thanksgiving weekend obsessions

Hi there. I hope you are enjoying your thanksgiving weekend! We stayed home due to a bronchial / asthma / cold thing that just keeps hanging on. I'm finally starting to feel a bit better today - but staying in just to make sure.

We got food at Whole foods that was pre-made and watched the movie Love Guru with Mike Meyers. It was nice to just be quiet and go slow. My appetite has gotten better and better over the course of the week.

Yesterday Jerry continued to work on the fence out front. It's almost done and looks amazing! We will need to paint the house to keep up with how good the fence looks! ( ok - that's not happening any time soon - wishful thinking on my part! )

While he was working out front - I was glued to the computer for about 5 hours....working on the baby registry. Oh my goodness it is hard! Since I have no idea what the baby will need it's like picking foreign things that have no meaning to us yet and hoping that we picked correctly. Luckily for us, we have friends with kids who are going over it all and giving us feedback on what we've missed and what we can delete. Not sure when it will all be done but it's been a big learning experience that's for sure.

I've been obsessing on the cutest clothing I've ever seen. Above is a photo of baby leggings that will most likely be purchased in about 10 minutes by yours truly! I love the idea of baby leggings and have seen them on other babies and they just crack me up.

Here is the link to the gal who makes these leggings and took that photo:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat1_gallery_10&listing_id=17958425

Maybe you need to buy some for your baby too?

our baby was VERY active this morning at about 8am as usual. It is really cool to feel him moving around in there.

I may have to spend some time knitting that blanket I started in the first trimester that I haven't touched at all in months.
I'm almost done with it.

on that note - I'm going to finish this blog entry, take a candle lit bubble bath, and then knit knit knit while listening to Public Radio or baroque music and sipping tea. Now that is a perfect afternoon if you ask me.

Hope you have a nice relaxing Saturday yourself!

xox
*c

ultrasound photos

Today's ultrasound photos!

The baby is doing great in there and looks very comfortable.
All the parts are developing well. Saw the heart beating - the kidneys, a well developed spine, legs, arms, head, and - boy parts !

Jerry made the doctor take a photo of the boy parts so that we had proof.

The bottom ultrasound photo has a tiny arrow on it pointing at the " area". Just above that and to the right a tiny bit is the penis.
See it???

In the photo above - the photo is of his face - turned toward us - and he is resting on his arm in the exact way that I do when I sleep. Jerry never sleeps with his arms like that so it was a bit moving to see him laying there just like I do looking at us.
I can't get over it actually. We made him!

So everything checked out and now the due date says March 3rd. One more day then it has been saying. Guess he likes it in there! I would too.

So that was a perfect thing to do the day before thanksgiving!
We are so happy to see the little guy again and to watch him move around and see and hear his little heart beating so strong.

What a nice gift.

Can't wait to meet him!

xox
*c

pee pee TeePee

Oh my God you have to check these out. We might need a BUNCH of these little guys!
Hilarious - and handy!

http://www.bebabean.com/products/pptp.aspx

glucose test results

hey I forgot to mention that last week I had to take a glucose test to see if I have diabetes. I guess it can happen to pregnant gals so they test us around this time in the pregnancy to check it out.
I went in - drank a glass of what tasted like orange soda - and then sat in there for an hour and read my book. ( I'm reading the secret life of bees ) Then after the hour was up - they took a blood sample and told me I could find out in a day or two.
When I went to the doctor yesterday they told me that I DO NOT HAVE DIABETES!
YAY!

bring on the donuts!

week 26 - 98 days to go!

here is the week 26 update from babycenter.com:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

***

Just got back from the doctor - I have been sick so long I wanted to make sure that the baby was ok.
He sounds good in there with a 146 heart rate which is very strong and normal.
So that is a relief. I didn't think anything was wrong with him - but I wanted to make sure.

I also wanted to make sure that I didn't need any antibiotics or anything.

The dr. told me to stay home this entire week - don't do anything for thanksgiving. Don't see other humans. Just be boring and lay low. So that is what we are going to do. We actually weren't sure what we were going to do - but I guess going to the shelter to feed homeless and low income families is out this year. That was the only thing on our list that day to do for sure.

I took some tylenol when I got home and am now sipping some ginger tea with lemon and honey in it. tastes a bit like medicine but better.

Jerry has been a real lovely human ( when isn't he? ) . he's made my meals, bought me a humidifier and set it up last night, took my temperature 3 times a day, went to the doctor with me today, and took me grocery shopping for sick girl foods. Plus dealing with crabby girl - which came out for no apparent reason a few times this weekend. I think it just is hard sometimes to feel powerless over how my body is doing and how that effects the baby. Plus a constant runny nose and lack of sleep just pushes me over the edge!

I really haven't had any serious mood swings that they talk about during pregnancy - so this weekends crabbiness is a bit unfortunate. I was hoping to divert that story.

Sick girl = a little crabby apple tree.

oh well - now I can just sip my tea and rest and watch bad tv and movies all day and feel the little cutie pie move around in my belly. He has been so active - it's fun to watch my belly move around and feel his kicks.

that is all from pregnancy central. have a glorious Monday.
love
c

a little pampering at 3am

It's 4:30am and I am wide awake. I've been up since about 2am trying desperately to get to sleep but I have the second wave of a cold that I thought was on the outs. Friday night was TERRIBLE. No sleep at all. Tonight I actually feel better but the lack of being able to breathe out of my nose is keeping me from sleeping. I'm just grateful that the coughing is less consistent , and the mucus has gone as well, except for that darn runny nose... What a relief.

After about an hour of tossing and turning I decided to get out of bed - and take a candle lit bubble bath and drink some tea.
This tea - Amy sent it to me when she found out I was pregnant. And I LOVE it. I'm working on my second cup now.

I watched the glow of the candles and the steam rising off of my mug of tea while I soaked. It was a nice change from laying in bed and feeling frustrated! I wondered - once the little guy is born - when will I get to take one of these long baths again?
I have a feeling it may be something that Jerry and I work out - bath time. Probably not at first - but as soon as we figure out what the little guy needs and don't feel completely overwhelmed.

Little bubalah is pretty active - right now he seems to be resting - oh - I spoke too soon, I just felt another round of kicks or something. I can't believe there is a little dude in there! It's totally amazing. I can't wait to meet the little guy and stick him into a cute little outfit. ok - I know- He will just be crying, pooping, sleeping, peeing, and eating and I will be changing about 15 diapers a day. Who needs to be in a cute outfit when all you are doing is basic bodily functions??? Well I DO! Hehehe.

I did a diaper survey with some of my friends and relatives and basically found out that there isn't one diaper that stands out as the leader of the pack. Everyone does it differently. Cloth, diaper service, g diaper, pampers, huggies, it is all over the place. I guess I was hoping to find out if one stood out - but nothing did except that everyone agrees that every baby is different and that diapers don't fit on all babies - you have to try them out and see what works. Even if you have a " save the planet - use cloth diapers!!" point of view - that doesn't mean that your baby won't get a horrible diaper rash with the best eco friendly version and do better with huggies....which is what one mama and papa went through. We shall see how this all sorts out.

No baby news updates tonight. Just a mama update about my cold. I'm sure it isn't that interesting. But for me it's epic. I hate being sick. And it's uncomfortable for me to be sick when I'm pregnant. The dr. says it's fine and doesn't harm the baby unless I have a temperature and I don't.

On that note - enjoy pampering yourself and staying healthy!

And congratulations to Soulemama on the birth of her baby boy!
Harper Jude Soule

here is a link to the cute baby photo!!

http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2008/11/harper.html

I'll post the usual Monday Baby Center update tomorrow....
and P.S. I just figured out that there are 99 days left until the birth ETA! HOLY COW. We are working in double digits now.

parenting styles

I wonder if our child will have a blog ??

second trimester food cravings

My food cravings have changes a LOT since first getting pregnant. I used to crave tortillas with cheddar cheese and sliced green olives almost daily. I also HATED anything that had a veggie in it. And ate LOTS of Mexican food - mainly enchiladas.

These days - I want brown cow plain yogurt - either by itself - or made into a smoothy with frozen fruit from trader joes.
Eggs with cheddar cheese and a side of fruit
cheeseburger without the bun ( but definitely with the pickles! )
watermelon!
rotisserie chicken with a salad or black beans or green beans ( veggies are back in thank god )
grapefruit juice once in a while
did I mention BACON? ( yes bacon - but I only eat it if we go out for breakfast it's not in the house otherwise I may eat the entire package )
And last night I had the priviledge of having a pumpkin spice cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Um - I almost died from happiness. Most of you know that I stay away from wheat and sugar. Well during pregnancy I have allowed a few wheat and sugar filled treats to be consumed by yours truly. Luckily I just feel stuft up and like a baseball bat hit me in the face - nothing major! SO yes - I should continue to avoid these treats - however - once in a while - like last night - I gave myself a treat - and this morning I'm paying for it. But dang - was it delightful!

Thought I'd write this out because I hardly remember what I was eating a few months ago and I think it will be interesting to see how it changes again in a few weeks or even TODAY!?

This morning the little bean woke up around 8:24am for his usual dance routine. LOVE THAT.
Good morning little bubalah!

Jerry is working on the fence again this morning and the cat and I sat on the porch and cheered him on. The fence looks great!

Now he is taking the trash out.

Um, he is dreamy!

I'm off to go make us both a fruit smoothy!

xoxox

henna belly

I saw this image of a pregnant belly that had a henna design on it over at Soulemama.
My friend Katye posted it on her blog as well over at The Tenant Sea.
I love the idea of doing henna on the belly when it gets close to labor time. It looks amazing and is a nice ritual.
I hear that it's henna is safe - unless the baby has a deficiency of some sort - so of course I will look more closely at that if I indeed feel the need to henna. Ever since I found out I was pregnant I haven't felt the need to color my hair, have a pedicure or manicure, use deodorant ( poor jerry! ), or use any lotions or body washes that have chemicals in them so I am more likely to not do it unless I know absolutely that it's not harmful in any way. I figure that if I choose to use toxic chemicals on my hair, toes, hands, and underarms - that is my problem but when there is a little one trying to fend for itself in my belly - I don't see why I would put that stuff on me. When they say that everything I eat effects the baby - I believe pretty strongly that it must also be true about all the stuff I use on my body.
I'm on the fence about whether I will color my hair after the baby is born. I'm really loving the low maintenance of just letting my hair be what it is ....and not having to go in every 3 weeks ( my hair grows so fast ) and get the roots done. It's a pain - and an expensive one. I may look into going to the grocery store and using the color they sell there in the box. For $8.00 I'd be saving so much money and time then what it costs at the salon. But the color always seems to look better to me when I go get it done.
I guess for me - anything that has to do with my own posturing in public - or trying to project who I am in a certain way -
if it involves a slight chance of harming the baby while I'm pregnant I really don't see the point. It feels selfish and unnecessary. It's a good thing I feel pretty good in my own skin without trying to do all that stuff all the time to look "better" or "different".
However.....
once the baby is born and I am past breastfeeding - a little hair coloring, and a pedicure and manicure might be in order!
I may do this henna thing if it turns out to be a safe thing to do.
Here is a link to some really great ones I saw online.

pregnancy henna

letter to little bubalah

dear little bubalah,

It's a Sunny bright gorgeous day here in Los Angeles this morning. Your papa is doing the dishes from last night while I just finished up making our bed and getting ready to go out. We are heading to the medical lab for a routine blood test to find out if I have gestational diabetes. I have to drink a glass of sugar water and then wait an hour and then have a blood test to see how my body reacts to sugar. I did this same test when I was a teenager. We thought I might be anemic but the test came back negative.
I'm not worried about this test. If I do have it - then the doctors can help us with whatever it is I need to change or do. If I don't, then we can just carry on.

I put on a new top for our outing today that is hugging you quite nicely. I love to show you off I must say! Just wait until you are born! That is most likely not going to change! I hope you don't get embarrassed by all the fussing!!

You woke up and did your morning dance routine again this morning at 8am like clock work. I just love that. I sang to you while you danced. " baby baby when I think of you, I get a waaaaaarm feelin insiiiiiiide!" I know that song was about a woman thinking about her man, but it somehow fits when a mama thinks of her baby too! While I was singing that song your papa started to wiggle and dance around and snap his fingers. It was a mini dance party! I don't know the rest of the song so it basically ends there! But it's a fun little tune while you are wiggling in my belly in the morning. Another song that came to me last night was
" beautiful beautiful beautiful,,,, beautiful boyyyyyyy " by the beatles.
You make me break out in song whenever you start to move around in there - which is quite often! Luckily your papa doesn't mind my attempts at singing! And usually he joins in or is the featured dancer of the event. I have a feeling there will be more singing and dancing around the house when you are born.
P.S. I hope you aren't minding the occasional "sweet child o mine" by guns and roses!
I wonder if you can hear or feel it thump thumping when we drive down the road in the car with the radio turned up with my loud bangin music. They say I am suppose to play soft delicate music for you - but we don't even know you yet - maybe you love reggae, or rap?

Well it's time to hit the road and head to the medical lab...maybe today we will play some gwen stefani or no doubt on the way to the office and see if you wiggle!

We love you little wiggles!

mama

3 month comparison - Sept-Nov.

click on the image above and it will get bigger for you to see it better. notice the tail cameo in the last photo?

I didn't think I had grown much this month - but now I can see a slight difference from October to November.

We shot our holiday card photo this morning as well. It is pretty hilarious.

I'll be working on getting those done after Thanksgiving.

Feeling good today. Listening to Baroque music. My favorite of classical music. Love the harpsichord. But can't listen to it when Jerry is home. He HATES it. I wonder if it bugs our little bean?? He is moving around in there right now. Maybe just moving his ear closer to hear it better???

25th week! HOLY COW!

Hello ! Good morning!

Here is the usual Monday rundown of what is going on with our babies development with the illustrations provided by Babycenter.com

Here is what the website says is going on this week:

How your baby's growing
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture..

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing
Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks, a second tube of blood may be taken at the same time to check for anemia. If blood tests show that you have iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type of anemia), your caregiver will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement.

***

last night we drove down to Temecula to be a guest at our cousin Amanda Harbaugh's wedding. It was so neat for us to be guests and not have any responsibilities at all. I saw the 2 photographers there and thought - " I don't envy you at all! "
It was a nice feeling. I loved seeing Jerry's family - I really like the Harbaugh's a lot - and there are a LOT of them!
Of course scooting myself around was another story. I wore black pants that my mom bought me a little while ago that are already too tight at the belly! They are pregnancy pants - but still - my belly is larger now - so it was a bit tight at the waist!
The top I wore also had an elastic area under my breasts that was just a tad too snug. So I was feeling a bit pulled in all night.
I also felt like a huge whale.
But I guess that's how you feel at some point during the pregnancy!
One of my new relatives came up to me and said " well hello fatty! " I know she was kidding but........REALLY!?
I won't tell you who said that - as I don't want to get her in trouble or make a scene - but it wasn't a great day to hear that.
( is it ever a good day to hear someone say that to you????? )

I'm still feeling a little asthmatic, but sleeping MUCH better. And at 8am this morning - like clockwork - our little bean woke up and started his morning stretching routine. It's pretty amazing how on schedule it is. I've started to count the movements and take note of the time. I hear that is a way to make sure he is doing ok. If the movements slow down too much it may be time to call the dr. So far he's a superstar athlete in there.

We got a few presents for our tree last night - one being a little red tomato christmas tree ornament!!!!!!!!
And a menorah ornament for the tree too. I must say that Jerry's dad has always remembered that I am Jewish and made a point of buying me things that reflect who I am and what my religious background is. I do love that.

I think we are going to buy our very first christmas tree this weekend. And we are going to get a better menorah as well.
I'm sure it will be interesting to grow up with both religious traditions in the same house. I'm looking forward to it.
It's confusing - but it is also all about love - and Jerry and I have gobs of that to go around.

This week we are gathering more baby names. Some friends have offered more ideas which has helped. But we are still keeping them to ourselves until we meet the little guy and see what he looks like to us.
I do seem to be calling him by one particular name all the time - and I'm trying on different ones to see how they feel as well.

I'm still amazed that there is a little baby in there growing and becoming whatever it is he needs to. I am excited to see who this little guy is and I feel that he picked us so it will be a wild trip to learn what the lessons are that he needs to figure out and what it is he will be teaching us along the way.

I was once a gal who thought babies were cute but I didn't really want to get all that close to them - but now I am a full blown mama who has that glow in my eyes whenever I see a little baby in the room! I am obsessed!

Right now we are learning about all the alternative diaper choices out there so that we can figure out what will be better then using the ones that take 500 years to breakdown in the landfills. We learned yesterday that 50,000 diapers get thrown away a DAY. Some of them do breakdown in the soil, but most of the mainstream ones DON'T!!!!

Tomorrow we are taking a photo of the belly again ( our usual monthly photo on the 18th ) but this time we are taking a special one for our holiday card. I can't wait to compare the belly to all the other months of photos we have of it.
I think it looks the same as last month - but I'm always wrong!

ok - that is one LONG post today - I hope you enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to having this be something our son can read when he is older to learn what we were like before he was born and what our thoughts were on his arrival.

momversation

Saturday Cuteness

Went looking around again at the clothing website Amy told me about called Boden and found these cute things for the little bubalah.
I just love the striped pants with knee pads on them. I want some for myself!

Today he is VERY active in the belly. He usually starts moving between 7am and 8am and moves around on and off for about 2 hours. And then in the afternoon and then again in the evening around 9pm. But today I fed him 3 scrambled eggs with a little flax oil and braggs, a fruit salad I made of pears, bananas, raspberries, oranges, and watermelon, and a half of an ezekiel bread raisin english muffin with butter and sugar free raspberry jam. The little guy is going bonkers in there! It's amazing. This is more then kung fu practice. It's all out break dancing at high speed.

Later on we are going to work on our Holiday Cards. And yes - we are breaking out the cameras and using the self timer.
Tomorrow we head to Temecula for Cousin Amanda's wedding. Going to see lots of family and they are going to get a close up view of the little one. I may break out my iphone to take a few sneaky photos - if I feel like it....but I haven't really felt inspired to take photos at anyone's wedding lately so we shall see. I'm more afraid that I can get into some clothes that sort of fit ok!
Luckily I don't feel the need to run around like a chicken with my head cut off to go buy a new outfit. These people love me as I am and I have clothes that will work just fine for the job.

Yes - LA is on fire again - this time Sylmar area and way up in Montecito near Santa Barbara.
Not looking forward to the drive tomorrow - they say that it is going to still be really windy which is why the fires are out of control here right now.

Enjoy your fire free climate.

made a few changes to the blog...

hey look at the little pot pie - floating in the belly bubble.
Crazy!

I made some changes to this blog - obviously it's no longer green. I was having troubles adding things I wanted to add. So I ditched it for this simple but easier to navigate while color.

Check over to the right - you will see links to my favorite mama blogs and now I can see who comes by.

My friend Katye in Portland started a baby blog recently. Here is the link.
http://www.thetenantsea.blogspot.com

check it out.

Today is all about cleaning the house - so not much to report on the baby front.
I've started to sleep on a mountain of pillows so that I'm propped up and this has helped so much with my acid reflux problem. And breathing problem. And I eat 5 small meals per day instead of 3 large ones. I stop eating at about 7:30pm which means no more dinner with jerry who gets home at 8pm. But this helps me sleep better too.

My last dr. appoint was this past Saturday. Heard the heart beating at 157 BPM. Faster then the last 2 visits. He must be practicing his kung fu in there. He's also been practicing his Morris Code. It's pretty funny. He loves it when I eat. he gets so excited. But sometimes when he kicks it hurts in unexpected places.

I'm getting another appointment made for another big fat ultrasound. The fancy one. Checking again to make sure he is comfy.

I'm looking forward to it. It will be in about 3 weeks.

Hopefully the photo won't creep us out like the last one did. We actually threw that one away. It looked like something you see in a scary movie. I don't need that as a reference of what is in my belly. FREAKY.

We still have the first one framed though - that was when the baby was the size of a pea. now he is the size of a cantalope or something similar.

Now we have 3 names we like but still on the fence about although everytime the baby moves I call it by one of the names. Not sure it will fit once we meet the little guy. We don't want to make a decision about it until we meet the little guy and see what name fits. We want about 5 names to draw from, if not more. My dad suggested Hyman after our favorite Uncle Hy. But um - no. that's not happening. can you imagine how much he'd get beat up for having that name?

Sheesh.

chicken broth and tv

I'm sick today. Woke up last night trying to catch my breath. I've never had that experience in my life. It was pretty scary. It was then followed by coughing for about an hour or so. My lungs and throat had been bothering me for the past few days and I've had a problem breathing since I quit smoking some 15 years ago or so so I thought it was just a consequence of my smoking days - but my doctor on Saturday suspects I have slight asthma. So that coupled with some sort of viral infection in my throat and lungs leaves me on the couch with chicken broth and kleenex. I don't have a fever which would be a problem so the dr. just said to lay low. so here i am power lounging on the couch just relaxing with my cat and posting to you.
Before Jerry went to work he made a grocery store run and stocked me up on 6 cans of chicken broth, 2 cans of chicken noodle soup, some orange juice, cough syrup that is recommended by the dr. and throat spray. I know he's not jewish but I think he gets the honorary Jewish Mother Award today. He also cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the cat box, took out the trash, and fed the cat.
Yea - he is a keeper.

p.s. swanson's chicken broth is AWESOME. I'm sipping it out of a mug like it's tea.

So today I just wanted to share about someone else's baby who I've never met but I enjoy reading her blog and thought you'd like this little video she put together. It is really cute and inspires me to do the same when our little pot pie is born. It's the same gale who did the video I posted a few weeks ago of all of her belly shots over the 9 months and then the birth and the baby. This is the baby. Her name is Fable.



enjoy!

week 24

here is what babycenter.com says about the little bubalah this week:

How your baby's growing:
Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

***

We have a new stroller now - the Bugaboo Frog. My parents bought it for us as an early shower gift. A friend was selling it at a fraction of the cost and I hear it's one of the best out there! We were excited to get one!
It took us going to youtube and looking it up to see if there were any videos on how to use the thing. It's actually REALLY easy once you know where all the levers are to release things and fold things up. It's amazing. It has giant tires and can be used at the beach really easily. I envision many trips to the beach with the little guy.

Jerry's first scuba dive

Dear little tomato, little bean, little pot pie, sweet baby boy seiner,

here are a few photos from your papa's first scuba dive in Maui on Nov. 1st 2008.
There is a photo of your mama looking pregnant with you. I showed you off in a bikini. I'm so proud to be carrying you!
We started to gravitate toward sea turtles for your baby room because of our love of Maui and of Sea turtles that live in the ocean there. The first stuft animal we bought for you was in Paia in Maui of a giant turtle. We hope you like it. It's bigger then you are right now. And it will make a great pillow or something to squeeze when you are old enough. I can feel you moving around in my tummy right now - swimming around in the warm waters of your home inside my body. Just like the turtles swim around in the warm waters of Maui. green and blue are the colors of the first baby blanket I'm knitting for you. Reminding me of the calm of the ocean at Napili Bay, our favorite beach.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the 24th week. Some say this is the 6th month - depends on the book I look at or website I view. All I know is that you are growing and your heart rate is normal and you like to move. I wonder what it feels like every time I laugh out loud. Your papa has me laughing a lot. I laugh so loud that I wonder if you can hear me and feel how happy I am. I wonder what all that giggling and jiggling is like for you. I wonder if it makes you giggle inside. I look forward to hearing you giggle with your papa. He is so fun and funny. he will charm you I'm certain! and of course you will charm him too!

I look forward to bringing you to Maui some day. To meet the sea turtles and to hear the ocean and feel how it moves you about just like you move about right now inside of me. your Papa will dive down to the bottom of the ocean and find treasures for you just like he does for me and we can throw them back to the ocean where they came from together!

Your papa just sent me an e-mail from The Who Concert he is at right now. He says he misses me. I miss him too. But I'm glad he got to go and enjoy a concert that is historic and epic. I'm home with our cat Pretty Girl who I don't think really knows that you are on the way here. But we just picked up a stroller and it's sitting in the middle of our Living Room so maybe she knows something is up?? Hard to tell. I wish she spoke English. She is 15 years old and I hope she is around long enough for you to meet her and get to know her and feel how soft her fur is and how awesome it feels and sounds to hear her purr.
My first pet was a cat named Flakey. I don't remember her but she was the beginning of my love for cats and animals. I don't know why I am telling you this exactly - but I do know that I experienced such a deep love and joy from animals and I hope that you experience that as well for yourself. Maybe you will love tigers and giraffes? Maybe lizards and bugs? Maybe you'll be fascinated by elephants or crocodiles? Or maybe animals won't do it for you at all. I think your papa loved his dog growing up and has stories to tell you of his friendships with the dog clan over the years.

I just read an article about baby boys who have dolls. I'm into that idea. We shall see if you are.


love
mama

mr president

I'm SO happy for our little fellah - that we will have a new president a few months before he is born. Barack Obama was elected the last day we were in Maui, and I am still high from the historic event. Our son will never know a world when this was not possible. only in his history books. Isn't that amazing? The last 8 years I've felt so upset and frustrated with what our country was honoring. War, Immaturity, Ego, the "trickle down theory", Torture, 10 times the debt we had with President Bill Clinton ( one of my all time favorite presidents ),and a guy in office who couldn't form a complete sentence.

Now we have HOPE

Now we have the beginning of what Martin Luther King Jr. was Dreaming about. What an amazing time.

I hear the new president is already looking over what he can reverse as soon as he gets into office. He wants to open up Stem Cell Research. Put a ban on drilling in some part of Utah or something like that. I'm not certain. Feels like a huge relief to me that he has the power to do such things.

Yes We Can!

I am looking forward to showing our little one how amazing our Country is now. I'm already getting more involved in helping create the vision Obama has. We are going to start a family tradition every thanksgiving and as many christmases that we can to go help feed the needy. Hopefully this will extend past just holiday time. I'd love to be a family who works as a team to help those who are less fortunate. I've never actually done that before - and always wanted to. We have a very luxurious life compared to many. And as I say that I realize that I have way too many lights on right now and need to walk around the house and turn them off to conserve energy, money, and resources.
Going to hop off and go take care of that right now.

back from hawaiian getaway

yes we are back. I'm feeling the back from hawaii blues. But happy we got to go!
here is one of the photos we took of ourselves during sunset at the Kaanapali Beach Club where we stayed. it was right on the beach. It had a great big pool with luxury lounge chairs. a restaurant, a convenience store, valet parking, mini golf, scuba lessons, koi ponds, exotic birds in cages near the front desk who talked with you, yes this place was something else.
I wore the bikini. yes I did. let the belly hang out. It was fun actually to show it off. I loved that. who me - Lover of attention? NAH.

haha

I'm at week 23 now - in some books that means I'm in the 6th month - and in others I'm in 5.5 months. It drives me nuts.
But The baby is very active and I love feeling him in there. Feels like he is building a fort, and trying out morris code or trying to get the hell out of there.

More photos to come. My cell phone isn't working. A lot of the photos I took where on there and I need to e-mail them to myself. Might be a while.

Tomorrow we are driving to Marina del Rey to my friend Andrew's older brother's house to pick up the new - used - Bugaboo Stroller we are buying from them. It's in perfect condition and I hear that it's one that people say is Top of the line. my parents are buying it for us as a shower gift - early. YAY!

We are going to buy a new crib soon from another friend of ours. This crib is ROUND. I LOVE IT. She got it for $1500 with the bedding and is selling it all to us for much much much much much less. The baby only slept in it ONCE. So it really is NEW. The baby ended up sleeping in their bed instead.

We are excited about getting the baby room started. It's looking more and more like a storage room again and less like a baby room.

Next on the list is a bed of some sort for adults to sleep in ( like myself ) or a guest that might have wheels on it or something so that they aren't stuck in the baby room! That wouldn't be fun for them I don't think. But I just don't know exactly what to do about that yet. I called my mom but she was busy having her hair done. I don't really remember what that's like! It's been 5-6 months without coloring my hair. It's a nice thing to not have to go. it is such a burden trying to hide things like grey hair.