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Almost Eighteen Weeks – cartoon from babygaga.com

Didn’t I just post a bump report like seconds ago? Has it really been a week? You’d think I’d have all sorts of new things to tell you, but no. This pregnancy is more boring that watching water boil. I wonder if I should knock on wood or something? I swear I’ve just been waiting for the big bad news that something is wrong, I’m not really pregnant, I suck at life, something. Or maybe some great news? Honestly at this point any news would be awesome. So I am more than a little happy that my next prenatal appointment is on Monday. I’ll be getting not only the appointment but my next ultrasound so (assuming I’m still pregnant) maybe I’ll be able to fill you all in on BB’s little gender bits? That’d be fun.

Let’s see, what’s new with the always-more-interesting-than-its-mother BB this week, facts obtained from the fabulous babycenter.com:

BB is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and weighs almost 7 ounces.

BB’s busy flexing their arms and legs — movements that I’ll supposedly start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead (last night I kept trying to convince myself I could feel kicking but I think it was just my heartbeat or gas or something because it was rapid fire and probably wouldn’t have been a good sign, like if that was kicking then BB was saying something along the lines of, “Hey you get me out of here!”). If BB is a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If I’m having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may choose to hide them from me at my ultrasound on Monday. The jerk.

Alright that’s all for this weeks folks – I’m sure I’ll have something moderately interesting to talk about next week – at the very least some ultrasound tales and confirmation on just how pregnant I really am. ::winks::

Those geniuses at 5 Minutes For Mom just started a new series called 5 Minutes For Photography. Their first article is about the angles we use when taking pictures. I think most photographers start out just taking out the camera and taking the shot, without much thought beyond capturing that moment. I can still remember when I first discovered my now very standard up from on high angle. I have a million pictures using this technique and most are my favorites. But for some reason my creativity stopped there so I was inspired this morning after reading the article @ 5MFM to pull out my new favorite camera and play with angles. My son loved the spur of the moment attention and was super cute, so you are in for a treat! Here are some of my favorite results from all the basic angles I could think of, short of trying to stand on a chair or doing some other weird not-advised-for-pregnant-women maneuvers:

So I really only ended up doing “way up above” and “way down below” but it was still a neat exercise in creativity and I love the great pictures I got out of it. MM loved the quality time with mom’s camera. And I can probably call it an aerobic workout crawling around on the floor for the last half. No pregnant bellies were harmed in the taking of these pictures.

Want to join in on the fun? Get out your camera and have some fun with angles with your own brood, then link up to 5 Minutes For Mom with your results!

Grade: A +

It’s no secret that I love me some Jasper Fforde. His Thursday Next series just blows my mind every time with brilliant awesomeness. From the first book, The Eyre Affair, I was absolutely hooked and I’ve been devouring them ever since, most recently with book four, Something Rotten. These books have a little bit of everything – the literary references are never ending and wonderful, the worlds he creates inside and outside of literature is fascinating, detailed and wonderful even when absurd. There is a science fiction angle involving things like time travel, cloning, eradications and being able to jump inside (and out of) books. There are wonderful commentaries on religion, politics, marketing, big business and more. There’s even a love story thrown in for good measure.

It’s hard to go into great detail as any number of details from this book would be a spoiler for books prior to it – and you really don’t want any mysteries spoiled going into this. I will say that the Thursday Next series, while wonderful, is not as easy a read as the other books I typically read. I can usually read any standard book (okay fine, young adult and chick lit) in under a week. Thursday Next books take me at least two (the first one took me even longer, as I had to acclimate myself with Fforde’s hugely detailed plot lines, not to mention the complex world he’s created). But I love every minute of it. My husband frequently gives me strange looks when I laugh out loud in the middle of the night (when I should be sleeping but instead am up reading justonemorechapter) and has enjoyed several passages that I’ve quoted for him out loud when I just couldn’t stand keeping the brilliance to myself.

So if you like science fiction, literature, love stories, satire, and funny, intelligent plots with a never ending twist, I highly recommend the Thursday Next series, including but not limited to Something Rotten, book four.

This review was cross-posted to my review blog, mommasreview.