Warning: May Contain Photos of a Pregnant Lady in a Bikini

Mark surprised me with an incredible mini-vacation in Laguna Beach. It was one of those romantic, every girl's dream, "I'm not telling you where we're going, but you'll need a bathing suit and a fancy dress" kind of weekends. We stayed at the gorgeous Laguna Inn and had dinner at Las Brisas, one of our favorite restaurants. We read by the pool, had breakfast delivered to our balcony, took walks on the beach; holding hands like sixteen year olds, went in search of the perfect mocha; and found it at a boutique french bakery, went tide-pooling, toured the artist community beach town, spent hours lying on the bed watching in awe as Ava twisted and turned; contorting my belly into all sorts of entertaining shapes, and slept with the sliding glass door open listening to the waves all night. It was perfect. 

 

We were in desperate need of it too. The phrase "two ships passing in the night" describes our marriage all too often. With Mark not leaving the house until midnight to start a shift some nights, to coming home from shifts at 3:30am other nights, it's oftentimes hard to connect. Some weeks our only form of communication is text messaging and my half-asleep nods to acknowledge he's getting into bed, forget about "How was your day honey?" It's rough, but God always seems to provide sweet time for us together right when we feel like we're barely hanging on by a thread and need it the most.

Prenatal yoga, Smart Ass Husbands and Mini Bathing Suits

I've been fast-walking a lot for exercise but finally hit up a yoga class at the gym the other night for the first time since I've been pregnant. Yoga for a party of one is challenging enough, but holding poses with a squirmy basketball firmly attached to your front is 1) not that fun and 2) just straight comical. Not to mention being in a room made up of mirrors for 90 minutes. Ugh. 

I'm four days away from starting my third trimester and the (albeit minor) aches, pains and general discomfort of pregnancy are starting to set in. I don't complain about them often, but when I do, Mark thinks it's just hilarious to respond, "shouldn't have eaten the apple..." without even looking up. It's funny now, but I have a feeling it will be much less so in the labor & delivery room.

And this...

 
Now I just need my water baby to get here so I can dress her up and take her to the bay!

6 Months

Wow, the difference in the belly between the fifth and sixth month is quite marked, check it out:

 

She's kicking, punching and flipping like crazy these days. I first felt her little flutters on Thanksgiving Day, those sweet butterfly kisses have turned to strong punches and kicks. Mark, my mom and Becky have all been able to feel her move. She kicks and punches Mark's back when we're spooning in bed, much to our entertainment and delight. I don't think we'll ever tire of marveling at how active and strong she is.

She's responsive to sounds now too. Mark had a horrible cough all last week. His coughing fits actually woke her up before they woke me up. But don't worry, her kicking made sure I didn't miss out on the party. When we talk to her and say her name she gets active. She knows Mark's voice and my voice and laugh. I was at my women's small group the other night and we were all cracking up about something. The cackling really got her going. I think she wanted in on the girl time. She goes especially crazy before bed and right when I wake up, even if it's just waking up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, which happens a few times a night, it must be very exciting for her.

Music either calms her down or makes her active, according to what kind it is. I've been putting one earphone up to my belly and the other one in my ear every morning for a couple of songs. The other morning I just kept thinking how surreal it was that if someone asked me what I was doing at that moment my answer would be "Oh, just listening to music with my daughter."

Ava Shay, you're already entertaining your mom, dad, grandma, and good friends, cracking us up and amazing us on a daily basis. You are a true joy and all we get more and more excited about meeting you every day.