24 Weeks: The Bump Has Declared Itself

We took some belly pics this weekend on our way to the Broadway show Memphis with Whit & Harriett, which is why I'm a little more dressed than usual. Memphis was an excellent show; however, I got a little "hormotional" during a scene that portrayed racially motivated violence. My brain was screaming, "What kind of world are we bringing a child into? This show is based only 60 years ago, but hatred is everywhere.  How will we raise our kiddo to be kind and compassionate to all in this world?" ... and then I got a bit weepy.  Good thing it was dark in the theater.  Turns out Zac also squirt some during that scene, so maybe I wasn't so hormotional after all.

You will notice the lack of fruit in these pictures -- there are two reasons for that: (1) I could only find papaya in the fancy-schmancy grocery store on the Upper East Side, and I am way too cheap to purchase fruit there, and (2) have you seen the size of some papayas? They kind of freaked me out.

Speaking of being freaked out, it doesn't take much these days. I walked into a smaller Babies-R-Us this week and almost needed a paper bag to breathe into -- it's so much stuff! It's all so overwhelming! I try to repeat the mantra "Babies just need food, love, diapers and a place to sleep," but to walk into a place that was wall-to-wall-to-ceiling of kid-related accoutrements .... I got overwhelmed.

So, the running list of things that are more upsetting to me now compared to a mere six months ago: large stores filled with baby things, fictional depictions of violence and hatred ...and fruit. I'm sure this is normal, right?

Actually, I think that a few moments of panic are probably pretty normal. No matter how many books I read (I have one, and I've ordered two more...) I know that nothing will prepare me for bringing home our child. I've never read or heard the sentence, 'Joe and Mary knew exactly what they were in for with their new baby, and they were completely prepared! Everything went perfectly smoothly.' (I just realized that my Catholic upbringing is showing through a bit with my name choices. Weird. I'd say that most certainly the Mary and Joseph that I'm thinking of were NOT prepared! And they had angels talking to them and a direct line to The Big Dude In The Sky. What chance do I have?? But, I digress...) ANYWAY. I know that there will be chaos. I think that I've heard family life described as the "whole catastrophe," and I look forward to having my own glorious catastrophe. But I'm also going to forgive myself my moments of panic; after all, I am part StressMonkey, and it's better to be an occasional StressMonkey now than to have a meltdown when a wee little Monkey is depending on me, right?

Speaking of the Monkey, s/he has been more active lately - lots of wiggles and squirms! It's oddly fantastic.

Enough yapping, here are the belly pictures! Please forgive my silly faces!

Check out the bump, y'all!

Side bump: it's almost the size of my booty. Nice.

So that's the 24 week/6month update. Much love to all!