Familiar, but unwelcome red streaks.

Baby Cute's acrobatics and increasing chubbiness have finally pushed my belly to a stretching point. I've been mindlessly scratching my belly lately and this morning I noticed the familiar sight of new stretch marks to the right of my belly button. Hello, old friends.


I've been a pretty consistent weight for the better part of 6 or 7 years now, so it's been a while since I've gotten new stretch marks. Time to break out the lotion and remind myself NOT to scratch. My maternity clothes are also becoming shorter and shorter in the front. Most things still fit just ok, but not EVERYTHING anymore. I can't help but wonder what will fit in another 3, 4, 5 or 6 weeks...



I think we're finally close to putting the finishing touches on the nursery... I ordered a rug from JC Penney and it is on its way to Baby Cute's room already. Here it is, in yellow of course. :)



And I think we're getting close to ordering some custom vinyl from Vinyl Attraction to complete the "You are my sunshine" theme. This will go over the changing table across from the crib...


It's also time to start talking about our "Birth Plan." You hear some varying opinions about birth plans. Some people joke that if you write one, the exact opposite happens. Others are strong advocates, saying it lets the hospital staff know that you are an informed consumer and know your options and rights. I'm pretty much in the middle--I don't know what's going to happen, and I know not to be too hung up on my "plan," but I know some things for sure:

• NO students in my room, please. There are hundreds of babies born at Sparrow every week; the students can look at someone else's crotch.
• I am open to pain medication and would like to know my options.
• I would like move about freely during labor.
• I would like to avoid having an IV unless my doctor feels it is necessary.
• David would like to cut the cord, and we ask that it stops pulsing before it is cut.
• I am planning to exclusively breastfeed; do not give my Baby Cute a bottle or pacifier.

My co-worker Beth asked me if I would be heading to Saginaw after dropping David off in Mt. Pleasant on Saturday and the thought hadn't entered my mind. Now that it's mulling around in there, I'm thinking I may really enjoy seeing my parents and my grandmas again before my travel is limited to a one-hour radius... We shall see... My days of having the car to myself and being able to travel on a whim are limited.

Alien Baby.

Dave saw my belly physically move this morning. I've seen it a couple of times, and when I set books on my belly they have certainly bumped around a tad, but there were some serious waves of motion happening in my torso today. Whoa. Baby Cute also did some kind of stretching or readjusting movement that made me cuss it felt so weird. I've been calling him a busy baby, but he is well on his way to crazy alien baby these days!

Overall, I still feel great. I am sending my thanks to the Big Guy upstairs for a forecast of mid-70's and low-80's over the weekend. Hooray! I am looking forward to airing out the house and cleaning and perhaps garage sale-ing. :)

One of the fun things we did at my work shower was have everyone bring in a baby photo. Luckily, we have a video production team that is part of my department, so they put together a fun video of everyone's pictures. It was really cool. So now I have this lovely digital scan of myself at 7 months.

On the count of three... One, two, three, AWWWWWW!

Here are my 34 week updates. Six weeks to go. Wow.

BabyCenter: Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

BabyGaga: Your amazing baby is on the move! They’ve been riding fairly high in your stretched-out womb till now (while kindly compressing your poor internal organs), but now they’re planning on making the big move to your pelvis this week. If you haven’t noticed it already, you’ll be feeling the weight shift that signals that your baby is most likely out of breech position, with their head now resting on your pubic bone. In liver news: although not quite fully formed, your little miracle’s liver is now capable of processing a certain amount of waste. In general, most of your child’s prenatal physical development is pretty much up to snuff and ready for the outside world. Naturally, further weight gain is expected—so you’re still not at maximum capacity despite probably feeling like you definitely are maxed out.

The warmest baby alive.

I spent a few minutes taking pics this morning so ya'll could see Baby Cute's nursery. Then I realized the memory card wasn't in the camera. Then I put the memory card in and didn't realize that the first few pictures I took were stored on the camera's internal memory so I don't have the general photos of the crib and room. Ugh. Regardless, it's really coming together!

My co-worker Francie bought us the "Guess How Much I Love You" Nutbrown Hare. I love him... Dave had to remind me that he was for the baby...

I haven't sorted Baby Cute's clothes out by size yet, but he is well on his way to being a very well-dressed baby. :)

The "onesie" and "sleeper" drawer is starting to bust at the seams. We have a wide variety of sizes, so I'm waiting for my nesting instincts to kick in so I realize I need to wash everything and organize it for "right away" and "much later."

I had a shower here at work yesterday. So many cute, cute things! The folks here function differently than at my previous jobs--we don't really celebrate each other's birthdays or buy our boss a gift for Christmas or involve our students the way we did at the CSO. It's not bad, just different. They're not the group gift type, but instead each brought books, blankets, outfits and a few thoughtful touches like a snowglobe that plays "hush little baby" and an MSU baby figurine and a Michigan Counting Book. It was really nice, and it was so fun to put things away in Baby Cute's drawers yesterday. I have to say, though, that he is bound to be THE warmest baby alive. When it's time for him to sleep in his crib, I don't know where we will put all of his adorable blankets!

We got so many great books for Baby Cute! We're going to have to find a bookshelf to put in his room!
Other than a crib full of blankies, the bottom drawer of his dresser is full of blankets and sheets. Our upstairs gets really chilly in the winter, so I think we will be putting them all to good use. :)

We got to see David's Dad and stepmom Pam on Saturday for lunch. We had delicious hamburgers and calzones at Dusty's Tap Room (mmm, black olives and blue cheese) and great conversation as usual. Gary and Pam found an MSU quilt at their local Alpine-Fest in Gaylord along with a matching MSU bib. You can see it in the very first picture, it's fabulous! Pam also picked out some adorable outfits and a layette set with a puppy hooded towel in it that I just love. It was so nice to see them, and we are looking forward to their visit after Baby Cute arrives.

Hmmm, what else has happened since Friday? I dragged Dave all around west Lansing on Monday in search of the "right" nightgown to pack in my hospital bag. Seriously folks. Just when I thought plus size maternity clothes were lacking something I went searching for a nursing nightgown. I'm not the pajama type, so I just need ONE. And I'm sorry, but I refuse to wear anything with polka dots, teddy bears or bows--new Mommy or not. What's wrong with making a PLAIN, cotton, nightgown in a size 3X? Several that go to 2X, but apparently when you reach my size you are relegated to polka dots and teddy bears. Ugh. So I decided to improvise and try to find something with buttons or a surplus neck or something stretchy enough to pull down for breastfeeding. Lane Bryant and JC Penney were a bust, TJ Maxx had a cute spaghetti strap one that I bought just in case, and I found several that were suitable at Kohl's. Good 'ol Kohl's! So I think I'm settled on the nightgown issue for now at least.

David went back to Pearson today and it hit me that we are nearing the Labor Day weekend! The annual Flat Roof Golf Outing is on Sunday, so I am driving my sweetie to Mt. Pleasant on Saturday so he can get in on all of the fun and I can still work at the baby store on Sunday before heading north for the post-golf festivities. We are planning to spend Labor Day at HOME. There is also some serious cleaning I would like to get done before my friends come over for shower festivities on the 8th. I'm so excited to see Mary Frog Toes (and everyone else!).

I feel a little preggo-stupid today. Not only did I forget to take another general picture of Baby Cute's room for ya'll, I also forgot all of my thank you notes--signed, sealed, stamped--on the chair at home. Grrrrr. Last week was so crazy I barely had time to do a couple every night and I finally got my tears flowing and my writing mojo together to try and properly thank all of my amazing family for their generosity. Then I FORGET the freaking cards. Roar.

Other good news is that my friend Heather had her baby boy last week! Parker Craig-awwww! He is soooo cute! Heather had a pretty uneventful pregnancy like yours truly, but little Parker did NOT want to come out so they ended up inducing Heather and he was born about 14 hours later via C-section. I'm happy to report that Mom and Baby are doing well--I may get the chance to visit them this weekend.

Isn't he so sweet?! Heather reports that she didn't know she could love someone as much as she loves him. :)

Ok, need to wrap up, but a few more random notes. Baby Cute's carseat is SO cute. I've been peeing so often lately, it's there every time I go into our downstairs bathroom and I smile every time I see it. We haven't talked lately about when we'll be shopping for a new car, so we may be installing it in Belinda the Bonneville before too long...

It is ready and waiting in the spare room...

And we bought Baby Cute's mobile over the weekend. It's looking like we'll have some loose ends to pick up off our registry and the mobile I love is being discontinued and I happened to have a 15% off coupon, so we just bought it. SO cute. :)

And I know you are all anxiously waiting to see the cutest Baby Cute onesie. He is definitely wearing it to meet his Great Grandma and Grandpa Wiacek. :)

I'm 34 weeks today, but I'll post updates later. Basically, Baby Cute's job is getting fat. My job is trying not to waddle or pee my pants. So far, I have not lost bladder control, but I promise not to tell you all if I do.

Baby Cute's First Tigers Game and My First Flip-Out.

Happy Birthday, Daddy Cute!

Dave and I went to see the Tigers play Cleveland on Tuesday night. My Tiger is Zoom-Zoom Zumaya and he made his first appearance post-injury, only adding to the excitement. We ate hot dogs and drank expensive beer (Dave) and water (me). Baby Cute got a souvenir--"My First Tigers Tee." We picked the 3/6 month size so he could wear it while he watches sports with his Daddy.

We had aisle seats and sat in amongst friendly folks, also wonderful. We got home late, but it was a blast.

My trip to Traverse City was good. It was breezy, rainy and slightly cool, making for a pleasurable day to be outside. I met a lot of new people and connected a lot of faces with names. Perhaps my favorite part was sitting across from the state climatologist at dinner and talking about childcare and stay-at-home parenting. This will make future interviews with him that much more personal. Sometimes, it's nice to talk with academics like they are people because, you know, they are.

I slept well at Dave and Carolyn's and hit the road early enough today to stop in Gaylord and see Grandma Scott. We had a nice visit. I hadn't seen her since before her fall and she looks great. I'm glad I stopped.

Right about Grayling I started to get some incredible pain in my back. It was wrapping all the way around to my front, making me think perhaps I was having my first Braxton-Hicks contractions. I was mega-nauseous and on the brink of tears. I made it to Clare and called David at the rest area. I drove way too fast the rest of the way home and got right into bed. I woke up after an hour's nap still in a lot of pain, so I called the OB's office. Our appointment on Thursday went well, but the Nurse was pretty clear that following my instincts and being wrong was a strong preference over having a baby in NICU. I described my symptoms and they had an opening this afternoon, so they just had us come in. They did an NST-test--short for Non-Stress Test--to monitor fetal movement and to see if I was having actual contractions.

In short, nope. I'm fine. With some food and tylenol, I realized more and more that it was definitely muscular-skeletal. Sitting in a car for 4 hours, being on my feet for several hours and sleeping away from home is going to affect me in new and not-so-good ways. The Nurse on Thursday was also pretty clear--no travel more than an hour away after 36 weeks, so that won't be a real issue for much longer.

We had some tornado activity in the area tonight and Dave and I enjoyed our finished basement complete with television and chest freezer holding ice cream sandwiches. There are worse ways to wait out a storm.

Tomorrow, David's Dad and stepmom are coming to visit and Dave has to work a party at night. I am going to dig into my thank you notes, finish laundry and otherwise take it easy. My body is still quite angry with me.

Saginaw Shower

My Saginaw shower was awesome. I was more emotional than I thought I would be, but everyone was SO thoughtful. Guests came from all over to celebrate Baby Cute--my Aunt Karen, Aunt Cynthia and cousin Erin, my godmother Janice and cousin Becky from the Detroit area, my Mom's best friend Maria, my Mom's fabulous co-workers who I worked with in college, Carolyn came all the way from Central Lake, even my Grandma Natali's good friends Bev and Audrey came! It was small and intimate, but still big enough to be a loud and chatty party.

My Mom surprised me by making a quilt in all of Baby Cute's nursery colors AND she used several pieces of material from my childhood that I had left at home after we made a dress or covered a chair with it. It looks soooo perfect in Baby Cute's crib. She also made a valance from the crib dust ruffle material.

The quilt made me cry. My Mom and Dad also bought Baby Cute's crib and mattress and extended the weekend even longer and drove to Lansing to pick it up , put it together and set it up on Sunday. The room is looking so put together and Baby Cute's crib is absolutely perfect. He does, however, have a TON of blankets. I may be proven wrong, but I think we are all blanketed out.

Everything was delicious shades of apple green and sunshine yellow. There were cheerful yellow bottles filled with coordinated skittles and mentos and tiny diapers wrapping each napkin and happy yellow flowers on the centers of each table. In short, it was "wow."

Delicious "Karen cake." Mmmm, soooooo good!

My sister Meredith came up with the idea to take my picture with each shower guest. She sent Dave and my brother Nathan out to have them developed during the shower and I got to go home with a scrapbook with pictures of everyone and their advice on the same page. It is a treasure.

We didn't play games, but instead decorated bibs, burp clothes and onesies for Baby Cute. Oh my gosh, it was SO fun!! Some of my favorites are "Take me to Chicago" from Aunt Meredith, "Goodnight Baby Cute" from LaRissa, "No More Silent Nights" from my Mom (in Christmas style, of course), "Full tummy, dry diaper, night-night" from my Aunt Cynthia and Erin, "The next president" from Bev and "Luckiest Baby Alive" from Mary. When we got home, Melanie got her creative juices flowing again and did a few extras including my two all-time favorite onesies--One with a Polish flag on it that says "Cuteski" and a Cabbage Patch Kid one with the logo on the front and the Xavier Roberts signature on the butt. The CPK one is a 12-month size... but I don't think I'm going to be able to wait very long to put it on him! I LOVE it!

And oh my gosh the presents!

My siblings went together and bought us our super-D-duper travel system. So now, Baby Cute can come home from the hospital and we can go on walks together in the crunchy leaves in our neighborhood. Norma from my Mom's office made us a beautiful, rainbow-colored blanket and a fleece blanket with the cutest hippos on it for BOTH Baby Cute and I. My Aunt Jana sent a special package from California. She made us a fleecey swaddle blanket, a quilt, a baby sock "bouquet"and other amazing hand-crafted items. My Aunt Janice and Becky picked out our swing, so the newly painted room has matching accessories. :) Audrey picked out Baby Cute's play gym so he can listen to music and enjoy a little "tummy time" thanks to her. Grandma Ebig got us the monitor and I can hardly wait until Baby Cute is big enough to use his "Jumperoo" from Grandma Natali! There was more, but I'll wait to show it off until Baby Cute is actually using the stuff! :)

Baby Cute is officially labeled as a "Chick Magnet" by Aunt Cynthia. :)

"POOPS! I did it again" and "Wanted: For Cuteness" from my sister Josephine. I still laugh when I visit them in the closet!

My Mom found a little blue sunhat that makes me wish for sunshine and baby boys. :)

The shower architects. Melanie, Meredith and Mom. Thank you so much!

I know there are more pictures floating around, but these are the ones I have for right now!

Bangor Shower!

Finally pictures!

I'll split them up for your viewing pleasure.

The food table. Sooooo pretty!

The cake. Delicious and beautiful. My latest question is... What does one do with a clay sleeping baby in a cabbage? Too cute to discard, too big for a scrapbook, too random for decoration...


Sweaty me and beautiful Baby Tayden. He is angelic!

Baby Tayden REALLY wanted to grab my braces. I will keep this in mind for Baby Cute... Also, my sister is a dork.

Carolyn found adorable sports-themed receiving blankets for Baby Cute. I love them!

Grandma Carolyn also found a baby time capsule. A great project for me while I am on leave. I wonder what Baby Cute will think of 2007... I've got nuthin' on 1980...

33 Weeks.

Just 7 weeks, folks.

I promise to do a nice, big, chatty update soon. I have pictures from the shower and from Baby Cute's first Detroit Tigers game yesterday. What I don't have is time. I'm off to Traverse City tomorrow right after our appointment with the nurse practitioner. I'm drowning at the office in both work and politics.

Baby Cute is a busy, busy boy. I love him more and more every day and am getting excited about being away from work for a while and focusing on my little guy, my big guy and my family in general. He's getting so big that I can wake him up by poking at him much more effectively now. He can also keep me awake at night with his acrobatics, so we're trying to co-exist peacefully in my body.

Tonight I am eating tomato sandwiches for dinner. I called into the baby store--I am RIGHT on the brink of the preggo emotional breakdown and absolutely exhausted. Sometimes, I come first.

Here are the weekly updates...

BabyCenter: This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

BabyGaga: For all of the weight and bulk you’re lugging around these days, you’d think your little champ should weigh much more than a mere 5 lbs and measly 17 inches in height, but nope, that’s about the average size for a baby in its thirty-third week. In terms of appearances, they’re getting cuter and pudgier every minute as they pile on the baby fat for those adorable little wrist rolls and chubby toes. And as we’re sure you’ve already noticed they’re getting stronger with every passing day. Nowadays, it’s possible to observe a well-placed kick just by watching your belly—but you already knew that didn’t you? Although they’re getting stronger, your bigger-by-the-day baby is losing space to move around, so the actual rate of movement will drop off in the last few weeks, despite that powerful drop-kick they’ve been working on. Hey, did you know you’ll continue feeling their movements even during labor?

Tragedy is just two degrees away.

I work with a fabulous woman named Megghan. She is my age, but her life has been a topsy-turvy, up and down journey that makes me appreciate my semi-normal life. Megghan lost both of her parents while she was in college. She has one brother. He and his wife were expecting their first child this month. Megghan's not a big fan of kids, but she had done so much to help them prepare including making a scrapbook and custom designing baby shower invitations.

Megghan just stopped by to tell me that her brother and sister-in-law lost their baby last week. She was at full term, but apparently the baby's umbilical cord got pinched closed and the baby passed away. They went in for their regular appointment and the doctors knew something was wrong. She delivered their baby girl naturally and it doesn't appear to be genetic or anything other than a freak act of nature and God's will.

Baby Cute must know how upsetting this is to me, cause he is moving around, reminding me that some things are just meant to be, and some things are beyond our ability to understand or rationalize.

Megghan's family had a small service last week and seem to be doing very well. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. I'm obviously shaken up, but ok.

Showered.

More pics later, but this crazy thing called work is demanding my attention.

The weekend was amazing. My sister-meter has been filled, there is a crib in my house and a travel system in my living room. I ate tomato sandwiches, laughed an extraordinary amount and was showered with so much love and good wishes I am bursting.

David looked at me as we drove home yesterday and said "I'm getting really excited about having a son." Um, yeah. Me, too.

Baby Scratch Fever.

Baby Cute is developing finger and toenails. This could be linked to my cravings for milk, or I could be a crazy pregnant woman who loves dairy products. Whatever. Baby Cute is definitely growing away, being a busy baby boy. He has been quieter this week. I think he is saving up all of his good kicking and punching for the weekend. Smart boy; it's going to be a busy weekend.

I'm so happy to feel so good. I keep expecting to NOT feel good because of the way people trepidatiously ask me "How are you feeling?" I feel great, actually! I planned a last minute trip to Traverse City yesterday to cover an event for work next Thursday. While my planning instincts continue to rage away inside of me, I am doing my best to take each day as it comes and not plan too much in advance. So far, I've been pleasantly surprised at how good I feel and how productive I continue to be at work and home. My co-workers especially keep hesitantly asking me how I am feeling, like they expect the answer to be "horrible!" But no complaints. I'm thrilled to be going to TC to take pictures and do interviews at a field day next week. I'll wear tennis shoes and drink a lot of water and be extra careful to prevent falling. :)

Today is my last day in the office this week. I am so excited to head to Saginaw tonight! So excited to see all of my siblings tomorrow! So excited to feel Baby Cute startle when my parents' dog Bella goes crazy when I arrive! So excited to see the joy on David's face when he gets to experience "Karen cake" again! So excited to see all of my Mom and sister's hard work on the shower come together on Saturday!

We've hit the 8-month mark Baby Cute. Good job growing. Keep up the good work. I will keep feeding you frappucino and corn pops (oh, and fruit and vegetables and whole grains of course).

BabyCenter: By now, your baby is just shy of 4 pounds and is nearly 17 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

BabyGaga: In the latest womb reports, your amazing baby has now developed sensitivity to temperature! This means you’ll probably get a swift kick if you put a hot pad on your ginormous belly. For the Elton John lovers out there-- yes, baby’s got blue eyes. At this point, all babies do, although depending on their chromosomal disposition, this could easily change after birth (or even between now and labor), but for the time being, blue it is. Thanks to their recently matured lungs and a remarkably strong immune system, over 90% of babies born in their 32nd week, survive premature births. So it’s pretty much a done deal. Even if your little monkey’s planning on heading out early, their survival odds are in everyone’s favor. Time to celebrate (no, no, wait until after the birth to crack open the champagne!) We’re talking baby-showers and alcohol-free punch!

Quick, someone get the preggo some Pepcid.

So there are lots of preggo stereotypes out there. Forgetfulness, falling, puffing up, waddling, glowing, crying, worrying, take your pick. As my regular readers know, I've taken a few tumbles, puffed up a bit and done my fair share of crying. However, so far, I haven't been too forgetful or lost anything important. Until Saturday.

I picked up the BIG box of Pepcid at Target on Saturday. I even went for the name-brand stuff, which is not my normal behavior with OTC medicine. $15 ladies and gentlemen, but enough Pepcid for regular 12 hour intervals from now until October 10. My heartburn has been that bad. For example, I ate an english muffin with cream cheese for breakfast on Saturday. THAT gave me wicked heartburn. Seriously? An english muffin? Right.

So the $15 has been debited out of my account, the receipt clearly shows David and I purchased the Pepcid, but there is NO FREAKIN' PEPCID in my possession. I'm stubborn (not news to any of you, I know), so I've thus far refused to buy new Pepcid. $15 is a lot of money mid-month for this one paycheck a month gal.

Then I had Chinese food for lunch. Let me tell you, I would pay $30 for one Pepcid tablet right now. I may even be willing to offer naming rights to my fetus. Ugh. I HATE heartburn. The salty goodness of the Chinese food was excellent, but my swollen fingers and raging heartburn are making me reconsider my next visit to Oodles of Noodles.

Other than the heartburn, I feel splendid. Baby Cute is a busy little guy as usual. I'm still loving my waking up time with David and Baby in the mornings. My upper and lower belly has less and less distinction between it and I may even have a few NEW stretch marks on my upper tummy. My internal thermostat is set about 10 degrees hotter than everyone else's, so I'm pretty hot and sweaty most of the time, even in air conditioning. Go figure. Nothing to complain about, but just subtle changes in my body that I find fascinating.

My Mom and I had a nice, long self-affirming chat about breastfeeding last night. We're both pretty passionate about it, so it was fun to hear my Mom recounting the cultural shift she was up against when deciding to breastfeed us and fun to share my growing knowledge about the intricacies and pitfalls associated with being a new breastfeeding mom.

I got approval to work from Saginaw on Friday so David can drop me off at my parents' on Thursday night. My other option was to ride with Meredith late on Friday or wait until David got out of work on Friday. Either way, putting me in Saginaw well after Melanie lands in Michigan, which is NOT what I want. I am itching to hug her and convince her nephew the Zucchini to kick her properly.

I'm off to the orthodontist to be systematically and voluntarily tortured. Today my last big payment is due, so at least in the future I won't be paying someone to torture me once a month. I find it funny when people think I'm doing this for cosmetic reasons. HA.

The Green Room.

Well, we surely own our home, but we hadn't had the opportunity to be do-it-yourselfers until this weekend. We've been lucky enough to have the expertise of our parents giving many helping hands along the way. To date, this has been an amazing blessing. But partially because I wanted to prove that we could, partially because I was having trouble finding curtains for the spare room and partially because I found a green color I love that just HAPPENS to match the pack n' play on our registry that I know will be spending most of its time in that room I was persuasive enough to convince David that we needed to paint the spare room.





We succeeded! From lemon yellow with flowery wallpaper border to a warm sagey "garden hedge" green in just an afternoon. Hooray!

The official "before" picture, taken before we moved in.

I insisted on covering the bed and table in case of paint "dust." David was kind enough to let me be a little crazy. Not a drop of anything on the bed or table.

David is cute AND he can reach the ceiling. Uh huh, adorable AND useful!

A nice peek at the "garden hedge" glory. I'll post more later when we re-load the room.

We really enjoyed ourselves. I'm a much better detail painter and enjoyed edging and touching up. David has delightfully long arms and much more experience with the roller thanks to 10 days of home improvement fun with his Mom before we moved in in January. We really enjoyed ourselves.

David worked on Saturday night, I worked until 4 today. I was attacked by strange children as David and I were rounding out our browsing through the boys' clothing section at the baby store. Well, strange until I saw his signature red hair and her mischievous grin. It was Mackie and Zoe, kiddos #1 and #3 of Petey and Corbie. Petey was our best man and has been David's best friend since high school. We spend a lot of time at Petey and Corbie's house and have learned a lot about childrearing and managing a big household from watching them.

So why were they at the baby store? I can't imagine. :) In the meantime, I'm extremely proud to report that I still haven't peeked at the registry. However, my co-worker Laura felt the need to taunt me by looking at it and saying nothing but "People REALLY love you. A lot." Well, I already knew that! Just 5 days until I see my sisters and family! Hooray!


We are keeping cool despite the thick humidity outside. Baby Cute is doing his best to come out via my belly button and my new favorite thing is having David talk to him and feel how excited he gets. This little boy loves his Daddy. But, I already knew that too.


Busy week ahead. International Equitation Science Symposium tomorrow (I know, you're jealous). Braces adjusted on Tuesday (oh goody). Working Wednesday and Wednesday night. Dave goes back to Pearson tomorrow. Time is flying!

Board Member Mommy.

I'm being elected to the Central Michigan Public Relations Society of America Board of Directors. My term starts in January.

Hang on, Baby Cute. We are in for a wild ride!

Come on weekend!

Baby Sunshine.

Isn't this the cutest little sun you've ever seen?! We got our Wallables in the mail yesterday, and the Baby Sunshine face is even cuter in person than online! Even better news was the excellent customer service we received from BabyAge. We only got one of two sets I paid for, and when you push on the sun's face, he plays "You are my sunshine." Well, our little sunshine played once, and then quit. Um, yeah. So we called and they are sending us the missing set and a set to replace the defective one. Three cute sunshine faces in our nursery! Hooray!

Baby Cute is getting bigger and bigger. I'm biased, but I also think he is getting smarter. He plays "baby tag" with me now, which is far too much fun. If I push on one area of my belly, he pushes back. He is definitely making himself comfortable in my womb and at around 16 inches, it is becoming more and more obvious that his acrobatic space is shrinking. I love him more every day, and spending more time interacting with him and David together makes me so excited to meet him and become a family of three.

It seems like most of my second trimester postings were about food, so I thought I would just mention that I love food. No specific cravings, I just always feel better after eating something. I missed lunch yesterday, and Baby Cute and I paid dearly for it. I was cranky, irritable, easily frustrated, and did I mention cranky? I'm not nearly as picky as I was earlier in my pregnancy, I just get really hungry, really fast and need to make sure that I have snacks throughout the day. I'm not a fat person because of a sweet tooth, but Baby Cute is making me develop one like I have never experienced before. A small dish of ice cream (hey, it's got calcium!), one of my favorite kids' cereals and/or a cookie is a part of my intake every day.

I am getting more and more excited for next weekend! I get to see my sister, Melanie! I get to see my grandmas and aunts and relatives and my Mom's coworkers who I just love! I've been VERY good about not peeking at the registry, which is only adding to my excitement. It's also helpful that most of the women coming into the baby store right now are due around the same time I am, if not before, so I can peek at their registries vicariously and shake my head at the preggos that scan three pages of clothing and/or request 6 sets of bottles and a dozen sets of pacifiers. Crazy preggos.

This weekend should be pretty calm. We are planning to paint the spare bedroom green, David works Friday and Saturday nights and I work Sunday afternoon. I've made it a habit to turn off the alarm on Thursday morning after working on Wednesday night and just sleeping until I wake up. This is MIRACULOUS for me. I am so much more productive and happy when I am rested. I've been able to knock several things off my to-do list this week so far, and I'm rather proud of the progress I'm making on my projects. It's feeling more and more like I'll be "ready" to go on leave, which will make me feel better personally and professionally.

I could babble on all day, but I'll wrap up with the 31 week update. Just 9 weeks ladies and gentlemen!

BabyCenter: This week, your baby measures about 16 inches long. He weighs a little over 3 pounds and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

BabyGaga: Your not-so-little-one is just a bit closer to their birth weight and height at around 4 pounds and 17 inches. With each added layer of baby fat, your baby's skin starts to look more and more like it will when they finally get to see the light of day. The heavy news: you can expect your miracle-gro muffin to gain about a half a pound of weight per week from now until about two weeks before birth. Great. That's just what you needed. Even more weight to carry around!

Your baby's still-developing immune system has gained substantial strength over the past few weeks getting them in full gear to face our disease-ridden world o’ wonders. Obviously, a large majority of your child’s immune strength will be derived from exposure to breast milk as well as the outside elements. Their cute little noggin’ (which could already be covered with luscious locks or just purty peach fuzz), is still soft because the skull bones have not yet fused together. As much as that sounds a little too vulnerable, their “skull softness” allows for a much smoother passage through the birth canal during labor—something both you and your little swimmer will appreciate when it’s finally time to “go!” Also, some babies will have that “soft spot” on their head for up to one year after birth.

Pics.

Here are a few nursery pics. The light fixture needs a special kind of lightbulb (sheesh, Ikea!), so you can't see the full cuteness of the sunshine light, and they are a little dark. Otherwise, enjoy!

Carseat, diaper champ, shiny white trim, hooray!

Baby Cute's first sleeping place.

These booties make me want to take back anything I said about wanting a girl. Oh my GOD, they are CUTE!

Baby Cute's changing table/dresser. Thank you baby store clearance/coupon/sale/discount! :)

What child doesn't need a copy of "Walter the Farting Dog"?

Baby Cute's treasures. A new sign, a piggy bank, a framed card from Aunt Meredith, and the cutie sign Aunt Patti had out front to mark the baby shower location.

Me, my baby belly, and my favorite shower gift. Aunt Patti made us a BEAUTIFUL scrapbook. All it's missing is pictures of Baby Cute. I would never have the time (or talent) to make something so fabulous, but Baby Cute is lucky to have a Great Aunt (literally and figuratively) who loves him and wants him to have beautiful memories.

Here's a picture from this time last summer. We lost our camera battery charger in the move, so I finally ordered a new one and discovered quite a fun variety of photos. From our trip to the U.P. last summer to moving and renovating to finding out I'm pregnant to today. It was fun for me to get a quick view at my crooked teeth and small(er) belly just a year ago....

Picture Perfect.

Our first baby shower was absolutely picture perfect. That's why I haven't updated yet, it seems so wrong to post about the shower without pictures. But I can't wait any longer! Aunt Patti, Carolyn/Grandma Real Soon To Be, and KC put on a perfect party for Baby Cute and me.

Highlights:
-The food--breakfast casserole, cream puffs, bagels with delectable spreads, fresh orange juice. Mmmm.
-The cake--not only was it delicious and strawberry-filled, there was the most adorable sugar paste sleeping baby in a cabbage patch on top of it. SO cute! I'm hording the last piece at home, but haven't been able to bring myself to eat it yet.
-The games--The Price is Right (how much are these baby products without going over?) and a baby name game. I won't brag about who won both games, but it was the only pregnant woman in the room.
-The advice--KC has two little boys and Michele has one. Aunt Patti raised her Michael, Carolyn raised David. They passed around a neat little book that everyone wrote in and it had the most touching notes in it.
-The company--Not only did I get to see most of David's family, my sister Meredith drove from Chicago to share in the day with us. It was SO good to see her, and she finally got to feel Baby Cute kick.
-The gifts. Baby Cute needs to stay put for another 9 weeks, but whenever he arrives, we are ready for him. The family cradle, wipes, car seat, blankets, onesies, high chair, bottles, baby wash, toys, diaper champ and a very important book--Walter the Farting Dog. It was a small and intimate affair, so I got to open gifts my favorite way--slowly and taking time to open things and play with them right away. Everyone was so considerate.

Speaking of picture perfect, our nursery is really coming together. Dave and David installed and painted the trim, touched up the paint and moved the changing table upstairs. We are ready for action! David put together the cradle and it is ready for Baby Cute's first night at home. Right now, it is holding all of his cute little stuffed toys and the most adorable pair of blue booties. I got to play in the nursery last night and finally unearthed all of my baby purchases from two years of working at the Baby Store. I'm sure I'll change the way things are arranged three dozen more times before and after Baby Cute's arrival, but for right now in his changing table dresser I have a toy/misc. drawer, a folded clothing/hats/booties drawer, a bedding/blankets drawer and diapers/wipes/creams in the cabinet part. I decided I am going to use the other dresser and his health/safety stuff is all in one drawer, his bath stuff in another and anything feeding-related in one for now. His new piggy bank, framed "cute" picture, and "thank heaven for little boys" sign is on top of the dresser.


I feel like a little kid; it's so exciting setting things up for our little boy.


We had an OB appointment yesterday and everything is going well. I gained 3 pounds, my blood pressure is "a little high," no protein in my pee and Baby Cute's heartrate was 148. We met Dr. Fleming and while she wasn't wearing Birkenstocks, she was soft-spoken, opinionated, intelligent and interesting to talk to. We talked about the kind of environment they strive for in the birthing room (dim, calm, relaxed if at all possible) and the latest research comparing episiotomies to tearing naturally. I know, it gets me excited for birth too. There's no turning back now!


Because my blood pressure is so consistently high, she told us to be on the lookout for signs of pre-eclampsia. Basically I would puff up, get nauseous and see spots. Check, we will be on the lookout. From my research, there isn't anything I can do to prevent it, so we just enjoy the pregnancy and keep doing what we're doing. If I do develop pre-eclampsia it would likely happen when Baby Cute is full term and the "cure" is to induce labor. It's not what I want, but what I want more than anything is a healthy baby boy in my arms.


Still no definitive decisions on names, but we have widdled our list down to 7. David has his favorite, I have mine, but we're sticking with our plan to meet our little man.


My latest realization is that Baby Cute is running out of room. I have been able to physically SEE my stomach move when he's busy. When I was finishing up Harry Potter last week, the book jumped more than a few times as it rested on my belly. I'm having more and more "wow, I'm pregnant" moments these days. Yeah, I know, I've been pregnant for several months now, but it's all VERY real when your book jumps on your belly.


Ladies and gentlemen, Baby Cute is like his Daddy. David is a pretty scheduled guy, and it looks like his son will take after him. Baby Cute is still on his 7, 10, 1, 3, 7, 9 schedule--to the point where I know what time it is without looking at a clock. Carolyn told me over the weekend that David decided he did not want to go to 2nd grade because the 2nd graders had math in the afternoon, and he was accustomed to having it in the morning. Start praying for me now.


Two other highly amusing Baby David stories. First, David was an escape artist and able to climb out of his crib at 9 months old. Carolyn said she was never so shocked than to see his little head pop up on the side of her bed one morning. OH goodness. Second, David's love for cookies has a long and sordid past. Apparently, Carolyn (like any good mother) kept the cookies in a cupboard high above David's reach, above the refrigerator. Well, David figured out how to open drawers to climb up onto the counter to get into the cupboard to get to the cookies. Yowzers.


Just one more thing... My absolute favorite part of the day lately is waking up. Baby Cute wakes up pretty soon after I do and starts his morning stretching routine. David and I get to cuddle in bed and feel our son moving around. We laugh when he really gets going. And we talk to him, telling him how much we already love him and how excited we are to meet him. Life is good.

Shower, nursery and belly pics coming soon!

Slip Sliding Away.

I fell down my stairs this morning. I'm fine, so is Baby Cute. I'm going to have a lovely bruise on my tush by this evening, and yes, I promise to be more careful. I was pretty focused on getting to the Corn Pops in my cupboard when I slipped and made my way down on my backside. Gotta have my Pops.

Baby Cute is also apparently a hairy little beast because I have heartburn. I thought it was due to the delicious DeLuca's pizza David and I had this week, but after a harmless salad for lunch, I am reliving it in the most unpleasant way. It's becoming quite a trend. The ultrasound tech at LCC said she thought she saw some hair on our ultrasound, so I was wondering why I hadn't experienced more heartburn. I read last night that researchers at Harvard set out to disprove the hairy baby/heartburn relationship, but were surprised to find the two really did correspond. Hairy babies are good, right?

Baby Cute is a busy little guy these days. I used to stop what I was doing and sit with my hand on my belly while he did his acrobatics. That was no big deal when it was 2 or 3 times a day, but I am learning to work through his jazzercise sessions. Otherwise, I may never get anything done!

I worked late at the baby store yesterday, so I just slept until I woke up this morning. I feel significantly better, refreshed even (other than the pain in my a$$).

Thanks for all of your kind thoughts and words for our family. Grandpa Casey is still in the hospital and is slowly accepting the fact that he'll have to do some long-term recovery in a nursing home. David is so glad he was able to spend time with him yesterday and plans to go back as often as possible. My Grandma Ebig is apparently also not the best patient and giving the hospital staff the business with all of her quirks. I wouldn't expect anything less. So no miraculous overnight recoveries, but progress is always good.

The highlight of David's week is learning that my Mom arranged for the woman who baked our wedding cake to make a cake for our shower on August 18. I don't think his Mom clued him in that we are also having an infamous Kalamazoo cake experience on Saturday, too. Let them eat cake in honor of Baby Cute!

Wanted: Your Prayers.

So as concerned as everyone is for my health and well-being, I'm not the one to be worrying about right now. Let's direct our attention to Baby Cute's great grandparents--Great Grandma Ebig (my Dad's Mom), Great Grandpa Casey (David's Mom's Dad) and Great Grandma Scott (David's Dad's Mom).

Grandma Ebig is tough. Not only did she raise four boys, one of them was my Dad. I do not envy her. Well, Grandma apparently didn't remember chemistry class from school and mixed bleach and ammonia while cleaning. Oops. So off to the hospital she went. To make this long story short, she ended up having a heart catheter and they cleared one totally blocked artery, one 85% blocked artery and put in nine stints. My parents report that she is doing well. Like I said, she is tough. But she needs your prayers.

Grandpa Casey is an accordion-playing, sports-loving, Wheel of Fortune-watching wonder. He is David's and my only living Grandpa, so he is pretty special to us. Grandpa's been weak lately, had a couple of falls and is struggling to balance out his medications. Grandma Irene deserves a medal, because reportedly Grandpa is not a good patient. Yesterday, he went back to the hospital. There are, of course, lots of tests to do, but please keep Grandpa Casey in your thoughts and prayers. David is heading to Kalamazoo as I type to be with his Grandma and help however he can, if only just by being there. We are so blessed that David's off right now and that Kzoo is only an hour or two away.

Grandma Scott lives in the Alpine-flavored town of Gaylord and still mows her own lawn and blows her own snow. We have a common love of cheesy romance novels and of course, David. Grandma took her first trip in many years to attend her other grandson Bradley's engagement party in Virginia. She had an unfortunate run-in with a curb and took a bad fall, shattering her kneecap and getting pretty bruised up. It's been a few weeks since her surgery and the news from Gaylord is that she is doing well and starting physical therapy soon. But Grandma Scott, too, needs your prayers.

Baby Cute and I are great. We appreciate having a desk job where we keep cool and get to sit down most of the day. I feel good overall. It's harder to move around and I keep knocking into things with my belly. It apparently protrudes farther than I think it does. David finds this funny. Baby Cute is throwing quite a party inside my uterus, barrel-rolling, kicking a ball (oh no, Baby Cute, that's my bladder!) and startling in response to loud noises. He's up at 6:30, 9, 3, 7 and 10 pretty consistently. We'll see how well this schedule coincides to life outside of the womb. I can tell he is running out of room as it feels more and more like he's trying to get out. Not yet, Baby Boy. We've got 10 weeks of gestation left.

30 week updates. 70 days to go. Holy Crapoly.

BabyCenter: Your baby's a bit more than 15 1/2 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

BabyGaga: The light is visible at the end of the tunnel! Your oversized self and amazing growing baby have finally reached the single digits (in terms of weeks till birth)! The fine lanugo hair that has been growing all over their little monkey-like body is going to start falling off this week in preparation for the big day. But don’t be shocked if they’re hairier than you’d anticipated, some babies keep their lanugo until after birth. Still, it’s not any cause to be concerned as it will fall off eventually. No surprises here: your little porker is getting even cuter with increasingly pudgy arms and legs this week thanks to the ever-growing layers of subcutaneous fat. In terms of numbers, your baby should be weighing in at around 3 pounds 12 ounces (or more!) and be nearly 16 inches long.