A mother's love

I think this is the cutest story!

Shopping Spree

Birthing & Baby Care classes scheduled: check!

(Classes start August 21st, every Thursday)

Car seat: check!

(Graco Safeseat in Lexington, one of the few car seat which accommodates babies up to 30 lbs and 32" - most only go to 22 lbs and 30")

Crib and mattress: check!

(Million Dollar Baby - Anastasia in Cherry and Moonlight Slumber Foam Mattress)

With 11 weeks to go, I was determined to get a couple of major things done this weekend. After much research into cribs and car seats, Jim and I narrowed down our choices of cribs to two. On Saturday, I took my mom shopping with me and after learning our #1 choice crib would be a 12-15 week wait, we luckily found our #2 choice at the same store IN STOCK! I had decided to go with a foam mattress instead of coil (which is much heavier the better the quality) and the store also happened to carry it - it was in stock and on sale - score!! Then it was car seat time - and again, they had it in stock and on sale - sweet!! Baby can now travel home safely and have a place to sleep :)
I am also excited we have our birthing and baby classes all squared away. When I first called, the only available class was not until September 27th - yikes! I was a bit nervous to wait until 2 weeks before my due date to learn what I needed to do, what if baby decides to come a little early?? But luckily, the hospital confirmed additional birthing classes so we are all set. The Baby Care classes take over from after labor - now that you've had the baby, what do you do now sort of thing - swadlling, what to do when baby cries, how to breastfeed, etc. In the next couple of weeks we'll also head over for the hospital's birth center tour and see where the magic will happen.
Hard to believe only 11 weeks left but as we get closer with each day, I am more and more excited to meet our little one. It's still a little unreal and really won't be comprehensible until baby is here. I can't wait!!

Baby Carl

So when we were at Clear Lake this weekend, I had a really vivid baby dream. It was so real, not like one of those dreams where say you're at your house but it doesn't really look like your house. Everything about the details was as it is in real life at our cabin at Clear Lake. So, I dreamt I was changing the baby's diaper, the baby was a boy - named Carl. Jim was there and I was telling him that it was so strange because here we have this new baby but I didn't remember having him - not the labor, not the hospital, not the birthing classes. He reassured me it all happened and I did great but I was so disappointed I couldn't remember any of it and was saying I was so happy to have the baby but wished I remembered the whole process.

As I have 12 weeks left, I imagine this was my subconcious catching up with me that the next 12 weeks really are going to go by fast and I better be prepared. So, today I started doing some research as to when the birth center tours at our hospital take place (most Tuesdays and Thursday evenings and are one of the only things that are actually free) as well as inquired about schedules for birthing classes, infant CPR, and the like. This weekend I am planning on going crib shopping and really getting to some of the essentials we will need initially - like the car seat we can't go home from the hospital without.

And no, Carl is not one of the baby names we are considering :)

Clear Lake Bass Tournament 2008

Barney: 13
Pauline: 3
Jim: 4
Justina: 3
The Official Judges

Kiwis: 16

Yankees: 7

After 3 days of die hard bass fishing competition, the Kiwis kicked our bass!

Too cute

Baby got a nice suprise in the mail this weekend, these adorable baby frog feet. I can't wait to put them on baby!! Problem is, I am not sure which fairy godmother sent these?? Please let me know so we can properly thank you :)

Chihuly exhibit at De Young Museum

Our visitors, the Kiwis

Barney & Pauline
Jim, Erik, Barney

Pauline, Maree, & me

Our friends Pauline & Barney from New Zealand arrived on Wednesday night with their friends Erik & Maree, our new friends. Erik & Maree stayed with us for a couple days before heading off to Alaska for a cruise. Pauline & Barney are just starting their 3 month adventure in the US and will be with us for the next couple of weeks. We love having them here.

Officially in the third trimester

At 27 weeks, baby is about 2 pounds and 15 inches long. Baby's eyelids will open around this time as they were previously shut together. Most baby's eyes are blue at this stage and will change into their true color sometime after birth. Baby may also start dreaming by the 28th week - though nobody knows what they are dreaming. Baby can hiccup quite frequently now as its lungs are maturing and the baby is learning to breathe normally. I think I have felt this though I'm never quite sure since it doesn't last very long.
I'm feeling great, though bending over or sitting slouched is getting more and more difficult because it's harder to breathe. I also can't really sleep/lay down on my back for too long because I'm really feeling the weight of baby and it's uncomfortable. The funniest thing is my belly button - which is now pretty much an "outtie" - Jim laughs and keeps telling me to stop sticking it out. It's quite amusing.

Nesting mode

Baby's room is slowly starting to take shape. It is off our bedroom where we will be able to see the crib directly from our bed. We first have to put in the new windows and then I can really start getting the room ready. I bought this great dresser at Ikea as well as a few other little accessories and we already have the perfect fuzzy white carpet we bought a while ago with baby in mind as well as a great shelf. Next on the list is crib shopping and then we'll have all the major pieces for the room. I am excited to put it together.

Yesterday I had my monthly doc's appointment and all is well. I am at 26.5 weeks and have gained a total of 18 pounds. It always amazes me to hear the heart beat and after the appointment baby was kicking like crazy. The only test I have left to take is a glucose test (which tests for gestational diabetes) next week as well as get a Rhogam shot (since I am A- blood type and Jim is A+, it prevents me from building up antibodies that would attack blood cells that are positive. For example, since I am A- and baby should have blood type A+, my body would build antibodies that would attack baby. If baby's blood type is confirmed positive at birth, I will be given the shot again to protect future pregnancies). Only about 13 weeks to go!

The front yard

Our front has never looked better!

Our new deck

The amazing deck my dad built

Also, notice my hubby's professional rock work!

Finally, our back yard is done!

Wowee

Wow, what a BUSY weekend! We have had several projects on our ever growing list of things-to-get-done-soon list. Since we haven't been around for the majority of weekends and with only having limited time in the evenings after work, we decided this 3 day weekend would be a good weekend to finally get to some of these things. The additional time and the fact that our New Zealand friends, Barney & Pauline, are arriving on Wednesday, kicked us into high gear. We were in various stages of various projects and considering our house guests will be with us for several weeks, we thought we should probably have a presentable house.

So, this weekend we: finished moving the office from what will now be the baby's room to a spare bedroom and created quite a nice little study, tidied up the front yard, bought, planted, and/or moved 4 trees, tidied up the back yard, planted new plants, Jim primed and painted the bathroom (4 coats!), did some yard work for his mom, and just worked on getting the house ready for our guests.

While all this was going on, my dad spent pretty much the whole weekend building and finishing our new deck! Between the deck building, my mom helping me clean the old office so we could start the baby's room, helping us in the yard and in making our bathroom sparkly and clean to match the new paint job, my brother helping my dad with the final pieces for the deck, we spent lots of nice time with my family.

The 3 days flew by and I feel like we need a weekend just to relax after this weekend! Pics of our projects coming tonight!