21 Week Bump Date

 Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! Its so hard to believe that its the end of Summer already, although I have been jonesing for Fall for a few weeks now. I've been noticing subtle leaf changes around town, our nights are definitely cooling off, which means we are getting closer to meeting the Miniwicki!! Today I'm going to include a little Friday letter after my update, which I'll  be linking up to The Sweet Season, a lovely little blog run by Mrs. Ashley Slater, who just welcomed a sweet baby of her own! Be sure to stop  by and say hi and fall in love with her precious bundle!
Without further ado...

Umm... hello Baby bump!!!!! This thing is in a massive growth spurt. Check out my last update for a little comparison, hard to believe that was only two weeks ago!!

 How far along: 21 weeks + 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, I was up 6 lbs at my last checkup. Next one is the 9th, and I bet I gain at least 5 this round. Lets just say dessert and I have become very good friends...
Maternity clothes: Pretty much on the daily. This belly can't be restrained any more. Old Navy is having 30% off this weekend, so just today I bought some skinny jeans, a skirt and a new tank top. Woot for cute and comfy!!
Stretch Marks: Still nope!
Sleep: This has been a ROUGH week for sleep. Baby is growing a lot right now and its making sleep very hard! I just can't get comfortable! I woke up a few days ago and was literally sore internally from the stretching. Ugh.
Best moment this week: Finishing a major landscaping project at our house (post on monday about that), and my darling friend Kendall will be delivering her baby boy soon!! So excited! Also... Will Ferrell came and ate dinner at our pub on Wednesday. I didn't wait on him or meet him, but seeing him as a normal guy with his family, not Ron Burgandy or Ricky Bobby or anyone else silly was pretty cool. You stay classy Central Oregon.
Miss anything: Usually at this time of year we're getting ready to head North to Whistler for a couple weeks, which we aren't doing this year. Sniff, tear. But I'm looking forward to our Michigan trip instead!
Movement: Oh yeah. And Papa hubs has been able to feel it a few times now, so that is super exciting!
Food cravings: Nothing too weird, just heaps of desserts! 
Anything making you queasy or sick?: Just gross smells. My gag reflex is high, if I'm gagging I'll probably lose it. Yuck.
Have you started to show yet?: Definitely showing now! Even strangers can finally tell I'm expecting!
Gender: Known but not shared!!! Soon, I promise!
Labor signs: Hell no! But I think I'm having a teensy bit of Braxton Hicks? Going to ask about it at our next appt.
Belly button in or out: Innie, and if it ever pops out I will be super impressed. I have the deepest belly button ever!
Wedding ring on or off: On! Always!
Mood: Cheerful and happy, I have been experiencing mood swings and MAJOR nesting. Cleaning and cooking are my favorite hobbies. And dessert eating.
Looking forward to: January!!! Really looking forward to our MI trip too, and the Detroit Red Wings game we will be catching while we are there! Woot! Go Wings!

On to my letters...
Dear Husband: You are already the most incredible papa and hubby out there. I don't know how its possible but every day you get more attractive to me and I am so blessed to be your wife and baby mama. FLU boo.
Dear Baby: I feel like I am getting to know you so much already! Your personality is already shining through, you are wild and pushy and really don't like it when I mess with you in the womb. And you already seem to have good taste in music. Your papa and I love you soo much already and we can't wait for you to get here! Don't rush, but come Janaury we will be ready for you!
Dear Cash and Sammy: You boys are such good dogs and I know you will be the best brothers ever to your new sibling! Cash, I am especially proud of you for not needing to go in the crate anymore when we are gone.

I think that's about it for now! Be back Monday with a major update to our yard!! Curb appeal baby!!!

Urban Farm {August}

Holla friends! Baby and I are back at you with another urban farm update!!! Our gardens are in flourish mode right now! We have been getting a decent regular harvest out of them, which is awesome! Tonight I am making chicken with risotto,  using chard and kale from the garden! It saves so much at the grocery store on vegetables and they taste SO much better! On with the photos and updates!

First up, we have... something that's not in the raised beds?! That's right, these are FREE pumpkin plants that I rescued from our compost bin! A couple months ago when I was struggling with my tomatoes (more on that in a minute), I decided to add some of our homemade compost around the tomatoes for a nutrient boost. When I opened the bin, I found two pumpkin plant sprouts! Last year I just tossed our whole pumpkins into the bin and thought nothing of it! Well circle of life friends, here are the next generation of pumpkins, growing among the rocks in our backyard. They are thriving, and I hope we get a couple pumpkins off them by the time Halloween rolls around!

On to the Tomatoes!!! 

After my woes of last month, tons of flowers and no fruit, the tides have turned on tomatoes at our house! As mentioned above, I supplemented my soil with our compost, and hand pollinated my flowers. Say what?! Thats right, I went from flower to flower on my tomato plants with a teeny tiny paint brush and distributed the pollen myself, since our bee population is down this year. And it worked! And I keep getting more and more fruit! I am amazed, I think my hand pollination jump started the process, but I also helped Mother Nature out by planting some bee/butterfly (aka pollinators, my BFF's) attracting plants around my yard. Anything to get those bugs out and about! So far so good!

This is the raised bed on the right. Everything is in giant mode, and I am so happy I could burst! I have two baby zucchinis on the plant in the left there, and my giant tomatoes are happy in the back row!

This is the left of the two raised beds, which was planted a bit earlier so things are huge! That brussel sprout in the front right dominates this box visually, but everything is doing splendidly!
Here is an above view of the same bed.

In the front left there we have a single cucumber plant which is producing heavily after a very slow and rocky start to life! We are cutting the cukes early to pickle for cornichons (tarragon pickles), which are the hubs favorite!

And in closing, I will leave you with an adorable photo of my dogs of course, my four legged children. For those who are new in following, Cash is the boxer/pitbull mix, he will be two at the end of the month. Sammy is the chow/newfoundland mix and he turned 8 in June.

These boys have my heart!

Hope everyone is enjoying these last few weeks of summer and the bounties that come along with it!

19 Week Bumpdate

 Hey friends! So I am ashamed at how bad I am doing with weekly updates. To be honest though, not a lot changes from one week to the next, so I am okay with only updating every two or three. Lots of new and exciting things happening here though, we finally got an ultrasound, and the MiniWicki is doing amazing in there! I'll tell you what, the word 'Normal' never sounded so good.

Here I am rocking that bump!! Its finally looking like a pregnant belly and I am very pleased about that. Also, we did find out the sex at our ultrasound, but I'm going to make you all wait a tiny bit longer. We are having some photos taken next week for the big reveal!

 

Here is our sweet little babe. It was so surreal to see it swimming all around in there! Active little Mini, just like it's parents! 

How far along: 19 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I'm up six lbs so far, which is on track for an average pregnancy! Feeling super pleased about that, considering White Cheddar Cheez-Its and ice cream are among my fave foods at the moment.
Maternity clothes: Still haven't bought any more. My gracious friend Ashley has loaned me quite a bit, and I am figuring out how to make my wardrobe work for my changing curves.
Stretch Marks: Still nope!
Sleep: Almost back to normal. Its so nice to be well rested again!
Best moment this week: Seeing our baby for the first time on ultrasound AND finding out the sex in the same visit! We are overjoyed, and now I am just really anxious to meet him/her!
Miss anything: Our local Brewfest is this weekend and I am jealous I will be missing that for the first time since I've lived in Bend. So yes, I miss beer. A lot.
Movement: We've got a little party animal in there!
Food cravings: Nothing too weird, I like food a lot though. Nom.
Anything making you queasy or sick?: Just gross smells. My gag reflex is high, if I'm gagging I'll probably lose it. Yuck.
Have you started to show yet?: The round belly is here!
Gender: Known but not shared!!!
Labor signs: Hell no!
Belly button in or out: Innie, and if it ever pops out I will be super impressed. I have the deepest belly button ever!
Wedding ring on or off: On! Always!
Mood: Cheerful and happy, I have been experiencing mood swings and MAJOR nesting. Cleaning is my new hobby.
Looking forward to: January!!!! I am also looking forward to our trip to Michigan next month, and just feeling our baby grow and taking good care of it and myself in the meantime!

So lets hear your guesses for the sex!! No spilling the beans if you already know!