I Almost Forgot but I'm Pregnant

19 weeks pregnant, I'm already bigger!

I'm more than half way through this pregnancy and up to this point it has been very different than my pregnancy with Samantha. 

One of my first blog posts ever was "Proceed with Caution" and described the crying, irrational behavior, grouchiness and anger I was experiencing in my pregnancy.  If anything, this pregnancy has given me a sense of calm and serenity.  I'm feeling stable and I don't sweat the small stuff.  Getting pregnant has helped once again give me perspective on what is truly important and I feel blessed to be pregnant, to have a healthy family and an incredible support system with our immediate families and friends close by. 

I am getting nice and round like last time and I'm once again loving cookies and cream ice cream so it isn't all brand new.  In the past few weeks I have started feeling some strong kicks, even some jabs to wake me up in the night so we have another active baby in there. 

We went to my 20 week ultrasound today and got confirmation on the gender (not that we really needed it!) and this growing girl inside me is looking perfect. 

Delightful

I've always considered myself a baby person.  I love the way babies smell, how warm and snugly they are and all of their tiny parts.  Honestly, I was worried I would lose interest in kids once they passed the baby stage and entered into toddlerdom.  I have been so pleasantly surprised at how much fun I am having with Samantha these days. 

I know that I joke sometimes about her being bossy or obstinate but I have to point out now that she is also genuinely sweet. She is always hugging me and showing affection.  After I sneeze she now says to me "Bless you Mom" and the other day when we were out shopping she said to me "Mommy is so cute" - what's not to love about that?

Samantha loves her babies too.  Her favorite is Daisy, followed closely by Sue and then Nancy.  Wherever we go, the babies all come along as well.  If one of them is missing there is a bit of hysteria with a "Where's Sue?" or a "I need Daisy".  After she slipped and dropped her baby I heard her say  "Goodness gracious Daisy!". In the mornings when we go wake her up (yes, we have to wake her up or she would sleep until 9 am) she rolls over, smiles and says to us "Still sleeping" or "I'm sleeping a little more with Daisy and Sue".    

I stop in my tracks all the time and think to myself "I love being her mom".  

Sweet Love

We officially made it through our wedding stint of 5 weddings in 7 weeks.  I danced my way through each one and gradually got larger and larger as each wedding approached.  I have been looking back on my blog posts from when I was pregnant with Samantha and it seems that I really popped right around 17-20 weeks.  Looks as though the same has applied to this pregnancy.  As my mom says, I was gone for three days in Omaha last weekend and came back twice as big!

I recognize this is more of a "mom" blog but after all of these weddings I wanted to share some really unique ideas and special touches that stood out for me on my wedding tour of 2010.

1. Creative chuppahs: In Jewish tradition, the couple marries under a chuppah, a canopy made of cloth that is held by four posts which symbolizes the home the couple will build together.  For Molly and Brian's wedding, my mother in law worked tirelessly to include the entire wedding party and family to make them a custom chuppah.  Friends and family members were each given a cloth square to personalize with thoughts, memories and photos of the couple.  The squares were then sewn together to create a beautiful quilt that hung above them during their wedding and will also be an incredible keepsake.  This past weekend at Dave's cousin Annie's wedding, their chuppah was made using material from both the bride and groom's mother's wedding dresses.  It had wedding photos of their family members on their wedding days sewn in.  I love seeing pieces of tradition and family woven into the wedding ceremony.
2. Fingerprint tree: Frequently at weddings, couples have a photo or guest book for friends and family to sign as they come into the reception as a keepsake of who attended.  At our friends Eric and Michelle's wedding they had a beautiful painting of the trunk of tree with many branches.  As you walked into their reception, they had orange, green and yellow ink pads where guests were asked to make leaves with their thumb prints on the painting.  Then, each guest wrote their name or initials on their leaf.  The end result was a gorgeous piece of art that they could hang in their house with all the leaves of loved ones. 
3. Storytelling tables: Gone are the days where you pick up your seating assignment for the wedding and go to a numbered table.  This year, a fun trend was to have storytelling tables.  At a wedding in Steamboat for Rob and Tanya, each table was location where they had gone on a trip.  As you went to your "Costa Rica" or "Moab" table there was a photo of them on their vacation with a cute story about where they went and why it was special.   When we went to Portland for the wedding of Nic and Jenny, each table was a race or marathon that one of them had run, quite impressive and a fun way to get to know the couple even better. 
4. Loved Ones Pins: At Annie and Todd's wedding this past weekend in Omaha, the brides mother, the talented Aunt Patty, created these tiny photo frames with pictures of loved ones who have passed away.  Then, those tiny photos were pinned into the bride's bouquet and in the lapel of the groom, keeping loved ones close even though they are no longer with us.  I will try to find a photo of this because my description doesn't do justice to what a sweet remembrance it was.
5. Delicious treats: I am not a huge fan of sweets but I do admire the display and decoration of desserts. I loved our wedding cake but not because I ate any of it, but because it was a beautiful sight!  At the weddings this year there was a wide assortment of incredible displays of cake, cupcakes, donuts and treats.  From a tasting perspective I enjoyed the originality at Nic and Jenny's wedding where they had scrumptious donuts from the infamous Voodoo Donuts in Portland (I love donuts!). At Sara and Mike's wedding in Boulder, our friend Deirdre made the assortment of treats and impressive cake as a gift to the couple. I appreciate when our friends make their day special while at the same time featuring special talents of friends.  Can you believe Deirdre made the whole display shown above?!