Wisconsin Baby Shower Highlights

gotta love the three beautiful sisters together!

t'was quite a spread my mom put on and special color coordinated and delicious cupcakes!

the cutest handmade BaBy YaSguR banner by my best friend and designer, charlene.

lots of great handmade gifts at the midwestern baby shower, including hand embroidered owls made by my best friend, Liz, hand sewn animal bibs, and most special of all: a knit blanket made with love by my mama.

all the Hein side cousins that could make it  + my grandma.

two of the most special, creative friends a girl could ask for. we go all the way back to art school. Charlene & Liz helped my mom with all the decorations and details. thank you so much, girls! below is a "diaper cake" also made by Liz. it's quite a work of art and contains many useful baby gifts within including newborn diapers all rolled up, toys, and burp cloths.

 

my mom's homemade strawberry jam as favors for all the ladies.

and the other beautiful sisters! thanks for all your help!

As you can see, best baby shower ever! i feel like the luckiest mama-to-be. i really have to thank my mom for taking it to the next level of cuteness!

lovely photo credits to my cousin, Courtney and Charlene. thank you!

The size of fun Summer Fruits!

we left off at the baby weighing one whole pound in the beginning of May and now at 34 weeks, we're are very nearly at 5 pounds and 18 inches long! the baby's lungs are almost fully developed which is why we can actually feel when it gets the hiccups. it's pretty cute. only 2 more weeks until i'm considered full-term. technically the baby could come anytime, but we're kind of feeling an August 20th birthday coming on, sandwiched in between grandma becky and daddy on the 12th and aunt poco on the 22nd. another little Lion indeed!

May 14th: Aunt Aviva & Uncle John Get Married!

 

Cherry Blossom Festival

 

They're in full bloom at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in Prospect Park!

Inspiring springtime walk to prenatal yoga...

 

the little babes and i get to take this pretty walk twice a week. it's quite a 

therapeutic treat at this time of the year!

As long as an ear of corn...

 

which is why i feel the baby kick nearly half the day! jon and i can actually SEE the movement through my belly now. it's been a pretty fun week. the baby has a pretty thin figure at the moment but will plump up a little more each week. afterall, it still has 7 more pounds to gain before August...and even more than that for me. latest craving: cheesecake. uh oh. and red peppers (though not together).

Our first piece of baby furniture!

isn’t it sweet? it’ll be even sweeter when there’s a little one in it! auntie jillian and uncle scott passed their Moses Basket onto us yesterday…just in time for Passover/Easter weekend! their adorable son, Liam is now over 4 months old and has by far outgrown it. we love it’s portability and will enjoy having our baby sleep next to our bed for the first month or two. 

more furniture coming soon. meanwhile, we have a confession: we’ve been suckers for the baby clothes. it’s very clever of maternity stores to stock baby clothes too. we stumbled upon a very nice second-hand shop with great deals. some of the little outfits are just so irresistible! why not pick a few things up here and there? August really isn’t too far away.

 

Nearly 1 whole pound

everything is going according to plan. i'm feeling great, measuring perfectly, and gaining weight right on target. the baby is also gaining weight. at 11 inches long, the length of a spaghetti squash, and almost 1 pound, our baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. the lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and it's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath it's gums. the eyes have formed, but the irises still lack pigment. if we could see inside my womb, we'd be able to spot the fine hair that covers the body and the deep wrinkles on it's skin, which will be present until the baby adds a padding of fat to fill them in. if our baby takes after jon and  i, it's sure to be a chubby one!

A Very Momentous Week

 

 what a week. we finally closed on our apartment at 99 Bergen Street, (woohoo!) we hit the halfway mark in the pregnancy, and i felt the baby kick for the first time! and it's happened several time since. we're hoping for warmer weather soon because i'm almost to the point where i can't zip my winter coat up past the bump. i'm feeling healthy and energetic, but jon on the other hand has shingles. it's a mild case but still an unpleasant experience. it's caused by stress and hopefully we're headed for less stressful weeks while we settle into our new home.

As big as an heirloom tomato...

we are in the 19th week and this is about how big the baby is! our baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom. the arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of the body now, and the hair on the scalp is sprouting. (i'm praying it'll be curly like  daddy's!) it's sensory development is exploding: the brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. some research suggests that the baby may be able to hear our voices now, so jon's been talking up close to my belly everyday. it's very sweet.