blogger/baby meet up!

we’ve been having a blast here in columbus. besides going to the zoo and eating a TON of delicious food, we also had a blog buddy meet up with dani and her adorable baby girl, ava. dani and i (and travis) actually went to the same college, but didn’t know each other there. go figure. ava and sylvie are only a couple of weeks apart in age and were both born at around 37 weeks. when i found out they live in columbus, i knew we just had to meet one day!

we met on for lunch on sunday at north market. dani and her mom are so sweet and ava such a little doll. i hope we can hang out again next time the three of us are in town!

sylvie was calm and collected at first, but started crying when ava did. the power of suggestion!

i love when virtual friends become actual friends. the internet can be a magical thing. i have met so many wonderful, inspiring girls through this blog. if i could only meet jess, allie and henry, and a few others! i hope it happens one day!

blog love.

what do you do while your baby naps? if i’m just being honest, when that day comes i will probably nap with her. adele of mila’s daydreams takes that time to imagine what her slumbering daughter is dreaming, create the dream scene from household items, and photograph it. the results are both whimsical and beautifully serene.

see?

do yourself a favor and pay a visit to mila’s daydreams. you’ll be glad you did.

********

with all of my illustration commissions complete, i spent my evening working on some of the decorative aspects of sylvie’s nursery. i made some substantial progress on her crocheted blanket and finished painting a world map for the wall above her crib. stay tuned for pictures of both tomorrow.

speaking of tomorrow, travis and i are taking the day to have our last out-of-town date before sylvie’s arrival. our plan is to drive the hour to indianapolis, eat lunch at a small french restaurant, and spend the afternoon walking along the canal. i am 35 weeks today and don’t plan on venturing too far from home after this week. travis and i are so excited to welcome our daughter into the world, but we’re happily enjoying our last few weeks as a couple.

this coming fall promises to be a busy one, with little time left over for leisurely strolls around our for-the-moment hometown. sylvie will be a well-seasoned traveler by the time january rolls around. we are planning her first airplane ride for sometime around 6-8 weeks. our plan is to fly to pennsylvania so she can meet her aunt rachel (my big sista), uncle rich, and her cousins, sophie and zack. she will also meet my best friend, her aunt cara, on this trip. next in line is the four hour drive to columbus ohio to visit grammy and poppy for thanksgiving. after that we’re going to bundle her up for a december trip to chicago for my cousin’s wedding. last, but certainly not least, is a trip down to texas for the holidays. on this trip she will meet her daddy’s family including his grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. she will also meet her uncle mike (my big brother), aunt melissa and cousins tessa and sam.

i firmly believe in bundling her up and taking her along for the ride. i’m sure that traveling with an infant will be challenging, but these experiences as a family are too precious to miss out on. as a kid, i was always taken along wherever my parents went. i quickly got used to being the youngest person in any given room. as a result i learned early on how to mind my manners, relate to adults, and adapt to many situations. these are all skills which have served me well in life. we don’t want to leave our daughter out of so-called “adult” activities. we want to share everything we can with her, as a family. i just can’t wait for her to get here. my arms are aching to hold her and rock her softly. i cannot believe how much and how unconditionally i love her already.

round-up.

this post is dedicated to a round-up of blogs and internet miscellany that i have been enjoying lately.

first up, a video. this video is SO TRUE and i only hope i fall somewhere outside of the obnoxious pregnant lady spectrum. then again, the fact that i’m vain enough to start a blog about it probably indicates otherwise. oh well. stephanie gooch from scrubs is in this video, doing what she does best, and that’s good enough for me!

next up are some blogs i’ve been enjoying lately!

AdaMedina: i have really enjoyed reading dani’s posts on impending motherhood. plus, she and i hail from the same alma mater and she currently resides in columbus, where my in-laws live. i automatically feel a connection with her and look forward to following the rest of her pregnancy.

hello sunshine: jess and her husband are newly pregnant and about to move to south korea. indiana feels so far away from my family and friends, i can’t even imagine what it would be like to reside on the other side of the world! i can’t wait to read all about their big move in the face of impending parenthood.

it’s a wonderful life: one of my favorites! allie and her son, henry are both adorable! she seems very close to her family, and i can definitely relate to that. PLUS, henry makes the most amazing faces i have ever seen, as evidenced here and here. how cute is he?!

these are the blogs/bloggers i’m digging today! what/who are some of your favorites?

17 weeks!

we’re just 3 weeks from the halfway point and 16 days from finding out the sex!  time is simultaneously flying by and dragging on.  this week baby is the size of a turnip, at 5 inches long and 5 ounces in weight.  my belly seems to fluctuate from day to day.  some days it really sticks out and other days it looks like i ate too many tacos.  most days, both points are true.

today has been a really nice day so far.  it is half-price bread day at our local bakery, the scholar’s inn.  we picked up a loaf of seeded rye that smells amazing!  the northeast has the best delis in the world.  it is almost impossible to find a good loaf of rye or a rare roast beef sandwich in the midwest.  scholar’s inn has both!

on another note, check out sarah’s blog post today on some great books about both passover and easter.  if you’re raising your child(ren) in an interfaith household (like she is and we will), check it out!  you can enter her giveaway for a chance to win a copy of each book.  i did!  plus, her baby, charlotte is a beauty and her blogs posts are always heartfelt, funny, and honest.  WIN.

okay.  i’m going to be a shameless self-promoter for a moment.  if everyone who visits us today would click on the banner below**, it would make me mucho happy.  we would love to crack the top 50 (#57, so close!), but unless we get a small surge in votes, it will never happen.  you’ll also notice a few new sites in my blogroll.  most of these are fellow mommy and baby bloggers, who are also listed on top baby blogs.  check them out!  if you like what you see (i know i do), vote for them too!  to me, blogging is about building a community.  this is why i joined top baby blogs in the first place.  i wanted to meet other bloggers, make connections with other preggos/moms, be a part of something, and share my experiences.  the further i (or any other blogger) moves up in the ranks, the more traffic i get, and the more chances i have of meeting new readers.  thank you for your readership and your support.

**note:  all you have to do to vote is click on the above banner.  there is nothing to fill out or register for.  there will be nothing notifying you of your vote.  the top baby blogs site will open in a new window.  feel free to browse the other awesome blogs listed or close the window.  THANK YOU!

***EDIT:  looks like top baby blogs just changed its voting procedure.  now, after clicking the banner, you have to also click the part on the page that comes up, which says “click here and your vote will be added”.  THANKS!  sorry for any confusion.