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.