Into An Emerald World

What a transformation our forest has had! The leaves have all unfurled and now we walk through a tunnel of green, thick enough to shelter you from rain, as we discovered yesterday evening when clouds broke and sent down spring showers. Only a few drops reached us through the network of heavy foliage.

The ground is a mirror of the trees, a carpet of wild garlic and herbs, cool and glistening with dew.

Spring!

Everywhere I go now, my belly leads the way. These are happy days, filled with planning, organizing, day dreaming, and hope. Hope that our baby will born healthy, and that we will grow into the roles of mother and father with ease.

xoxo country girl

A Little Boy's Nursery

Since finding out the exciting news that we're expecting a son, I've been sifting through pinterest, looking for inspiration for our little boy's room. Here are some of my favorites, whose colors, atmosphere, and style I love!

Our little son has been moving around so much in my belly lately, and I love lying on the couch, feeling his kicks and punches. We've reached the middle mark (wow!) and I already I feel like I can hardly wait to meet our boy and hold him in my arms.

It's funny to wake up in the morning, pregnant, realizing that this is such a special time, and feeling like it is slipping by so quickly. I often find myself needing to sit still and just be in the moment, fully and consciously experiencing this amazing point in my life, knowing that everything is in the process of enormous, transforming change. My body reminds me all the time, under the shower, looking down at this growing belly, noticing how my feet are slowly disappearing. Or when I put on lotion and feel how my belly button is getting shallow.

Such a precious time!

xoxo country girl

It's A.......

original artwork by tinyprints

We are so thrilled to be expecting a SON!  

We won't be buying blue just yet, though....the doctor said we should wait for the gender to be confirmed at our next ultrasound on May 3rd.

I just can't stop smiling....

xoxo country girl

Happy Days

With Spring blossoming and bursting from every corner, the world turning green and lush, how can we not be grateful and feel incredibly blessed that Nature keeps her promise?

Today it's raining, so I've been indoors with the doggies, cleaning and re-organizing like a mad-woman (I think I have a serious case of Nesting Syndrom). But as you can see from the photos, it's mostly been incredibly beautiful, with blue skies and trees foaming green and white.

I had a meeting with our midwife on Monday, and expressed to her my concerns about my (huge) belly; people have been making all sorts of comments, including the typical "are you sure there aren't two babies in there?" She reassured me that I have nothing to worry about as long as I feel fine (I do) and the baby is alright (I hope it is....and I believe it is). She told me I'm carrying high, and that I am probably going to stay this size for a while before experiencing another 'growth spurt.' She said that at this stage it's not an indication of how large the baby is, but rather if your uterus is more to the front or the back, low or high. Apparently I have a high uterus all the way to the front!

We've purchased the first few tiny onesies in neutral colors, and a cuddly receiving blanket. There is so much to do before the baby arrives in September, just thinking about it makes my heart race! All in due time...

As for boy or girl...we are hoping hoping hoping that our baby will cooperate and reveal itself at the ultrasound next Wednesday. We'll be so happy to be able to say 'he' or 'she' instead of 'it.'

Thank you all for your supportive comments on my little video interview! It wasn't easy to get in front of the camera like that, knowing my face is pale from winter and round from pregnancy. Hopefully Kiki stole the show! :)

Love to you all!

xoxo country girl

Video Interview with Me (And Kiki!)

Hey friends!

I thought you might like to see this little interview I did with McPublish about my children's book, Kiki's First Year.

Enjoy a lovely Spring weekend!!

xoxo country girl

Wild Flowers

During this exciting time of year when so many different sorts of wild plants are bursting into life, I find it important to explore different parts of the forest. Plants grow in different areas depending on the soil, the sunlight, and the moisture, so a plant that covers an entire area on one side of the hill may not be found at all on the other.

With this in mind I took a different path into the woods this morning, curious to see what was growing on the Southern side of the hill which has more direct sunlight than the path I normally take.

It started out very similar to my regular path, with blankets of wild garlic.

The church looked so beautiful beyond the hillside of wood anemone.

Once we reached the top of the hill (an admirable feat with this belly...I went very slowly and made lots of water breaks) I began finding a few flowers that I hadn't found on my regular walks.

Viola Reichenbachiana (common Dog Violet, edible blossoms that have the most lovely fragrance)

Hepatica nobilis (liverwort...what an ugly name for such a pretty flower!)

Corydalis Cava (crested lark, one of my favorites...looks very much like lupines)

Once we reached the little platform that someone built for doing excersises on, I decided to try and take a picture of myself with the automic timer, so I placed the camera in position and then made a pose holding my belly and smiling. Right before the camera went off, Boston surprised me by charging up and jumping onto my legs. So this is the slightly blurry picture that resulted.

It's better than any pose I could have made.

Enjoy your weekend my friends!!

xoxo country girl

Into The Green

We woke up to rain on the window and stayed cuddled in bed until it stopped. I was amazed at how the showers had transformed the ground, which was now a thick emerald carpet. (That's my 15 weeks plus 5 days belly leading the way.)

This is the time when there is something new to be discovered every day, and where I could spend hours exploring the woods as long as I have a water bottle and an apple with me.

As I watched Boston explore the ground and the air with his nose, I was overwhelmed by the same feeling I had while watching Kiki experience Spring for the first time. Such pure curiosity and joy. It's the most amazing thing to see the world through a dog's eyes.

When we returned home it began raining again. It was as if it had stopped just long enough for us to step through the glistening wild garlic and wood anemones.

What a magical little world we have at our doorstep!

xoxo country girl