zombie baby + mama

depending on how you look at it, being pregnant can narrow or expand halloween costume options. being that this may be the only time i have the opportunity, sam and i decided to go all out with a creeping theme....

bitten by a zombie, the baby and i become zombies ourselves.
(in case you were not aware, baby zombies burst out of the belly!)


to replicate this hilarious costume...
(1) find a life-like baby doll (if new, you may want to bathe it since it may reek of weird, perfumed plastic)










(2) cut off the body parts you wish to use as the "bursting out" parts, then drill holes for sewing into a shirt










(3) sew doll parts into a shirt














(4) apply lip liner to yours and the doll's eyes, around the edges of the shirt where the doll is bursting out and anywhere else you feel like it and you're done!

halloween cookies

during a visit with the new neighbors this weekend, sam watched football (fla vs. ga) while samantha and i decorated sugar cookies our hostess prepared and provided along with colorful candies to create halloween motifs. we thought we were pretty terrible at applying orange icing to pumpkin-shaped cookies (even complete with green tendrils), until we decided to give the cookies a "halloween costume" of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

behold the eggs, bacon and toast cookie...










the sushi lunch special cookie...











and the chicken dinner cookie.....

samantha

My friend Samantha has finally moved here from Florida! I am super estactic to say the least! She took these belly shots with PhotoBooth on her Mac laptop which has very groovy features.

the light is beginning to change

for my mom
and grandmother...

the pupa

To the right is a recent photo of the pupa!

Tomorrow, I will be 26 weeks pregnant, which marks the beginning of the third trimester! Thus far, I have really enjoyed this experience and the transition into motherhood feels very natural and, surprisingly, already rewarding.

Sam and I feel very confident in our decisions about how to proceed with our birthing and parenthood plans. We are nearing the end of our 6-week "Birthing from Within" childbirth class, which is being taught by a local doula who also happens to be our midwife's assistant. During the class we have learned a great deal about labor (including the importance of all those amazing hormones), facing your inner fears, emptying your mind, childbirth as a rite of passage, pain-coping practices, how to care for your newborn and what to expect postpartum.

Recently, we have been reading a couple incredible books, including Natural Family Living that are very much aligned with our child-raising philosophy and have started making all sorts of decisions about everything from sleeping with the baby to choosing from the incredible myriad of slings on the market. Luckily, so far we agree on everything when it comes to our ideas on raising our child--really!

As far as all that baby gear, we are lucky to be receiving all sorts of items from Sam's siblings (including car seat, bathtub, tons of clothes!). It seems a baby really does not need much more than a few basics (skin-to-skin contact, warmth, breast milk, loving parents), so we are not planning on buying much.

pregnant!

yes, Sam and i are expecting a bambino! we became aware of this on May 16 and since have been really bad about documenting the changes and physical growth of the situation. as Sam has now completed his mechanical engineering degree and i am wrapping up harvest for the season, we will attempt to commit more time to the task of photo documentation and written anecdotes for our long-distance family and friends to enjoy.

we are planning a home birth and have a wonderful midwife, Lisa Lehrer. check out this link to a recent newspaper article about her practice. we are really enjoying building a close relationship with Lisa which will be extremely beneficial during labor and afterward.

we have decided not to find out the sex, but if my Sicilian grandmother is correct, it's all about the full moon. as i had very regular menstrual cycles (every 28 days, like clockwork with the new moon), i ovulated around the full moon each month (which is how women traditionally experienced their meses).

In the days before electricity, women's bodies were influenced by the amount of moonlight we saw. Just as sunlight and moonlight affect plants and animals, our hormones were triggered by levels of moonlight. And, all women cycled together. Today, with artificial light everywhere, day and night, our cycles no longer correspond to the moon.

So, the baby was probably conceived just before the full moon at the beginning of May which means (according to Grandma), the baby will be a girl if it arrives before the full moon due date of January 22 or a boy if after that date.

we have chosen names:
Ezra Pasquale (he would go by "Pasquale")
Giuseppina Eulalia (she would go by "Josephine" or "Pina")

Giuseppina (pronounced "gee-sah-pee-na") is my Sicilian grandmother's name and Italian for Josephine (which is also my mother's middle name). Eulalia is Sam's Portuguese great-grandmother's name and the name of his grandmother's first born, who sadly died days after birth. There are a couple Spanish Saints (Barcelona and Merida) with this name.