enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

magic sky.

Tuesday evening, Paul got home from a run and shouted upstairs, "Babe, the sky looks amazing, want to come see?"

Always, Paul, always.

I grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and we half walked half ran down to the beach to catch the final moments of the sunset. The sky was amazing. Pink and blue and gold and magic. The weather was chilly but comfortable. The beach, per usual, was nearly empty.

And for about a minute I was truly overcome.

Tuesday was a crazy day.

One of the craziest and one for the books. We had a Level II ultrasound for baby girl because a small anomaly had popped up on her first ultrasound. We waited, eyes glued to screens, in a dark room as a doctor checked every bit of her 10 ounce body for any other markers that could be a cause for concern. We listened to each chamber of her heart separately. We clasped hands as we learned that her hands were wide open and her fingers looked great. (A wonderful sign!) We learned her face, spine, kidneys, heart, feet and neck all appear to be developing completely normal. We heard that our baby girl, whose kicks are growing stronger by the day, has an excellent chance at being completely healthy.

We walked out of the doctors office grinning like fools and clutching ultrasound photos. I called my mom to share the happy news as Paul listened to a voicemail that a house we love in San Diego - truly, the house of our dreams - was one step closer to being ours.

In the car we shared a quick moment to marvel at how this puzzle piece was fitting into place just in time for Paul to head out for his second deployment in less than a year. And then we were on the road. Him back to work to deal with pre-deployment madness and me back to my computer to sort out the 700 forms and checklists that come with buying four walls and a roof (and a killer kitchen...).

But that Tuesday night, watching the sky, I took a minute to really feel it all. To hear the ocean. To appreciate the sky. To lean into my husband. To thank God for my opportunity to be a mother. To be grateful for the time Paul and I have together. To acknowledge this current moment of our lives where the beach is close and the sky is simply magic.

pregnancy faves @ 20 weeks.

Last week I celebrated getting through the first half of my pregnancy and wanted to share some of the things I have been enjoying thus far. One thing I have noticed about pregnancy - and perhaps child raising in general - is that the opinions are strong and all over the map. One day I'll have someone tell me they couldn't have gotten through life without maternity clothes and the next day I'll hear from someone else that maternity clothes are a complete waste of money. I'm learning there is little ambivalence; it's a love/hate relationship with everything.

Which is no big deal. All this really means is I have to wait and see what's going to work for me and try things out for myself. I cannot express enough : my number one belief with pregnancy is that you have to do whatever feels right for you and your baby. But that said, most of these favorite things are items I heard about from other mamas and tried on their recommendations so it can't hurt to share.

Great with Child by Beth Ann Fennelly. When I shared with friends that I was pregnant, I was sent this book as a gift (thank you, Sara!) and immediately read it cover to cover. I laughed, I cried, I LOVED it. Truly the only book I would recommend to a new (or experienced!) mother. It's a gift I'll be giving newly pregnant friends for the rest of my life. Love that it celebrates pregnancy and motherhood in an honest but uplifting way.

citrus! So happy to be pregnant during citrus season. Loving little cuties, big oranges and nearly everything else lining the produce section these days.

Alternative Apparel henley tees. These have been perfect in the first half while my bump has been small. I imagine I'll be able to continue to wear them for a bit, especially with tank tops (Old Navy has long great ones) or my be maternity band (which I wasn't wild about at first but find much more comfortable as my bump has gown). Love the texture and sleeve length of these henleys - super flattering.

Pangea Organics facial skincare. This isn't new. I have been using Pangea Organics for the past year and a half. But so far, I have not had to switch to anything different. My face is behaving well despite the hormonal changes. (The rest of my skin is pretty dry, but I think that's more winter's fault than anything else.)

nameberry.com. I have spent endlessly entertaining hours on this site, reading new names and shouting them to Paul. Our favorite girl's name (that we are 99% set on) isn't too much of a hit over there, but we love it anyway. Totally fun if you are looking for new ideas and their lists are pretty awesome.

Vitafusion Prenatal gummy vitamins. I had been taking these (or a generic version) for over a year before I got pregnant and am continuing to take them daily. Swallowing pills is not my favorite thing so this is working for me.

Snoogle Total Body Pillow. I made a mistake at about 15 weeks and read that I should now be sleeping only on my side OR ELSE. I am NOT a side sleeper and for about two weeks I woke up often at night on my back or stomach, worried that I was hurting the baby. Enter the Snoogle. It keeps me on my side and also keeps me incredibly comfortable at night.

maxi-dresses and skirts. As my normal jeans have stopped fitting, I am reaching for maxis more and more. In Southern California this usually works out okay (though in spring they will be much more exciting). I am always on the look out for a cute, soft skirt. Recently purchased this one on sale and I'm loving it.

 

Other posts you might enjoy:

• newborn essentials
• 34 gift ideas for the brand new mama.
• 9 books our toddler loves.
• gearing up for baby #2. literally.
• FAQs / baby edition.
• new mama care package
• what I am eating with gestational diabetes

one little word album update / january.

In December, I talked a bit about my one little word for 2013 and shared photos of the album I'll be putting together throughout this year. The album is a photo and written diary and much more personal to me than our Project Life album. I am taking Ali's One Little Word online course this year and many of the monthly projects will come out of her suggested prompts. Other items in this album will be printouts of relevant blog posts, things I find that relate to my one little word and self-portraits.

I'd love to share pieces of this album as I work on it each month.

The main spread this month was part of the prompt from the workshop.

I used letter stamps (I don't know the manufacturer, they are very old from Michael's) to stamp BRAVE on each of the cards and then added an additional word with a white sharpie paint pen.

The text on the 8.5x11 sheet is the writing from this post. I copy and pasted it right from the blog into PSE and then played around with it there to get something I was happy with.

The backside of the page protector is a piece of 12x12 Studio Calico paper cut down to 8.5x11. I paper-clipped to the top my handwritten notes as I was brainstorming for the workshop prompt and a quote postcard I found and loved.

The photo spread for January includes 18 of my favorite self-portraits from my #dailyyoga experiment. These were all taken on my iPhone, processed with instagram and then re-cropped and printed at home as 2.75x3.75 photos so they fit in to the 9-pocket page protector. My main bold intention this month was to embrace daily yoga and I liked the idea of collecting a bunch of the photos all in one place.

Right now, I have a similar plan in mind for the photo spread in February, but we will see how things shake out. I love the idea of incorporating different page protectors and capturing things that relate to my one little word in this album throughout the year. The flexibility is the best part of this project.

Supplies used : We R Memory Keepers 8.5x11 album, We R Memory Keepers 9 pocket page, my own instagram photo printed by printsagram early in 2012, Sharpie Paint Pen, Seafoam 12x12 papers, Elise Joy "be brave" stamp, Office Depot date stamp, staz-on ink, Studio Calico patterned paper, girl badge from Ormolu.

40 pizzas / pear & goat cheese.

pizza no. 14 : pear & goat cheese.

occasion : it's Saturday afternoon.

crust : our whole wheat usual.

sauce : olive oil.

cheese :  goat cheese.

toppings : one pear - sliced super thin - and fresh ground black pepper.

thoughts : I saw a variation of this recipe years ago and we love to make it as an appetizer pizza. Last weekend, when my girlfriends were in town, I made it for them and thought for sure I had already blogged about it for 40 Pizzas. Turns out no! Seriously, this is the simplest pizza because you don't have to make any sauce. The trick is just to be sure that the fresh pear is sliced thin so it cooks well.

Unrelated but relevant : the new stamp designs have been added to the shop.

project life 2013 : week 3.

It's week three and I love this project.

click the photos above to enlarge for a somewhat clearer image.

Week of : January 14 - January 20.

What happened this week? We decided to pass on a house we were interested in and I felt the baby kick. Lots of handwritten journaling this week to document that. Twice this week, I used the folded journaling cards flat to get in extra writing.

Anything special in the spread? Yep! I included an insert to share ultrasound photos and text about finding out the baby is a girl.

The insert is a Design B that I trimmed down.

Techniques this week : The Design B pocket page is meant to hold horizontal 3x4 cards and vertical 4x6 photos, but after adding two 3x4 cards to the 4x6 pockets, I sewed through the plastic to create 8 pockets for the vertical 3x4s.

I really like that the pockets are all the same size and I love the resulting page. It was fun to play with the baby edition this week and some horizontal cards. In addition to the baby kit, I used a small bag and grid journaling card from the Studio Calico Project Life kit. I printed a design element from Paislee Press (HELLO) on a transparency and added the "sweet girl" text with a slickwriter.

The blurred out text on the backside is the name we are currently considering. That calendar stamp is coming soon from Amy Tangerine. I circled the date (1/17) on the calendar. The heart stamp is a new one of mine that will be in the shop tomorrow morning.

Overall thoughts : I am really getting more enjoyment from this project working on it in big chunks instead of daily. This week, I did the insert page as soon as we knew girl, but I left the majority of the rest just written on post it notes until the week was complete. For me it is helping things feel more cohesive and making it easier to get in the "best" photos and stories included in the week. 

Ratio of iPhone photos to "real camera" photos : 5 to 6.

Ratio of photos taken by Elise to photos taken by Paul : 9 to 2.

Supplies used : Seafoam core kit, Seafoam 12x12 paper (horizontal kraft chevron) Baby Edition core kit, Studio Calico Project Life kit (grid 3x4 card & polka dot bag), Elise Joy rad and heart stamp, Paislee Press hello digital element, Ormolu girl badge, Freckled Fawn wow wood chip, Dear Lizzy 12x12 paper (cut down for the "you make my heart sing" card"), Amy Tangerine calendar stamp & gray slickwriter (both coming soon!) Martha Stewart & Avery labels.

Tools used : Design A pocket pages, Design B pocket page, Fiskars corner rounder, Zig Millenium pen, Rotatrim paper trimmer, Office Depot date stamp, staz-on ink. All photos were printed at home on my HP Photosmart 2575 printer on Office Depot semi-gloss photo paper.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly. You can see all the posts from 2012 here and 2013 here. Do you have a question about how I am tackling this project? Check here.