All the pretty pictures...

***Warning - loads of pregnancy pics ahead.....

I mentioned being behind in posting photos in my last post, so at long last I am getting them up here.

But first, a pictorial that somewhat explains why I posted so little in August and makes me look just a little hardcore. This is what I was up to...

I wasn't kidding about the bathroom remodel....The first picture shows where our old shower/tub used to be, the second is where our old toilet and floor were, the third shows the disaster that Mr. Spicy found when innocently trying to replace some drywall around the skylight - years upon years of water damage had reduced much of the wood to dust, and the last picture is of me donning my "protective gear" - eye goggles, and the most intense breathing apparatus Mr. Spicy could find to protect me from the dust and fumes. His language of love often leads him right to the hardware store, what can I say?

But, we finished it! Mostly! And wouldn't you know I haven't even taken any finished photos yet? Probably because I still have flashbacks whenever I walk into that room now.





On a happier note....I have a months worth of belly pics to unload on y'all, and also a very cute ultrasound picture, hold onto your hats folks, here we go:


18 weeks

(this is the first time I saw a pregnancy photo of myself and was truly shocked. I just didn't *feel* like I was showing that much. My internal image and external images just were not matching up. Also, it made me feel a bit vulnerable to look so obviously pregnant - which surprised me, a lot.)

Now, here are just a few of the gorgeous pictures that MB took of us at 20 weeks...... if you would like to see the whole slideshow, email me and I will send you a link to it. If you would like her contact info - I can give you that as well. She's truly amazing and gifted. We had so much fun with this shoot and it has left us with visible images of a time we really want to savor and remember and hold onto. Plus, she just made us look really good. I can't say enough about how special this was for us, so I'll just share a couple images.....

20 weeks

And here is what our little Poblano looked like at about the same time:

20 weeks and 2 days

Isn't he gorgeous?

On a side note: We do actually have a name for him already - I am just still debating how much personal info I want to put out into the world wide web. Thus, the headless belly shots, and the code names. I have a highly "google-able" name and so I have tried to be pretty careful about things so far...but I am debating how much it really matters? Do any of you have suggestions, opinions, ideas about this issue?

And last but not least, here is how I look today at 22 weeks:

And.....that's all folks! (for now, at least) I still cannot believe I am 22 weeks pregnant. But Poblano reminds me pretty regularly now with his squirming and wiggling. What a wild wild ride!

Older and.....more exhausted?

Today is my 34th birthday. I am 19 weeks pregnant. That's pretty much enough for me.

But if I could ask for just one gift it would be......SLEEP! 8, preferably 12, hours of blissful, uninterrupted sleep!

I am shooting for the stars here people.

Part of why I have been so remiss on my blogging duties is that a "simple" bathroom remodel (ha! if there is such a thing!) turned into our own private torture chamber a few weeks ago and has required all of my time, energy, and late night hours to try to complete it by our "deadline". Like all home remodeling projects, just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We had originally planned on the help of an old neighbor of ours who is an ex-contractor. He has helped us with numerous projects before and with his help we would have long ago knocked this out. Unfortunately, post-demolition, he flaked on us - just never returned our calls (we have since heard through the proverbial grapevine that he is dealing with some serious medical issues, which is really sad... what can you do?). So - it was all on us. Yay.

On the upside, I now know how to tile a bathroom floor and a shower/tub surround. I got so proficient at it in fact, that my forearms have been swollen for days! I did discover that I excel at actually measuring the tiles for cutting and doing all the crazy meticulous work that involves. Oh, and I get to brag about how I am so hardcore that I tiled a bathroom at nearly 20 weeks pregnant. So, there is that.

But, I really pushed myself a little too hard, and we both have stayed up WAY WAY too late for the last 5 or 6 nights in an effort to crank it out in time. Mr. Spicy actually never went to bed last night. As it is, our house guest/renter for the DNC will have to use our downstairs (roommate's) bathroom to shower until Sunday. Four adults sharing a tiny bathroom? We can manage.

But. We are in the home stretch. We have help coming today to finish with the grouting of the perfectly placed tile, and carpet cleaners as well. We still have a multiple page list to finish before tomorrow evening when he arrives....but I can clearly see the flicker of light at the end of the tunnel.

And. It has been really nice (minus the lack of sleep and swollen arms and feet) to work together so closely with Mr. Spicy on such a demanding project. It gave me all new confidence in our ability to work together as a team, to support each other even when we are exhausted and worn down, and to endure frustration and sleep deprivation with our grace and relationship intact. Sounds like a good boot camp for parenthood to me.

Also. I started my new job this week. I am filling in for a friend's nanny who is on maternity leave and even in the midst of this hellish week, I am really enjoying it. I will write more about that later but I can't wait till next week when I will have more energy to give to the girls and more brain cells functioning. The girls are really great. Seriously, two of the easiest kids to care for, ever. Like I said, more on that later.

Ok. This was supposed to be a "short" post bemoaning my lack of sleep - but see how much I have missed writing? I just can't stop.

19 week belly pics (I am seriously popping out now!) and pics of the horrific bathroom, a.k.a. hell on earth, to come soon!

Happy birthday to me!