a day in your life @ 19.25

dear baby b,


sunday was your 19-week mark.
that means next week, i get to see you on an ultra sound!
i wonder if you will be kicking then
like you have been doing lately!
{usually around 6:00 at night and beyond...
does that mean you are going to sleep all day
and be up all night after you are born?}


i just wanted to take you around the house a little today...
and also tell you some things that are going on.


so, today for my picture winter "assignment"
i was supposed to capture a "beautiful mess" with my camera.
hee hee.
normally, this would be very easy to do in this home...
although i rarely think the messes are beautiful.
but lately, there have been no messes
or piles or clutter or dirty things to photograph,
as i have had ample time to clean.
well, i opened my e-mail,
read today's prompt,
and then headed to the kitchen to make my morning hot cocoa.
{you were making it quite clear you wanted some milk first thing.}
well, thanks to your "aunt" mary
who used her magic bullet mixer to make me a frothy drink
when i stopped over to visit her yesterday,
i realized i could make my daily hot-chocolates a lot more interesting
by using my magic bullet, too!
my cup of hot chocolate went from so-so to FAB-O!
only thing is, i made a big mess.
i did not use the right lid, i think.
i was a bit miffed at myself.
and wouldn't you know it?...
as i walked away from it with my hot cocoa in hand
to go sit at the computer and continue checking e-mails,
i thought, "what in the world am i going to photograph
for today's "beautiful mess" prompt?"


i got all the way to my chair,
and then i had to laugh.
ummm... it was staring me right in the face!
the mess i just made!
so i grabbed my camera card,
stuck it in the camera,
and started shooting my little blender mishap.
how perfectly did that work out?
i bet the other participants thought i did it on purpose... spilled.
but i didn't!
i swear!
not the best photo in the world,
but it works for this prompt.


while in the kitchen,
i realized i could get the messy sink, too...
sort of a beautiful mess when seen with the lovely french tea towel
i use to place clean, wet dishes on for drying.



i was done!
no need to go create an extra special mess.
but it had me thinking a lot about when you get here...
i have a feeling there will be messes ALL the time around the house.
not because you will be a messy person.
just because you are a baby.
and that's just what babies do... make messes.
i thought about how i'll probably ALWAYS have spills on the counter
and dirty dishes and bottles in the sink.
but you know what?
i can't wait!
seriously!


anyway, i decided the dishes and the spill could wait.
after a few snaps of the camera,
i was back to the computer to upload the shots,
process the shots,
and submit them to the picture winter site.


while there, i realized i had not yet taken my photos for yesterday's prompt...
"the magic machine"
we were to take a creative shot of our computer or electronic device
that we use for being active in the cyber world...
what allows us to participate in the things like picture winter
and blogging and photography and such.
i was going to skip this assignment,
because i was sure i would not be able to take something interesting.
i have an older {sort of dated-looking} computer,
and the corner it is in is not quite the set-up i would like it to be.


but then i realized after i set my hot cocoa down
in front of the keyboard and
on top of your papa's morning note that he left for me,
it would be a good subject for the prompt...
a shot of my daily morning routine.
hot chocolate {sometimes with peppermint},
computer,
picture winter,
blogging
and checking/responding to e-mails.
{oh, and reading papa-b's notes, if he left one.}



this is what i came up with!
and you know what?
i'm so glad i decided to participate in that prompt,
as opposed to skipping it.
tracey {the picture winter class teacher and founder}
saw the image,
liked it,
left the sweetest comment on it,
and then used it for the daily picture winter post on shutter sisters.
made me blush,
and after a sort of difficult morning with much on my mind,
it even made me cry...
you sure make me emotional sometimes, little baby-b.
of course, who am i kidding?
i know i was ALREADY that way.
=)


here is the other view i submitted.



notice all of papa's notes {on the monitor} that he's given to me
since we found out we are having you.
sometimes he talks to you in them, too.


{by the way, i just had to tell you...
your papa loves to use pet names.
he always has on me.
the names he comes up with for me are too numerous to remember or list.
but he also has several that he uses regularly.
it's one of his most whimsical traits... which i ADORE about him.
he has already started coming up with several for you.
"little slugger"
"spaghetti-o"
"baby-bird"
{{to go with when he calls me mama-bird or when i call him papa-bird}}
"little mostachioli"
there will be many more... i guarantee it!
probably his favorite to call you will be "little squirt".
i love when he uses that one.}


okay... one last little stop around the house
after visiting the kitchen counters
and the computer corner where i blog and work on photography.
now we will go to the other side of the house.
in the hallway {which you will soon discover is like a room in and of itself}
and in your papa's man cave.


i took these two shots for another picture winter prompt
called "high strung".
we just had to capture something strung up in our environment.



i used the view of a favorite print i found
years ago at a garage sale for $75.
it is original pastel-on-paper art, framed in a gorgeous antique frame.
i bought it for your papa when we were first dating
for his bare apartment walls.
i thought it was breathtaking and so worth every penny!
it's a cloud/sky/moon scene,
and you will soon discover how very much i love clouds!
i love how this print looks a lot like a photo,
and also looks like it could be a water scene.
anyway, i had strung some "gold-leafed" ball garland
on top of the frame for the christmas season.
still there... i'll take all the christmas decorations down soon.



okay, and this other shot is the old-world pendant lantern
that your dear grandparents
{grandma-b and grandpa-b}
gave to us a few years back.
they had bought it in their younger years
during some of their travels.
your papa bought some groovy fabric
to hang on the wall behind it.
i love it, because it sort of looks map-esque,
which lends itself nicely to the old-world feel of the lamp.
very moroccan or bohemian!


well, i have something VERY special to share with you,
but as this is already a long post,
it will have to wait until another day... maybe friday.
but i will give you a hint.
it has to do with something your "aunt" mary gave us
for your nursery,
and it means just about more than anything i can think of
when it comes to how God has provided for you so far.
i'm getting very giddy about your nursery,
and i can not wait to reveal it to you.


i love you, baby-b.
i can't wait to name you,
see you,
hold you,
kiss you,
smell you,
touch you,
comfort you,
watch you,
hear you,
and smile at you.
{among many other things}


until then, keep kicking!
{p.s. ...thanks for giving papa-b a big ol' kick the other night!
he had a hard time feeling them at first.
but you pulled through and gave him a wallop!
{{that's why he now calls you his little slugger.}}
he did not seem very affected by your touch.
but i know his heart melted to pieces when he felt you through my belly.
so thank you!
i had been waiting for that!}


love,
mama-b