This week baby is about 15inches long and at about 2.5lbs is the size of a butternut squash! (according to the babycenter app on my phone.)

Not too much new going on this week. Lots of stress and stuff going on with insurance and trying to find a new doctor. I won’t be going to see a midwife like I wanted, but I’m hoping to interview some doulas in March after Scott moves here too. Does anyone know how to find doulas in training who don’t charge?

Baby has been really active and jumping around more, which is so fun to experience all the time! Everything I have read says that baby might be less active now because they’re bigger and have less room but I’m totally feeling the opposite. He’s kicking and moving constantly now instead of at specific times of day.

Also I love thrift stores. I haven’t bought any of his clothes full price. Fantastic.

I keep looking at the pictures above and thinking “holy crap!” I honestly don’t feel that big in person but I think I’m starting to look huge, don’t you think?

Week 30 Update:

This week baby is about 15.7inches long and at about 3lbs is the size of a head of cabbage! (according to the babycenter app on my phone.)

Eee! 10 weeks left!

Freshly painted walls this week! Yikes! I had some troubles with my pictures this week. It was pretty cloudy out in the first place and I’m really not used to photographing in front of a grey wall, I’ve only have taken pictures in front of a white or beige well. I don’t think these images are very flattering to me but I’ll work on it. I really like the color on the walls and I’m excited to started decorating but I’ll admit taking pictures and editing was a bit tricky. I’ll have to play around more to get better results.

Even more stress going on with insurance, ugh. So annoying to deal with. I’m not really the type to be political or anything but I have to complain for a second…why is it so damn hard to get state health insurance in the US? The doctor I picked out said she won’t see me even if I get state health insurance as a secondary insurance and that she doesn’t know many pediatricians around that take state insurance either! What! And now I’m done with that rant.

In other news…we got our first bunch of cloth diaper supplies this weekend! We ordered 1 pack of prefolds(6 diapers), 2 covers, a pack of snappis and a large wet bag. I took a picture of one of the diaper covers for my 366, you can see it here. They are so cute!

I have had almost no cravings so far this pregnancy. I want chocolate a lot, and I wanted fruit early on but nothing has been so intense that I’ve had to have it or I would hurt someone haha!
I have been getting super tired this week. I’ve been doing mostly okay with physical labor and even just going out and walking but I’ve been getting worn out a lot faster now. Can’t wait until Scott gets here so I can order him ask him to do things for me!

Check out the past baby bump progress:
Week 5 & Week 21
Week 23 & Week 24
Week 25 & Week 26
Week 27 & Week 28

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Kristin is a full-time English Literature and Japanese major by day, and blogger at My Life as a Teacup by night. Never passing up an opportunity to talk about her love for the Original Trilogy or a good cup of tea, she primarily blogs about wanderlust, good books, and life in Pittsburgh with her scaredy-cat and the Boy. Stop by and say hello!

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After reading Kendra’s first *Personal Truths and Reflections* post in January, I was instantly inspired to take a step back, and honestly and seriously reflect on all of the events and milestones that have shaped who I am as a person. I think it’s extremely important for one to know themselves outside and in, even if that means not knowing what defines one’s whole essence quite yet. It’s a hard thing to do, and I’m not sure if there’s one correct and unchanging answer.

The idea seemed fun at first – after all, I’m a fairly open person; how hard can reflecting on myself, who I know so well, be?

Hard. But a good kind of hard.

Every time I sat down to write, I felt my head spinning, trying to find the “perfect” moment to point to. There’s been plenty in my life that has shaped who I am, from a summer living in a small Japanese town, to losing a very treasured and long-standing friendship, but every time I came back to one thing: the little talks that my Dad (or “brow-beatings”, as he likes to refer to them as) has given me along the way. Often filled with wacky quotes, tall tales, and his own personal memoirs, one has always stuck out in particular and it is this particular saying that has guided me more times than I can count:

“Why?”

I remember constant car rides, questions of my opinion on this event or that idea. I remember made-up sayings, quotes from Captain Kirk and the wisdom of my grandfather. My dad would ask ‘why?’ to every firm belief that I uttered and I understand now how much knowing the answer to that one little word means in who I am and what I believe in.

I was brought up learning to ask the right questions, the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘how’, but the most valued question, and thus the most valued response, was ‘why’. I was granted my own opinion, my own thoughts in regards to anything I could think of as long as I knew in my heart why I believed such. Whether from concrete facts, first-hand experience, or a strong feeling, I had to be able to understand and support my own beliefs.

Too often opinions get tossed around like they are nothing, and yet I believe ideas are the most fragile things. There are those who just assume the beliefs of others, never inquiring as to ‘why?’ and thus being blindly mislead, simply a lemming to another’s way of thinking. There are those who never stop to contemplate the reasons behind their thoughts. And yet when I encounter a new idea, a new course of action, a new device even, I stop and ask myself ‘why?’.

Why is this idea meaningful? Why does this define me? Why do I believe in what I believe in? Why have I chosen this path? Why has this happened?

I can always defend my opinion, even if it is not widely liked or supported. I have my reasons. I know what lies behind the choices I make. I am more reflective on events, both in my own life and in others’. It is a powerful tool in evaluation sticky situations. Asking why is like understanding my own essence, my own train of thought, and having a reason for all that I do – even if that reason is as simple as a gut feeling – it is my own, and it is me.

Opinions are powerful things, they can be persuasive, illuminating, and life-changing, just at as they can be controversial, damaging, or, unfortunately sometimes ill-informed. Beliefs create your core, you mantra, how to feel and exist and *be* *you*. They are how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you. Whatever your personal opinions, beliefs, or attitudes towards something you are entitled to your thinking; ideas are what make the world go ’round, but you must be able to own up to your own beliefs and answer that all-important question:

“Why?”

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If you’re interesting in writing a post for the “Defining Me” series please email me kendra[at]likeabirdblog[dot]com or use the contact form.

Don’t forget to check out my personal companion series: Personal Truths and Reflections

“When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something. We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place, and that tenderness can go either way. We can shut down and feel resentful or we can touch in on that throbbing quality.” – Pema Chödrön

I’ve seen a lot of yogurt parfait recipes out there(because they are super yummy), but I wanted to share mine too! While this easy food is totally customizable with whatever ingredients you want, I’ve never seen a recipe that features green apples. I have to tell you, apples in yogurt are the best! So here’s my how to:

Ingredients:

-Activia vanilla yogurt (greek yogurt is healthier, if you're trying to be as healthy as possible here)
-Granny Smith green apples
-Blueberries
-Honey
-Ground cinnamon
-Granola

Ingredients are completely customizable. Use the kind of yogurt you love, whatever fruit sounds yummy and any flavor of granola.

Step 1 – Prepare your Ingredients.

I cut up my apple into small slices, washed the blueberries. And in my granola there were large almonds so I used a food chopper to chop them up smaller.

Step 2 – Yogurt

Step 3 – Fruit

Step 4 – Granola

Step 5- Garnish (honey or cinammon)

Step 6 – Enjoy!

It’s so simple! And such a fantastic food to eat as a snack, or with breakfast. I love it.

What kind of fruit are you going to put in your parfait?

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