Looking Back

When Philip bought me my Nikon for Christmas a few years ago, it replaced our tiny point-and-shoot camera. We use the big camera for nearly everything, but I still carry the little camera in my purse for spur of the moment photo opportunities.

The other day, I finally got around to downloading the photos off the little camera, and found these two photos:

[taken 3 weeks before my due date]

[taken upon our arrival in the hospital, 4.12.2010]

Somehow these photos are making me feel sort of nostalgic toward that big belly. Pregnancy was such an awesome time in my life.

Feeling grateful to have had that point-and-shoot on hand to document these special moments.

Joseph

Joseph Louis
Born March 31, 7:03pm
7 lbs 4 oz, 20 inches long



















































April Fools :)

I still look like this:


[thanks to google images for supplying such a cute photo of some little guy...]

One Month...

....til my baby's due date!

Week 34

I think I say this every week, but holy cow....time is flying. I can't believe I'm already at 34 weeks!

Although I'm cramming everything in to this last few weeks before our little guy arrives, I day dream every day of him being in our home, sitting by me while I paint, sleeping in my lap, and a million other things. It's hard to believe that is only a few short weeks away! I'm actually secretly hoping that he decides to show up a little early...my bones are not used to this much weight and the waddling/limping/aching has commenced.

Here I am in all my enormous glory at 34 1/2 weeks....

Week 32

Hard to believe I'm already at week 32....these weeks are FLYING by!



I've had a cold this week, which combined with the third trimester has made for a very tired Merrick. So I thought it was only appropriate that I throw in this yawning photo that I caught while doing my weekly shoot.

Week 29

It's hard to believe how fast each week flies by!



I think I'm reaching the nesting phase because suddenly I want to fix up our house just perfectly so the baby will fit right in. Unfortunately it seems that some furniture and other stuff is going to have to go because without some adjustments, we have no room for a baby!

One of the best parts so far in my pregnancy is discovering my baby's personality. He hates showers -- at least when I stand with the water streaming on to my belly. He'll push and kick until I turn around; then he immediately calms down. He has also discovered the cave that is my belly button and seems to enjoy sticking his foot or hand or something inside of it. I'll push it out because it's very uncomfortable, and he'll wait a second and then sneak it back inside. We repeat this over and over and he seems to think it's the most hilarious thing.

Can't wait for this little guy to arrive! Only 10ish more weeks!

Drawing My Face

Yesterday's painting was partly a painting I did for myself on my own time, and partly an assignment for school. Justin asked us to paint or draw a portrait that told a story, so I made a few adjustments and tailored my personal work to fit the assignment.

After seeing everyone's completed assignments last week in class, Justin asked us to try again. This time our portrait could only be of the face -- either straight on or at a 3/4 angle, and we had to do it with a dry medium (pencil, nu pastel, or charcoal).

Since I want to continue building up my series of pregnancy paintings, I decided to combine this assignment with my personal work as well. But it was a little trickier this time because we could only draw the face. So I chose a emotion that I've felt throughout my pregnancy (I think these two pieces are giving you a false impression of how I feel about my pregnancy...don't worry, I'm loving being pregnant! The rest of the series will capture happier emotions) and also one that was easy to portray through a simple drawing.

I haven't decided on a good title for this one -- I'm open to suggestions.

With Change Comes Fear

When I announced my pregnancy, one of my teachers at The Bridge suggested I start documenting my pregnancy through paintings -- joys, fears, preparation, etc.

At first I had NO CLUE how I was going to do this, but once I started sketching things out and doing a little research, the ideas starting flowing so fast I could barely keep them straight.

So here is the first of probably 6-8 pregnancy paintings that I will be doing over the next few months before Little Dude arrives. After that I'll move on to Mother and Child theme paintings...more exciting stuff!


Title: "With Change Comes Fear"

Week 28

Third trimester, here I come!

Getting Bigger...

Because I Needed Another Reason To Take Pictures Of Myself...

I've been taking these pictures every week (sometimes every other week) since week 6 of my pregnancy, which was the week we found out about Little Dude. They were kind of boring before now since I was stuck in that "looking fat" stage, but now I'm on to the "looking pregnant" stage so the pictures are a little more interesting.*

Along with taking a weekly photo, I'm writing the baby a little letter every week, talking about what changes have happened, how far my belly button sticks out now (hint: REALLY FAR), how I'm feeling, and all that good stuff. This is so fun. I am loving every second of this.




*A guy in our singles ward stopped me on Sunday and jokingly asked if I was pumping steroids into my stomach, because, "you didn't look pregnant AT ALL, and now you're HUGE!!" Thank you very much. I'm sure he'll be getting married very soon with all that smooth talking.

The Biggest Project

I've been so busy lately with my latest and greatest project. It's been taking up nearly all my time, so I figured I'd better share some photos.

Here I am in my "studio" working HARD


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Oh...you want to see what I'm actually working on??? Okay...
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But wait...there is more news!
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ANDDDDD...the question you'll all ask....
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And now enough photos of me. On to the main event:



Now in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for my two dudes. The big one and the little one!