The Land of Fairy Tales

I don't know where this idea came from, but last week or something I was like, WHAT IF I MADE A MAP FOR THE SEAHORSE, WITH FAIRY TALE LOCALES?! And then as projects do, the idea wedged itself into my brain and I had to see it through. This is not what I had planned, I actually have no idea what I had planned, but this spiraled into something far more colorful and crazy. Which, obv, I love.

I googled Fairy Tale Maps for ideas, because they are in fact a thing, and they were all very flat. Which maps usually are. So I schemed to make my own. I made a list of all the places I wanted to include, and duhhhh a lot of them were Disney inspired. But there are also some classic tales thrown in too. After I had my list I sketched it all out, planning where each location should be in relation to the land mass/each other. Because if you're going to do something you ought to do it right. Then I bought a nice big piece of watercolor paper and drew this baby out. And then I colored it!

I haven't painted with watercolors since maybe freshman year of college? And that was like once. I swore up and down by oils back in my painter hey-days, but I really enjoyed using watercolors! They're more like drawing than painting. And gosh set up and clean up is so easy and so fast, something oils are definitely not. I haven't painted anything in a very long time, so this was a fun jump back into it!

Here are some rather poor quality close ups. I tried to take decent photos but my shadow kept getting in the way, also I was sleepy. That's a pregnant as hell excuse.

Can you guess all the locales? Here's what I included, in no particular order: The Emperor's Palace from Mulan, Agrabah, Eric's castle from the Little Mermaid, the Beast's castle from Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella's castle, Sleeping Beauty's castle, the Snow Queen's ice castle (yes, Elsa.), Rapunzel's tower, the Seven Dwarf's cottage, Jack's beanstalk, the Three Little Pig's homes, the Witch's gingerbread house, a troll bridge, a wishing well, the Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe's... shoe, Wonderland, and Neverland. I think that's everything. My favorites are Rapunzel's tower and Neverland. It would be a blast just to do a map of Neverland.

There is like zero scale or logic involved here, perfection and crazy details are not something I'm good at. I just wanted it to flow decently and for it to be pretty, but not overly girly. I used the Disney versions of most everything as a reference, but they're not exact by any means. I decided to NOT label everything because I felt it would be visually obnoxious, and it gives the Seahorse a chance to use her imagination. Make up yo' own stories, girl!

I had WAY too much fun making this. Like, it was a blast. I sketched the main buildings out but a lot of the background just happened as I went. I mixed colors as I moved along and gosh, it was just FUN. It took me less than a week from plan to finish and actually drawing and painting it took me two days. It was a fantastic time waste, of the productive variety.

I'm pretty happy with it! I could nitpick little things that bug me about it, but that would make me crazy so I'm just calling it done! It will go somewhere in the Seahorse's tiny box of a room, but it will probably take some rearranging and help from a taller human like her dad. I hope she likes it! Obviously she wont even realize what it is for a while, but I wanted her to have something that I made for her, that she can keep for years! 

God forbid she hates Disney. I'm not sure how any child of mine could, but that would be inconvenient to say the least. ;)

39 weeks

Y'all! This could be the last one! WILL WE MAKE IT TO 40? Probably. Baby girl is still SO comfy in there, and seems to be very content with hanging out upside down and not having to deal with the real world. I get it little lady, I get it. But one week until the due date! Not that that is any indication that she'll arrive, but it's a goal to get to.

I'm trying these days to focus on remembering what it's like to be pregnant. What it's like growing this little Seahorse. This is a once in a lifetime kind of thing, and I want to soak it all in. I've been rushing and rushing for the past nine months, impatient to meet this little Hogan, but now that the end is near I find myself a little sad that it's almost over. And I do mean a little, I'm mostly thrilled to meet this girl and start the next BIG part of our adventure. But there is something really lovely and magical about growing a human. And having a built in little buddy. I'm nervous about what it's going to feel like to be... empty. It will be weird! And everyone is just so nice to you when you're pregnant, I'm gonna miss that. ;)

Thankfully I am feeling really really good. She's "dropped" so my back pain is basically gone unless I sit oddly or do something weird, and she's not so much right under my ribs any more, which is heavenly. I'm far more comfortable than I thought I'd be at this point which is making waiting, and enjoying, these last weeks easier. Overall, I think I've had it very very easy. I've spent a lot of time complaining about little things on this here blog, but I know it's been a much smoother ride than it could have been. I'm thankful for being healthy and making it to this point! The longer we're able to keep her in there the stronger (and chubbier! Eee!) she'll be. A healthy baby is all that matters.

But for real, we are ready for her to arrive! We've got everything in order that we could think of, and we even deep cleaned the house last weekend! My doctor is out of town today and tomorrow, but after that she can show up whenever! I'm just really really hoping she makes it by the end of January. I've got it set in my mind to have a January baby and it's doing all sorts of things to my brain realizing that she very well could come in February. It would be fine, obviously, but my dad and Brendon are the February babies, we've got no January birthdays! And I prefer January's birthstone over February's... so... ;) (Let me have my selfish moments while I can. I know karma is going to get me now for saying this and she'll be born February 1st at like 12:03am.)

Speaking of Brendon, he's still my hero. He's ready to meet the Seahorse as well and is forever checking on me and her. And making me go on walks. He was really trying to get her to show up this weekend while he had three days off. I think he's a little paranoid that I wont go to the hospital in time, but I think when the moment comes there will be no hesitation. Just keep that phone near you, Dr. Hogan, I'll let you know. And I have to share a gem from Boy Wonder, the other day while walking he said, "After the Seahorse is born you don't have to do anything. I'll take care of everything, I'll bring you food in bed, whatever you want. For like two days. Then you need to get up." Oh boo, you're too sweet. ;) I love that crazy boy. He's taking off TWO weeks when baby girl arrives and I'm feeling so lucky. My momma is also coming up to stay after she's born! Such a relief, knowing I'll have major back up. Because as I've said before, I'm flying blind here, what are babies?!

You're almost out of the woods with these bloated bathroom selfies. We're wrapping this whole thing up soon! So strange, but so exciting!

37 weeks

Cue the Final Countdown please.

Three more weeks! WHAT. But I feel like she's going to show up late? I just feel like she's big time chillin' in there. I mean, really, who knows when she'll show up. My goal was to make it past all the holidays, and she's full term now so no big stress if she shows up whenever. But I want that chubby baby. No hurry, little lady. (But at the same time, don't be real late either.)

I got a bonus ultrasound yesterday! My doctor was working with a resident so they used me as an opportunity to practice ultrasounding. Is that a word, ultrasounding? It is now. I hadn't seen her in about 20 weeks so I was super excited. She is BIG! She used to pretty much fit on the screen and now you can only do parts of her at a time! And I got to see her little face, which looks so much more human now. Cute little nosey! And I made sure that they checked again to make sure she is a girl. Is it just me, or do other moms to be get paranoid that somehow they saw the wrong thing down there? And that it will be a huge surprise come birthing day? It was just very reassuring to see lady parts. Because she ended up with a lot of pink stuff, as baby girls do. Also, she is still a wriggly little Seahorse, she never stays still! As my insides can attest to. She was not trying to let us get a good picture of her, I was kind of proud? Party on you feisty thing you. Also, hallelujah, she is head down. Which makes sense because whatever has been beating up my ribs definitely felt like knees and feet. She was kind of facing towards the side, but she moves so much who knows where she'll be in an hour. But hopefully she'll be face down on the big day!

So lets get to the complaining portion. My back pain has actually subsided some, maybe because she's moved lower? Or because I've started taking it easy? Or I've just gotten used to it? But whatever the reason, I'm hella thankful. The newest addition is stomach muscle cramps, like the kind you get when you run too fast but WHEN I WALK. Walking (waddling?) too fast... well, at a normal speed honestly, wrecks my world. I am a long legged power walker, I am not used to taking my time. We were at HEB shopping the other night and I was like, WHOA we have to slow down or I'm going to have a hernia. So that's taking some getting used to. Also makes me feel like a weenie.

Basically none of my clothes fit anymore. I've got a handful things that I wear over and over, but even some of my maternity clothes aren't making it over this big ol' belly and, lets be real, big ol' boobs. Wearing a bra basically just sucks. My rib cage has expanded so much that anything touching it feels awful. Brendon's side of the closet has recently become very appealing, although I wore one of his flannels yesterday and it still barely buttoned over my belly. But a HUUUUGE shout out to my maternity jeans, they are a freaking life saver and have not let me down yet. If you are in the market, GET THESE. They are worth every single penny. I cannot express how much I love those pants and what a relief it is that they still fit. They go a long way in helping me feel normal when I venture into public.

I'm pretty much ready for baby girl to get here. Every time I say that people go, "OH JUST WAIT! You'll want her back in!", which might be true, but yeesh. Also if someone tells me to "sleep while I can" one more time, I might just implode. I know everyone means well when they say stuff like this, but it does nothing for my anxiety and stress and worrying about being a first time mom. I think Brendon said it best the other night, we didn't go into this thing lightly, we sorta knew what we were getting into? I mean, nothing can prepare you for a newborn, I get that, but we knew it wouldn't be easy. I KNOW I'm going to be exhausted and tired and overwhelmed and generally wrecked. But I also know it will be 100% worth it. So if you have a pregnant friend, maybe say, "Good luck, you're going to do great!" or "You've got this!" or "Feel free to ask if you need anything!" instead of, "Kiss your life and sanity goodbye!" Because, damn.

(MUST MAKE NOTE HERE, there have been some AMAZINGLY supportive moms out here on the internet who have been life savers and excellent support systems through all this. I don't have a lot of young mom friends, but you guys have been there. Thank you for answering questions, giving helpful advice, and just being supportive. That support, man. You don't know how far it goes. THANK YOU.)

But seriously, all that whining aside ;), I am so excited. I'm excited to embark on this next adventure and we're so close! In just a few weeks our Seahorse will be out in this crazy world. I keep thinking of events on random future dates and I'm like, "Oh! We'll have the Seahorse!" Like Valentine's Day? THE SEAHORSE WILL BE HERE. EEEE! I want to meet her and hold her and watch her grow. I want to see what being a mom and a three person two cat family is like. Cats and babies! I want to muddle through this mess and find out what works for our family. I want to see Brendon hold that little bundle of goop and watch him be the rock star dad I know he'll be. And I want to change a diaper! I've never changed one before! I will loathe this statement in the future, I am sure of it. I have basically ZERO experience with babies, so this is going to be a wild ride. One that I'll probably fall off of multiple times, but gosh I'm stoked! I will probably be the biggest mess of my life for a few months, but it will be so so so worth it. I am also SO excited to not be pregnant anymore. I am not one of those people who loves being pregnant, and I've had a pretty easy pregnancy. It just kinda sucks, you feel me?

So we're just playing the waiting game! Being confined to staying an hour from the hospital has been real boring and makes the days inch by, but it's forcing me to rest and relax, so I think that's good. But for real, I am going nuts. I just want her to be hereeeee! But I know every day she stays in there makes her stronger, so I'm trying to be patient. It's just, if you know me, I'm not very good being patient. ;)

This photo is a liiiittle on the blurry side, but I spy a SOPHIE! :)