fifteen.

15 week baby bump. yes that is laundry in the background. just keeping it real. i'll probably not do this every week because i'm bad at keeping things like this up, but every so often i'll jump on in with a bit of a pregnancy update! 

How Far Along: 15 weeks
Size of Baby:  orange
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +4 ish 
Gender: keeping it a surprise!
Movement: nada. but soon hopefully!
Sleep: sleep has improved massively with the second trimester. so that's a blessing. 
Maternity Clothes: yes. mainly. occasionally i can wear non maternity trousers with a bellaband - but that's getting less and less comfortable. and while i still fit into non-maternity tops they aren't long enough to cover the stretchy panel of maternity trousers. :) 
Symptoms: nausea has completely gone away, although my sense of smell is super strong and my stomach can quickly be turned! otherwise, round ligament pain, sacral-illio pain and a nosebleed. 
Aversions: emptying the rubbish bin! 
Cravings: cheese. chocolate milk. salt & vinegar crisps (chips for those of you across the pond). water - i get very suddenly thirsty, even if i've been careful to keep my liquids up. 
What I miss: honestly? a beer. yesterday it was lovely and warm and relaxing and sunny and the only thing that would have made it more perfect was a cold beer. le boy said he was willing to take one for the team in this case ;)
Worst Moment of the week: nothing really. le boy might go with my mood swings, which have definitely increased...whoops. i'm quick to apologise for my crazy, and blame the baby of course!
Best Moment this week: super enjoyable, relaxing and productive saturday that included a coffee date with a girlfriend, walking to and from pregnancy yoga class (in my neighbourhood!) a bit of pampering, fresh flowers on the way home and chatting on the phone with marvellous, an impromptu visit from friends and their cub, and hosting a small dinner party later that evening.   oh and starting to plan the 'babymoon' by purchasing our flights to italy for this summer! 

baby.

the reason for the blogging break.

it turns out that the beginning of growing a small human is incredibly exhausting. and so my days were spent like this: wake up (late). work. go home. lay on sofa. go to bed. with a little nausea thrown in for good measure. hence there wasn't anything very exciting to write about. except the most exciting thing to write about (which we weren't telling anyone) - a baby!

well, there you go. i'm due in november and now that i'm enjoying the relatively less exhausting, less ill-feeling period of this pregnancy, i'm hoping to be a bit better about recording our lives.

we are overjoyed. blessed beyond measure. marvelling at god's goodness. overwhelmed by the tiny miracle happening inside. it's good. very good.

recently read.

back from a break - not intentional, just not blogging. so i thought i'd ease in with what i've been up to recently: reading.

and seeing as yesterday was world book day, it's only a day late!

i've had a string of good books this year - and really these things deserve to be shared. 

flight behaviour - barbara kingsolver

set in small town appalachia, this is a wonderful story about engaging climate science and daily life from the perspective of a young mother. this novel deals with the challenges of intersecting faith, education, small town life and climate science. this novel reminded me of the life that happens outside of urban, educated, well-to-do london. it is beautifully written with stunning poetic language that engages you from the beginning. 

anything - jennie allen 

what happens when you say - 'anything' to god? and by 'anything' you mean, that you'll no longer try to control or restrict or keep areas of your life from god. you won't say, anything, but...that's this story. jennie allen and her husband prayed that god would do, take, have, give, move anything. and he did. it was a book that really challenged my thinking on what i was holding onto too tightly. 

the round house - louise erdrich 

a reflection on how a boy lives through the aftermath of a brutal attack on his mother and the way a community grapples with violence. a coming of age story that is haunting and painful but so readable you can't imagine putting it down.

help, thanks, wow. - ann lamott

ann suggests there are three prayers: help, thanks and wow. moments when we call on the divine for assistance, asking for a need to be filled, a gap to be bridged, a hurt to be mended; moments when we simply praise god because that's what we were created to do: worship; and moments when you just sit back and say 'wow, god. just wow!'

the shoemaker's wife, adriana trigiani

a sweeping historical novel set in italy and america at the turn of the 20th century. this book might not be the next pulitzer winner, but it definitely entertains, is decently well written and thoroughly enjoyable. it grips you early, doesn't let you go and allows you to fully enter the story with the characters. my only criticism is that maybe it tries to reach just a little too far, the decades from 1890-1940 were tumultuous to say the least, and  this novel tries to touch on all the big events...regardless, you can't help but want the characters to triumph!


happy reading!