Painting!

Memorial Day Weekend was spent painting the new apartment! We busted it out in two days- we're practically professionals by now. ;) Here's some pictures to give you an idea!
Matt's getting started trimming the living room...

here's the living room all done & tape-free, even! Rusty's hanging out on the patio- it's nice and sunny here next to the basil!

Here I am painting Rowen's room! yay for nesting :)
Rowen's room is almost done- Rusty's pooped. It's been a long day.

Master bedroom...Dining room- same color as the living room

Phew! we took a break for our first "dinner on the floor" in our new home. Tortilla soup- yum!

I too have made the switch...

to a BPA free water bottle. I've been hearing about it for years- but it seems to be getting more and more recognized as an actual problem. Tammy's entry got me thinking about it again, especially for little Rowen. When we registered two Saturday's ago at Mother Nature, we decided to go with BPA free bottles for him, even though he wont be using them very often. Then Matt was thinking about how everything I put in my body goes into his, and he suggested I switch over as well. (Since I carry around my fake Nalgene constantly.) So- after a couple weeks- he picked me up this neato camelbak from REI. Sweet, huh? I like that it's still plastic, since I'm a bit of a clutz and drop things all the time- and it's even worse with pregnancy. Hopefully this bottle is still tough!

Our little banana has been named!

(a "big banana" is how big he's supposed to be this week, last week it was just a "normal" banana. hahaha)

Well, no need for a new poll- we've decided his name will be Rowen Micah! With the last poll, it was always our top name. The other four quickly lost their appeal. With further name searching, nothing held a candle to Rowen so we just decided that must be it! Why bother continuing to search? What do you think?

Summer Food

Is it just me, or does anyone else get excited about the food that comes with new seasons?? The sun this afternoon got me craving a cold cous-cous salad.
after a quick trip to trader joes (which was actually for dinner items) I had everything I needed for a delightful summer lunch! Even though it's barely spring- it's hot enough to be summer :)
Into the bowl:
1/2 C whole wheat cous cous
1/2 C boiling chicken broth
cover 5 minutes while you chop up or grab:
1/3 cucumber
1/2 tomato
3 baby carrots
a dash of garlic powder
3-4 grinds fresh black pepper
1/3 can garbanzo beans
a few dashes of ground flax
1/4 C or less dried cranberries
1-2 T pasteurized crumbled goat cheese
1 T olive oil

mix away and eat eat eat!!! oooooh it's so yummy- add a tall glass of decaf iced tea (with plenty of sugar!)... mmmm.

Tonight I'm making a huge bowl of bow tie pasta with pesto, chicken, and baby plum tomatoes- oh how I love my summer pesto!!! I picked up two basil plants rather than the box of fresh basil because it's so expensive- at least these babies will continue producing for me!!
Now, if I only had some fresh farmers market peaches....

It Really Is a Boy!!!

The needle was right! And the chinese lunar chart- AND my "maternal instinct" haha.

The ultrasound yesterday was -amazing.-
To see our little baby moving around in there- I just can't imagine how anyone can deny a Creator when they see images of a 19 week old fetus with functioning organs, four heart chambers, the parts of his brain, all his bones and everything- it's just too amazing to describe. We were in the U/S room for over an hour- he was not cooperating with the tech to let her get the pictures she needed! Matt said we've probably got a red head on our hands. ;) The tech was poking my belly with the wand saying "roll over, baby!" it was funny.
And what a beautiful relief to see his heart beating and just knowing everything is looking good so far. *happy sigh*

The best profile we got- look at his sweet little ear, and nose, and lips.... I'm in love! :) It's kind of hard to tell, but in this shot he has his legs folded way up so that his foot is just above his head.


here's his face- he kind of looks like a teenage mutant ninja turtle. haha. His hand is up by the top of his head on the right.


another profile of our SON. :)

4 month belly!

here it is- ready or not!


32.5", 108lbs

seems like quite a bit more than half an inch- but I suppose it's just rounder and not much bigger! I've been true to my second trimester in gaining a pound a week- weeha!


the progress:
pre-pregnancy: 102# 24"
one month :100# 24"
two months :101# 29"
three months :104# 32"
four months: 108# 32.5"

I can't believe we're almost half way there- only five months left 'til two become three! Craziness.... and Wednesday hopefully we'll find out the sex at the ultrasound- I'm so excited :) One more step towards "realness." Do you think our little sweet potato is a boy, or a girl?? Or will it not tell us next week? haha. Poll on the right---->