20 weeks + so much love.

I'm not sure how we even made it through yesterday. so. so. so. tired. I decided no more 1 a.m. flights between the capital and our nearest (real) airport here. Basically getting to and from Santiago entails a three-hour bus ride to the Punta Arenas airport and then another 3.5 hour flight to Santiago. This isn't that bad, but when the flights leave and arrive in the wee hours, we have several hours to sit in the airport. Yesterday we arrived at 5 a.m., waited for the sun to rise and headed into Punta Arenas around 8 a.m. Normally we would have been awaiting our bus to take us home to Puerto Natales, but yesterday I'd scheduled baby check-up, because we would be in the area. Problem is, I couldn't see him till 4 p.m., and we essentially only slept 45 minutes the night before. Whew. I write this only to show one of the strangenesses of living in this faraway place. But, really, there is so much goodness I want to share! 

Today, baby is 20 weeks! 

{in all the madness, we forgot to take a belly pic today! 
so here is one from last week, it's already grown so much since then!}

Belly is blooming, as spring sprouts its first green buds under the sun and sudden rain shower blasts. Yesterday's check up went well. The doctor has been so good at making me feel more tranquila. Baby's heartbeat rushes at twice the speed of mine, and what a trip it is to listen in. This morning, hubby and I marveled at how I'm fueling blood enough for two hearts. Two hearts inside me drummin' to their own rhythms; wow.

Lots of errands, bill paying, phone calls, food shopping, unpacking and laundry washing later, it was time to open all the packages we picked up from the post office!  

{yes, that's a sasquatch postcard from my big foot friend ian}

I can't even tell you how much it felt like Christmas or a big birthday today! I don't remember the last time I opened so many presents at one go! Or begin to tell you how thankful I feel! These first two are from blog giveaways that I totally lucked out in winning. 

{mink pink tank from pretty pleased}

This is the Mink Pink Not So Useless Tank from a giveaway at Pretty Pleased. If you don't already follow the beautiful fashionista sisters from North Carolina, you need to pay them a visit! They have so much fun, I have been living vicariously through their warm-weather fashion photo shoots. Incidentally, they are hosting another awesome giveaway now. Check it out. Thank you, Mary Chris and Catherine!

{amazing handmade goodies from angie may handmade}

Next is Angie's beautiful clutch from Angie May Handmade. She filled this cute little clutch (which she says can be used for anything, from pictures to pencils) with more handmade awesomeness and other goodies! Two adorable hairpins, which I wore to the store today, a pretty sequined headband (something that I've been wanting since I no longer have to wear a wool hat out every single day) and a lovely bracelet--all handmade! She also added a perfectly sized mini journal and some buttons and ribbon so I can make my own creations. Angie's blog always calms me and makes me smile. She's positive, driven (learning Korean, just because!), and she puts her heart into each of her beautiful creations. (Visit her Etsy, and see for yourself!) Thank you, Angie!

Stay tuned for part two :)