Two good things happened today: I got my first hummingbird (that I've seen) at the feeder outside my office window. I wouldn't have noticed except that Hazel lunged for him against the window and made a racket. He was a big one, a little plumper than the ones I've seen up north. But ever so cute. The other good thing was that the quilt hanger I ordered for the baby's room came and it turned out I picked the perfect varnish to match the furniture. There was a big selection and you never know how colors are going to look in real life versus the web. But it's perfect.

And hey, my birthday is day after tomorrow.

I'm glad to have finally found a pottery painting studio in the area that I like, Hot Pots in Saint Augustine. They have a vast and interesting selection of bisqueware to paint. I made a gift for my friend Margaret's new baby: her name CLARE in ceramic letters to hang on the wall, each one a different design and shade of green. I want to do the same for Merritt in shades of blue, or alternatively in an assortment of exotic glazes such as the ones that look crackled when fired. I did two souffle cups which I might never use but they were cute and turned out pretty. And I did this planter which I call my chocolate strawberry pot:



So I've been doing a bit of art here and there.

I'm mourning my cactus dish garden today. I don't know what I did to it, but all of my beautiful cacti are biting the dust. They were happy inside and I should have kept them that way. But instead I put them outside, thinking they would thrive like they did last summer. Perhaps I waited until it was too hot and they didn't get enough of a transitional period. Or maybe they got burned by the sun or drowned by the rain (I put them too close to both, not far enough under the porch overhang). It's depressing. I will start over again with new cacti I suppose.

Andy had an ah-ha moment at childbirth class last night. As we start to learn about labor and delivery, he said he finally gets why some women choose to go natural. He never understood it before, comparing it to foolishly choosing no anesthetic when you got your appendix out or something. But it's quite different than that because going without an epidural usually speeds the labor, which is certainly appealing for many reasons. I also just think it would be cool to experience what we are made to, what women have experienced and endured since the beginning of mankind. But I really don't have any birth plan that I am committed to: whether I get a C-section, go natural, or have an epidural I don't really care. They all have their pros and cons. I'm going to go with the flow.

Remember that era in your life when as a female the worst possible thing that anyone could call you was a slut? Interesting column on the subject.

Wouldn't you know I totally excelled on this 80's Hair Band Lyrics Quiz. I got 9 out of 10, my best score ever on an Internet quiz. And I didn't even get into this music that much, it was just so ubiquitous back then.

I'm very excited to see Fahrenheit 9/11 but of course in Florida it might not be as easy to find a theater showing it as it was The Passion of the Christ. That is just the way it is here. But as I have said before it's very invigorating to live in a state where my vote for president will really count (assuming there is no monkey business at the polls this year of course).

So far I've been almost totally wrong in guessing which of my pregnant friends is having what. I said Karen was having a boy and she's having a girl; I predicted a girl for Heidi and that one turned out to be a boy. So we will see about Julie and Paula for both of whom I guessed a boy. I was right about Tiffany having a girl though. And myself too!!

So we've painted one wall of Merritt's room the same beautiful azure blue as our dining room. I don't foresee myself doing his mural anytime soon but another idea I had was a stenciled border along the top of the three white walls. I would use the azure plus the acid green I got for a dollar at Home Depot. Just an idea. Something oceanic maybe. I can't get over how nice the IKEA baby furniture we got goes with our house and the room itself; the series is called Diktad.

I can't wait for this to go into distribution so I can see it: Charles Bukowski biographical documentary film. He and Walt Whitman are my two favorite poets of all time.

We have so many cute little brown rabbits in our yard lately. I fear that means the bobcat might have disappeared, since they would be his main food source.

My 34th birthday is next Thursday the first of July. That day I will get Andy to help me with some gardening projects and as my gift he is getting me a glider and matching table for the front porch. The sun hits that area in the late afternoon which makes it the perfect warm sitting spot in the cooler months. It's where I will go and rock the baby.

Merritt is awake and kicking right now. We had a doctors appointment and everything still looks good. I had to have blood drawn for the gestational diabetes test and the nurse was not the best at it. I think she was new; her hands were shaking which is not something you want to see when having your blood taken. Her first attempt she went right through my vein which hurt quite a bit and did not produce any blood, the second attempt was better. But I know that I will have some serious muscle soreness by tomorrow and bruising on both arms.

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. In parts of the world where the sun does not go down this time of year, such as Scandinavia, they celebrate wholeheartedly after a winter of very short days and depressing darkness.

In Florida daylight always lasts a little longer than in other parts of the United States and that suits me very well.

The humidity is here; this morning at the farmers market I was dripping sweat at 9 am. In the afternoon I was watering my plants outside and couldn't wait to get back into the air conditioning. This will probably be my life for the last three months of pregnancy: staying inside a lot and elevating my feet. And hopefully some trips to the pool and beach; I've heard it feels really good to be weightless in the water when your stomach is huge. This was brought up last night in our first childbirth class which promises to be a very interesting six Thursday evening sessions. The class scheduled on my birthday will be the one where we get to watch the infamous childbirth video.

I unpacked all of Merritt's gifts today and now I'm going to start resettling things around in his room. We are moving the glass-front bookcase into our bedroom but first we are painting it black and adding legs to it. So tonight I need to remove and store all the heirloom books that are in there now. This will totally tire me out.

One of the most amusing baby presents was certainly the fortune cookie-style onesie from my sister Mary which declared A Surprise Will Appear In My Pants.

Our trip went very well and it was timed perfectly--I am getting to the point that I don't want to travel anymore so it's good we did it when we did. My legs and ankles have started to swell slightly and will probably get worse over the next few months. I have to take time each day to elevate my feet because the last thing I want to have to do is wear support hose, no way.

I'm getting bigger with each day. I've gained about twenty pounds up until now! I've never weighed this much in my life. The baby is still pretty relaxed in there, he seems to get excited if I'm hungry or if I eat certain foods. We had Indian the other night and he went nuts in there so I don't know if that meant he liked it or didn't.

The shower was just wonderful, the weather perfect and the preparations flawless. We got a beautiful three-tiered cake and my mother and sister Mary provided a lovely spread of food. The theme was blue for the boy baby; I made several bouquets of blue hydrangeas from my mothers garden. That is probably one of my favorite flowers and I enjoyed seeing the bushes in bloom all over the place since you very rarely see them thriving in Florida.

And the gifts! I can't wait to unpack everything and start putting away all his little clothes and toys. We got all the necessities too: diaper genie, baby bath, bassinet, swing, etc. My mom made him a gorgeous quilt out of pieces left over from the quilts she has made for my sisters and me. We had our trip to IKEA and got a crib, toy chest, and bureau/changing table set in their new style called antique stain which looks nothing like typical IKEA furniture.

The day before we left my sister Christi took a roll of black and whites of me, Andy, and my big belly. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Today we leave for vacation. Maryland is a bit cooler than here; this time I was smart and packed warm clothes as well. Just because it's June doesn't mean it's summer up there. I'm a spoiled Florida girl at this point.

Can't wait to see all my pregnant friends and the ones that have just had babies.

My third trimester started a few days ago. And this morning leaning over to polish my toenails was very uncomfortable and imprecise. So for the next few months getting professional pedicures will become a necessity rather than a luxury. Except I guess painted toes are not a necessity to begin with really (for me they are, I can't stand the bare look).

Andy felt Merritt kick for the first time yesterday. It was an amazing moment I will never forget. First he felt it with his hand and then the side of his face against my belly. I think that Merritt is a pretty mellow baby, taking after his dad. He only seems to be active a few times a day and then it's only for a short period of time. Right now he's sleeping. I wonder what it's like in there for him.

Finally I'm starting to think about setting up and decorating his room. I'm going to paint a set of ceramic letters spelling out his name to hang on the wall. Also we have a beautiful baby quilt that was Andy's that we are going to hang up, and a southwestern style poster of the alphabet I have saved for like ten years. We are not sticking to any specific colors but that might change. Eventually when he is older I will paint a mural on his wall. I always thought it would be cool to incorporate some of the lyrics from Rush's Tom Sawyer into a mural for a boy...but Andy rather dislikes Rush so I may run into dissent there.

I was greeted with some good news this morning. A few weeks ago I was contacted by an organizer at Planned Parenthood in Vermont asking for a donation of a painting for an auction they were having. I shipped them one, happy for the opportunity to make up for the fact that I was unable to attend the march on Washington in April. Today I found out that the painting was very well received and made them a nice bit of money.

When I told Andy which painting I was donating, he pointed out to me what I had missed: that the piece itself was actually quite choice-related...



This is the one that I painted over a latch hook mesh fabric, which is why it has the texture of little squares imbedded in the paint. So I'm now inspired to start the actual latch hook version of this in shades of purple, white, green, with a bit of pale blue.

Finally we got a slight bit of rain today. It's supposed to thunderstorm on and off for the next week at least, let's hope so. Hopefully my gardenias will come back a bit; they are dried up and blossomless after such a hot May drought.

In a few days I enter the uncharted territory of the third trimester. I can already see that sleeping is not going to be that easy for long. Also my gums have begun to bleed when I brush/floss, which is normal but worrisome. My belly grows more each day but so far I've gotten to keep the trim butt and upper arms I was gifted with in the first trimester. My pelvis and rib cage are expanding so I am spreading out in those areas. My stomach is almost kind of pointed--which I think I've heard in pregnancy lure confirms a baby boy.

We put the car seat/stroller combo together yesterday and within minutes someone had decided that it of course must be for her:



I think this picture might be one of the cutest things I've ever seen, although maybe I'm biased since it's my baby.