25 Week Bumpdate

BABY WEIGHS AS MUCH AS A RUTABAGA

DUE DATE: June 12th

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN: 17 lbs

HOW I'M FEELING: I'm feeling good! Cleaning out my closet this week took a lot out of me, and after a day of sitting on the floor organizing my back was killing me, but other than that all is well.

SLEEPING: My goals now are to get on a better sleep schedule and to start my mornings earlier. I've gotten used to sleeping late since being in college, but it really robs me of my day and the things I can accomplish. I'm having trouble going to sleep early though, and I find myself thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts which keeps me tossing and turning. I also feel the baby moving around the most at night, so I like to just stay up and watch him. It's a slow process but I'm trying! I also want to start writing down some of the weird dreams I've been having.

MOVEMENT: Baby is always moving around non-stop! I've been watching youtube videos like this one and I can't believe that'll be me in only a few short weeks!

FOOD CRAVINGS: Chocolate & Coffee

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Sunday Brunch @ Bibi'z in Westwood with Erin!

SWEET POTATO-BLUEBERRY PANCAKE

Chocolate & Coffee Cravings

Sometimes I bake. Mostly I just leave the baking up to my sister, considering she's in school right now for pastry arts, and I just do the eating. However, since she's all the way in Rhode Island and I still wanted something chocolatey and coffee-y, I had to take the situation into my own hands. The outcome? An absolutely delicious Dark Chocolate Cappuccino Cheesecake with an Oreo Cookie Crust. The batter alone was so decadent and rich I almost died and went to chocolate heaven. 

What I'm Workin' On

TIE-DYED ONESIES!

"RORSCHACH" ONESIE

RAINBOW ONESIE

LOVE THIS ONE!

SUNBURST ONESIE

Over the weekend I tie dyed some new things for my shop and the results came out beautifully. I finally got a change to finish the labels, photograph and list them today. I love dying fabrics because there is an element of surprise in the design process. Having to wait overnight to see the results builds so much anticipation, and washing the material out for the first time is always exciting. For this batch, I dyed some baby onesies, two t-shirts and a scarf (which I have yet to photograph and list). I've also been playing with packaging ideas for the shop and I think the ribbons look so cute and colorful!

DYE CLOSE-UPS

PACKAGING

All this color is making me antsy for spring, and for baby's arrival. I just cannot wait! - Sam

Minimalist Mama

These past three years have been  a whirlwind in terms of "stuff." In a short time I've moved from my house in New Jersey, into my dorm in Manhattan, back into my house for the summer, then into my apartment in Queens, and finally now back into my house for the arrival of baby. During all of those moves, the weight of the amount of stuff I own - both literally and figuratively - has worn me down. 

During the move-in at the dorms, as the upperclassmen helped me cart my stuff into my suite, one guy made a comment about how much I had packed. In truth, I had completely overpacked; by the end of the year I had barely used most of the stuff, and never even touched certain things. 

Moving out of my apartment in Queens was another experience altogether. I had accumulated so much stuff over the course of a year and a half - clothing, shoes, home decorations, furniture, pots and pans - that it took about three trips by car and one trip with a UHaul to empty my little studio into my parent's already small house. 

It's shameful how much crap - and that is what it is - one person not only buys, but holds onto. 

24 Week Bumpdate

BABY IS AS LONG AS AN EAR OF CORN

DUE DATE: June 12th

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN: 17 lbs

HOW I'M FEELING: Amazing! I have so much energy and I am really enjoying this trimester.

SLEEPING: I'm still sleeping without any problems. The baby kicks me awake in the morning sometimes, but other than that no complaints. 

MOVEMENT: I feel movement all the time, especially at night and in the mornings. Baby Q is a very active baby already. He likes to play a game with me where he refuses to kick when my hand is on my stomach, it's like he's hiding. I managed to capture a video of some of the harder kicks last night...

Going Bananas

YESTERDAY'S BREAKFAST

One of the things I crave almost every day are bananas. After getting over the morning sickness of my first trimester, bananas became an instant staple in my diet. Thankfully, they are much healthier than some of the other things I've been craving (i.e. baked beans, macaroni and cheese, an excessive amount of cream cheese), and they're a great source of potassium. I've never been a huge banana fan in the past, if there is such a thing, but now I have them in my yogurt, my cereal, my ice cream, but especially in my shakes and smoothies which I've been making a lot of as of late. So, without further ado, here is my banana appreciation post, which is literally making my mouth water as I type:

Shopping Spree!

Less than a month ago I decided to open up my very own shop on Etsy.com, which is an online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods. I will post about my shop in-detail at a later date. In short, I've always been a crafter and I love to make things, so I thought, why not put them out there on the internet, and maybe someone would like the things I make enough to give me money for them! Anyway, after steadily working on my products and social networking like a crazy person, earlier this week I finally made my first sale!! YAY! I now officially consider myself a business owner. So, to celebrate my first twenty dollars made (very exciting, I know), my best friend Erin and I went out to dinner at P.F. Chang's, and then on a mini shopping spree for baby at Janie and Jack. These are the clothes we picked up:

Baby Q's First Shoes

It happened! I finally made my first real purchase in preparation for Baby Q's arrival. I had been holding off for a while, mainly because I was being superstitious. Buying too many things for baby too early on seemed hasty. However, during a recent trip to the Vans store to buy new sneakers for my brother, I broke down and bought a little tiny miniature pair of shoes.

Mama Pear is Born

The Beginning of a Blog

Ahh... the start of a new blog. A place I've been many times before, with nothing more to show for it than a slew of forgotten Tumblr URL's, Blogger attempts and Xangas (yes, that happened). This blog, however, is a special one, because its creation marks the beginning of a very long journey I have ahead of me: motherhood. To say I am ecstatic would be an understatement. To say that I'm not terrified and overwhelmed at the same time, would be a lie. Ever since I first found out I was pregnant my mind has been a whirlwind of anxiety, apprehension, excitement - a mix of emotions all at once.