20 Weeks and Innie or Outtie??

Well here I am at 20wks which is the half way mark. I've only gained 5lbs but boy I look a little bloaty already. Oh well. This month's smile is not nearly as cute as last month's. I must practice in the mirror more often. 

Yep, starting to look preggers.

As usual I have my little muse/shadow with me. Still acting a little camera shy.

Trust me, off camera is a whole other story!

And here is Sketch!

20wks along and very healthy. Quite a wiggler, flipper, kicker and twirler. I don't think Saige was nearly this active at this stage.

So what's your vote?

Innie or Outtie?

Girl or Boy?

Are you ready to find out?

Are you Sure????

Drum Roll Please......

  

Yep that's right, A BOY!!!

So, was your guess correct?

We had more people vote Boy than Girl this time 'round.

We are beyond excited! 

It's like it's the first time all over again.

I can't wait to meet him.

16 Weeks And A Bit Of Rounding...

So I decided to change up my outfit from the last time. I just didn't like how the all black motif was working. I decided to liven it up a bit with some greys and few stripes. Better? I think so. 

       

Hubby was so gracious and took tons of pics for me. I kept checking them to see how they looked and asking for just a few more, you know, for safety. 

   

I think the one above is my favorite so far. I'm actually smiling like I think I always am in my head. You ever have that problem? You think you are smiling a gorgeous smile then you look at the photo and it's barely a smirk? What happens in the translation from brain to face?

And again we have miss Saige. She's my ever present muse and shadow. Today however instead of trying to climb her way into the photo shoot she was happily playing with a toy. It's one of those that she had hanging from her car seat as a baby and you pull down and it vibrates back up. Well now that it's been liberated and is free to roam around with her it's fascinating!

As you can see, my every attempt to engage her was met with a blank far off stare while she repeatedly pulled on that toy to make it vibrate. 

Mmmm, Zombie Baby! 

Miss Saige is now 15mths and more of a joy each day. I'm really looking forward to the day my studio is filled with 2 little mini muses running around. It's going to be great.

Arriving March 2014...

It's been busy around here. I've been working hard getting my studio up and running, rebranding Artistic Bean, starting a new Artistic Bean blog, getting my Etsy Shop back up and refreshing the Artistic Bean Facebook Page. Phew, that's a lot going on 'round here.

And with all of that going on we've still managed to put a new member of the team into the works as well!

Introducing "Sketch" who will be arriving mid March 2014!

As of this posting I am actually 14wks along. It's just taken me that long to get my act together.

Saige is currently 14mths old and is my muse. 

Those are her chalk marks at the bottom of the wall.

She loves drawing just like her momma.

We spend our days in the studio now that it's up and running. She plays happily at my feet reading books to herself or feeding the dog snacks out of her snack cup. Beanie and Saige are quite the best friends, especially since Beanie discovered Saige's hands are made of food. 

I built Saige play fort under my studio table using a staple gun and an old bed sheet. It's her favorite place to be. I was informed by my mother that I loved to do the same things when I was little. I was always in a sheet tent of some sort.

We always said if we were going to have one, you have to have two! So here we go.

I won't be updating here too much other than belly pictures for those interested as I am trying to spend most of my time working on getting Artistic Bean off the ground. I have grand plans for it. 

Please check out Artistic Bean's Blog. It's just in the beginning stages but there is so much more to come. Hope to see you over there! 

Where Did the Time Go...2012 Year End Round Out...

Hello everyone! Wow what a wild 6 months this has been. 6 months? Did I really just say 6 months?

I hardly know where to begin but I know I must or we'll never get anywhere will we.

First let me say that I've missed you greatly. I've wanted to keep in touch, I truly have. Thankfully now the app I want/need to use has upgraded is now easier to use than a few months ago.

I know pictures are more interesting than a long winded commentary so let's begin...

After bringing Saige home from the hospital and after my mother left to go back to Ohio we lost power and in the summer heat that was NOT fun, especially with a one week old. We were forced to leave the house in search of food and cooler temperatures.

Saige was a trooper but by her 2 week Dr. check up she had lost 2lbs and was admitted into the NICU at Children's Hospital in DC. Que major parental freak out.

After more blood draws than an adult could handle, what seemed like hundreds of tests, a weeks worth of sleepless nights not leaving her side Saige was finally given the all clear by her Dr.'s and was able to return home to the utter delight of her parents, family and friends. During her hospital stay she was the concern of people across the country and even internationally. This little darling is loved far and wide. We will NEVER forget the love that we received in this thankfully short lived time of need.

We returned home and settled into a comfy routine.

Our little Monkey! After being called Button for nine months it seems that Monkey is now a term of endearment used most often. So is Miss Wiggle Pants McGee!

 

In September I took Saige for her first trip to Ohio. I couldn't think of a better Birthday present for my mother than some quality time with her first Grandchild. Saige was 3mths at this point and it only seemed appropriate to give her her first Carmen Miranda Headpiece. I'm jealous of the fabulous way she pulls off this look!

 

After our trip to Ohio we were off to Ocean City MD for her first ever beach trip. Bear needed to go for a Surveying Conference so we tagged along. I know she won't remember this trip but I'll have fun telling her all about it some day.

I wasn't about to leave without getting this "toes in the sand" picture.

I had this in mind the day I made the hotel reservation.

This next picture is a milestone and one that I missed!

I laid her on the blanket on her back as I had done umpteen times before and I walked into the kitchen for a drink of water. Upon my return this is the site I was greeted with.

SHE'D ROLLED OVER AND I MISSED IT!!

So proud of herself. And she hasn't stopped being on the go ever since.

I've discovered that this little Monkey is one independent woman. The moment I bought handles for her bottle and gave it to her she no longer needed me. Que sad mommy face.

This pic was taken 2 minutes after handing it to her for the first time.

"I don't need help mom, I can do it all on my own"

Finally at the end of September she was starting to nap longer and I was able to take that time to go into my still trashed, never unpacked studio space and begin to clean, paint and organize. Slllllloooooooowwwwly it's coming along. It's still in pieces but much much closer to being useful. 2013 is going to be the year of the studio so watch out!

Apart from being independent this girl is tech savvy. She LOVES anything iPad, smartphone etc. I still have a hard time thinking about how she'll never know a world without iPads, iPhones etc. CRAZY! I still remember our first computer, a comador 64!

The studio was starting to come along by the end of October and I had completed a dream of mine to have one whole wall painted with chalkboard paint. Bear couldn't wait to christen it.

Come November things were settling down into a nice routine family wise but then one day I woke up to some new friends in my backyard.

The neighbor behind my house is Grape Creek Farm LLC and she raises heritage turkeys. I LOVE these turkeys. I love listening to them gobble, how they run up to the fence when I walk outside, how everything seems so fun to them. Well it seems that they love my yard as well. And I wouldn't have tattled on them but well you see, the pic below is of them crossing my fence into my front yard! Yep, they were about to make a break for the great free unknown. So I had to tattle and help toss them back over their fence. Sorry turkeys.

Thanksgiving found us supporting the neighbors farm and purchasing a turkey for our Thanksgiving meal.

Oh how delicious it was.

This is one of my favorite pics. Saige is always giggling, being a ham and making me laugh.

Yes, her feet are this blurry in person as well. She NEVER stops moving, NEVER.

After Turkey Day it was time to get ready for our first Christmas Season as a family.

We Decked the Halls and though friends and family are spread far and wide we brought them a little closer to us by making a batch of Famous Daddy Mac Deth Nog or as I like to call it...

MacGrog Nog!

(Bear says it's like a cookie you can drink)

Here in MD we rarely ever get snow for Christmas. Normally the snow holds off till late January and February when it unloads on us in blizzard after blizzard.

But this year we has a Christmas Miracle! SNOW on Christmas Eve! It was gorgeous!!

The next morning found me up in the dark and outside photographing.

Narnia!

After everyone was up we settled in to unwrap prezzies! I carefully photographed Saige unwrapping each gift she got from relatives then emailed them the pics in order to help them feel a little closer to us than hundreds of miles that separated us.

She enjoyed every crinkle of the wrapping paper.

And of course toys that light up and make noise!

Finally, despite the chaos of my studio/office, year end paperwork for the accountant and a teething 6 month old I was able with the help of a wonderfully supportive husband to finish a painting! The painting I had imagined for my annual Holiday Card.

THe cards may have been late but I got them out before New Years so that counts right?

This year has been a wild ride.

I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store.

It's gonna be awesome!

 

 

Button arrives...

First, please bear with me as I'm trying out a new app on my iPad in order to post this to my blog. I hope if all goes well I'll be posting more often and keeping you all up to date easier. Fingers crossed...

Boy does time fly by when your little one arrives. It's hard for me to believe that as I sit here and type this I have a little 8lb, 5week old bundle of awesome sleeping on my chest. The rhythmic sound of her breathing is music to a mommy's ears. But I digress. 

The last few weeks before Button arrived were uncomfortable to say the least. As her due date came and went it seemed that everyone became impatient, even the folks at the local grocery store "you STILL haven't had that baby?". I actually avoided that store till after she was born because I was tired of the looks and questions. I wanted to shout "isn't it obvious????" I waddled uncomfortably, to the point that even my mother would giggle. Most nights were spent shifting from side to side uncomfortably and ultimately ending up on the couch propped up due to terrible reflux. I was a very patient pregnant lady but come a week over due I was ready to have this baby. 

My mother took this pic of me. As you can see even Beanie was done waiting.

Since I was overdue I was scheduled to go to the hospital to be induced on Friday June 22nd (one week after my due date). 

The following 2 pictures were taken the morning I went to the hospital. 

The next day was to be her Birthday!

All day Friday was spent getting meds, walking the halls of the hospital and being on monitors. Nothing was happening. Nothing more frustrating than being the center of attention, all eyes on you and having no control over any of it.

 "you feeling anything yet" "how about now"

That evening I sent my mother and Bear home to get some sleep while I received a different med over night and tried to get some sleep myself. I downloaded a white noise app onto my iPad and did my best to get sleep despite being woken up every hour by the automatic blood pressure cuff. A hospital is no place to get sleep. As my Dr. put it, it's a bad hotel at best.  6am the next morning I was woken up by my body in labor! The new med workend and kick started my body into labor on its own! Here we go! 

At 4:30pm it was time to push! 

After 20mins, six sets of pushes our daughter was in our arms

SAIGE ADELAIDE

June 23rd 2012

4:46pm

7lbs 12oz

The most beautiful girl in the world. We are so in love. 

Week 27 is a...Cauliflower?

Howdy dear readers. Wow, 2 posts in as many days? I'm on fire. Well, don't get too used to it since we'll be moving soon. Yes, we're moving again but this time it's pretty permanent as we've bought the house! Yeppers, first time Home Buyers but that's a story for another day.

As many of you out there are experiencing, Spring has come early this year. The weather is warm, all the flowering trees are in FULL Bloom. So you know what that means...

Break out the Flip Flops!!!!

These are my new loverly Apt9 flip flops from Kohls and I'm in love. So in love actually that I went back and bought another pair in black. I would have loved to have had brown as well but they don't come in brown :(

I love their vintage flapper feel.

So, on to what you've all been waiting for, my monthly belly pic!

Well here you go!!

(and no I don't "feel" nearly as pregnant as I look. WOW! What a BELLY!)

And to think, I've still got 3 whole months to go!

Yep, it's week 27 already. And YES I am still wearing the same white shirt I've been in from the beginning. Though due to the warm weather I haven't actually put this shirt on since last month's photo shoot. It will be interesting to see if I can still squeeze into it come next month. Probably, but there may be some belly peaking out below it at that point ;)

Button is supposed to be about 15inches long and weighing in at a little over 2lbs at this point. I'm not sure about you but I've never seen a Cauliflower that big. Another interesting fact about Button at this stage is that any day now she'll begin to open her eyes. Kinda cool and creepy all at the same time.

Happy Vernal Equinox Everyone!

Let those pedicures out to play.

Okay, It's Week 23, What Fruit Are We?...

Well this week marks the beginning of my 6th month of pregnancy. Do not get me started on how 23 weeks equals the 6th month. That is an argument no one is going to win. They say "if you go by calendar weeks, well then your pregnancy would be 10 months". So what? If it's ten month then it's 10 months. Doing some Crazy Voodoo OB Math and changing the numbers around on paper isn't going to change the fact that this baby is in there for 40 weeks. Okay, pet peeve aired and over with. Thank you for listening!

Some of you may have heard of my CAKE addiction I had a few weeks back. Yep, CAKE!! The craving only lasted for a week and it was glorious! I even woke up one morning thinking the following "Pineapple Upside Down CAKE!! Yes, that is EXACTLY what I need" and I've never even had it before! So explain that one. Pictured above is the Cupcake version I made. Don't worry, I shared them with friends. Judging by the look on their faces when I showed up unannounced on their doorstep with a plate full of these babies, they are enjoying my cravings as well.

And here's a picture of me from this morning at Week 23. This week's Fruit Size is anyone's friggin guess. I think they are running out of ideas. One source says a Large Mango, but I've already had Mango week so that's lame. Another source says a Doll. What? You can't just throw Doll in there in the middle of fruit!

Wk 11/Lime, Wk 15/Naval Orange, Wk 19/Mango, Wk 23/Pomegranate

So there, take that, I declare this week Pomegranate week! Who's gonna argue with me?

It must be pretty obvious that I'm preggo, the Fed Ex lady just now delivered a package to me and asked how much longer I had. When I said June 15th she looked suprised and said "You don't have twins in there do you"? Nope just one happy girl I replied. That brief exchange marks my very first encounter with a stranger taking notice and making a comment. I guess there's no hiding it now! Bring on the comments, I'm ready!!

Well, as long as there's either CAKE or a Chocolate Malt Milkshake afterwards!

Mmmm, milkshake!

We're having a...

I first have to say that I feel so loved. I can't believe all the people that are coming along on this journey and are sooo excited to find out our good news!!

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Okay, Here it goes..........

Yeppers! We are having a girl! Bear drew all of this himself. Yeah, I'd say he's excited!

This was such an exciting and emotional day. You see, this was Bear's first ever Baby Appointment. Despite "Button" moving around and kicking A LOT these days he has yet to catch a kick himself so I'm sure the idea of our baby had yet to become "real" for him. On the way to the appointment I asked him "From 1-10 how excited are you" and the answer came quick "50"! Having him there with me in the room and watching his face as he saw his baby for the first time was priceless. I have to admit I had tears running down my cheeks.

I have the world's greatest husband.