Almost Halfway!

     Tomorrow we will be 19 weeks pregnant and on Tuesday we had an ultrasound.  It was so exciting!  At first the baby was really active and the ultrasound tech (I don't know the real title of this person but what a cool job!) had to chase it around to get the measurements.  Everything looked normal.  There were so many measurements that I couldn't keep track but I remember her saying that the baby weighs about 1/2 lb. at this point.  We got a good glimpse of 2 baby feet (10 toes!), saw the baby chewing and clenching a fist.  When she went to measure the legs, she turned the screen away from us so we wouldn't see the sex.  She said she could tell the gender but that she would be the only one to know.  She didn't write it down, or tell our doctor so that no one would slip up and say it.  After she had taken all the measurements, she was trying to get a good profile shot for us, but the baby decided to cuddle up with its chin to its chest and made it hard to get a good picture.

     Here is a shot with the baby facing us.  It's hard to see, but hopefully you can make it out.  You can see the eyes (the u/s really just picks up eyesockets) and a little hand up above.

     This one I think is sort of a profile shot?  Like I said, this baby got really shy at this point in the process. When I look at it, I think the lit up part is the head.  Baby sure has come a long way since being a gummi bear!

     In other news, I have been asked to cover a teacher's maternity leave at the school I was at for 3 months last school year.  This time it is 8th grade English.  I have subbed one day at that class a few weeks ago and it's going to be so much easier this time around.  This teacher has all the plans laid out so I won't be doing any lesson-planning and I have 2 Honors classes so the kids are better behaved.  Right now the job is scheduled to end January 8th, but my supervisor said that I should expect that to get extended through February.  I am planning on working up until March 10th so I am so grateful to get out of the sub pool for now.

Origami Friends

     I just wanted to share a few recent projects for the nursery.  Today, the origami fox got some friends.  The color is a little off in the picture (the yellow is not that bright), but I didn't finish the owl until tonight so I didn't have the benefit of natural sunlight for the photo.  They look a little stale in the photo, but I love how the origami jumps off the canvas and looks different from different angles.  The frames are leftover from my scissor and saw projects.  The rabbit is hard to decipher in the picture but it is obvious what it is in person.

     I had a tin that my mom got for me that I used to put my embroidery in.  I've kept it all these years!!  I moved my embroidery (yes, I still have all my hoops, needle and thread!) to another box and painted the tin orange.  I also had a random box that I think I got as a teenager?  It was green with pink flowers so I painted it blue.  The texture is rough because I used acrylic paint, but there more for decoration anyway.  I'm sure they'll come in handy to store something.  I'm planning on putting them on the dresser with the origami hanging above.

     Daniel and I bought the board book "Fox in Socks" when we were out and about the other day.  It was our first real purchase for the baby.  I've seen a trend floating around pinterest of displaying books on ikea spice racks on the wall, so I'm going to give it a try. 

     I don't think I've posted this yet on here.  The paper lanterns came in the mail a few weeks ago.  Right now they're sitting on the floor collecting dust, but having them really sets the color tone for the room.  My mom got us this adorable fox blanket.  I'm either going to hang it on the edge of the crib or get a small decorative ladder to hang baby quilts on.  It depends on how much room we have once the furniture goes in.  And...this is my four-month bump!  It's not very big but it cracks me up when kids at school ask me if I'm pregnant.  They always preface it with, "I don't mean to be rude or inappropriate Mrs. Kahn, but..."

     I'm having a lot of fun planning this nursery!  It's fun to do a little at a time and watch it come together.  I hope you're enjoying seeing it. :)

What we've been up to...

     First off, I found a bunch of honeymoon pics on my camera that we forgot to import on iphoto.  These are two of my favorites...views from the condo in Cayucos.  We're planning on spending next July 4th there.  It is so incredibly beautiful!

     For the most part, things are pretty day-to-day here.  The temperature has leveled off to a high of 90 degrees and the mornings have been nice and cool.  Daniel is still enjoying his job and I have found some familiarity in my job as I have been returning to classes I've subbed before.  I get to sub at a 4th grade class over Halloween and I'm super stoked about that.  

     Over my birthday weekend, we went to a wedding in Malibu.  Malibu was not at all what I expected.  It was very hilly, spotted with ranch houses.  I guess I just always thought of it as a suburb of L.A.  On my actual birthday, the day after the wedding, we drove through the Malibu hills to get to the beach.  Then we drove alongside the ocean to go to Santa Monica.  We explored the pier there, walked along the water, then had lunch.  It was an amazing birthday!  Daniel and I are such good travelers together.  We're both more inclined to take the day as it comes, seeing what we stumble upon.

     In baby news, we have an ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday.  We are 18 weeks along on Monday.  My body definitely tells me if I do too much in a day.  I start to get aches and cramps.  I'm still waiting to feel the first kick!  I'm pretty excited about that, but by the looks of my stomach this is a pretty tiny baby, so it might be a few more weeks before I feel anything.

     I have decided to go ahead with my last semester for my teaching credential.  The timing is good.  The semester ends around the time the baby is due, but I'll finish well before that.  The more time I spend in the classroom, the more I am convinced I have found my life's work...I think it's best to be prepared before the baby comes.