Here we are, 36 weeks along. Photo courtesy of Rich Sharick, of www.richimagesonline.com. I’m usually a little funny around cameras, I always feel compelled to make some dumb looking face for the camera (must be a holdover from childhood). Check out the gallery for a few more shots (some even include a gratuitous bellyshot! Wooo!). Mind you, the pictures in the gallery are sized large so my mom and MIL can print these to Shutterfly.

Some time ago, I had read this article on the Pandora Music Genome project. Just recently I was reminded by my best friend in the whole wide world that it’s still around and evidently thriving. If you find yourself online most of the day listening to internet radio, I highly recommend signing up and let Pandora generate music lists for you. You create your own stations, and you can even control what is played (or never played again) by interacting with Pandora’s selection interface. I’ve created a couple of different channels based on some different genres, and Pandora does a neat job of matching up similar artists quite randomly…I can listen to the artists I know, plus new ones I wouldn’t have otherwise known were related to my interests. A very clever project.

Listen to Pandora now!

I admit, I wasn’t feeling the various nursery theme ideas presented at the very-much-over-the-top Babies ‘R’ Expensive. Never mind the fact I had opted to not repaint the converted office/studio to the nursery (it’s a lovely mocha cosy nest) to something light and bright and pretty. I guess the neutral walls are a good fit since Baby P’s sex is unknown, so a better reason not to repaint. Being said, I still wanted something special to introduce to the nursery to make it FEEL more like a child’s room — not like a former office that happens to contain a crib.

Two gifts I received at my baby shower helped to establish “that something special”.

Gift One: A handmade artisan diaper bag of brown denim fabric on the outside, and a wonderful sock monkey print on the inside.

Gift Two: A handmade artisan quilt that my best friend and her mother made for me featuring several comical panels of sock monkeys.

The perfect theme for a neutral nursery, as sock monkeys are for EVERYONE. Even Punk Sock Monkeys. Thank you K and MGBH, your combined gifts have inspired a very welcoming and fun nursery theme. I’ve since purchased one sock monkey kit to make myself, a 20 inch classic sock monkey and a 10 inch sock gorilla (couldn’t resist, he was so cute).

I wonder if an obsession with monkeys is hereditary?