An Expanding Waistline

As we approach our due date for Baby Girl #2, my tummy continues to stretch to unbelievable proportions.
I remember a point about 10 weeks ago when I thought my belly button was going to actually pop out at that very moment. Still waiting for that to happen and still growing daily more amazed at how the body deals with carrying another body inside itself - even though I've already done this before. It is still amazing and magical and miraculous.

The Dr. doesn't think we will make it to our Halloween due date.
Do you think that means I will not only make it to my due date but possibly go over?
I am already dilated 1 cm and 70% effaced, so at this point we're focusing on keeping her IN the womb for at least another month, but after that she can come as soon as she wants!

I will admit that I'm already trying to squeeze as much enjoyment out of these last few weeks as I can...Eliot doesn't know that things are about to change dramatically, so I'm trying to take advantage of that for her. Somehow I feel simultaneously like I'm bestowing the most amazing gift upon her and ripping the rug out from underneath her feet.

Right now it's just me and Baby Girl (even though that just means when Eliot is sleeping).
While sometimes uncomfortable (ok, a lot uncomfy), it is such a joy that I feel all her kicks and hiccups and rolls and jabs.
All too soon she will not just be Wynne's and mine and God's but ours to share: a new citizen of the World for folks to coo over and want to hold.

I remember it well from the weeks following Eliot's birth: suddenly my tummy gets demoted from being such a cute and round temporary room for this baby, I won't be rubbing it like an over-sized bowling ball somehow thinking I could soothe the baby through all the layers of skin, muscle and organs...it wouldn't really be a good shelf for holding Eliot like it is now or even showing off my cute empire-waisted maternity tops. Well, as cute as maternity wear can be, anyway.

The payoff is well worth it, but I missed having Eliot in my tummy for a good week or two after she was born. There is just something about that not-so-comforting "empty" post-partum belly.

17 weeks:

 

20 weeks:

 

25 weeks:

 

30 weeks:

 

32 weeks (and baby has already dropped):

 

A Stylish, Protected Chef

I LOVE aprons. I'm not quite sure when my fascination started, but I remember the moment that I bought the first apron that I almost didn't want to wear for fear of staining it....
I'd had aprons before. Only one at a time and only your typical plain, boring, shapeless apron designed to shield you from the food splatters that happen in everyday cooking.
But I'm happy to say that my apron collection is wonderfully diverse at this time. Thank God for darted seams! ;)
Thanks to our recent trip to Midland, I am now 4 cocktail aprons richer. True vintage aprons that were actually worn by W's grandmother, too!
I was so excited to find them that I just had to share about it here:

This one looks particularly cute over my expanding basketball of a belly.
I hope it will be so cute once the baby gets here and the silhouette is a bit different.

 

This one had a big stain that I was able to *almost* remove:

 

This one should be perfect for Christmas (less than 4 months away!), but I'm not quite sure how to care for the almost transparent fabric:

 

This is one of the most unique designs I've seen!

 

A Family Gathering

The weekend before Labor Day, the Walker Family gathered together in Midland, TX for a quick weekend at MFTW's house. Mary Frances Templeton Walker is Wynne's paternal grandmother who passed away last Autumn.
Everyone wanted to get together once more to remember MFTW and the times we'd all shared with her at her home in Midland.

 

 

Eliot raided the jewelry drawer:

 

 

Dennis the Menace Park is the park where MFTW and Big John took Wynne (and the other grandkids) as a child to play:

 

 

 

 

A Very Frilly Fairy Princess Playtime

Who says too much pink is a bad thing??

 

A Hot Day at the Zoo

We have a great local zoo that we don't visit nearly enough - even though we have a membership. Of course we decided to make a trip on the hottest day EVER...