until all that work is done.

And the bathroom... The shower is currently leaking onto the dryer downstairs... SO, that MUST be fixed this week. The entire bathroom needs serious love. And an exhaust fan. And a non-dingy floor. I want yummy honeycomb white and black tiles. I did already get a new toilet seat and sink faucet. Hopefully, Dan can switch those out today. Meanwhile, I'll be cleaning the floors and baseboards, filling wall holes/cracks, washing curtains, removing blinds, and kilzing the ceilings. Homeownership feels So good. Yay.