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Maternity shoot teaser – more photos to come soon!

All credit for these goes to the adorable and incredibly talented Bethany Jackman.

Recently I’ve been overwhelmed by baby shower offers,  which is an incredibly pleasant thing to be overwhelmed by if you ask me. However, as someone who didn’t really intend on having a shower (maybe an open house type after baby?) I haven’t given any thought at all to a registry. When a close friend brought up the idea once again I said yes and the planning began. I would have preferred to use alternate registry options, such as my personal favorite Wishpot, but the host (who is also a mother to an 8 month old) advised creating one at a physical location as well. I chose Babies”R”Us for its close proximity to my apartment, making returns easier just in case any well-intentioned guests decided to veer off the registry and pick up items we know we won’t use, and set about creating an online wish list of things I’d be able to open with a genuine smile.

My favorite item found on my Wishpot registry. I’m sure my organic farmer father would love to see his first grand-baby wearing this! From seller Twig and Closer on Etsy.

Aside from the daily “registry update” emails I seem to be unable to escape from, creating this second registry wasn’t so bad. Except at the very beginning, when they forced me to put down my due date to continue the sign-up process! Though I’ve been a bit more liberal about tossing it out toward the end, for the most part my exact due date has been held close. I’ve heard the stories from other women, detailing how miserable those last few weeks are, which is often compounded by the endless inquiries dropped in casual conversation by well-intentioned yet clueless strangers making jokes along the lines of “You still haven’t had that baby yet?” Trust me, with cankles, tiny feet in her ribs, trips to the bathroom on the hour every hour, heartburn, and the inability to lift herself off the floor, she would like to be able to provide you with an answer other than “Nope, not yet” accompanied by a rather forced smile.

This is why, on the Babies”R”Us registry… I lied. I pushed the date back by several days, hoping it might eliminate some of those questions for me. When people ask when I’m due, instead of responding with a due date, I give a due month, April. According to the American College of Midwives, only 5% of babies are born on their actual due date. Baby is considered full term at 37 weeks and can bask in my uterus for about 42, and so I think it’s silly to pinpoint a specific date on the calendar. As my belly gets bigger, and I start to look more miserable, I’m going to hold firm to my belief in the due date. There is no magic number, baby will come when s/he is ready and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Will you join me in my anti due-date campaign?

Let’s rephrase the question from “When are you due?” to “What month are you due?”.  That way, the woman can decide what route she wants to take. If voicing the actual due date is important to them they can, but if they’re like me they’ll be free to answer however they please.

Oh, and if I respond to your question (no matter how you phrase it) with “April”, please don’t lean in and say “I mean, what day?” I feel bad when I feel cornered into telling lies, even little white ones that save my sanity.

Not long after my husband and I were married I shared with you my reasoning behind why I didn’t change my last name and today I figured it might be time to share with you why I got married. I’m sure it seems pretty straightforward to most of you, but as it turns out there is at least some degree of confusion among people as to why two individuals might decide to get married. My reasoning behind marriage was pretty simple – I wanted to be a wife. While this may not seem like a shocker to you, allow me to clarify for a moment – I got married because I wanted to be a wife; I did not get married because I wanted to be a mother. At least in my world, the things are two wildly different roles, one of which I do not aspire to add to my list of credentials.

{Photo via Girls Just Wanna Have Funds}

Allow me to preface this conversation by noting that I love children, especially toddlers because they melt my heart, and I adamantly support my friends and family who have elected to make parenthood a part of their lives. I love and have limitless respect for women who chose to be mothers. (Thanks, Mom!) I simply don’t want to be one. Not now. Possibly not ever. Shockingly, in 2010 this is still an incredibly outlandish concept in most circles I run in so I thought I’d throw it out on the table so others who share my feelings can rest assured – you are not alone. There are at least a few of us running around out here in the wild who have no desire to be a mommy, despite society’s shock and awe at the thought of a woman not becoming a mother at some point in her adulthood.

So. Why did I get married? Simply put, because I love my husband and I wanted to spend my life with him. I wanted to be his partner, his confidant, his best friend, his biggest fan and his partner in crime for all the days of my life. In turn, I wanted someone to travel the world with, to grow with, someone to challenge me to do better, and to spend my days with someone whose very presence makes accomplishments large and small infinitely more meaningful and more exciting. In other words, I got married to share my life with him and in turn to share his life with him. It just so happens, Mike is the greatest person I know and I love him dearly so it only made sense he should be that person. I got married because I wanted to be his wife, partner, friend and coach. Becoming parents is irrelevant to all the ways we love each other and all the ways we’re committed to each other so while I can’t say definitively we’ll never be parents, it certainly played no role in if we got married. If we decide to become parents, that commitment will be a separate oath we take on the day we decide to go down that path. Until then, I’m no less of a wife nor any less of a person because I have no plans to become a mother.

With all that said, it has to be noted that six months into marriage I’m growing a little weary of all the people who won’t give up on their quest to beat us into submission with regards to their will for us to have a baby. I find it incredibly odd that before you’re married, most socially-adjusted people wouldn’t even think about inquiring about your sex life at every family gathering and social occasion, but once you’ve signed a marriage license all bets are off – your sex life can be mentioned, without fear of recourse, at will pretty much any time of day or night, regardless of the appropriateness of the situation. Honestly, what is with people constantly asking me when I’m going to have a baby? What if we were trying to have a baby and we couldn’t for some reason? Does anyone ever stop to think about how horribly inappropriate it is to butt into someone else’s plans, or lack thereof, to procreate? And, while we’re at it, if even one more person tells me that my “clock is ticking,”  that my “eggs are dying” or that it’s “your turn next” I might scream. No. It is not my “turn” – this is not a board game. This is life, people! Motherhood is not something you pick up on a whim while you’re out at the mall shopping, it’s an incredibly important decision that can only be made between the people involved, not an issue up for public debate. Life is not a democracy and you get no say in my decisions regarding reproduction.

I’ll save my laundry list of reasons for not wanting to be a mother for another post (and why, if I do decide to be a mom, I’ll probably be adopting), but for now suffice it to say that the motivation behind my getting married was to be married, not to be a parent. Whatever your reasoning for getting married, I support it, and I’d love if even a few more people could support mine. Oh, and while we’re at it, if you could stop telling me that I’m “young” and that I’ll change my mind it would be very much appreciated. Whether you like it or not, I’m not having a baby. Final answer.

I have so many nursery projects to share with you readers! My inner Martha Stewart has really come out for this event and even if you aren’t the most crafty person in the world, I think you could do a few of these projects without too much trouble. Making the nursery personal and yet inexpensive is one of my top goals for the room (besides making it totally awesome and modern and bright….those are good goals, too, right?). So I knew we’d do a lot of DIY projects and I’d hunt for gently used pieces of furniture that just beg to be refinished. So far, so good.

My loving fellow-crafty lady mother come up to The Great North to visit her only daughter a few weeks ago. Our sole mission was to pump out as many projects as humanly possible in 2 full days. So we first went fabric shopping and found a literal JACKPOT at a local quilting store. Narrowing it down to just three prints was painstaking but I’m really happy with what we chose:

My mom got to work on the sewing machine (since I still haven’t sucked it up and learned how to sew) and made two sets of orange curtains with green tie backs, a green window seat cushion, and two yellow cushions for the rocking chair. The window seat is definitely one of my favorite spots in the room so far.

{Read the rest of this entry…}

I’m in full baby-nursery mode these days, my dears. And I’d like your help with something: a baby quilt. No, I’m not sewing one myself because that would require me knowing how to sew. But my loving mother has decided she simply MUST sew a baby quilt for her first-born grandchild. (And did I mention over here….it’s going to be a BOY!)

But here’s the thing: I really don’t like old-fashioned quilts. In fact our nursery is very bold, modern, and not at all traditional (pictures of updates to follow). So I think that a modern baby quilt would be the best for her to make but it’s hard to find a cute pattern out there. Probably part of the problem is that I focus on the colors of the quilt instead of the actual pattern. But ours will probably be full of aquas, oranges, yellows, and bright greens if that helps create a mental image in your mind.

I used my Googling skillz to find a few ideas and want your input. A few websites out there offer a TON of gorgeous ideas, so here we go:

1. Modern Cotton Quilt by Red Pepper :

2. Sew Girly! Bird quilt:

{Read the rest of this entry…}

I have been diligent about documenting the progress of this pregnancy since the day I found out the news. Mostly because I am a crazy psycho who is obsessed with making albums of our life. I make an annual album every year full of our ‘every day’ life in pictures and posts from my blog. But I knew I would do a pregnancy album, too, full of belly shots, nursery decor, and posts about my thoughts on pregnancy. I think it will be something I love to look back on in the future and maybe baby will even think it’s cool to see how mom changed during these 9 months.

But as far as the belly goes, things like this call for a little collage action. For instance, my first trimester:

{Read the rest of this entry…}

As I head towards the halfway mark of my pregnancy (at 18.5 weeks, if you want to be all technical about it), I’m starting to pull together the nursery and thought it would be nice to share. I fully intend on this being a long, drawn-out project full of extensive research, bargains, and excitement. So far so good! :)

My inspiration all started with these images from the wonderful Jennyology’s blog:

I am obsessed with the bright apple green walls, the vivid curtains, and the fact that she avoided all pastels. I am on a mission….NO PASTELS in this nursery. I want all bright and bold colors which proves to be a challenge in the sea of pale pinks and blues in nursery world. But I have faith that I can do it!

{Read the rest of this entry…}

Let me preface this by saying that we don’t have kids, and we don’t even know if we want kids.  That said, I have been thinking about decorating a nursery… basically just for fun.  One idea I’ve toyed with is a fairy tale themed room.  I’d love this chandelier and castle wall decal for either a boy or girl:

{Read the rest of this entry…}

Not only can Etsy dress a baby like none other, but it can also decorate a nursery like a pro. Of course, you’ll need to be the one to pull it all together but nothing like handmade goods to inspire a room for the baby.

Pillows for the rocker:

by seller ManicMuffin Totes:

from seller ginia18:

Then come the wall prints. Don’t even get me started.

by seller Ferntree Studio:

{Read the rest of this entry…}

We’re gaining a new addition to our home come April 2010!

While planning my wedding I learned about all of these creative and innovative projects people embarked on during the engagement period. So it figures that now that I’m in the pre-natal period I would be dreaming up projects that apply to baby. Nursery decor projects? Those are off limits for single income couples like us that plan on moving 5 months after the baby is born to go to business school. So I had to be a bit more creative with my thinking. What if, instead of working on something tangible, I focused on creating something… bloggable!

Unlike the lovely Julia, I do not have a sexy tight belly with a cute little bump. I have a belly gained through hours spent in front of the computer editing photos and years of bad food choices. But that’s not going to prevent me from embarking on the belly bump slideshow project I’ve been dreaming of for months now.

For this project to happen I need tripod, camera, good light, neutral background, the same outfit for every photo, the same pose for every photo, and all of this happening in as close to the same spot as possible each week.

I chose to wear white because it’s the most revealing color (usually the reason why I avoid it!) as I wanted all of the changes in my body to be seen. I chose to take the photos on Sunday, a day I end up doing my hair and wearing makeup, something that doesn’t usually happen the rest of the week. I picked a spot on our office with good light and a blank wall and set up my tripod across from it. I put duct tape on the floor under each of the legs of the tripod, and also where my feet needed to go.

After I had the settings on my camera where I wanted them I began running back and forth, setting the timer, and then getting back into position. I decided my favorite pose was the typical “hands resting on the small of the back” pregnancy pose, and did a shot of my front with shirt down, side with shirt down, front with shirt up, and side with shirt up. Each week I’ll take a shot as close to this setup as I possibly can, and then at the end of my pregnancy (and definitely as I go as well) I’ll assemble it into a little video where each shot is shown side-by-side so the growth and changes can be seen.

I’ll update you when I feel like I’ve “popped” so you can see the progress!