Baba brought home a sack of a new-to-us grain today: buckwheat. We’re used to buckwheat flour, common around here for delicious buckwheat cakes (dipped in honey, yum!), but had never tried the grain itself (called buckwheat “groat” when it’s raw). We’ve been experimenting with various whole grains, eating Hasty Pudding (cooked cornmeal) for breakfast and brown rice with lunch and dinner, so we’re going to mix things up with buckwheat.

I’ve got a cup of buckwheat soaking in a cup of water and 1 Tbsp vinegar right now. I prefer to soak grains in yogurt, but we’re out. I don’t know if that’s actually the right ratio for buckwheat, but it’s what I do with oats, so we’ll see how it goes.

I’ll cook it for breakfast tomorrow using this yummy-sounding recipe I found on Megan’s Musings. I’d also like to try a granola, but haven’t found a recipe I like yet (well, one on MittenMachen looks delicious, but I don’t have half the ingredients), and I’m not clear on whether you’re supposed to soak then toast, or toast then soak, or choose one but not both… any ideas?

I’m not talking about baby poop… Tigger’s exclusively breastfed, so (though Baba would disagree) her diapers smell somewhat pleasant, like yogurt. I’m not talking about spit-up… messy, yes, but stinky, not particularly. I’m talking about myself. Mama. I’m a stinky Mama.

It’s not because I never have time to shower, though some days (weeks…) that is too true. If I had to guess, I’d give pregnancy’s equivalent of “Jesus” as the “Sunday-School answer”: hormones. I don’t know for sure, and have no basis other than the fact that hormones seem to be the scapegoat for everything that goes weird in a woman’s body when it transforms into a mother. Regardless of why it is, it certainly is.

Case study: I just put a shirt in the dirty clothes pile for the third time. In a row. It’s not Tigger’s shirt, it doesn’t have poop or even spit-up on it. It’s mine. And it stinks. Badly. A few hours ago, I picked up this shirt to hang to dry in our guest bedroom Tigger’s room (oh how I would appreciate a balcony!!) and I smelled a not-good smell. “Oh no,” I sighed, “the laundry got musky while it sat in a heap on the toy chest lid for hours waiting as I tried in vain to get Tigger to nap.” But then I put my nose to the pile, and smelled the pleasant fragrance of fresh laundry. Then I recognized the smell. I hope I’m not the only one who has this problem, because putting it online like this is pretty embarassing, but I sweat when I nurse. A lot. My deodorant is useless, Baba’s helps somewhat. I sweat (and I was previously an almost-never-sweats type!), and it stinks. So my shirt stinks. Bad.

Naturally, I had another load of laundry waiting to be done, so I threw the shirt back in, and got it out a few minutes ago. One armpit stunk still, the other was fine. I didn’t check, but since I have one arm where my sweating is… uh… sweatier, I’m sure I know which one.

This is a mostly pointless entry, but I’m putting myself out here with my sweaty stinky Mama secret, so now’s your turn. If you don’t sweat stinkily when you nurse, don’t mention that, but do share your own discoveries that no one told you would happen when you became a mother! We’re all dying to hear (because we have the same problem and thought it was just us)!

I certainly did not intend to abandon Mama Wit when I actually became a Mama, but if I remember my pre-baby self well, I had no idea how much work newborns can be! Tigger is 12 weeks old and now sleeping consistently at night enough that I think I can carve out at least weekly blogging time. And I’m trying to convince my sister, a Mama three times over, to join me in these witty endeavors. Two sisters, two continents, one name: Mama. Wouldn’t that be fun? (Perhaps someone else can come up with a wittier subline…)

Tigger has taught me so much that I have plenty to share, and I plan to post in the order thoughts come to mind (or jump off the pages of my written journal) because I know from experience that trying to post in order means I’ll never post at all. So stay tuned! And do comment with what you’d like to read about from the past 3+ months, because it just might inspire me to write :-)

to spring…

If you ask me which season is my favorite, I usually name whichever one it currently is. Unless you ask me towards the end of a long, drawn-out season, like this year’s winter which hangs around too far into March for my liking. Then I’ll name the one we’re waiting on to come next!

Nonetheless, this year’s winter was a lot of fun. Very mild in China, very cold here in the States… but we don’t have central heating in China and do here, so it balances out nicely :-). And yet again, I am eagerly awaiting the Spring. Spring: new life, blooming flowers, cool weather, outdoor play, and in our case this time around, a new baby to welcome into all of it. Can’t wait!

Week 28: Back in Oklahoma! We went on a date to a Chinese restaurant and got the fortune cookie: “Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you.” How appropriate! Also met our midwife, then my Dad picked us up for our 7 weeks in Arkansas. It’s great to see and spend time with family and friends, and tell everyone all about the baby!

Week 29: Still in Conway, got to see my sister Mary this week. Lots of fun playing games, laughing with family, and adjusting to life in this country.

Week 30: Babymoon! Paul and I spent part of the week in a cute “rustic” cabin at Petit Jean State Park, celebrating our 3rd anniversary of marriage as well as our last months together before baby arrives. We had a great time hiking, letterboxing, cooking, and enjoying our cozy cabin’s fireplace!

Week 31: Our first baby shower! The ladies of our church, the Landing, hosted it and I was blessed with their love. Everyone brought their favorite children’s books, and we got lots of other goodies for baby, too!

Week-by-week photos from my second trimester. See that belly grow!

Outside my window… a surprisingly sunny day!

I am thinking… of how best to enjoy it

I am thankful for… this little wiggly being inside of me

From the kitchen… lots of peanut butter (Smucker’s Natural, my favorite)

I am wearing… maternity clothes my MIL wore when pregnant with my hubby!

I am creating… catch-up blog posts so I won’t feel “already behind” when baby’s born

I am going… to see my good friend Kathleen in just over a week!

I am reading… The Nursing Mother’s Companion (and re-reading most of my other parenting-related books)

I am hoping… for a healthy baby Hope :-)

I am hearing… nothing. Very quiet in here. I’m sure that won’t last long!

Around the house… lots of laundry to wash and last items to get together for baby!

One of my favorite things… baby leggings. they’re so adorable, I’m addicted to knitting them!

A few plans for the rest of the week: laundry, knitting, reading, emailing people

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…

prompts from The Simple Woman’s Daybook

…one of many answers to “what have you been doing!?”