Powwow and Popping

Well, despite my last post, there were no Apache crown dancers nor Navajo Yei bi Chei's at the powwow.  Neither of these tribes or dances are traditionally for powwows, if I understand correctly.  But we did go to the powwow, hosted by Diné College, and enjoyed watching all the different styles of dancers that were there.  As far as I know, they were mostly plains tribes (or in the style and dress of northern plains tribes), like Blackfeet, Sioux, Cheyenne, etc.   Although it would have been fine, I did not take my camera - I guess I just didn't want to be that bilagaana!  But the clothing included all sorts of neon colors, elaborate beading, fanciful feather-filled headdresses, jingle bells. 
They started with the tiny tots, including a few babies whose parents just held them and walked them around the dance floor.  Surprisingly, a few of them didn't even have any sort of special costume on, just a contestant number.  I guess at that age, it's more like a cutest baby contest.  Then they proceeded with older kids, and up from there, in each different category of dance/dress.  We left before the main event, the adult men's fancy dancers (i promise, that's what they're called), but saw several of them dancing during the beginning singing/drumming contest.  Check out this youtube video of some men fancy dancing.  The clothing and dress were a lot like this, although the singing and drumming seemed to be a different style than what you hear there. 

Also, I'm now 26 weeks along in this pregnancy.  What?!  Time flies.  And that means it's been a whole month since the belly pics I last posted.  And two weeks since I last TOOK pics specifically of the belly.  And I'm really starting to pop now.  In fact, the pics below were after coming home from church, where a lady specifically asked if I was expecting, congratulating and telling me she had not noticed before.  Now it's two weeks later and the belly's even bigger.  Over the past weekend I had a few strangers acknowledge it too.  I'll have Ryan take a few updated pictures when he gets home. 

So here I am at 24 weeks:  

ryan was not cooperating (ok, maybe I was the one not cooperating...) but this gives you the full effect.