and i present to you.

our little gignac.

these amazing images are pretty self-explanatory so no need in dissecting them for you. and a week later they're still getting to me. which, have to admit, they probably always will. other than apparently having sensitive taste buds right now, ***** {we've yet to OFFICIALLY decide on a name} is also a pretty active one, and finally big and strong enough that i'm feeling most of her movements- which i love. when we're alone in the car with the tunes blaring, she definitely likes to let me know how she feels about the music. although, i've yet to figure out if those instrumental kicks are positive or negative....probably positive right now but i'm sure that once she hits her teens, her musical interests will differ quite a bit from mine and her dad's.
on another baby note, i'm constantly expanding my baby library {and ALWAYS looking for suggestions} and my cousin recently turned on to this lovely book by sarah napthali.

{buddhism for mothers}

so far it's amazing and i surely don't see it taking a turn for the worse. every page thus far is already filled with my highlighted words because nearly everything that napthali says resonates with me. can't say i'm converting to buddhism anytime soon but i can't deny adopting quite a few of the religion's mantras and practices.

it's a.....

....GIRL. while i don't have any sonogram images to upload just yet--can't get them lightened up enough on the scanner--i can say that according to our little specialist lady, i definitely have a mini-me growing in my belly. so while my mind is of course focusing on how to keep my little angel as perfect and healthy and intelligent as can be, i can't help but jump to all things girly that will fill her days.

{the best shoe collection ever, bleubird vintage}

{bum genius artist series cloth diapers}

{natural wooden toys}

{a little library to call all her own}

lates-lees.

like most of the rest of the world, my post-holiday and new year mind immediately tries to figure out just how i can 'detox' {i don't necessarily mean the literal form of that word} my life. being a fitness enthusiast, my first temptation is to limit my caloric intake and really focus on eating clean foods from this beautiful earth. being pregnant this january definitely doesn't allow me to limit my calories too much but i am definitely reevaluating what goes into my body. not long ago, i spent about two years of my life eating a pretty strict vegan diet. i loved it. loved my skin, loved the way i felt....loved the shine in my hair. but my intentions for starting the diet weren't completely honest. miss kim barnouin and rory freedman of skinny bitch convinced me {along with the random snapshots caught of victoria beckham around town carrying their book} that i would become a thin and beautiful vegan beauty to be. while i don't have too many image issues, the pounds just didn't seem to fall like i thought they would and i finally remembered how much i liked meat...and cheese.......and fish............and honey. ultimately i acquitted the lifestyle and actually got to where i wanted my body and fitness level to be, vegan or not.
all of this boring history actually does bring me to where i am today. after so much indulgence over the holidays, i'm re-educating myself on the cleanliness of what goes into mine and my baby's bodies. immediately after finding out about the little sweet potato in my tummy i bought this

i've finally started to read it again and like before, it's {re-}opening my eyes. i've also been recently reading kim barnouin's blog healthy bitch daily. has some amazing stuff and great recipes. other than that, these long hours that i'm spending at our office are also filled with lots of reading on treehugger.com...i'm constantly finding new green designers, ways to live better for our planet and spend my dollar in an educated way.
so while i can't cut my 'calories' i can definitely detox in many other ways {and i'm finding even BETTER ways}.