Meant Green: Bumpdate: 20 weeks

We are in theory halfway through the story of our pregnancy. (!?). Now that I can clearly see and often feel little Green bean, it feels like someone started the hyperdrive (cue millennium falcon sequence!)

Random: I've been thinking that the ability to lay eggs and place them somewhere warm might be a little more restful than carrying a baby on the inside. All I'm saying is that until now baby was fairly tiny (in the smaller range of fruit sizes), and didn't really affect me aside from first trimester tiredness. This must be nature's way of saying: don't forget to take care of yourself - there's someone else in there!

Baby // As long as a banana (the larger range of fruits). Developing the neural connections to the five senses and turning his/her cartilage frame into bone! The other night Cody said, "Wow, what's the chemistry behind all this?" Like I know - but man, do I respect it. Baby also feels just like a little fish flicking around - like if you were ever one of those children who just had to try and feel your pet fish in its bowl, and it zoomed around avoiding your slow baby fingers.

Feeling // S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g tummy! Ouch. I've had some intense round ligament pain that can wake me up night, in addition to the other times I have to wake up for:

1) Using the bathroom

2) Waking up on my back and panicking to turn over to my side

(P.S. I thought pregnant bodies knew better than to roll onto their backs in the middle of sleeping! I've heard the weight of the baby can press on a major vein and restrict blood flow to everywhere else. Cody says he's woken up to find me snoozing happily on my back and has gently rolled me over to my side. Oh well.)

Eating // I can cook almost normally again. No more weird ingredient combinations that sound good but taste terrible.

Wearing // Leggings and tights everyday! I'm stalling in the maternity clothes department because I just don't want any winter maternity clothes. This is a spring/summer bump and I have plenty of flowy dresses to get me to July once we're out of freezing temps here. I work from home mostly, so I've been very thankful I can be in leggings 3/5ths of the work week. #gratitude

Planning // My minimalist baby registry is nearing completion! We're using Baby List in order to pull from all over the internet, because as vast as Amazon is, it doesn't have many of the sustainable and/or small-business-made items I like. I've been adding and reducing every few days as I meditate on what's there and think about what we really want and need. I just ordered the sweetest bandit bonnet from Petite Soul - the first thing I've bought for him/her! Even summer newborns need a little hat right? My excuse is it's to protect him/her from too much air conditioning.

Exercise // I love water and swimming. It feels so good to feel so light and stretch my belly out. I'm also doing regular yoga with modifications, but I've tried prenatal yoga at a birth center and mostly liked the camaraderie more than the yoga.

Reading // I've found two books on simplicity that are quickly becoming some of my cornerstones for how I want to live in general and how I'd like to raise our little one. The first is Simple Matters by blogger Erin Boyle, recommended to me by my good friend (you know who you are!). She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and baby daughter in a tiny apartment and focuses on quality over quantity. I've always loved the idea that our items should be lovely, useful, long-lasting and free from fads (aka classic). Being thoughtful in what you bring into your home. The second is Simple Parenting by Kim John Payne. Sensing a theme yet?