navel gazing. twenty four weeks.

yesterday elodie and i were walking and she said, "i want to take you to the special place mama. there's a swing and a river and we can sing songs, ok mama? ok?" she had visited this place with my friend cleo and her two children and it was a thing of myth to me. when she finally took me up the hill i was in awe. there was a little brown craftsman that looked like hansel and gretel's home, a babbling brook, tiny bridge, and a wooden swing hanging from a tree. the east side of los angeles has the most magical hidden pockets and, even after four years here, we are still stumbling upon these treasures. after elodie was tucked away in bed, we ran back up the hill to take some twenty four week bump shots.

baby is growing steadily and for the most part i still forget that i'm pregnant. all of a sudden, i get a big thump in the belly which brings me back to reality. in three months we will have a precious new member of our family. sleep has been an issue but swimming helps tremendously with that. my belly has grown rapidly over the past few weeks which is exciting. i am taking it all in. the awkward unsexy moments, the moments i love my changing shape, the funny stares as i walk into a spin class. this is a singular moment in my life. it goes so slow, it goes so fast. i'm grateful for the experience. also, since we are moving soon, i am going through my closet. trying to determine what stays and what goes. i'm finding some fun old dresses and thought to wear this one since it is incredibly comfortable and reminds me of long summer nights in new york city. seems like ages ago but really was only about four years! life is wild.

24 week you
little sister, little daughter, i am starting to know your rhythms. when i sing or after i eat, you start dancing around in my belly. this weekend i took a nap, your big sister in the crook of one arm, my other hand free to feel you kicking underneath it. i wept tears of at this new sensation. i am wakening to so many new experiences i never imagined when you decided to come into being. every peach and every plum that i eat, every swim in the ocean, every moment in the sun during this first summer of your becoming and last summer of my life as a mama of one feels strange and new. i'm so curious to know who you are, how you will be different from your sister, what heart value you will bring to our little family. keep growing steadily. love, your mama


photos by jennifer emerling