He!!!

I just discovered that the crib we got on sale is no longer on sale, so we got a good bargain! Yeah!

Oh and here's something I need help with. My mother in law is very into the baby. Which is great. I try and feed her addiction by sending her emails as much as possible. I told her if she wanted to go ahead and look for summer clothes on sale at the end of the season (thinking Sept here) then that would be fine, and the baby could wear them next summer in a 6-9 month size, assuming that 6-9 months means that they should be able to wear that starting from birth, 6-9 months after they are born (May to July for us). Makes sense to me that way. That could be counted as the baby's Christmas present or whatever... Anyway, my husband pulls up a picture of 3 outfits she bought yesterday, 2 perfectly fine, one definitely girly (think a pink skirt), which we asked her not to do since we aren't finding out the baby's sex until it's born... anyway, they looked a bit off to me and Matthew said they are 12 month size so they'd fit next summer, and then we both looked at each other and said 'that doesnt make any sense' at the same time.

Are we wrong or do we remind her that our baby at 12 months will likely be needing warm clothes? She had all her babies in cold months (including one 15 years ago come November), so I know she knows better. She just wasn't thinking.

Fun little items...

I've got large jarred candles for the hostesses of my baby showers, except one, who is 14. I'm going to tie ribbons around the candles and maybe attach a magnet to them. I am making magnets for everyone who attends the showers (just because, I dont know why), little umbrellas that I will paint in various colors and of course will attach a little note that says 'thank you for coming to my shower' or something like that. If anyone has any ideas on wording, I'd appreciate it. If I have the time I may do up some animals for the kids instead of umbrellas.

Also, I need more ideas for something for the 14 year old. She's getting ready to go into high school and she's my hubby's younger sis. So far I have for her a little orange tin with her initial on it and a red journal with her initial on it. Any ideas on what else to get for her? The candles weren't expensive, but I want to give her something that 'looks' equal to her, if that makes any sense. Most adults I think would be pleased to have a hostess gift, no matter what it is, but to a teenager, you never know. They want to be special, different. She's not quite as much my younger sister as my husbands, but I have known her for almost 9 years, since before she went to school even. I've purchased all her gifts, birthday cards, and I always do something like give her a container, powdered sugar, and tried and true frosting recipes when she was in her cake decorating phase, or a basket with beads, wire, wire cutters, and other goodies when she was into making necklaces and bracelets. Or pretty/bright colored towels and hand towels for her bathroom instead of dark brown (leading to a bathroom that looks appropriate for a teenager.) For Christmas last year I embroidered an apron for her with her other gifts. She may not use it now, but one day she very well may get it out and remember when... at the time when they wanted to get her taken out of pre-algebra and into algebra, it was me who went out and bought a white board and colored markers and showed her how to use it as a tool to work out problems without tearing holes in her paper. Months later her mom told me how much of a confidence booster it was for her and how she feels prepared for her next year of math classes because of it. Needless to say I think of her a lot and a lot of her and I want to do something extra nice. Not expensive, just something she will like. To be honest, my brain is fried. I have a couple of weeks, but it's truly all a matter of finding just the right thing. Any ideas? Besides naming our firstborn after her? We already told her that was out.

Ordered Crib...

We aren't buying any of the fancy bedding to go with it, just using a crib sheet and mattress protector, etc. Are considering trying to get a 'dust ruffle' on the bottom made by one of the grandmas with some generic fabric from walmart in some bright colors/pattern. It should be in this week or next. Kind of early, but hubby's getting anxious to get things ready.

Registering at Wal-Mart...

was a royal pain. They didnt have any of the batteries for the scanners on the charger, so we had to stop 4 times to get a new battery. Needless to say we finally gave up. But we do have registries at least started at WalMart and Target, so if anyone is looking to buy us a present, they'll know when we need. Okay, we need everything, but that is beside the point!

And, no, that's not a plea for gifts, it's just a statement of fact. I have baby showers coming up in 6 weeks, and time was running out for us to get everything done. Next weekend we have a company picnic for Matthew's work and also we are visiting one of the area hospitals to see if we like it. It's had a multimillion $ facelift just in the 'baby' area, in fact it's a whole building and it's fairly new so needless to say, we'll probably like it okay. Goodness knows what else we'll be up to in the coming weeks, so at this point, getting it done was probably a good thing.

New picture...

See the new picture to the right of me at 24 weeks. When getting up from a laying position earlier this morning, I noticed that my belly rounded up quite a bit, so I was interested in seeing what I look like in a photo again. I guess it's changed quite a bit. Of course, I'm also wearing a form-fitting tank top and had been wearing flowy tops before. Trust me, the baby is gaining all the weight. High and tight, and round.

Luckily, so far today I feel a ton better, the ligaments must have finished their stretching all out. At least for now.

Oh my aching... appendix?...

I would swear my appendix had grown back and was going bad again this week. It wasn't quite to the 'I can't sleep at all and I look drugged from being so sick' but it was close. Then I woke up in so much pain I almost cried. Then I burped. So I got up and burped for over an hour. Slowly I realized that about half my pain was gone. Note to self: Call doctor and see if you can take over the counter gas reliever, this had been more than 2 days. All other systems were 'go' so not sure why I was so full of bubbles. Glad they are gone though.

Notice I had said half my pain was gone. The other half was still there, and its the kind that makes it tough to roll out of bed (try rocking back and forth 3 times or so before I can heave my 'round' self out of bed.) Getting up out of an office chair is equally painful, as is sitting on a toilet or attempt to clean oneself after using said appliance. The pain is located on the lower right hand side (appendix anyone?) of my gut.

This had now been hurting for 3 days and was making it impossible to do a bunch of walking around during the day, which I have been counting as my 'exercise' daily. So, I broke down and called the doctor. Eh hmm.. I can't take any over the counter gas reliever, but they think I SHOULD be able to do a chest-knee position (kneel on the bed and then curl up fetal style with your chest on your knees) -- umm excuse me? I have this thing called a pregnant belly there. Whatever. The other suggestion was getting in a rocking chair and rocking. Neither one is actually conducive to a work environment. For my 'other' pain, it's apparently ligament pain and I am allowed to take as much tylenol as the bottle says, oh and I can ice it for 10 minutes at a time and sleep with pillows...? Huh? None of those is really going to fix it, but I guess there's not really a fix for it. I expected this kind of discomfort you know like in the last month, not with almost 4 months to go. Yuck.

Oh and a couple of times, I'd swear I was randomly getting water on my shirt, but not aware of how. Research solved that too. At least it's always been once I have my brassiere off at the end of the day and not during the day while I'm at work. Sheesh. Can anyone say moo?

Nursery pictures...

The first picture is the top of the changing table, on it are a lightswitch cover (teddy bear) and 2 "masks" that were discounted from Michael's craft store because the 'holder' had snapped off. I got them for half a dollar US. A close up is also the 3rd picture of the wooden masks. I will paint them, put googly eyes behind the holes and put them on the wall for decoration. Then you can see the see-through bins for holding baby stuff, the bright cheerful pails (also 50 cents apiece, I think), that will hold stuff or just serve for decoration or as toys later on. We bought the puzzle on sale from the 'farm store' -- it's a real wooden puzzle made by Melissa and Doug, I'd love to open it, but I really shouldnt, so it's safely wrapped for now, and then the horse that was the baby's first gift from it's mommy's mommy (my mom).

For his/her next trick...

The baby has figured out how to poke me in more than one place at once. Talk about blowing your mind. This morning it was a one-two poke in 2 locations, one on each side of my belly.

Makes me laugh so much-- I didnt' think it would be nearly that funny. And the look on 'daddy's' face when he gets kicked is hilarious. Of course I'm getting used to it, but he's only gotten to feel it like 4 times now, last night being the 4th and last week being 3 in a row.

I wonder what other new tricks we'll come up with. I noticed we had not had hiccups yet, or at least that I could tell. I wonder when that sets in?

I just about fainted...

When I opened the doctor's bill and found out that the ultrasound was COMPLETELY covered. Wow! So exciting! I had no idea that it would be covered. Woohoo!

Pregnancy Journal and Organizer...

i got this cool little journal thing when we went in for pre-natal counseling, or what have you when we just found out we were pregnant. I was scared to write in it until like the 5th month. Then I decided if I didn't write in it, I never would.

It's a pretty cool little thing, done by the 'What to Expect' series writers, I guess. Anyway, it has spots for journaling, doctors appointments, test results, daddy to chime in, what you've eaten and how much you've exercised (which I am steadfastly ignoring) -- as well as spots for potential baby names and etc.

I like it because I can write 'to' the baby and eventually maybe let the baby read it when it's all grown up!

Just one more gendered thing..

On the shelf at Wal-Mart "Precious Moments book of manners for girls", guess what wasn't there? Oh yeah, manners for boys -- don't most boys need just as many manners as girls? Sheesh.

New tricks...

This weekend, the baby learned "kick REALLY hard so daddy can feel" and "kick mommy in the bladder" -- one is fun, the other, not so much... Matthew can pretend it's not so big a deal, but when he told my mom he got to feel the baby kick, his neck turned red and his voice did that funny thing when he gets emotional. Sigh...

Kicking..

We're starting to learn how to kick so mommy can feel it, and particularly at 3:30 in the morning after a potty break. Silly baby!

uhh... really?

For an entirely non-baby reason I was looking at www.Hanes.com and I found something interesting. They have little girls socks that are sortable (white socks with toes and heels of pink, lavendar, or blue for small, medium and large so if you have more than one girl you can easily get their socks separted), so of course, I clicked over to the boys socks to see what they had (blue green and red maybe?) Nope. White socks with dark grey bottoms (and a S, M, L printed on the bottom of the sock)....so much for equality. What IS it with clothing manufacturers?

Baby names...

Everyone keeps asking us what names we like, which of course we aren't telling. What names do you like? Or what names do you think we should use? Boys or girls? Our last name rhymes with 'fluemaker'--ha ha!

Doctor's visit...

We had our big doctor's visit, as you can see by the pictures below. I finally quit losing weight and over the last month had gained 12.8 oz, and the baby was all measured and such and I was told weighed 11 oz. That certainly was a shock, although we're thinking that perhaps the baby is a week older than we thought? Either that or it's a BIG baby!

We love all the pictures that were taken, especially the 'foot' picture. The 3-d picture was interesting, but of course we didnt get a good snapshot due to the wiggler just laying there and wiggling. Feet and arms going crazy pumping up and down. Can't believe I can't really feel all that punching and kicking yet. I do feel something every now and then, but it's just the odd poke or prod that I can't really grasp that it's happening until it's too late. One of these days I guess.

It was really awesome to see the pumping arms and legs, really brought it home that there really is something in there, not that I didn't know that already, but still, it makes it real to see the movement.

I won't have another dr's visit until end of July and then end of August, when I'll have to do the diabetes test. After that I think I go more often, but at this point I'm kind of glad it's still only once a month. I will from time to time have to see another doctor, but I know for sure my own doctor won't be delivering my baby as she appears to be a little more pregnant than me. I'm hoping that there will be a woman on call and not some beefy fisted dude when I deliver! That's why I picked a woman in the first place! Oh well, we shall see.