9 weeks... that's not so bad!

9 weeks left, theoretically, until our new son makes his entrance.

I hear from both men and women, "9 weeks? You're almost done!"
From the men I simply roll my eyes because I know they say this completely oblivious to what the last 9 weeks (or any weeks) of pregnancy feels like.
From the women, mostly mothers themselves, I know they are trying to be positive and cheery because they DO know what those last weeks can feel like.
They usually follow the statement up with something like, "...but they are considered full term by 36 weeks right? and even at 32 weeks they are usually good to be born with little complications, right?"
Hey! Now I only have 2- 9 weeks to go. It's that glimmer of an early, but perfectly safe and healthy delivery that keeps us all going at the end.

I still love being pregnant. It's an incredible honor and there is nothing I would trade for the feeling of a little person growing and moving in my belly. There is also something awesome about having this huge, commanding belly and loving it instead of feeling self conscious about it. I can't think of another time in my life when I've actually felt more beautiful and confident completely naked rather than clothed. Still, I can feel my fortress of bliss being slowly chipped away by a multitude of villains.

the scale- I know gaining weight during pregnancy is required and healthy, but my irrational mind still manages to make me feel lousy every time I have to take that step up onto the deviously accurate physician's scale... the fact that you have to do it more frequently the closer to term you are (and fatter you feel) is simply wrong.

cereal- it's not just for breakfast anymore. it is also a chaser to almost any meal or snack. why? i have no idea. it just is. am I right?

shoes- one serious perk to summer pregnancy has to be flip flops and light airy dresses. Since I live in in New England I am battling with jeans, sweaters, seriously flawed maternity jackets (thanks a bunch, the Gap) and worst of all, shoes!!! Lace up snow boots and sneakers. Zip up boots. They are all evil when there is a bowling ball of elbows and knees fighting you when you try to bend over to get them on your feet.

February- The most wicked of them all. If February were a human we would not be friends. It's colder than the previous months and filled with snow and sleet and rain... sometimes all in the same day. February, I hate, hate, hate you. I was pregnant with my first son mostly through summer and the heat never bothered me much (must be living in Texas for so many years before moving to New England) but this winter is killing me.
I was fine until February came. Now I loathe every snowflake because it means boots and shoveling. Both very unappealing to a big, pregnant mama with 9 weeks to go.

what do Gladys Knight, Ozzy Osbourne and the Old 97's have in common?

They have all sung the word, "train".
For my two-year-old son that is enough commonality to make a killer playlist. This is great news for me because linking songs together by a common word or theme is about the extent of my dj-ing talent.
My junior high mix tapes sucked. There was no flow, just awkward breaks from one song to the next (if you were lucky enough for the song not to be cut short before the next) and it really didn't matter if one song led into the next one smoothly...and mostly I was recording the songs off the radio. BUT this no longer matters! My son is fully satisfied with my mixing skills and so Ozzy's "Crazy Train" is unapologetically followed by "Midnight Train to Georgia" and everyone is happy.

2 days and a few thousand booths later...

My partner and I spent the past weekend at New York International Gift Fair scoping out some last minute picks for our store opening in March. Two under-dressed, pregnant gals zooming up and down aisles and aisles of everything you can imagine.
I can not tell you how overwhelming that event is...and incredibly cool.
Unlike some of the trade shows we've attended in the past this one actually had some separate areas for handmade goods and goods made in the US.....if they could have made these sections within a larger division dedicated strictly to kids goods we'd have been in heaven, but as it was we still had to navigate all the different venue locations to hunt down everything we wanted to check out.
I think we managed the event quite well.

1- we found some terribly cool new products that we haven't seen around yet to put into our store that actually fit our requirements of sustainability and trade practices! This is insanely hard to do at these huge shows and can be extremely disappointing when you find cool things you like, but they don't meet any of those standards.
2- we were only bombarded with one rude tirade about labor practices when we asked a toy company about their manufacturing facilities. We can accept that "made in China" is not synonymous with "sweatshop"... which is why we'll ask how much the company is involved in the production of their products.
The gist was about how we wouldn't want to work there, but it's not like they had limbless infants producing their toys. The whole tone was really condesending and aggressive and weird for a sales person.
3- we got to put faces to people we've only known through e-mail up until now.

A few of our favorites that are no big secret since they are already pretty big on the scene:

Robeez new Tredz line- I actually picked up a pair of these for my son last summer at Marshall's and everyone that has admired them since, has lamented being unable to find them, even on the Robeez site. Apparently, I was in the right time and place. They were one pair from a 5 thousand pair run of prototypes. The official line just launched this week. These shoes are awesome! My son loves his and my big fat pregnant self loves that he can put them on by himself.

Erbavivia- This line of high end natural skin care products is incredible all around. If the gorgeous packaging doesn't get you past the price tag the companies eco-friendly business practices will. The products are actually made in the US. The packaging is recyclable and the company is working towards 100% no waste, carbon-neutral manufacturing.....and they donate some of their proceeds to charities. I don't mind paying top dollar for a product when they go the extra mile. Isn't it nice to know the price is justified by more than just product popularity?

Pixel Organics- I seriously hope that we have the budget to include this kick-ass line of bedding in our store in the near future. It's organic, it's made in the States, the graphics are drool-worthy, and it's a bit pricey. I guess, most designer crib sets are pricey to me, but I've never been able to justify upwards of $300 for crib bedding. I could do it for this line of bedding....if only I had the $$!!!
Oh! And they just launched a line of infant wear that is really adorable and organic....and pricey. Sigh...It's good to want, right?