for friends and family far away...

...yes, I am now 'showing.'

and as you have requested, here is how Maya has affected my shape so far...



Tonight, a young parent of a student asked if I needed any maternity clothes, and only an hour later brought two enormous boxes full of clothes to my door (probably more clothes than I even own) for me to borrow. So many of them are the perfect size and style. It feels like Christmas...again! If I wore them all, I probably would never have to wear the same thing twice until Maya is born. Seriously. This woman has a *lot* of clothes. I am so excited and grateful. Though the process of sorting and trying things on was exhausting....for me AND for my consultant (Ryan tried to be interested as I modeled each shirt, sweater, dress...quickly responding with a "sure" or "um...no.").

I can feel Maya kicking me right now. As her bones and muscles grow, her gentle attempts to get my attention are becoming much more distinct. I've been telling my students that Maya can hear them, so they need to make sure that they are setting good examples for her. I think she will already know "Twinkle Twinkle" by the time she is born. I hope the squeaky, beginner violin playing she is forced to listen to daily isn't affecting her perfect pitch!
I just finished organizing all of our CD's this weekend...probably around 300-400 of them. They are now alphabetized and classified by genre: Classical, old Christian music that is seldom listened to but kept for posterity in 'the archives' notebook, and Current (almost 150 different artists ranging from Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, to Damien Rice, the Polyphonic Spree, U2, Iron and Wine, Norah Jones, Kurt Elling, Ben Folds, Miss Saigon, Godspell, Over the Rhine). We are working hard to give Maya a broad spectrum of music listening. She needs to hear a lot of really good music to balance out all the...other music she hears at school.

And now, what Maya needs most is...sleep.