blossoming bliss

i love wednesdays. 

i have the day off and darin has to sleep during the day because he works a graveyard shift overnight tuesday night. so i usually have a quiet morning to myself, doing whatever the hell i like.

this is what i wore yesterday for a trip to the thrift stores in folsom.

i will be sixteen weeks tomorrow! i think my little belly is really blossoming. at night it even looks much bigger than this. my regular clothes still fit though, which is nice. but really that just shows that my regular clothes are built for comfort, not style! i do think that soon i'll have to pack up my fitted-waist skirts, and probably my gunnes too.

supposedly my baby can hear my voice now, and can make facial expressions and stretch out.

i was thinking yesterday about how i love my alone time. after taking these photos i packed myself a little snack and got in my car. i had my ipod on shuffle and the best songs were coming on, from cat stevens to bon iver to nina nastasia to joanna newsom. the sun was shining; i had the windows down and i was singing along and my heart was soaring. 

i thought about how soon i won't be alone much at all. at this point, the idea thrills me. having my own little baby along with my on every adventure sounds like the best thing in the world; it will be like alone time plus. i think about how much fun we're going to have and how lucky i am to have a little sidekick that i have the honor of helping to shape as a human citizen during the time we spend together. how every single moment will become more visible, more palpable and pure, because of that new life's discovery of it and new immersion in time. 

but still, it is weird to imagine that all this time i have to myself, right now, and for the past, say...15 years...purely to myself for nonsense or whimsy, will soon whisk away into the mists of the path.

it makes me glad. my bells ring. i had it all, and now i have even more. 

i think that's why i experienced such bliss yesterday, realizing things like this.

i've been in such a good mood lately that i even allowed band practice saturday night...in our living room. they usually practice in the stuffy little back room, but this way they get to spread out and can really hear themselves. they had a blast doing this while i was gone in utah, but when i came home to a slightly rumpled, rearranged living room i kiiindda put my foot down. not for long. i'm a pushover. i said as long as they didn't move the couch, go crazy.

and they sounded so good! i couldn't help but dance along like a big dweeb a little bit as i had my late night cottage cheese snack in the kitchen :)

to top off my series of happy days, i received a parcel of sweet magic blessings in the mail yesterday afternoon. herbal love, a baby book, flower essences, a valentine, and a gorgeous dress from the amazing, wise and wonderful mary of terralectualism....

look how cute she looks, pregnant in this perfect dress! i am incredibly honored to continue that circle of belly love.

mary included a note filled with inspiring words, kind and true, moving my heart to unknown places and new beauties that fit in so perfectly from my thoughts of earlier in the day. she writes: "i thought of you, how stillness will find itself in your heart, but soon, rarely outside of you. the way you swirl through life, in a swirling skirt, will include the rhythm of your babe. forever, i think." i love that so much, and she perfectly captured in words that ephemeral lovely thought i'd been tripping round. 

mmmmm, now i just drank a homemade fruit smoothie with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. i hope i'm not spiking my blood sugar but dang, it was worth it.

hope you all are having bliss filled winter days!!!

oh, and guess what?

our new nephew was born down in los angeles to darin's brother dave and his wife ashley...isn't he adorable?

i had to steal this from fb, sorry the quality sucks. his name is jackson cruz and i think he looks an awful lot like his daddy. can't wait to have tiny cousins to hang out together!

my outfit:

hat, just thrifted  this week $1.00

vintage purple tee shirt, thrifted $2.50

turquoise sweater: thrifted during recent utah trip, $2.00 (do you like the many missing buttons?)

pink floral skirt, handmade: free, clothing exchange

gray floral leggings: thrifted $2.50

brown boots: thrifted a long time ago

triangle necklace: christmas gift from mom

moonstone earrings: made and gifted by em two years ago