twenty six weeks

*i am getting tired of bump pictures, so here is a glimpse of baby kelly, taken about thirteen weeks ago. i think that is one cute little button nose, if i do say so myself.


dear baby:

this week, as you tumble all about in my tummy, i can't stop thinking back to the time when you were so small it would have taken a microscope to see you. seeing dates on calendars and photographs instantly makes me think about you. for instance, i look at our pictures from our day trip to monterey and can't believe that you were growing inside me and we had no idea. or i think about November and how that glass of wine suddenly didn't taste quite right, but i still didn't know you existed. or i will pick up a file at work and see something i did on december 1st and realize that was the day we learned about you. or i stumble across an old december bank statement and i instantly scan to the 2nd, curious to remember where i shopped on the first day i knew i was an expectant mother.

yesterday, we opened a new container of dishwasher soap and i said to your daddy, "can you believe that we may still be using this very same container of soap when our baby is here?" i remember doing the same thing before our wedding...buying a new bottle of shampoo and thinking that our wedding was so close i may not have to buy another bottle of shampoo until after i became mrs. lauren kelly. i don't know, i guess i quanitfiy time in terms of liquids...but somehow, it does make it tangible and it helps rationalize what a confusing thing time is: it passes so quikcly, yet it can seem so long.

i just can't quite fathom yet that the next time i open a new container of soap, you may be sweetly sleeping in your crib down the hall...

or perhaps you will be screaming in my arms.

but either way, i will be grateful and i won't be able to help but think back to yesterday when i opened that soap, and when you were still but just a dream...

i love shrimp in the spring time

this week, we cooked ina's (are you surprised?) linguine with shrimp scampi. it was a lovely tuesday night meal. sometimes we cook together, sometimes separately, but this time the man of the house and i chopped, peeled, squeezed and sauteed together. forever. cooking with someone else is always way more fun. especially if they do the dirty work, like deveining shrimp and unclogging the drain.


i often like to persuade ryan with this line (spoken in a chipper 50's housewife-ish tone): "the couple that {enter whatever it may be that i want} together, stays together!" and i usually insert surprising things like, cleans the closet together, or watches romantic comedies together, or shops at target together. sometimes it actually works but it always gets a laugh out of him.

anyway, back to my point, paired with a simple salad, this dish was divine. pretty easy peasy, and oh-so satisfying. pasta is always satisfying in my book.

and because i know that my mister's heart beats (in part) for cookies, i picked up some joe-joe's for dessert.

i always pretend like i bought the whole box just for him, but i always end up sampling a couple. and he always lets me dunk my cookies in his milk. isn't that sweet?

easter weekend

::little eggs. and one big egg.

::tulips that were still alive and new shoes (as it turns out, my feet and wedges are not the best of friends they once were). but they are so cute.


::baby boy shower crafting.


::beatty's chocolate cake returned to my kitchen and my apron wears a bit differently these days.


::easter morning at the caldwell's where there were edible bunnies (homemade and decorated by mama-too cute, no?) and not so edible bunnies.


::adorable babies in darling easter clothes and love all around.


:: and food. lots of yummy food. and beer for boys.


::sandaled feet. green grass. and little, industrious smiles.




::easter afternoon at grandma's and grandpa's house.


::and lots of easter treats to bring home. could you just die over the handmade card from emily? her holiday cards are famous. and many thanks to the in-laws for the chocolate...know the way to my heart they do.

twenty five weeks

dear baby:

this week, you (well maybe not you specifically, but my condition) have given me three charley horses in the night and you have led me to believe that we officially have a little daddy's boy or a little daddy's girl on our hands.


for instance, last night your daddy was talking to me on speaker phone and you suddenly were inspired to complete a somersault marathon. hmmmm.


and the other morning, i woke up on my back and worried that maybe i slept like that all night (which apparently is a preggo no-no), i eagerly waited for you to begin your morning kick session, but you were a little slow to wake which made for one nervous mama. two seconds after your daddy touched my tummy, you gave us a huge kick. we laughed and said, "thank you, baby!" out loud. i just found it so thoughtful that you would reassure your paranoid, first- time parents like that. and it also convinced me that you are already quite a fan of the daddio. me too, baby.

i hope you enjoy all the easter fun this weekend. i think there may be some chocolate in our future...!

love, mama bear

i love chicken in the spring time

there is something about chicken lately. i eat it all the time and i have loved finding new ways to shake it up. this recipe is ina's lemon chicken recipe from her latest cookbook, how easy is that. served up with some asparagus and basmati rice - mmmmmm, it was a real hit with the mister.


i love finding easy/delicious/healthy recipes that i can imagine cooking for my hungry little family in the years to come. i hope this is one of them because this lil' mama really liked it and we ate every. last. bite.

seaside sunday

this past sunday funday, we stuffed our backpacks, stopped for sandwiches and headed west. to the water's edge. at dillon's beach. ahhhh.....

thanks be to my trusty co-pilot, trevor, a.k.a. the man maid, for the beautiful scenery shots.

queen anne's lace will forever remind me of my own mum.

at long last. we made it!


immediately, shoes came off.



and baby berry was happy. i know because i am baby berry's mother. and any baby of mine must either be born to love, or grow to love the beach.


many sandcastles were built and then in typical little boy fashion, smashed to smithereens.


sandy hands,


sandy toes,


and sandy bums.

this next image will forever make me laugh. even if i am alone.

beachy beautiful.

handsome and funny...what a package.

happy girl.

and before we packed up our bottlecaps and empty sandwich wrappers and glumly put our shoes back on, a group picture with the camera haphazardly placed on rock, as a little toddler runs away.

i love it just the way it is.

slumber party

you know your saturday night will pretty much be a blast from the past when these two faces greet you on the porch, promising you a slumber party like the old days.



after some play time in the sun, it was agreed that supper time it was.

behold, the magic of oxbow...

first stop: gott's.



hello heaven.

and the face of a boy who is told cupcakes are for dessert:


kara's cupcakes to be exact.



there is something so lovely about a long, pink box, erika and i concurred.


especially a pink box hiding such treats.


ever agreed to give just the frosting a whirl...


just a tiny bite...


and then he jumped, feet first, into a cupcake cloud...


for the grown ups, a ritual latte could not be resisted...





it truly is the best latte i have ever sampled...the foam is like butter. and is quite pretty too.


a full moon accompanied our drive home.


and our night ended with the following fun:

bathtime (always a good time)

book time (strega nona is one of my faves)

magazine time (searching for a hair cut - found it - thanks katie holmes)

bravo time (oh bethenny and real housewives of nyc - i have missed you)

reading time (erika's doula and childbirth literature was very informative)

thanks for the fun, e. you really know how to keep the old fashioned slumber party in style. promise we will still do this when we are white-haired old birds?

24

dear baby:


it has been a big week for you! you have grown to be a foot long (and i can't stop picturing a sub sandwich). the book tells me to imagine you like a sweet, crisp ear of corn - long and lean! i finally feel like my belly matches your size requirements.


this weekend, we are heading west for a bestie beach day. it sounds like a dream to me: warm sun (hopefully), sandy feet, uncontrollable laughter, genoa's deli treats, bottled sodie, and a little boy named everest. it will be a good time.


get busy and grow, baby.



love, mama mia

p.s. thanks to our wheat grass that grew tall this week and thanks to your daddio, who thought we could use some tulips, our house looked and smelled like easter all week. it also made me daydream about easter bonnets and baby khakis, egg hunts and bunnies...this spring feels pretty great, but something tells me that next spring will really knock our socks off.