... so we had a shower

and it was fabulous! we moved a couple of states away a couple of years ago, and the majority of our friends still live 3-4 hours away. so i hadn't been expecting much in the way of showerdom, but boy did they rally! the couple who threw it for us did an absolutely AMAZING job. we've been calling the baby "kaiju" as his utero nickname, so the whole party was "movie monster" themed - the invite was made from an old godzilla poster, the decorations and prizes were all about classy floating eyeball candles, 'screaming b-movie victims' action figures, baby dinosaur bubble blowers, etc. it was co-ed for husbands, lots of kids were there playing with the hula hoops, bubbles, and monster-toes-mini-stilts in the yard - in the house of course they romped on the birth ball. the games were uncorny, and the evening ended with a huge playstation 'rock band' tournament.

the games and moments of blessing were so heartwarming and touching. the main one was when a plate was passed with honey, salt, cayenne pepper, and lemon - me and DH each tasted, and each elder in attendance described a parenting lesson associated with one of the spices. my mom (who lives across the country and is saving up her vacation time for when baby gets here) did hers on videochat via the laptop, and stayed around knitting on vidcam while we played 'baby/monster charades.'

the gifts were great - creative and useful and fun! my mom had knitted a few jacket-hat-blanket sets. the tiniest set was made from yarn my baby sister had spun from local wool!!!! a friend who makes jewelry actually MADE him a silver baby bangle! which is great b/c i hadn't figured out where i was going to find one for him. a designer friend did this amazing lacquered box out of recycled tin ceiling tiles like the ones you see in old houses and restaurants - as a keepsake box for the good wishes everybody wrote down and shared for us and the babe.

i am just... wow. really happy about it. one thing that it brought home to me is how much of a difference it makes when people are in your face - we are notorious hermits, but there are a lot of people in this world who we sit around loving from a distance. having some of them here was a beautiful experience.

also. the webcam situation was the hotness! LOL. my mom said she wants to go to all her parties like that from now on.

this body, this body

i remember feeling all expectant and excited in the beginning, reveling in every change, being impatient to show a bump. and then around the middle, being like, 'i am so pregnant and SO hot! look at me go!' now i'm definitely moving toward feeling like a bit of a sideshow freak - come on, are you STILL growing?? this is getting ridiculous. not yet at the 'beached whale' feeling, b/c i'm still mostly mobile, but i can definitely see those feelings and limitations looming on the horizon.

the hubster has been soooo in love with my body at every stage... nowadays i'm feeling like a science fair exhibit or something, and thinking, what a weirdo! but now and then i catch a glimpse of myself and can see the intense fertile beauty he sees. it's sexy and goddessly and amazing!

then i try and tie my shoes and get the basketball compressing my lungs and it's gone. LOL!

paper or plastic? ... aka the diaper question

we are some moderately crunchy folks - extremely crunchy black folks - up in this house. cloth grocery totes, compact flourescent light bulbs, lots of walking and bikes, heck we work at home so that's zero commute... and we only got drivers' licenses last month (b/c there's no newborn seat for a bike, and who's to say the cab home from hospital wd have the LATCH system? ;o) so that's more than 65 combined years of mass transit, ride sharing, and a SERIOUSLY reduced carbon footprint. i am second generation granola - was raised in a cloth diapering, breastfeeding, food-co-op belonging, natural hair wearing, handmade clothes wearing, cloudy apple juice drinking, dr. bronner's soap using house.

still, i haven't bought any cloth dipes supplies yet, b/c i'm not fully committed to the idea. i LOVE windowshopping the cool pocket and fitted cloth dipes systems and covers... but seriously - looking at our lifestyle, i don't know if a diaper choice that depends on us doing laundry is a smart move. LOL!

there is also th fact that dh feels utterly turned off by the 'storing dirty diapers in a bucket all week' concept... and i'll be darned if i'm going to be doing more than my share of changing duty b/c dh is uncomfortable with the tools. i'm 80% certain that once baby is here, he'll be fine with it - i don't think he understands the character and innocuousness of the poop of an exclusively breastfed newborn - but really do want him to feel as comfortable with all aspects of the hands on parenting duties as possible. i've seen/changed cloth diapers before so i know that it's no big deal, plus that you get a bit of a 'grace period' before things get really serious in the texture/smell department.

still, eventually there will be food in the mix, and then all bets are off. they have these liners that are supposed to catch the solids and be flushable, which ... ok that's great. it's still a little more intimate than even i might be willing to get with that particular end of the business. i've seen side by side comparisons of the ecological/energy impact of cloth diapering vs disposable and each has its benefits http://www.ilea.org/lcas/franklin1992.html so i guess it'll come down to preference and convenience. we'll probably sign up for a service and get some 7th gens unbleached disposables, and then we can try out both for a few weeks and see if a preference emerges. if one or the other is more comfortable, less leaks, less rashes, etc, we'd let the baby's bootie make the choice.