a taste of summer

Yesterday, Acorn left cheerios next to the cat, putting one down each time she passed the cat curled in her new cushion.
Today, with her first taste of peach since summer(hello canned peaches) the baby goes to the cat and offers her a taste. Forcefully. She wants to make sure the cat knows what she is missing. My daughter continues to do her circle around our house, the yellow peach clasped tight in her hand, juice almost dripping to the floor.

fruity

Not the promised crafty or nursery pics, but some pics to tide you over:
Tomatoes from my garden on windowsill, guarded by gnomes.


A mid-morning(or afternoon) snack, walnuts, blueberries and plums:

Assorted

I've had my first, "I am awake and can't fall asleep because the baby is kicking" hours this week. What a surprise! I must say it is much easier to relax(as an pregnant woman who has dealt with infertility) with the daily reminders that our baby is doing well.

The baby seems to wait for me to recline(on the couch, at the pool, in bed) before doing the majority of the kicking and stretching. Mr. S and I have tried the talking thing(as in he says, "hello baby!" directly to my belly) and nothing has happened yet.

We did our first baby purchase. A stroller! Hurrah! It was on a crazy special, online, and is well-reviewed, so I went for it. It is nice to not have to be researching strollers anymore. We got a sort of urban jogger style, it is rugged like a jogger but a bit more compact, for city walking, etc. We walk a lot, so that is cool. And, it comes with a carry-cot, very cute, and should be cozy for our fall baby's first winter.

I've been on a craft kick, I started off with crocheting hats, and then moved on to sewing felt designs(that I cut out) to onesies, and am now making little stuffed shapes(mostly animals) for a mobile. We received a hand me down mobile with cutesy bunnies(that aren't my style) and Mr. S kept liking ones we saw at Bab.ies R Us, so I thought I'd make our own shapes and attach them to the mobile(one of the musical kinds). These crafts are a great break from my online teaching, and my wrist twinges(that worried me about carpal tunnel) are long gone.

We are going away for the weekend, a long drive, but should be a nice trip, our friends are throwing a birthday celebration in a state park in Ith.aca. I am looking forward to great food, laughter, lots of swimming, waterfalls, and seeing a different areas produce.

Speaking of local produce, I thought this would be fun....

This week the baby's growth has been brought to us by: oatmeal squares with blueberries; boiled eggs and toast, bacon; cantaloupe; corn; gazpacho; tomatoes; plums; venison jerky; ice cream; peaches; pattypan squash and zucchini; walnuts; iced tea. Only a few items(and staples, like flour) aren't local, which is pretty awesome. My neighbors gave me a bag of venison jerky they had made. It is my first venison, and really, I can't tell a huge difference from it and my normal vegetarian jerky, tastewise.

our bubbly embryos

Yesterday, the embryology lab was out of printer paper(never mind the size of this place, they should have extra!) so they told us they wouldn't be able to show us a picture of our embryos. Now this may sound silly, but I was looking forward to seeing them! After some back and forth talk which ended with me saying, "Isn't there any other way you could show us what they look like?" the embryologist said, "We could try and email them." we relaxed.

But, her earlier words, "We get rid of the images after a day" stuck with me. With no sign of pictures in sight today, my first act of un-bedrest was to call my nurse, my RE(left a message) and explain the situation and ask them to PLEASE get us the pictures.

3 hours later, we got them. I asked Mr. S if I was being unreasonable, and he said I've been more than patient with other issues(nurse forgetting to tell me to drink a lot before ET, no blankets to keep me warm, waiting 30 minutes extra before ET(hello, my bladder was so uncomfortable it hurt to answer questions)).



Now that I have them I don't really know what they mean, but it was a battle I felt like fighting, so I fought it.

Bedrest was uneventful. I only let myself get up to pee, and the second time I did, I walked out to the porch, instead of the couch, and laid on our bench and had a lovely relaxing time. When I lie there I am pretty invisible, I watched birds flying and the light coming through trees. Mr. S went to a local farmer's market to get me my new favorite fruit(heirloom strawberries) and he came home with them, a big bunch of peonies, and 2 crepes for us. May is definitely a good month to be forced to sit still.