week 22! heading to MAUI!

Hi there!
It's Monday and I almost forgot to add this Monday check in today.
Yesterday Andrew came over and dropped of a bunch of baby stuff. It's crazy to have our living room filled with all this stuff!
We have a baby bathtub, a little vibrating baby chair, a baby swing, a floor mat with toys hanging on a bar, a craddle, and a little cushy car for the baby to sit in that is so cute, and a little plastic chair to set him in too. Crazy!

Here is a photo of Pretty Girl taking over the vibrating chair. She is so cute in it. She was in there all day long yesterday.
I turned on the vibration for a while and I think she might have felt that it was her mama. Not sure. She didn't send me a memo.
But she was purring. So that lets me know that it was making her happy. I love that.

I put double sided tape all over the inside of the craddle. I read that the cat needs to figure out that it's not a fun place to go into and that tape can help make it uncomfortable. I just hope she doesn't jump in there when we are in hawaii and get stuck! We might put it in the garage until we get back!!

here is the baby center details of what the baby is up to:
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Tomorrow we go to Maui for 8 days. Our babymoon!
Looking forward to wearing the bikini and showing off the belly.
We mailed out absentee votes in for OBAMA.
I have a feeling that there might be republicans who shred our ballots.
Since the Al Gore debacle I don't trust the voting system.

Our little one was growing in my belly through the olympics and the fastest swimmer on the planet, an earthquake, the first half white/ half blck man to run for President and inspire a Nation, a trip to Maui, and Jerry reading the constitution to him !

a baby book I want!

This baby book is so great. I can't wait to buy this.
Here is a link to see more of it.

Binth Baby Book

Today is a knitting day, watching "the view" on tv, CNN, and looking for some good movies on HBO, reading and relaxing. Like most days - I'm very comfortable in these nesting times. I really enjoy it. Yesterday I got us some chinese food for the first time in years! And Jerry loved it - but the baby and me.... - not so much. had a wobbly tummy for the rest of the night.
Thought that getting beef with broccoli would help me get more veggies into my diet - but I learned that NO in fact that was not the way to go....Today I'm having a salad I got from trader joes and a turkey burger with melted cheese and some yellow mustard. Mellow food. Nothing too extraordinary.

I'm eating this time up! every moment that is quiet ( which is all of them ) and every thing I do that doesn't require dealing with a baby ( which is all of them ) is a time that I notice - like taking a shower, brushing my teeth, doing dishes, sitting outside on the porch - etc....and sleeping in and not getting up unless I need to pee! I am excited about having the new baby and I also want to be very aware of life now - so that I have a reference point. My friend Andrew says that you won't miss it when the baby comes because all of that stuff becomes less meaningful to having a baby in your life.
I look forward to that time too. But right now - I'm here and enjoying this too.

uh oh,,,,

I'm in trouble! I WANT these for our little bean!

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-us/Baby-Outfit-Ideas.html#Nav

Amy just told me about this website and I am dying! SUCH CUTE STUFF.

Also love the sweaters with the hoods that have little bear ears on them. OH GOD.

week 21 - it's my mom's BIRTHDAY TODAY!

look at the difference in my belly in just 1 month.

HOLY COW.

this is what the deal is for my baby's development this week:
How your baby's growing:
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

**

Feeling really good. Normal energy level is back which is great. Seeing a lot of friends lately and doing lots of social events and outings with them. Going to movies, out to dinner, birthday parties, artist talks, meetings, breakfast with friends, etc.

Feeling the baby move a lot more. He is moving now. One day he moved all day long. It was pretty fun. Lately it's more like after I eat. Or early in the am or late at night. Just little movements. But really cool to feel them.


Still so interesting how people think it's ok to just walk up to me and put their hands on my belly.
Not sure why they feel that is ok. But I think from now on I am going to do the same thing back to them and see how they like it. !! Come on. Why all of a sudden do people think that my body is ok for them to just reach out and touch without my permission?
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. the mama. and her body.

If I was walking down the street and not pregnant and someone came up to me and put their hands on my belly I would slap them in the face. Now that I'm pregnant it's somehow ok?

Um I don't get it. Even relatives do it. W.H.Y????

ok - off my soap box.

This week a friend of mine is teaching me how to use the sewing machine my mom brought over. I'm making a blanket for our little fella. I bought the material last week. I am going to carve a new linoleum print and print it with fabric paints on the blanket. Not sure yet what the design will be - but hey - I can always just go for it and if it doesn't turn out - do another one!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!!!

VOTE OBAMA!

xo
*c

week 20 _ HALF WAY THERE - And it's our 1 yr. anniversary!!

Hey look at that! A year ago today we were celebrating our wedding at la Costa. Today we are half way to birthing our baby!
CRAZY!

It's the 20th week.
this is what babycenter.com says about the baby this week:
Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion.
**

I'm feeling him move daily now. This morning I think he started gymnastics classes. I've never felt him this intense before and for so long. It was GREAT. I hope he keeps working on his tumbling routines in there. I love feeling him move around.

We had another routine visit to the doctor on Saturday. We heard the heart beat again. 142 beats per second.
Nothing really else to report except that....... I GAINED 10 POUNDS IN ONE MONTH!
Um - Yea. TEN.
They told me that it is normal to have a growth spurt like that NEXT Month. But I did it early. Or I should say - the little fella did it early. The doc. says there is nothing to worry about unless I was gaining 10 pounds EVERY month. Can you imagine?

**

Today we took our portrait out front like we did last year before heading to La Costa for the wedding. It's going to be an annual photo session. This year we have an Obama/ Biden sign in our lawn. It will be a nice way to be able to tell what year it was when the photo was taken. Next year we will have a little fella on our lap!

We just started looking at wall paint colors for the baby room. I have a hard time picking. But it isn't going to be anything too crazy. Something light. Going to go crazy with WALL DECALS!!!!

ok - I'm off to see if the top of our wedding cake has defrosted yet.....

xoxoxox

*c

week 19 or 4.5 months preggers

Hey look at what they compare our baby seiner with!
Too funny.

here is what babycenter.com says about the baby this week:
How your baby's growing:
Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

**

I was up most of the night was really bad acid reflux. It's hard to describe it but lets just say that the recommended dose of rolaids doesn't work. Milk sometimes is the best relief. But sometimes that doesn't work either. It's NASTY.

Not much else to report - still feeling the little bean kicking and moving around in there. It's pretty crazy.
Went to Andrew's to look at the baby stuff they want to give to us. We didn't take anything home with us. Just looking. Andrew is going to bring it over at some other date.

We are just starting to think about what color to paint the baby room and what we want that room to look like. Not sure yet at all. Been thinking about greens and blues together - faint hues. nothing too dark or bright. I love rooms that have a different color on each wall but they all fade into each other and you can barely tell that they are different but it gives the room a little more interest. Andrew has that in their home. It looks really beautiful.
Doubt we will do that here though unless we did that in the entire house! I just want to get rid of the poop color that is in the baby room now! It came that way when we bought the house. We are just not that into painting rooms so we left it.

anyhow - that's it from here. Jerry's mom and my parents were up here on Saturday night for dinner. It was fun. My lasagna didn't taste that great - but it was edible which was a good thing. Sunday we took Marty to Auntie Em's for breakfast and then she went back to san diego to catch her flight home.

This year will be our first christmas that we stay in Los Angeles. My mom brought up a box filled with christmas ornaments and decorations. We are excited to start the tradition of christmas decorating at our own house! We are going to get our first tree this year. Most likely a plastic one from target! This way our little baby will have a home that has hannukah and christmas in it from the very start and we will get some practice at it this year. I actually don't really like christmas songs. maybe It's from spending too many years working retail, or maybe it just reminds me that I live in a christian country and that no matter how much everyone says they recognize other religions, it is SO painfully obvious when you walk into a store and the entire place is filled with christmas stuff and that music is playing - and they don't have any other religious stuff for others that live there that don't celebrate christmas - like IKEA for instance - it is really obvious. Same thing at 12 step meetings. They say they are not affiliated with any organized religion. But If you peek your head into most meetings around christmas time - you might find a tree in the room or some wall decorations on the walls.

So this has nothing and everything do to with this baby blog.
Didn't mean to go off on a tangent.
Don't worry we will play christmas tunes in our home - and hannukah tunes too. And regular old happy tunes for every occasion. The house will be filled with music all year round. mostly from the two of us singing and dancing and making up songs! But that is what it's normally like here without the baby - I'm sure there will be more of that once the baby comes!

now I'm off to go dream up more baby boy names!

Fable luella

So I read a blog called "girls gone child"
here is the link

http://www.girlsgonechild.net/index.html

I've been looking and reading about her 2nd pregnancy. She takes photos of her belly every week or so and then this week she went into labor.

She made this video for her baby girl after the baby was born ( like the next day! )



don't be surprised if you see a baby seiner version of this coming soon to a blog near you!

ultrasound notes

while I am sitting in the dining room watching my favorite morning tv show
"the View" And listening to them argue about Sarah Palin I figure I would post the photo jerry took while we went to our ultrasound appointment yesterday.

here it is. Cute yes?

I really liked this doctor. We hadn't met him before but I liked him the instant he walked in the door. He told us that we are having a boy and showed us a few times the "evidence". Jerry said later that he say the "parts" and knew it before the doctor said anything. It was really crazy to see the baby again and see how much bigger HE is and to know that HE is a HE!
I felt it the moment I peed on the pregnancy stick and so when he said it was a boy I just thought " OF COURSE IT IS! "
I think if he said that it was a girl I would have felt confused and had to go through a bit of transition. I feel like I've been bonding with a boy for the past 4 months. Now Jerry gets to go through more bonding too now that he knows for sure what it is. I picked up some books at the library yesterday and made sure I got a baby name book so that we can start really looking at boys names.

I also took my first prenatal yoga class. It was good, hard, relaxing, painful, and long!
I did enjoy meeting a few of the girls in class and we all have pregnancy in common so we have things to talk about.
But I was up from 2am until about 5:30am this morning because I just didn't feel so great in the tummy.

Oh - I can feel him moving around in my belly RIGHT NOW!!!

I love that feeling.

One of my relatives suggested that I not talk about baby names with others so that I don't get bombarded with other people's opinions. We've already had a few opinions come at us when we shared some ideas for boy names so Jerry and I have decided not to tell anyone until the baby comes out - we meet him - and know which name is right for him. We plan to have a few favorites and then see what fits.

Today I'm going to get my hair cut for the first time in almost a YEAR!
A little pampering sounds really good!

I'm looking forward to sharing the news that we are having a BOY with the ladies at the salon!

We told all of our relatives yesterday and it was REALLY FUN to hear back from people.
My uncle Bix wrote back his baby name suggestion:

his e-mail said:

Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix
Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix Bix
Bix Bix Bix Bix!

That cracked us up!