The Wednesday Stork: Week 23

There's no satisfying me. Last week I thought the picture was too understated, this week I think I look too big. I guess I'll never know which it really is...

But I'm not the only one who must think things are starting to become obvious. This Sunday at church someone jokingly told me that I needed to eat less, so if people are comfortable enough to insult me openly, I must be getting big ;)

Largeness aside, the week has been *largely* uneventful. I got back in the walking groove (heat and vacation mentality got in the way a while back) and hope I can keep that up more faithfully from here on out. But if it gets too hot...I'm not making any promises.

That said, here're the stats:

Weeks: NOW it's 23 :)  

Weight gain so far: No weight gain from last week (score!), which means I'm still hovering at just over 10 pounds. Can I maintain for one more week before lurching ahead again? Only time (and the scale) will tell...   

Wearing maternity clothes? This is becoming a sore subject because I'm not wearing maternity clothes and I certainly should be. My jeans which, until now, I was keeping on using the the hair tie trick, are no longer viable options (not that I want to wear them in this heat anyway). I wear elastic shorts most days and elastic skirts if I need to look "nice." The tops I have that are long enough to still be in the "it works" wardrobe are few...very few. 

Got any prego stretch marks? Still don't think so. Someone asked me this week what I was using for them and I confessed that I don't use a thing. I was under the impression that nothing can prevent them in they're going to happen so it seemed silly to buy anything special. Anyone else have thoughts on this?    

How am I sleeping? Pretty great! Though, I've found myself wanting to be on my back again lately. It's not terribly comfortable, but somehow still feels more sleepable than my side at times. 

What do I miss? Nothing too desperately.    

Feeling anything in there? Oh yeah. And the movements aren't just flickers anymore, though he's still fond of those. Now I get a lot of all-out movements, as in I think I'm feeling his body move as opposed to just a kick here and a jab there. It's cool but weird. And he's a bit more predictable than he used to be. Often after my early morning bathroom break, I can come back to bed and lay on my back and he'll be busy doing...whatever they're busy doing in there. 

Aversions or cravings? Nothing too overpowering.  

What’s the gender? Boy.  

Any labor signs? Nope. 

How pregnant do I feel? It's been a nice week. And by "nice week" I mean I haven't felt overly pregnant :) I was low energy last week but haven't had a single nap all this week so far! That's a big deal. 

Belly button status: Still in but I have a feeling that I'll have to revisit this in the next few weeks... 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yep! 

That's it! See you at 24 :) 

The Wednesday Stork: Week 22

*Slight disclaimer: this picture is way off...I'm totally holding back because in real life, this thing is huge! I'll have to be more belly-aware for next week's picture to make sure you all get the full effect. 

More than once this week I had to remind myself that I was approaching 22 weeks...not 23. It's a bummer to forget where you are and—even worse—to think you're farther along than you are. 

Part of me wishes I had never started counting, but the other part knows there was no way to avoid it. First I'm counting to see how much longer I could possibly have to live in constant nausea. Then I'm counting how far along I am because somehow the farther it is the more valid. Then I start doing the counter math to see how many weeks I have left based on how far along I am. It's 18, in case you were wondering. 

Yesterday was probably the last doctor appointment I'll have for awhile since I plan to start meeting with and *hopefully* delivering with a midwife. The doctor said everything looked good! He's still a boy, and is quite nicely situated with his head down :) I suppose it's too early to hope he'll find it comfortable and just camp out there long term...

I told Todd yesterday that going to an ultrasound appointment is like getting visiting rights at prison: we get a few supervised minutes with Ty every few weeks :) 

And speaking of ultrasounds...am I the only one at this stage of pregnancy who still can't make out an ultrasound image? I can see the really obvious things, like yesterday I could make out his spine. When we got to the car Todd had to walk me through the pictures because I couldn't make heads or tails (literally) of them. "Even after someone's shown you?" Todd asked. I did think I could see the head, and it turns out I could, I just had the angle wrong. Apparently he was looking straight at us. I thought we were seeing a profile. 

I give up. 

Weeks: 22...is that it? 

Weight gain so far: It's finally happened: I hit 10 pounds this morning. Just over, actually. I guess I'm ok with it. There's no losing it now, anyway.   

Wearing maternity clothes? No, but I bought some cheap "big" clothes yesterday: an elastic-waisted skirt to add to my small collection, two tank tops and some sport shorts. Like I've said before, it's a good thing I don't go out much.

Got any prego stretch marks? Don't think so. Todd doesn't think I'll make it though, and I agree.    

How am I sleeping? Not too shabby! Todd has come around and is letting us sleep ALL NIGHT with the fan running, instead of setting it on an hour timer. It's nice to wake up dry, you know? Of course, this is probably due more to the fact that we've had some gloriously mild days that have helped keep the house at a bearable temperature.   

What do I miss? I think I'm stuck on AC.     

Feeling anything in there? Oh yes, and the movements are getting bigger! He was really putting on a show yesterday morning at about 6ish. I had Todd feel just how active he was being because I thought it was fascinating, but that big stinker (Todd, not Ty) fell back asleep and almost completely missed everything! Oh well...I guess it's just not as exciting for him ;) 

Aversions or cravings? Nothing too overpowering.  

What’s the gender? Boy.  

Any labor signs? Nope. 

How pregnant do I feel? This hasn't been a strong pregnancy week, as in, I don't feel terribly pregnant. But I look it. There's really no getting around it now. I think I've officially left the fat phase and entered into the bump phase.   

Belly button status: Still in. 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yep! 

Another week down, 18 l-o-n-g weeks to go!

The Wednesday Stork: Week 21

Back again! Believe it or not, this week did feel like it went by quickly, but there's a perfectly logical explanation: we've been busy :) Never fails.

Company arrived on Saturday and it feels like we've been go, go, go ever since. We spent the last two days in Pilanesburg which is about 1.5 hours from our flat in Pretoria. It was a nice time of eating food I didn't have to cook and sleeping in an air-conditioned room. Is it weird that those are my vacation highlights?

In addition to living like royalty, we also drove around Pilanesburg National Park, a big 5 game reserve. While we only saw 20% of the big 5, we got in enough giraffe, zebra, kudu and impala to satisfy us for life. I'll do another post with pictures from this trip later.

Today's picture comes to you from the B&B we stayed in, and the belly looks like it took quite a leap from last week. I'm wearing a skirt I bought from Old Navy last year that I call my faux maternity skirt; it's got this panel that's supposed to be folded down but it does more good pulled up over my belly button ;)

All that said...

Weeks: 21 

Weight gain so far: No idea. The B&B didn't have a scale so I couldn't weigh in this morning, and I'm not about to go weigh in on my scale now, at this time of day. I've been on vacation and eating like I've been on vacation, so I expect it has been a heavy week.  

Wearing maternity clothes? No. And they can't get here soon enough. 

Got any prego stretch marks? No...*hesitates*...no.   

How am I sleeping? Great, in air conditioning.   

What do I miss? Air conditioning (yes, I'm also noticing a trend).     

Feeling anything in there? Quite a bit, especially in the evenings but not always. He's been a lot more active this week than last.    

Aversions or cravings? Suffice it to say, yes. 

What’s the gender? Boy.  

Any labor signs? Nope. 

How pregnant do I feel? Is being hot and tired a pregnancy symptom? Then I feel very pregnant.  

Belly button status: Still in. 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yep! 

Not a very interesting week in the prego department, I admit. Ty did get a new outfit, his first pair of shoes, and a little crocheted hat this week! That was exciting :) And no, I didn't buy any of it for him. 

Till next time...

The Wednesday Stork: Week 20

Happy halfway to me :) Or Ty, rather. I'm not really actively engaging in the overall process, though at times I feel like I'm training for some kind of insane athletic event. I have never had to ration my energy as much as I have these past few weeks and I'm starting to realize just what a precious commodity it is.

For instance, I try to take a walk most days though I don't always succeed, and somedays that's on purpose. If I look at my day and see that I have something else on the schedule that will require energy, the walk might get dropped. At least for the morning. I may make it up in the evening, but that's dependent on lots of other things going "just right." (Some examples of activities that require extra energy for me are mopping and socializing ;)

Here's something else I've been pondering this week: you're considered "pregnant" about two weeks before you're actually pregnant, and then it's another two weeks before you find out you're pregnant. By the time you've got all that out of the way you may have put in a good month's worth of pregnant time unconsciously.

It's a sweet deal up front but I have a feeling I'm going to be extra pregnancy-conscious for the second half of things...no four-week free pass this time around. Fair? I think not.

Did that make any sense to anyone else, or is it just me? It's probably just me.

Enough of my ramblings. Here's what you came for! (Unless you came to see the bump picture, in which case I'm afraid you were disappointed ;)

Weeks: 20! It's all...uphill from here? 

Weight gain so far: Yikes, over 7.5 pounds, but not 8 yet. I'm about 2.5 over what I wanted to be at this point, but when I set the goal of only gaining 5 pounds by 20 weeks, I didn't know if I was being realistic. I don't know where the weight's coming from or where it's hiding, but I guess it's there somewhere.   

Wearing maternity clothes? No, but have I mentioned how thankful I am for elastic these days? 

Got any prego stretch marks? Don't think so, but I'm probably not going to emerge unscathed.  

How am I sleeping? Not bad. It's so tempting (and I often give in) to sleep on my back, but I know that's not recommended. I try to do the side thing but only the right side ever works out. Sometimes I wake up with a sore hip and have to just flip to my back. I am so not a side sleeper. 

What do I miss? Feeling invigorated in the morning. It used to be my best time of the day. Now I don't have a best time of the day.    

Feeling anything in there? Yes, but he had me concerned more than once this week. I don't know if he's just been extra sleepy or what but he barely moved at all this weekend. I've caught him being a little more active the past couple of days, and I think it's still pretty early to read much into his movements. It's been an exercise in letting go of the zero-control I have anyway :) Oh, and he's super ornery. Already. He must be my sister's kid that I got accidentally. Sometimes when he's in a moving mood I'll have Todd try to feel him, but so often he just freezes as soon as Todd's hand is there. Ornery.   

Aversions or cravings? PB&J still sounds really good like all the time, but I only give in occasionally. 

What’s the gender? Boy.  

Any labor signs? None. 

How pregnant do I feel? I told Todd at least once this week that I need my stomach to s-t-r-e-t-c-h!!! It's not that big from the outside but I think I want it to be bigger just so it won't feel so...so like it's going to pop. I get the idea that I should probably just get used to feeling like that. Oh, and this is why I said that I probably wouldn't emerge unscathed in the stretch mark department. 

Belly button status: Still in. 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yes, thankfully :) I'll be sad if I have to take them off!

So yeah, that's the week. How was yours, by the way? 

A Quilt for Ty

This is a dream come true. I have made a quilt!

Actually, we have made a quilt. This was definitely a joint venture and I can't imagine doing it without Todd! I was clueless in the beginning. I didn't fully understand the pattern I found, was hopeless at making conversions (remember, we're on the metric system here and the pattern was in the imperial system), and didn't know the first thing about using a sewing machine.

Thankfully, Todd could fill in my gaps (a.k.a., giant gaping holes) and we had such a good time doing this project together! We picked out our fabric, Todd did the calculating and cutting, we both ironed and sewed and in the end could really say that we had done it :)

My favorite part of the actual sewing process was hand-stitching the binding onto the backing of the quilt. It only took me about 6 hours (not all at once) from start to finish. I also really liked learning how to use a sewing machine, and while those things are fantastic for actually getting things done, using one isn't the relaxing part of the process that hand-stitching is.

When I showed Todd the tutorial for the confetti quilt I'd found on Pinterest (which you can view here at Bijou Lovely) that I wanted to make for Ty, I asked him to pick out what colors he would like. He went with a nautical color scheme and I was happy about that :) While Ty is a boy, I didn't want to do something overly boyish or babyish for his quilt. I love the beach so nautical is perfect!

Here are the patterns we chose for the 56 circles, 7 of each pattern:

This one is the wave piece...it was pretty much perfect :)

This one made me think of the bottom of a shallow creek bed. Can you imagine you're looking at cool water dancing over brown and copper pebbles?

Here's some green-blue water, kind of like what you'd see if you visited the gulf.

And here's our deep sea representative.

This one looks more like the surface of a pool,  so blue and refreshing! Maybe there's an ocean somewhere that looks like this...

And this is obviously sand :) I liked the shimmery gold specks.

Technically, this is also a "sand" piece, but we mostly chose it for the pattern.

Here's the whole gang, complimenting each other beautifully:

We were off a little in our dimensions, so our quilt turned out a bit smaller than the one in the tutorial we followed. But we're still quite pleased :)

Oh, and here're some samples from the backing fabric:

While the overall product did turn out well, it is certainly handmade by beginner quilters. I made more than a few blunders with the sewing machine, and there's a place in my binding stitching that leaves a lot to be desired. I guess that just adds to the homemade-ness of it.

This was such a fun, rewarding project, and I'd definitely be up for making more...so long as Todd would be up for another joint venture :) I'm not quite ready to tackle it single-handedly.

The Wednesday Stork: Week 19

Another week already? Just kidding...it hasn't started flying by yet :) I'm told it does, but I'll let you know if that's true.

I had a request last week to do a belly shot which, as you know, is something I've been putting off. I still don't think it's worth sharing at this point, but the satisfaction of my reader(s) says otherwise. Therefore, it is my dubious pleasure to give you...

...the 19 week belly:

This was shot pretty much first thing this morning, so it's not being off-set by a stomach full of food; I wanted to get as true as I could to the real thing.

 However, I've never heard any other pregnant woman mention this, but I feel like I have two "bumps." This is the one that's comfortable, as in, I can still breath. If I let everything "go," the bump is slightly more impressive, but that's not how I walk around all day. If I did that, I'd suffocate. Has anyone else felt like that?

Anyway.

Weeks: 19. Todd called it "half way" and I promptly corrected him. This will almost certainly last the entire 40-41 weeks for me and, as you know, 19+19=38. 

Weight gain so far: I have no idea. I weigh myself nearly every morning and my level of fluctuation is off the chain. Today, I was back at just over a 3 pound increase, but last week I was at 6! And I held on to it for nearly the whole week so I was pretty certain it was here to stay. It was just this morning that I was w-a-y down again. Whatever.   

Wearing maternity clothes? Well, no....but I wish I had some! 

Got any prego stretch marks? No. 

How am I sleeping? This has been another pretty good week of sleep. I think I had my first difficult morning today.  

What do I miss? Oxygen. I'll get to that in a minute.   

Feeling anything in there? Yes. But the more exciting part is that Todd can too! I'm really surprised since I think it's technically still "too early" for him to be able to feel anything. But last night I could feel Ty moving around and told Todd that if he would just keep his hand there for awhile, he might be able to as well. It took a few minutes, and he says it was very subtle, like feeling a heart beat, but he felt it :)  

Aversions or cravings? I was on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich kick this weekend, but seeing how I didn't want another 2.5 pound weight gain this week I tried to lay off of them...but they still sound pretty good and it has been three days so maybe I've earned one.

What’s the gender? I'm still under the impression that the Dr. found it to be male. 

Any labor signs? None. 

How pregnant do I feel? A bit. I found myself needing to take deep breaths this week; every so often, I just have to do this great big inhale. I guess it might be the uterus starting to crowd my diaphragm, which does happen eventually. To tell the truth, I feel kind of silly to get as "winded" as I do being no bigger than I am. 

Belly button status: In. 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yes. Although, I wake up sometimes in the night and feel that a few of my fingers have fallen asleep. I've thought more than once that maybe my fingers have swollen and my rings are cutting off the circulation, but that's not been the case. I don't know what causes the numbness at night but the rings are not yet the culprits! 

And that wraps up the past week! Stay tuned next week for: the big 20 :) 

The Wednesday Stork: Week 18

It's been a pretty regular week around here...nothing too exciting to report, especially compared to the "big news" of last week :)

Weeks: 18  

Weight gain so far: 6 pounds. That's up 2.5 pounds in ONE week! Yikes...I hope somebody (and not me) was just going through a growth spurt, because that's a rate I certainly can't afford to keep up!   

Wearing maternity clothes? No, and the fact that I still don't have any is starting to scare me. 

Got any prego stretch marks? Not that I know of. I had some stretch marks anyway, but I don't think I have any new ones.  

How am I sleeping? The past few days have been great! I have been falling asleep no problem, getting up for a bathroom break and falling back asleep, and then waking up around 6am and just relaxing in bed until 7. I cannot complain :) 

Feeling anything in there? I'm going to go with yes. Not all the time, and it's certainly subtle, but I'm going with yes. And, just because I read/heard a lot of different things described to me, I'll give you my take on what it feels like: at this point, it's like I'm being gently flicked on the inside. That's why I call the movements "flickers." :)  

Aversions or cravings? Chinese: no. 

What’s the gender? Boy. 

Any labor signs? Nope. 

How pregnant do I feel? I feel like I should be sticking out to "here" sometimes, but there's still not a whole lot to see. Todd was commenting today how I didn't even look pregnant. Also, I've been having a little more heartburn than usual but nothing severe. 

Belly button status: Hanging "in" there ;)

Still sporting my wedding rings? So far, so good!

And that's the week in review! I haven't forgotten that I said I'd post a picture when things got...interesting. I'm just waiting to look pregnant. I find myself in that awkward, chubby phase for now, but I don't expect it to last indefinitely :) 

The Wednesday Stork: Week 17

Before we get in to our usual chat I have a couple things to cover: first the results of our Bow Tie vs. Hair Bow poll, and second our Dr. appointment/anatomy scan that happened yesterday.

While it looked like Hair Bow would take it at first, Bow Tie began to steadily and then quickly take over! I was so surprised to see how most of the early votes seemed to be for girl and then suddenly it switched to boy. Yesterday morning though, things seemed to have almost evened out. Bow Tie was in the lead with 52% of the votes, leaving Hair Bow with 48%.

And, the people have spoken. It is, in fact a boy :)

Ok, so the votes had nothing to do with the outcome, but I think it's funny how it turned out to be accurate...not that there was ever more or less than a 50% chance that either gender would win, but whatever.

As soon as the doctor told us the baby's heart rate, I was almost sure it was a boy. At our first appointment (9w6d) the heart rate was 159, but I didn't read anything into it that early on. But yesterday when the doctor reported that the heart rate was 148 I was like, "oh...that's a boy." I wish I would have said it out loud so Todd would have proof that I really did think it.

It didn't take but another minute or so for the doctor to "think it was a little boy" and by the end of the ultrasound she was completely convinced. I'll take her word for it. Apparently we were shown the evidence as well, but I'm really bad at deciphering ultrasound images. I did, however, see a very clear wave :) That was sweet of him. I think he did that just before he flipped around (the kid was really going at it in there) and showed off his impressive spine. His heart has all four chambers (good sign) and the doctor thought everything looked ok!

Oh, and this is how we dressed for our anatomy scan, and it wasn't even intentional. We were total dorks on accident. I had to have a picture...this kind of thing should be photographically documented and publicly shared.

 Now we can get on to the stats :)

Weeks: 17. At our appointment yesterday I was showing 17 weeks exactly, but the Dr. said that would change a little every time so I'm just sticking with the usual Wednesday week change.  

Weight gain so far: Today it's 3.5 pounds. I do a lot of fluctuating.  

Wearing maternity clothes? No, though I did start doing the hair tie trick on my jeans and shorts this week. It's really so comfortable, I'm not sure why everyone doesn't do it. Who doesn't want a little more tummy space in their pants? 

Got any prego stretch marks? No. 

How am I sleeping? I can usually fall asleep without trouble, but staying asleep is another story. 

What do I miss? Sleeping through the night, as indicated by the above.  

Feeling anything in there? I can't be sure it's a baby, but I have occasionally been able to feel these slight little...flickers, for lack of a better word, when I sit or lie down. I think that just started happening 3 or 4 days ago and now I try to pay attention to them. Perhaps I'll know something more definitive next week :) 

Aversions or cravings? I still don't want to think about or look at oriental food. I don't even want to type it, or read it after typing it.  

What’s the gender? He's a boy. 

Any labor signs? Thankfully, no. 

How pregnant do I feel? Not very, I guess. I still feel heaviest when lying on my back and getting up in the morning, but to look at the belly you wouldn't know it was inhabited. You'd probably think I just needed to lay off sweets, or something ;) 

Belly button status: Holding strong with an in. 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yes. I test periodically to make sure they're still doing ok.

We can now begin calling Pippy by his name, and I didn't really expect it to be so bittersweet; I got rather attached to his cute little genderless nickname. But Todd has had no problem switching over to the more permanent moniker and has been faithfully calling him Ty :) It still sounds strange to say it out loud, but I guess I'll get used to it. Ty is still not the "real" name, but it's what he will go by. His official name is Todd Allen Overbeek III, but I convinced Todd to let us call him Ty, claiming it stood for "Todd the younger." It worked, and Ty he is!

The Wednesday Stork: Week 16

I think I told Todd a few weeks ago that Pippy would never make it to 16 weeks...it was just so far away, the day would simply never come. Pregnancy felt (and still feels, at times) like an endless wait for something to happen. 

But, surprise surprise, here we are! 

Weeks: 16 today...finally ;) 

Weight gain so far: Let's go with 3 pounds. This time last week I thought I'd gained aout 3.5 pounds, but then I had a rather drastic drop and have slowly been creeping back upwards. I forgot to weigh in this morning but for the last few days I've been hovering at roughly a 3 pound increase. 

Wearing maternity clothes? No, and knowing that I have none to wear even if I wanted to makes me nervous. I guess it's a good thing there isn't much of a bump yet, and that I rarely leave the house! 

Got any prego stretch marks? Nope. 

How am I sleeping? I guess I'm sleeping ok. I am beginning to be less comfortable on my back and not much more comfortable on my side. Bless Todd, he went out this week with a plan to buy me a Tempurpedic side-sleeping pillow and body pillow as a present. However, when he got to the store, he found they don't carry either :( It was so sweet of him to think of doing that for me! Although, it may have something to do with the fact that I've asked him if he'll sell me his side-sleeping pillow. I used to think that thing wasn't very comfortable but now that I'm almost forced to sleep on my side, I've come around. 

What do I miss? La Carreta. That has little to do with being pregnant and lots to do with being an ex-pat ;) 

Feeling anything in there? I'm beginning to wonder how I'll know when it's a baby and not a gas bubble or rumbling stomach. So far I'd have to say that no, I don't think I've felt it. 

Aversions or cravings? I crave lots of things that I just can't get here. Again, that's not really a pregnancy issue. 

What’s the gender? We're currently accepting votes...the majority seem to think it's a girl. I will still hold to my original guess of boy. We're hoping Pip cooperates at our ultrasound next week. 

Any labor signs? Negative. 

How pregnant do I feel? Less and less and more and more, if that makes any sense. I have had a mostly good week with very little nausea in the evenings, so I hope the lingering sick feeling will check the calendar and realize that its day is past. Anyway, that's the "less and less" part. In the more and more category, I feel like I'm getting more of a belly, though it's still not very visible. It just feels big and heavy at times, especially when I'm lying on my back, or when I first get up in the morning. I debated whether to start measuring it.  

Belly button status: In. Definitely in. 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yes. Hope to keep them as long as I can!

That wraps it up for 16 weeks! If you haven't already, don't forget to vote here for which you think we should have on hand for Pip: bow ties or hair bows??

I knew I had lips: a review of Revlon balm stains

I'm a diehard chapstick-er. I apply multiple times most days and that's usually good enough, but sometimes I catch my face in the mirror and think, "where are my lips?"

Well, I may not think that exactly, but almost. I suppose my lips have always been dull and while I do occasionally don a pinky gloss for church, I consider lipgloss otherwise too "dressy" for my normal life.  Plus, I don't really like the way it feels. I don't like having to paint it on carefully with a wand, all the time knowing that the first drink I take will undo everything anyway.

And it looks so...glossy. That's a given, I know, but I don't really want to walk around with a set of reflectors on my face. What I need is something that goes on like a chapstick, that feels like a chapstick, but livens like a lipstick. Subtle, natural-looking, and definitely not reflective. Yes. That's what I need.

Needless to say, I had nothing like that. I knew I could always go buy a lipstick, but that's still not q-u-i-t-e what I wanted. Don't they make tinted chapsticks? The better question is, do they sell the ones they do make in Africa?

I was in Clicks (think the South African version of CVS or Walgreens) a couple weeks ago and decided I'd try to find something that would perk my lips up a little, regardless of what it was. I browsed the makeup section, not really knowing what I was doing (I'm not a big makeup wearer), and came across a set of Revlon...somethings that I decided to try. I call them "somethings" because I couldn't find anything on the packaging that gave any indication of what it was. Whatever they were, though, they were selling in packets of two, BOGO. At that rate, I figured they were about as good as anything else I could find, even if they did end up being lipglosses.

I bought them and left them sitting in the bag for several days, not overly excited to try them out. Cheap or not, they were lipgloss and that wasn't going to cut it. I'd be able to add some variety to my Sunday church lips, but the rest of the week would see me just as bland and colorless as ever.

You can imagine my surprise when I did finally open the package and uncapped the first tube. I was expecting to see a wand attached to the lid but when it popped off and revealed what looked like a jumbo crayon tip, I was ecstatic! I read the tube and saw that what I had once believed to be lipgloss was actually a balm stain! Are you kidding me? I tried it on and was thrilled with the way it went on like a balm but left my lips with a beautifully colored stain. Such a perfectly named product :)

I have tried both colors on my lips and while Honey is my favorite, Smitten is a nice color too. It's a bit more bold, though, so I would apply carefully. I still try to put a little chapstick or plain lip balm on first, and then the stains glide on easily. I typically apply in front of a mirror, much as you would with a lipstick, to make sure I don't end up looking like a clown. I'm thrilled with the longevity of these things; I found Honey to generally be good for several hours of subtle color, even through eating. It will obviously dull with time and wear but since I'm only going for subtlety I don't mind that much.

If you want color without gloss, Revlon's balm stains are they way to go! I give them a 5 out of 5 :)

Honey is the light pink and Smitten the dark. 

Here's a swatch for both: Honey on top and Smitten on the bottom. 

The Wednesday Stork: Week 15

Welcome to The Wednesday Stork! Wednesdays are the day I switch weeks, and today marks a whopping 15! This means I hit the second trimester *pause for angel chorus* last week, and that was a big milestone...mentally, anyway. 

I’ve seen posts like this on a couple of different blogs, so I took/modeled the items below from the template others have used. Usually, a belly shot accompanies an entry like this but...I’m lazy and don’t feel like lugging out and setting up the camera on the tripod. That and there isn’t much to see. I have a bit of a pot belly but nothing terribly baby-bumpish yet. When it gets more interesting, I’ll put something up :) 

Without further ado...

Weeks: 15 today! Woohoo!

Weight gain so far: About 3.5 pounds, or 1.6 kgs, if you’re in ZA. I’m hoping this is in the normal vicinity.

Wearing maternity clothes? I bought a pair of elastic-waisted shorts from a department store here. They’re not maternity (they were with the swim suits, actually), but they do they job. My others were just feeling kind of tight. I’ve gone through my closet and found the things that I think I can make work with a slight belly, but if things get serious, I’m in trouble. Maternity clothes are SO HARD to find here. Thankfully, my mom *hi mom* has been on the lookout back in America, picking up all kinds of summer maternity and a couple maxi dresses on clearance! The downside is...they won’t make it to me for a couple more months. 

Got any preggo stretch marks? I should think not.

How am I sleeping? Oh, I sleep pretty ok. I’m a back sleeper and that is getting less and less comfortable. I have to make a bathroom run at least once during the night, but I’ve had a micro bladder since I was about 8 years old. Nothing new there. 

What do I miss? Deli meat. Lunch time options are limited. 

Feeling anything in there? It’s a bit early to feel the baby moving, but I’m on the alert :) According to my sources, I can expect to notice things happening between 16 and 20 weeks.

Aversions or cravings? Oh dear, those come and go. 

What’s the gender? We are a house divided: Todd says girl, I say boy. 

Any labor signs? That’d be a no. 

How pregnant do I feel? As fantastic as a Beauty and Beast moment would have been, I did not go through any magical, dramatically-lit transformations as I exited the first trimester and emerged in the second. I’m still lacking in the energy department but I can usually get some stuff done in the mornings. I try to take about a 40-minutes walk Monday-Friday, and come back whipped! I get out before it gets too hot, but even at 8 a.m., that South African sun is killer! I have mostly nausea-free mornings and early afternoons, but almost always feel bleh in the evenings. 

Belly button status: It’s a major inny, but I keep my eye on it :) 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yes...If it were winter I would be optimistic about keeping them on the whole pregnancy, but in this heat and lack of air conditioning, I’m not holding my breath.

Our Itty-Bitty Big News

In case you can't tell, this was originally a movie poster for Inception but Todd, being the whiz he is, made it into a little announcement to serve our purposes (if you can, read the fine print :)

Say hello to Pippy, expected to join our family in April, 2014!

Isn't he so cute?! Ok, we don't actually know that it's a boy, but, let's face it; boys do seem to be trending right now. I know a lot (like, about 20 people) who are currently pregnant, and of those who have announced a gender, the VAST majority are awaiting the arrival of little boys. 

Perhaps you're wondering, "why 'Pippy'?" Well, we needed a placeholder until we can determine the gender, and Pippy was a name suggested to me by a friend here in South Africa. In ZA, seeds are called "pips," and since for the first several weeks the baby is roughly the size of some kind of seed my friend called it "Pippy," and it totally stuck! That's how Todd and I talk about "him" and I'm afraid I'll have a hard time switching to his real name when we're allowed to finally use it!

As anyone would expect, we are excited to be the recipients of such a sweet little blessing, and look forward to having our tiny world turned completely upside-down! We thank God for answered prayers and for always knowing what's best for us at every point in our lives. 

Stay tuned...I have an idea I just got a whole lot of brand new material :) 

What we did for PopTarts™

Milk, powdered sugar, chicken, broccoli...tick, tick, tick. I really hate going to the grocery store on a Sunday, it’s over-crowded, for some reason, but as long as I’m there, I make the most of it. Over the weekend our fridge and pantry began to resemble that of old Mother Hubbard, so we had quite the list of supplies to pick up. 

As I came around the baking aisle corner towards the dairy, Todd met me at the end-cap. 

“I’m getting these,” he said. Todd’s not usually one to make declarations so he got my attention. I assumed he meant something he'd already put in the cart, but then he reached onto the end-cap shelf and took down exactly one box of eight-count cookies and cream PopTarts™. 

I was shocked! Like I literally gasped out loud. Real, American PopTarts™, in a South African Spar? You’re kidding me. The boxes had little American flags or the olympic rings with “USA” printed above them, claiming that they really were genuine, imported booty. There were four or five kinds on the shelf, two of which were of the unfrosted variety (criminal), and the others were the highly sugarized, cookie-and-candy type.

Just as startling as happening upon a box of PopTarts™ in Africa is noticing the price tag on them: 61.99 Rand, which in dollars comes to about $6.20; I saw why Todd had been so emphatic. “I’m getting these” is probably the best way to convince yourself and others that you don’t care what the price is, the product is totally worth it, though perhaps only this once :) Would I have ever paid over $6 for eight PopTarts™ back home? Goodness, I hope not. They’re not $6 there, are they? If they are, y’all need to switch to the Wal-Mart brand and just keep telling yourself that a PopTart™ by any other name is just a toaster pastry. 

But for me, it’s nice to open my cupboard and see that familiar box beaming back like a dear childhood friend. Extravagant, you say? Yes, probably...but my electric bill is only $30 a month and I live without central heating. Junk food lover! you accuse? Oh, definitely. But I had an apple and some lovely rooibos tea for breakfast this morning, so at least I proved that I can exhibit some self control. Crazy, you say, in a last attempt to make me feel guilty for our indulgence? Granted. 

Is that all you’ve got? Well, you keep thinking about it while Todd and I split another fine American delicacy.

Flat Folks' Farm

You all will seriously miss out if I don't let you in on the inspiration behind this post's title. It just kind of came to me and I couldn't resist. When I was little I had this Playskool toy called Flat Folks Farm. It was great, actually considered vintage now, I think (am I old enough for my toys to be vintage?). Anyway, this post is about the "farm" I have right now at my flat...get it? Todd and I live in a flat, which makes us flat folk, and I have a little "produce farm" here, so that makes the farm flat folk's farm!

I should also mention that my youngest sister, Kimberly, couldn't quite get out the actual name of the toy when it passed to her, and therefore completely changed the concept by calling it Fat Folks Farm.

I hope my mom still knows where this is...and if not, I hope my dad gets on eBay and finds it :) 

I want to be a farmer. I’ve said as much for the last 12 days. My dream home is an old white farm house and I want it to have lots of land, a big barn, a garden, fruit trees and bushes, chickens, and, after I’ve gotten in some practice with these things, a cow or two :) My plan is to get my mother-in-law to teach me to can and my sister-in-law to show me how to plant strawberry and blueberry patches, and my father-in-law to build me a chicken coop. This is all after they stop laughing at me, the least likely of us all to do anything...earthy.

Before I can become a farmer, I need to get over my aversion to dirt and dirty shoes and hands. I should also probably try to grow something small. You have to start somewhere, right? Exactly.

So, to help push me in the right direction, I took up a little herb hobby. Our flat has a lovely “garden” (a.k.a., back yard), but it’s not really garden material. So, the next best thing in my situation is a collection of potted herbs in my courtyard! Todd and I purchased them last week and I have loved watering them, picking pieces off of them, and eating them! We went went with coriander, parsley, oregano and mint. Here’s an interesting fact you might not know if you’re not into herbs: coriander is another name for cilantro! You can imagine our delight when we learned this; it makes all the difference in homemade salsa! And homemade salsa makes all the difference in a nearly mexican food-less South African culture.

The tall one is the coriander, the one on the left is parsley, and the one you can just barely see in the bottom right corner is oregano! The planter was already here...we *ahem* removed a particularly ugly specimen to make way for our garden :) 

Parsley close-up. Say garnish! 

Did you know: mint needs to be planted separate from other herbs, as it is terribly aggressive.

In addition to herbs, we also got a modest and highly useful aloe plant! I was very happy about this. That is, untile I realized...

...we have an absolute aloe FOREST growing in the back yard. It would appear that the African breed even has little orange flowers. Had I known we have enough supply to bottle and sell our own brand of aloe vera, I would have skipped on my cute little potted version.

So, there's the farm! I'm not quite calling myself a farmer yet...I'm mainly just focusing on keeping things from dying. 

The perks of having one's own artist

I should really wait a bit longer to post this but I just can’t stand it anymore! I have to get this out there; it’s too brilliant to keep to myself!

Have you ever just wished you had a personal artist who could custom-design and complete your very own dish ware? Well, take it from me...it’s nice :) Todd and I purchased some plain, cream-colored dishes from a couple who was leaving ZA, and they’re the perfect canvas for our creativity!

I say “our” because, while I don’t do any of the artistic things in this relationship, I am often the one who comes up with the ideas. It was Todd’s idea to do our own dishes, but the design I want to feature today was my idea, a classic scene from a classic work. The Chronicles of Narnia have many classic illustrations that are lovely and enchanting. Todd found the illustration online and copied it here. Isn’t it beautiful? 

This is the first piece in the Chronicles of Narnia series. We have 4 series and each one is made up of 2 mugs, 2 bowls, 2 small plates and 2 big plates. So far Todd has completed the Hercule Poirot series and the nautical series. They look great! 

More pictures coming soon!

Look, I know he's attractive, but this post is about the art...the artist is not for sale. 

This is the stencil Todd made, which led us to...

...this! I love it. And him :)