Lend Me Your Ear

I am late in posting from last Sunday when our baby was the size of an 8.5" ear of corn at 23 weeks... but I posted today, now that life is calming down.
I survived the art lessons this week. I began with a scoop of teaching first graders how to work with clay {the kind you fire in a kiln}. We made heart-shaped pockets for Mother's Day. Lessons like these, I want to record and replay for students when they act as though they can't follow one direction to save their lives, let alone the gazillion I gave them on clay day {that they were able to execute flawlessly... might I add}.
Follow that up with a scoop of one complete day filled with fifth graders working with firing clay to create mosaic pieces for the 5th grade mural {you would think they'd be competent... oh well}.
Top it all off with a splash of the boxes of clay state that pregnant women should not touch the clay directly with their bare skin due to chemicals and minerals in them that are known to cause birth defects {yet one more thing I didn't know before getting pregnant and am happy that I read the side of the boxes of clay as I was unloading them from the trunk of my car onto my art cart} welcome two full days of working with clay, hands adorned with vinyl gloves from the nurses room in the office and I'm glad that I get a one week break before I have to do it all again with more first graders and the fourth grade clay project. I also seem to have caught some kind of terrible deep-lunged cough from one of the many hacking kids swarming the school each day {especially those kindergarteners still learning to wash their hands and cover their mouths...UGH!}

"Sugar, Sugar..."

At 22 weeks along, we continue our "prenatal photos" of our baby who is about the weight of a 1-lb box of sugar and about the length of it too {8"}. She {and I} had a growth spurt last week. My belly has really filled-out {if you are wishing you could be an astronaut to see the curvature of the earth for yourself... just give me a call and I'll be right over with my baby-bump for you to gaze at}. Aside from that, Dan and I started our birthing class this past week and we adore our instructor. She is positive, super friendly, and makes the best popcorn EVER! I have also been attending prenatal yoga classes that I am addicted to. I am a believer. I've never been able to relax as much as I do during yoga and I crave the next class the whole week in-between. In other news, our little box of sugar has been quite the mover and shaker too {especially on Sunday during church... Dan says it's because she knows where she is}. Tune-in next Sunday for the next comparison-object of our baby.

Chiquita

I've decided to start taking baby pics before our little girl is born... how do I do that? Well, each week, I will carefully place an item that is referenced to be the approximate size of our baby at that week in the crib, take a pic, and post it on the blog. This way, family and friends who check our blog {however, don't live nearby} will feel part of the experience {this is mostly a gift for my sister who lives in Utah}. With that said, this week our baby is about the size of a large banana and growing into a larger-sized object for next Sunday.
Here are some pics from the most recent ultrasound. They are of here feet {top-left}, her profile {bottom-left}, and her arm with one finger pointing at the end {bottom-right} to which, the doctor typed on the pic "I'm #1 !!!!"

Pretty in Pink

We had our 20wk. ultrasound yesterday and found out we're having a baby girl around June 24th. I made this pic in photoshop, printed it as a sticker, and wore it on my baby-bump to work today to inform my anxiously waiting co-workers. Everyone loved the sticker and the students did too {I made each class guess what they thought the baby was AND surprise, surprise... most of the boys voted 'boy' and most of the girls voted 'girl'}. We didn't want to be told the sex of the baby in the ultrasound office, so the doctor had us close our eyes when she was determining what it was and we brought a card with an envelope for her to write it in for us to open later. After the visit, we drove to Dan's dad's house so it would be just the two of us finding out. When we opened the card, it took us a second to adjust, because we were both so sure it was going to be a boy {so did most of the people we received opinions from on the matter}. We called my mom and Dan's parents from our cell-phones and the house phone at the same time. It was fun to hear all of their reactions simultaneously! Following many more phone-calls and emails, we went to Target and walked slowly through the baby section looking at every pink item available {as well as all of the things we hadn't even considered}. We picked-out 3 adorable baby dresses to start the girly extravaganza. Now, the name-game!

Inspiration + Drive = Accomplishment

I was inspired by one of my roommates from college who decided to make a list of things to accomplish this year, rather than a handful of New Year's resolutions. I've decided to do the same thing (considering everyone continues to remind me of the fact that when the baby arrives...I will have no time to complete a sentence, let-alone a project). So, I've created a list of things to accomplish before my due-date. One of the items on the list (which, bytheway, doesn't have to be completed in-order) was a new bedskirt for our bed with matching pillows.
For Christmas 2007, my mother-in-law made a bedskirt for our bed with a great black and white "Versailles-Bee" fabric (she is an upholsterer, so you can imagine how gorgeous it is). Inspiration struck and I wanted to sew a bedskirt for our bed as well, using our bedskirt from my mother-in-law as a guide. I found some great fabric on a design site that I fell in love with, before I read the $90 price-per-yard. Not being able to justify that, I searched numerous fabric sites to find something comparable and landed on a "Colonial Pineapple" print through E-bay with the more reasonable $10 per-yard (make sure if you purchase fabric from ebay, that the seller understands the terminology associated with the run of the fabric print so that you are speaking the same sewing-lingo and can plan for the number of yards needed. I mean REALLY check to make sure they get it!).
I sewed a new paneled-bedskirt with matching pillows for the bed! I was so thrilled with how it turned out, to have the fabric off of my project shelving (to make room for the next one), and to have the sense of accomplishment. I thought the project would be more difficult than it was, but it only took me 2 days and bada-bing... instant room make-over!
So, what's next? I'll refer to my list...

First Photo

We have arrived at the second trimester! WhaWhooooooo! My "afternoon sickness" is beginning to deplete and I am reclaiming my evenings. 2 weeks ago we had our first ultrasound. The docs at the perinatal office mean business: We were led to the exam room, the doc turned the lights off, told Dan where to sit, asked me to hop up on the "recliner" and verify my information on the flat-screen mounted to the ceiling. Then, in the next moment, we were looking at our future baby... arms and legs moving around and laying in perfect profile (the doctors said our baby was very cooperative). It took me a minute to catch-up with the fact that the tiny human we were looking at on the screen was inside me. The only word I can use to describe how I felt was- beaming...no other word for it! After multiple snapshots were taken, we were handed the baby's first photos and sent to schedule our next appointment (when we will find out if we are having a boy or girl). What do you think baby Lynch will be?

We're Pregnant!

YES! We are expecting an addition to our family on June 30th and are absolutely thrilled! (Yes that is the day that 'Eclipse' is out in theaters...so we'll see what happens). I haven't been updating my blog at all because every afternoon, I'm nauseated. Luckily I teach art in the morning at an elementary school while I'm not sick... it's the coming home part that really gets to me. I eat lunch and then lie on the sofa while watching Martha Stewart. Then the count-down until the nausea begins. UGH! It's all worth it I'm sure... although somedays it can really drag you down(I have a deep respect for people who live with a chronic illness). The above picture is a napkin Dan found for me at Sur La Table (I added the part about not listening). We both laughed very heartily at it! At my last prenatal appointment, Dan and I were able to hear the baby's heartbeat. How exciting and strange is that! It was so interesting to consider that there is actually another heartbeat inside me and I'm growing a human! Dan wants me to say "The fetus and I need to eat" and his absolute favorite that I haven't been able to commit to is saying "We (in an alien-body-snatcheresque manner) need to eat." He is like a kid on Christmas morning about telling everyone we're pregnant...and I suppose the body-snatcher thing is his male way of bonding with the idea. It's cute. So, I've heard that the nausea can possibly subside around the 14th week...I'm 2 seconds away from week 12... so we'll see what happens around the corner!