A big day

Well, it finally happened yesterday: the inevitable. I grabbed a pair of pliers and for the first time since it was installed 6 1/2 years ago (roughly one month before I got together with Craig), I removed the belly button ring. Wow, that was hard....goodbye, cute stomach of my early- to mid-twenties! I've decided if I can get back into really good shape after the baby (and it would have to be REALLY good, because I was getting a squishy stomach even before getting pregnant) I will reward myself with a new belly ring. So there. (I'll post a picture of the ring-free belly in the next few days, I was planning on doing a 20-week photo anyhow this weekend.)

Anyhow, the Gap clothes arrived today, and they are so cute! Add those to the wardrobe along with the Calvin Klein denim skirt and cute peasant-blouse looking top that MJ bought us, and Ava is already set to be one stylin' baby. (Craig did make fun of the striped leggings I bought her, but liked the "Daddy's little girl" shirt.)

That's really it...I'm feeling better from the other night, still trying to come to terms with the not-feeling-so-attractive thing but it comes and goes. Having a love-hate relationship with one's body is probably pretty normal anyhow...if I wasn't pregnant, I'd be annoyed by something else.

Last but not least, I got one of those Babycenter.com updates today, with this picture:



Um.....that's just weird. This little blurb was included in the email:

"Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the length of a small zucchini. The hair on his scalp is sprouting. If your baby is a girl, she already has 6 million eggs in her ovaries. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. He may be able to hear you as you talk. Research shows that he's learning to distinguish your voice from others, and he'll soon show a preference for it. Let Dad get in on the act, too— encourage him to talk to your baby."

Now, we don't exactly talk to the baby, but sometimes I make her talk in an evil voice...does that count? And if she can really hear outside sounds now, I'm definitely going to make sure to play a lot of Tom Petty. It's never too early to give her an appreciation of good music. ;o)


A picture, just because.