It's-A-Girl Cheesecake!

[One week until Beanie's due date. But who needs another belly shot? I don't want to pose for it, and I promise you don't want to see it. Just take my word for it: I'm huge. So instead, I'm writing about food. Something far more pleasant than my ever-expanding abdomen.]

I wouldn't call them cravings, exactly. But I have had a hankering for several foods over the past few months. Like seafood. I kind of can't get enough.

And cheesecake.

I know this will sound absurd, but sometimes when I have heartburn (which happens fairly frequently, what with the whole baby-pushing-stomach-into-my-esophagus thing) I just really want some cheesecake. I feel like it will help. I don't know if it's the idea of something smooth and creamy to coat over the burning and churning inside me, or if it's just my pregnant body's way of getting protein in any form possible. But I really convince myself that cheesecake will do the trick. And when I have been able to get my hands on some, it really has worked.

So despite all the mocking from my friends and family, I continue to want cheesecake when I have heartburn.

This week (seeing as I'm in full-on nesting mode) I went ahead and just made one for myself. And then, even though it's just regular flavor (Mark's favorite) and not strawberry or anything fancy or fun, I dyed it pink. Why, you ask? Because 1.) I am still on a high from my new gel food coloring and will come up with pretty much any excuse to dye my food these days, and 2.) I will have a daughter soon!

It also just so happens that our old-and-new-again friends Betsy and Steven had their baby daughter today! So... Happy Birth Day, Elise!! Everyone else, enjoy a virtual slice of it's-a-girl cheesecake in her honor!

(And to cure your heartburn, if you have it.)

More Nesting = New Study

My nesting instinct has been in full-force throughout most of this pregnancy. I have been cleaning a lot (well, a lot for me), organizing and re-organizing kid supplies and kitchen cabinets and closets all over the house, and generally spending a lot of effort getting our house in order for our expanding family. It's biological, and when I get the urge, there is almost no controlling it. I feel antsy and worried until whatever project is on my mind is just done.

It started around the halfway point in May, when we had to reorganize the kids' rooms and my office to accommodate Nathan in his new big-boy bed. I went a little crazy that week. And the end result was that my office took on a lot of Beanie's stuff, a lot earlier than expected. My professional space was taken over by all the "baby" stuff we took out of Nathan's room, and I worked like that for several months more, before I left my job in July.

The problem was, even after I cleared all my company's property out of Beanie's room, it still was 50% study and 50% nursery. Which totals to 100% hot mess, as you can see:So Mark and I decided to re-work part of our downstairs rec room into our family's new study. He was already set up down here with a kitchen table and his own computer, but we got rid of a bunch of stuff to make room for a real office space. And it's so much nicer this way!
One of the best parts? To the right of the desk, Nathan has a play area where he can build blocks and load dump trucks, and my back isn't turned to him. This is a novel concept for Mark and me, since in the past both our desks faced a wall, so juggling computer/bill/work time with Nathan was difficult to say the least.

But the very best part is that I don't really have to be down here with Nathan... ever. And I rarely am. I'm sure it's a reaction from the two years I spent juggling mommying with employment, but I now avoid being on the computer when Nathan is around as if it's some kind of disease that I already beat once and might contract again: no re-contamination!

Nonetheless, I am glad to have a new study for our family, one that's well-organized (I projected my own nesting instincts onto Mark and he re-worked our whole filing system and computer cord system, to keep both far out of the way... yay!) and doesn't have to share space with a company or a kid.

See? Nesting is totally worth it. :)

Marbles Kids Museum

So, Nathan and I just had an ab-fab morning together at Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh, and then having lunch with our neighbor Renee who works nearby.

We are counting down the precious few days we have left (however many that may be) as a family of three before Beanie's arrival. And I am feeling a renewed sense of urgency to spend as much of that time as possible enjoying Nathan, instead of nesting and cleaning and shopping and cooking (although there's still a fair amount of that going on, I admit). Especially after a frustrating weekend, sleep-wise, the two of us needed some time together to just relax and have fun.

And that we did! I had never been to Marbles before, but I had been wanting to take Nathan for a while, and when I saw they were open today (usually closed on Mondays, one of our "free" mornings) I jumped at the chance to go. Let me just tell you it's well worth the $5 admission price, even for kids as young as two (they had lots of stuff for older kids too, but not as much for non-mobile babies).

They had so much stuff!! Lots of the older-kid areas seemed really cool (designing and sewing clothes, making your own webpage, building with real tools, science labs with bugs and dna blocks), but we stuck to the stuff Nathan could really enjoy at this age. These were some of his favorites (and links to a few bonus pics):City Bus - yes, Nathan calls it very specifically a city bus; he knows lots of different kinds of buses. No surprise he loved this thing. It's the front half of a real Raleigh city bus, and he could climb up in the driver's seat, change gears, and they also had a slide going out the back into another play area. (So much more fun than walking through the gate to get to the next exhibit!)

Ambulance - they had an "Around Town" section set up with stations for everything you would find in a normal town. Nathan did like lots of the sections (including shopping in the pretend store!) , but he kept coming back to this ambulance. He liked to drive it, and check on the patients in the back through a window, and he even went into the back to check out what it would be like to be a patient. He normally doesn't play pretend very much, but this museum really brought it out in him! Of course he liked driving best.

Fire Truck - yep, we're still on Things That Go, so of course he loved the fire truck too. I tried to convince him to put on the firefighter jacket and hat (most stations had outfits where the kids could dress up for whatever task they were doing), but he wasn't having it. Not so much a dress-up kid, I guess. Not yet anyway.

Train Table - complete with Thomas and his friends Percy and James and a couple more. Nathan's version of heaven. 'Nuff said.

Pirate Ship - Actually, Nathan calls this a pirate boat. Or sometimes a pirate boat ship. It was really neat, the kids could climb in it and on it and it was like three stories high! The sign said they were supposed to have an adult with them, but clearly those ladders were not designed for a non-skinny very-pregnant mommy. So I did my best, but Nathan managed the ladders pretty well on his own, for the first time. Yay Nathan! And he liked standing at the top and looking out over everything.
Mr. Potato Head - remember these from when we were kids? Well the museum had a whole exhibit featuring Mr. Potato Head! I have to be honest and say I didn't really get it... something about Mr. Potato Head going on a safari (or an archaeology dig?) or into space or something? (I was confused.) Nathan didn't care, though, and he had so much fun building his own potato! As you can see, they had every face, arm and foot option a kid could ever want!

Brazilian Carnival Drum - in a section of the museum teaching about other countries and their cultures, Nathan was most interested in Brazil. They had a big video of street drummers during carnival, and he just danced and beat right along with them. I think we played the video like four times; I'm sure the other people in there (concentrating on making carnival masks) were ready to kill us. It was loud, which is probably why Nathan loved it so much! (He wasn't so much into the face-painting, which didn't surprise me. In that same worlds section, he also got to pretend to go ice-fishing, and spin a huge globe around.

For more pics of Nathan at the museum (he's still calling it the limousine, but we're working on it), click here for the webshots album.

New Backpacks for the Kids

[We're in the middle of a frustrating weekend of very little sleep and way too much crying. Instead of boring you with the details of how Nathan hasn't been sleeping well for the last six months, and how five-minute soothes in the middle of the night are no longer working, and how Mark is in favor of trying the cry-it-out method, and how we all hate it but agree it's crazy to keep doing what we had been doing when clearly it's not working... instead of all that, I will write about something positive.]

I got two new bags in the mail!

As I've mentioned before, I really do love a new bag. And my sister sent TWO! To be fair, these are technically for the kids. But I'm the one who gets to pack and unpack them and decide which stuff goes in which pocket, so that's pretty much a present for moi! The blue one will be Nathan's and the purple one will be Beanie's.

I have been coveting Ashley's bag like this for quite some time. It's a backpack that's big enough to actually wear, but small enough to not be cumbersome. It's hard to tell sitting on the changing table, but these bags are not huge at all.

It has lots of pouches (including a mesh one for wet stuff; technically it was designed for swimmers) and pockets, which I love. She actually tried to give me one this spring, but when Brad was in town, he saw it and thought it was for him, and... well, you know how that goes. Yes, the bag is that awesome that even he was excited to get one.

So of course the first thing I did when the package came was unpack my hospital stuff from an old backpack of Mark's, and put it in Beanie's new backpack. And even though labor will be awful, at least I will have an awesome bag with me. Small concession, but it really does help. A little.

We way overpacked for the hospital with Nathan, and I found myself annoyed at all the stuff we had to trip over in our room. So we're going pretty far the other way this time, and only bringing the bare essentials (plus diapers and otc meds, of course, because do you know how expensive those things are if they bill you for them? don't get me started); since we live so close to the hospital and Mark will be back and forth a good bit anyway, we're figuring he can grab anything that we end up needing later. Let me ask you: what do I really need with me in the hospital? What's one thing you were glad you had on hand for delivery and postpartum?

Thanks for the backpacks, Ashley!!

[Also, today is the 26th... so happy 26 months to Nathan, and happy 9 months to Beanie!]

My Dog is Acting Out Like a Teenager

Do you think dogs can sense impending neonates? I do. I think Bowden can, anyway.

Right before Nathan was born (like, right before), Bowden broke a tooth that ended up lodged in her gums and required surgery to correct. Actually, Nathan's very first outing was to the vet for Bowden's tooth follow-up (he also had his own first checkup that day). So in the pictures of his first outing and first doctor's appointment, there's Bowden in the backseat with him.

And now she's done it again. She's landed herself in the middle of a medical problem, with me about to burst with child. Yesterday, she got in Simon's way when he was feeling territorial as another dog walked down our street (we're not supposed to let them play in the yard together unsupervised for this reason, though 99% of the time it's not a problem.... actually, we shouldn't be playing any 1% odds around here, now that I think about it) and the end result was a nasty cut on her leg. When Mark had trouble stopping the bleeding, he took her to the vet and she ended up under general anesthesia on the operating table yesterday afternoon.

I hope Simon knows he just spent his dental-cleaning budget on biting Bowden.

This morning she was still in pain and still limping, and her poor foot had swollen WAY up, so I took her back to the vet since they suspected it was stapled too tight or something. Anyway they got the swelling down and apparently now she's stopped with the constant whimpering, so Mark will pick her up on the way home from work. Guess when her staples are scheduled to come out? In fourteen days. For those of you keeping count, I have a baby due in thirteen days. Which means that, just like last time, we will be juggling vet surgery follow-ups at the same time as a hospital stay and newborn checkups. Lovely. Good timing, little B-diddy.

She does look kind of sad and pathetic, though, doesn't she? In slightly-related news, Nathan is totally jealous of her cone and begged and pleaded with me to wear the hat! Wear Bowden's hat! Please Mommyyyyyy. Wear it Nathan!

So I busted out our other cone collar, and I let him.

As you can see, he didn't like it as much as he thought he would. And before you go calling social services on me for being a terrible mom and putting him in one of these collars and photographing him in his misery, you should remember that he asked to wear it. Multiple times. And that it's funny. Even he might think so, someday. And that as soon as I took it off, he wanted me to put it back on. Seriously. Even now as I am uploading the picture, he is asking to wear it again.

Oh, Bowden. Why must you act out like a teenager? We know you don't *heart* the human beasts, but they're part of your family and they're here to stay. No matter how many surgeries you land yourself in, and how poor the timing of their follow-ups.

And we love you and we know that really it's mostly Simon's fault anyway.

Pregnant is the New Skinny (38-Week Bump)

Due date is two weeks from today!

(Please excuse the grodiness of my front door. It's actually recently cleaned, just all scratched up.)

I hate to say it, for those of you who guessed September birthdays, but I don't think she's coming until October. My cervix is going the other way! At least she's finally dropping a little. Her head is lower, but her body still seems just as high (it's been noted at several checkups that she seems long-legged, so maybe she's just stretching out!)...

Hospital bag is (mostly) packed.
Nursery is (mostly) ready.

And I'm enjoying a refreshing cocktail of Miralax and kool-aid. My, isn't pregnancy glamorous. Oh, but did you get the memo?

Pregnant is the new skinny. Am I right?

Preschool Homework (Yes, Seriously)

I haven't done much blogging or commenting this week/ I've fallen behind due to a homework assignment. Yes, you read that right. Homework.

When I took Nathan to orientation for his first day of preschool, and they gave us homework, I thought it was a joke. Homework?? They're two. Come on now.

And even though preschool is going very well, and I have hardly a negative thing to say about our experience so far, I stand by my initial knee-jerk reaction to this assignment.

Each family was assigned to "help their children" cut out pictures about themselves and the things they like. Everyone's collages will be turned into a big book about the class. But here's the thing: there's no cutting out pictures when you're two. I am NOT giving Nathan scissors yet, even kiddie ones. He couldn't work them even if he wanted to, and he's more likely to want to stab himself or the dogs anyway. And here's the other thing: if Nathan were to "choose" all the pictures to make a collage about himself, it would be a collage of nothing but trucks. I promise. I was very tempted to let him do just that (with ripped paper of course, because again with the no scissors), and turn it in, and see what they said.

But I decided not to be That Mom, and to play by the rules and make the collage the way I knew I was expected to. I found pictures of Nathan's favorite things, and pics of our family, and put them on construction paper. But it frustrated me, for a couple of reasons. Not the least of which is my time. Honestly, if I still had my job, I would have been incredibly resentful at forced arts & crafts in my precious off-hours; fortunately I have a lot of downtime these days so that resentment was mostly spared.

But mostly it was frustrating because if I'm making it, and the teacher compiles it and keeps it for her own memories or reference, then where is the benefit to the kids? Why am I doing a craft project that my kid will get no enjoyment or use out of? I'd rather just send her an email and tell her what Nathan likes. Don't force me to be crafty, people; it doesn't look good on me.

For the record, I am totally and completely opposed to homework that the child cannot do by himself. If there has to be parental help (not just supervision, which I'm ok with, but help), it's an inappropriate assignment for that age group.

Because I refused to let Nathan be totally uninvolved, Mark and I had him color some trucks and planes to contribute to the collage. And because after we turn it in, we will never see it again (except when the book gets passed around), I took a picture for posterity's sake. Maybe I can use this photo for next year's collage. Apparently this is an assignment that will be revisited throughout the preschool years. [sigh] Maybe next year, he'll be better able to do it himself. Let's hope so, or I really might get up on that preschool homework soapbox.

Nathan's First Homework. (Mommy gets an A+!)

My Life as a Home Executive

Lots of people have been asking me how my groove is going since I gave up my job in July, and accepted a promotion to Chief Operational Officer (and Executive Co-President) of the Goettsch family.

I think you're all wondering if I'm happy (yes), if I still have mixed feelings about my decision (nope), or if I've been a massive failure at laundry and housekeeping (so far so good).

I'm not going to be one of those homemakers home executives who tells you all the reasons why I am so busy and why what I am doing is so important and why I am so exhausted and blah blah blah. Because I don't really feel that way. What I'm doing is important, and it's true that running our house efficiently does take more time and effort than I would have estimated, but it's not unreasonable. (Plus, part of the work I've been doing has probably been prompted by my nesting instinct anyway, and the exhaustion is also likely pregnancy-related, let's be honest.)

The bottom line is that I cut something huge out of my life (a job that in theory was 25 hours a week, but in reality was 40+, especially in our busy time in the spring), and haven't added nearly that much back in. So relatively, things still seem pretty calm! Since I worked from a home office (now Beanie's room), I was already used to being home with Nathan all day and knew exactly what chasing after a toddler full-time meant. Yes, our house is now a good bit cleaner. Yes, we do eat dinner as a family (as opposed to after Nathan goes to bed) more often now that I am not sitting at my desk dealing with client stuff into the evening hours.

The reality is that I have one kid, he's a pretty easy kid, and he's at an easy age. So for now at least, things just aren't that hard. Honestly, if this were exhausting my time and emotional energy, I would be terrified (ok, more terrified) of what would happen when Beanie arrives. For now, I'm really grateful that things are going smoothly, and grateful even for the bouts of boredom. It means I'm getting ready for the next thing, and feeling ready to take on a little more. That's a healthy place to be in the weeks before a new baby arrives, right?

And at the end of the day, we are all so much happier. I won't pretend I'm never stressed (I'm still me, after all), but the atmosphere in our home is pretty relaxed and happy these days. Mark especially seems thrilled at the change in dynamic (and at the whole being right thing, he has encouraged this move for years), and I have found it a huge blessing to be able to really concentrate on taking care of Nathan without any conflicts about something else I'm supposed to be doing (yes, I know that will fly out the window when his sister comes, but let me live in bliss for now). Thunder during naptime? No problem, I'm happy to sit by your bed for an hour. Go to the airport this afternoon? Well sure, why not? We can grocery shop tomorrow.

It's a cliche but a true one -- a burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm sure I will work just as hard as I used to once Beanie arrives, but not feeling torn between my work life and my home life makes me feel so much at peace. I plan to really enjoy this for the next few years!

Heard Around Our House This Month...

There has been a fair amount of happy noise in our house so far this month. Here are some Nathanisms (and a Mark bonus) that have made me smile over the last few weeks:

"High five Nathan! Go tigers! Don't hit!" -- as Nathan high-fived himself in our closet's full-length mirror.

"Nathan's turn! Do it Nathan!" -- our increasingly independent 2-year-old resists help with pretty much everything...

"Rub the feet? Please Mommy." -- pretty much anytime Nathan crawls in bed, proving once again that no matter whom he looks like... he is most definitely my son.

"Daddy do music on Nathan." -- asking for Mark to pretend to play the piano on his bare belly, prompting no small amount of squealing and giggling.

"Waaaaah! Go to the airport!" -- apparently he craves large fixed-wing aircraft as a source of comfort after a stubbed toe or pinched finger instead of either parent. Wow I feel loved (and needed).

Waaaaaah! Hold you, Simon!" -- or as a second choice for comfort, the dog, and it apparently doesn't matter that Simon can't actually hold him.

"It's a white one." -- said while pointing at Mark's (graying) hair.

"It's Mommy's big belly. HI BEANIE!" -- clearly he needs to learn the word pregnant so that people don't think he's just calling me fat. Cute when we can get him to talk to his sister though. :)

"I feel safe saying this in an email, since I know you my smack me if I said this in arm’s reach. I’d rather her wear a headband than people think she’s a boy. Don’t hate me." -- Mark, after I told him how much I loved our bloggity friend Aashini's mostly-still-bald pigtails, and how I would much rather do a hairstyle like that to our (also likely to be bald) daughter than bust out with one of those weird headband things that some people think are so cute. You guys are with me on this one, right? No weird headband is worth an assumption of femininity.

Overwhelmed

Two things overwhelmed me this week:

1.) We took a tour of the maternity wing at the hospital -- just as a refresher on where to park, where to go, etc, when I'm in labor. And we saw babies. We saw nurses. We saw doctors. We saw beds and iv poles and birthing balls and big deep labor tubs. And it reminded me that this is really happening. How are we doing this again? Already?? The part of me that had mostly made peace with the coming of a daughter got really overwhelmed again, and I found myself crying in the hospital parking deck. Not sure if it's just hormones, or if I'm really truly still having trouble with this pregnancy, or if I'm a little scared of labor, or if I just remembered that I don't love hospitals (even though I stand by my decision to deliver there, both for the nicu and the epidural -- assuming I get it in time, that is). Maybe it's all of the above, actually. I'm still looking forward to meeting her, even though the reality of the hospital visit was unexpectedly harsh and hit me unexpectedly hard.

2.) Mark put our new tandem stroller together, and we loaded Nathan up in it to "drive" in the big brother seat. And then, after we had loaded our kid into the stroller, there was still an empty space where a child should be sitting. Another crazy reality.

Yep, this is really happening. In a little less than three weeks (or so). Wow.

Two New Beasts in the Family

I don't know how to start this post off except to just say it: In addition to two canine beasts, one human beast (and one on the way), we are now officially the proud owners of two amphibious beasts -- pet frogs.

(And a dead snail who lives with them, but we're working on that situation.)

Because Mark and I know how fascinated Nathan gets while watching fish (and by fish I also mean the lobster tanks at any seafood restaurant), we had been toying around with the idea of an aquarium for his birthday. We eventually ruled it out because the expense (and energy!) required to keep up an aquarium are a bit much for us right now, and because we didn't really have a safe place for Nathan to enjoy it without destroying it.

But Uncle Nick (and Barbara too) found a compromise: African dwarf frogs who live in a tiny little box aquarium that acts as its own ecosystem. Cool, huh? (They have a friend who is a buyer for Learning Express who is extremely in tune with what's interesting and fun for kids... so pretty much everything N&B get for Nathan -- especially on said friend's recommendation -- is a home run.) They only have to be fed a couple of times a week, and their home stays clean on its own, we just need to wipe down the sides a couple of times a year. The snail is supposed to do most of that cleaning work for us, but seeing as he's notsomuch alive.... yeah like I said we're working on that situation.

Nathan has named his frogs Wilbur (after my dad's cat, we assume) and Nathan. He changes his mind about their names at least once a day. Please don't ask me which is Wilbur and which is Nathan. The snail doesn't have a name, since we're carefully avoiding mentioning him to Nathan in the hopes that he'll think it's just a rock, not a dead pet. Good parenting at its finest.

Nathan and Wilbur Frog arrived at our house on Saturday during the shower; since (human) Nathan's birthday at the end of July, the frogs have been living at Nick and Barbara's. And Nathan is loving his new pets; he asks to see them all the time. Right now we have them up on the mantle in the family room, and in his zeal to talk to them (and kiss their box... no I am not kidding) he has been climbing up on the (rolling) ottoman and standing up on it. Yikes. So I think the frogs' box will be finding a new spot in our home soon, but I'm not sure where yet. (We'll take care of that when we take care of the dead snail, I assume.)

Anyway -- welcome to the family, Wilbur and Nathan Frog! We promise to take good care of you for your expected 2-year life span, and we can't wait until you mature a little and start singing to us!

Baby Shower for Mommy and Beanie

My awesome friend Jenny hosted a shower for Beanie and me at our house this weekend. You might think that because it was at our house, it would mean I had to do some of the hostessing work, too.... but nope! Really -- I just got to relax, recover a little bit from my exhausting week, eat ridiculously yummy chicken salad, visit with friends, play games, and open gifts. Jenny either did or delegated everything else. Amazing. Also, she's the kind of friend who knows I would always rather have brownies than cake. Everyone needs a friend like that.

We played that typical baby shower game where guests have to take a piece of yarn and cut off what they estimate is the circumference of my belly. Can I just say there is no way to play this game without someone calling me fat? Or a whole lot of someones??? Honestly, my sister and my (very dear friend who took care of Nathan and me all weekend, so I won't complain) Sarah both held their arms straight out in front of them to estimate my belly size. Straight out in front of them. Wow. I'm knocked up, but I'm not that huge. When I put my own arms out in front of me, they extend well past my belly. I promise. Well past. I did get to ask a few of them "Are you calling me fat?" (you know, my trademark phrase) and make them deliciously uncomfortable, though, which was fun. :)

I got a whole lot of girly stuff, which I am very excited about. Outfits, and things to add to Nathan's handed-down nursery bedding to make the room a little more feminine, and lots of diapers and baby gear. One of my favorite things was a beautiful little elephant lamp, which I will post pictures of as soon as the nursery is more set up (should happen in the next week or so, I hope, I hope).
We also got a good laugh out of some pajamas which looked like they had ribbons in the, um, nipular area... but it turns out they were lower than we thought at first glance. Before we figured that out, though, we laughed so hard we cried (thanks, Oma!)... well, Ashley and I did anyway. Not sure anyone else really gets our sense of humor.

And speaking of Ashley, this picture of the two of us with Nathan is, I'm pretty sure, my favorite pic from the shower. Barbara took it (and all the pictures, I think) right after Nathan woke up from his nap and made his appearance (wearing his Big Brother shirt) at the shower. He was mighty happy to see Ashley when he opened his eyes, and also happy to see his Grandma and other friends when he joined the gathering. I think he might have been a little too sleepy to deal with both Ashley and me right after his nap, though, as you can see. I'm sure his daddy (and most of the rest of our family) can attest to that feeling! He wasn't too overwhelmed to open a few big brother presents, though (grandparents think of everything). Even though I am still recovering a little from last week, and spent most of the afternoon leaning on my hip with my feet propped up, it was a very fun day! Thank you to my friends and family who came and who sent beautiful things for me and my daughter-to-be!!


For more pics from the shower, click here.

Guess Beanie's Birthday, Win a Prize!

We're having a contest! Leave a comment (or email me) with your best guess for Beanie's birth date (and time) and whoever gets closest will win a prize. (An actual prize, not a cyber-prize like Mark's valentine flowers.) The prize will be customized to the winner, so we can't announce what it is yet, of course.

I am totally copying my friend emu by doing this, but her family had so much fun with it that I thought it was worth doing, even if it makes me a copycat. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, right?

Like emu, I will give you some information to help you make an educated guess. Assuming you think any of the information below is valuable in predicting a birth date, that is.

1.) My mother's intuition says I will go into labor on October 6th, 7th, or 8th. That's her due date +/- 1 day.

2.) In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that my mother's intuiton has never correctly predicted a gender or birth date (including my own two).

3.) Beanie's due date based on an early ultrasound (at 7 weeks) is Oct 7th.

4.) Her due date based on my last cycle is Oct 1st. My cycles were off since Nathan wasn't weaned at that point, though.

5.) Her due date based on when Mark and I think we (ahem) made her would be either Oct 4th or Oct 10th.

6.) There is a full moon on Oct 4th.

7.) I am carrying her high. Much, much higher than Nathan. I am 36 weeks and 2 days, and she has not "dropped" yet.

8.) Nathan came 4 days late.

9.) I came on my correct due date. (Not the one my mom coaxed the doctor into using so she could do her pregnancy classes and such a month earlier.) Mark has no idea if he was early or late.

10.) With Nathan I was 100% effaced at this point, but not dilated at all. With Beanie I am currently only 50% effaced, but dilated to almost 2 cm.

11.) My blood pressure took a sudden spike this week. It's still to be determined if that was a fluke, or if it's a problem. Your guess is a good as mine at this point. My mom calls fluke. She's a doctor and a grandmother, so give her opinion whatever weight you think it deserves.

12.) I am having contractions -- both productive and braxton-hicks. And have been since about 28 weeks.

13.) My belly is measuring about 34cm, which is right on target.

14.) Nathan came at 1:42am, and I was most grateful that I don't have to remember his birthday as my labor day (aka my dark day). If I have any say-so, that would happen again. But I don't really get a say-so, huh?

15.) I think that pitocin just might be the work of the devil himself, and will therefore beg and plead to avoid an induction, even if she's late.

So, make your best guess! And if there's other info you want/need to know in order to cast your ballot, let me know and I will provide it!

Belly Bump at 36 Weeks

[So I drafted this post and took this picture on Wednesday, at exactly 36 weeks. But since then, I have had a little medical mini-adventure, the details of which aren't going to become internet-public -- even *I* have limits. Just suffice it to say it was gross and painful, but after a blurry 48 hours including a very minor in-clinic surgery, a fair amount of tears, blood, dozing, baths, vicodin, and the best husband on the planet, I am feeling human again. So here is your belated belly pic.]


As promised, I am posting a 36-week belly shot. I might do another one before the due date (and I'm sure Mark will insist on taking one as we leave for the hospital anyway) but as I'm starting to feel rather huge, I am getting a little camera-shy.Believe it or not, this is smaller than I was at this point with Nathan. I feel bigger than I have ever been in my life, but Mark assures me (and the OB's measuring tape concurs) that my abdomen has indeed seen bigger days...

...and will again, since we still have a month to go!

Baby Growth Chart Completed!

When I went to plug in Nathan's height and weight stats from his checkup earlier this summer, I noticed that he's done with the baby growth chart. (From now on he just gets measured once a year at his checkups each summer.)

One more affirmation that he's really, truly, a big boy now.

He ended his babyhood in the 56th percentile for height (34 1/2 inches) and 55th percentile for weight (28 lbs, 5 oz). Pretty darned average.

Especially considering the path he took to get there! I thought the charts were worth sharing, since they're almost comical at times. That huge dip in the weight chart, the occasional skyrocket in height.... oh, Nathan, the adventures you put us through in your growth patterns.


Weird to be done with the baby chart, but I guess I get to start a new one in just a few weeks!

Labor Day.... One Month Until Labor

Well, it's Labor Day. And it's the 7th. Which means it has fallen exactly a month before Beanie's due date. So y'all enjoy your rest from labors today... while I dwell on the fact that my real labor will be in a month. A MONTH. That's soon, people.

So in honor of Labor Day, and my own upcoming labor, I thought I would do a pregnancy FAQ update. Since it's been a while, you know. So here are some more answers to another round of frequently-asked questions.

1.) How do you feel? Um, how are you people still asking me this question? Is it like a whole pregnancy kind of thing? (I think I remember yes, from being pregnant with Nathan.) Honestly, I feel ok. I am getting huge, and therefore it's hard to get comfortable to sleep through the night (even if I didn't have to pee every few hours, which I do). I have heartburn since I am carrying her a lot higher than I carried Nathan, and she likes to kick me in the esophagus and push acid up in there. But even though I am a less comfortable now than I was at this point with Nathan, Mark tells me I am handling it better. And you people keep telling me I look great. All of that stuff helps. So keep it coming, but enough with the how do you feel? mmkay thanks.

2.) Are you having contractions? Yes. I'm having braxton-hicks contractions which are uncomfortable but not a big deal. And I am having real productive contractions sometimes as well. Which is also fine. Every one I have now is one I don't have to have later, right? And they're not so productive that I am progressing rapidly or in labor or anything. I have full faith that she'll hang out for another month. Maybe I live in denial, but I am happy living here.

3.) Are you ready for the hospital, bags packed, car seat installed, etc? Nope. We are old pros at the car seat now and likely won't install it until after she's born; I mean Mark will come home from the hospital a few times anyway, he'll just do the seat on one of those trips before he comes to bring us home. I do have a growing pile of stuff to bring to the hospital, but it's not packed. Even a little bit.

4.) Are you emotionally ready? No. Please don't come yet, sweetie.

5.) Have you decided on a name? Yes. Well, we are 99% sure. There is still a slight chance we will fall back on one of Mark's original favorites, and because he loves it so much, I am willing to wait to hold her and "try it on" at the hospital before officially ruling it out. But since it's pretty unlikely I will suddenly fall in love with it after delivery, we do have another name that we're both very happy with. We're sticking with our plan to wait until she comes to share it, but we did tell Nathan. Who has told three people. Two of them were completely oblivious, but we're pretty sure the other has it figured out. The official decision and announcement will come when she's born though. I promise it's not really going to be Beanie. In case some of you (ahem, Ryan) thought we were being serious.

6.) Do you have a plan for Nathan during your hospital stay? Yes, though the final details are still being arranged. Uncle Nick will come stay with him during the nights, and our friends from church, the Chamblees, will let Nathan hang out with them (either at our house or theirs) during the days. And we'll have some spot-coverage in case I go into labor during the few days when Nick and/or the Chamblees already have plans. But our boy will be in good hands while he makes the transition to big-brotherhood!

7.) Any more races or events on the horizon? Yes, one more. My mom and I will again attempt the 2-mile Pier to Pier swim in Wrightsville Beach again (hopefully the weekend will be easier than last year!), which is next Saturday. I will be just shy of 37 weeks pregnant. Swimming at this point is much more comfortable than other exercise (I haven't done any running since June, and even hiking and walking wears me out quickly these days, though I still try to take Nathan out for a stroll several times a week). I think the swim itself will be fine, assuming I can get through the road trip without going into labor. I have no idea if my workout suit even fits. But I am looking forward to my last open-water event for a while!

8.) Have you smacked anyone yet for touching your belly uninvited? No. But I have thought about it. And I have had to give some Looks, and a few statements like um, I'm sorry, but I actually don't love people touching my belly. Hands off please. But I have not smacked anyone. Which means, for the record, I am still not as bad as my mom. :)

9.) Any cravings? Just food, in general. I have been all about some chocolate milk (which I try to drink in the form of protein shakes on days when I don't eat well otherwise), and of course I am loving having an extra excuse to eat a big mac. We have gotten lots of chicken ranch sandwiches from Chili's this summer. And I haven't turned down much kool-aid. I lost count of the number of mounds bars several months ago. But one perk of the heightened senses in pregnancy is that every food I eat tastes amazing, like the best thing I have eaten all day, so it's hard for me to pick a favorite right now.

10.) Still no weight gain? Really? Strange but true, especially with all I've been eating in the last few weeks. (Actually, apparently it's not that strange for women in my weight range. We don't need to gain much!) I still haven't really gained back the 20 lbs I took off in the first trimester, so at this point it's pretty unlikely I'll even get back to where I started. But Beanie is growing fine, and labor will probably be easier (ha! easier than what?) without the extra weight anyway. Right now I am up about 2 pounds from my lowest point in the pregnancy, but down 18 overall. So we'll see what happens. According to a child at Ashley's engagement cookout yesterday, I am indeed carrying enough weight. Because if you're five, it's apparently appropriate to ask someone Why are you so fat? Um, because I'm pregnant. Yeah, let's go with that. But why does that make you so fat? [sigh]

11.) Where will Beanie be born? Assuming she can hang on until after my trip this weekend, there should be no reason my delivery won't happen at WakeMed, which is just a few miles from our house, and is where Nathan was born as well.

12.) Will you be having a natural delivery? If you mean vaginal, then yes -- I hope so. If you mean drug-free, then no -- big fat no. I have to have two rounds of iv antibiotics anyway, since I am a carrier of Group B Strep (which could cause major problems for Beanie if we don't treat her during delivery). So that will be drug #1. As far as pain management -- my plan is to get to the hospital in enough time to ask for an epidural, and then be assertive enough to get my cervix checked when my body is telling me it's time. I failed on both of those counts with Nathan, in part thanks to my iv-Pitocin (given to kick-start labor since Nathan had had a bowel movement in utero and they need to get him out sooner than later), so the epidural didn't get there in time, and I was miserable. Maybe if I had intended a natural childbirth, it would have been better, but instead I just felt rushed through labor, and frustrated and ignored, and I will do better this time. Bring on the epidural, folks, especially if you're going to strap me to an iv and contain me to the bed anyway!

Any other questions? Post 'em in the comments, or email me! And I'll do another belly update in the next week or so, probably. Maybe. If you promise not to keep calling me fat, kid.

Weekend of Celebrations

Our family spent the weekend gallivanting around the Carolinas, celebrating a whole bunch of our friends and families. Here are some highlights:

1.) Baseball Birthday Party -- on Friday night my friend Kelley celebrated her birthday by reserving a rooftop terrace overlooking the Greenville Drive's stadium. We had a fun gathering, and for a celebration bonus she told us she's pregnant with her third baby! I think Nathan's favorite part of the party was riding the trolley to the stadium. (Another thing that goes to add to his repertoire!) Or maybe the matchbox mail truck we bought him on the way there, to keep him occupied (which totally worked all weekend long, by the way). This picture is Kelley, our friend Lauren and me, enjoying the rooftop terrace.

2.) Nathan Rides a Power Wheel -- on Saturday morning Mark and I took Nathan to visit Jeff's family. Yep, that's one of the families we went to the beach with a few weeks ago. Which means Nathan was reunited with his friends Matthew and James (and baby Luke), this time on their home turf. And their home turf has power wheels. Can I just say there is something a little disconcerting about seeing this thing driven by 2 two-year-olds? But... they had fun!
I don't think Nathan knew quite what to think about it, honestly; he just sort of stared at James the whole time in awe.

3.) Baby Shower/Tailgate -- a few Furman friends who were in town for Kelley's birthday gathering decided we should also have a little baby shower for our friend Merritt. So we surprised her by inviting her to a tailgate on campus and then giving her gifts instead of focusing on football. (Because... did we ever really care about the football? Incidentally, another good distraction from the game itself would have been the band doing the Thriller dance at halftime -- I marched, in this band even, and I can assure you *I* never got to do the Thriller dance. For the record.) My favorite part of the shower was blindfolded pregnant Merritt, swinging away at a pinata. When she made contact, it terrified Kelley's baby daughter Sienna. Which probably is no indication of her future as a mother. ;-) Watch that video here.

4.) Dinner with Ryan -- I got to see my friend Ryan!!! Which is exciting because both of our lives have taken turns for the chaotic this year, and we have not done a great job of staying connected. Despite his brand-new canine child, he was able to get away at the last minute and meet Nathan and me for dinner, and it was really good to get a visit with him, short though it was.

5.) The Law Family -- Mark's fourth Clemson roomie, Joe, offered to let us stay in his house in the Greenville area for the weekend, even though they were out of town for part of the time. (Oddly enough, we also lent out our house to a friend of a friend while we were on the road this weekend! Yay for a bad economy encouraging us to all be a little more generous -- and cheap!) Mark, who went down to Clemson for their football game while I was doing the shower/tailgate, did get to see them some after the game. And we had a short visit Saturday night, and went with them to church in the morning, which was nice. They have a daughter (almost 1) named Vivian, and Nathan hadn't been away from her for five minutes after we said our good-byes before he was asking to kiss Vivian. I think he thought she was pretty. :) Unfortunately I managed to take zero pictures with the Laws, which is a bummer since we don't get to see them very often. :(

6.) Furman's Lovely Campus -- we also got to spend some time wandering around at Furman. Nathan liked the belltower, and the swans (who clearly know that toddlers mean breadcrumbs; they followed him around the edge of the lake for quite some time). He had fun telling us (over and over again) which were the white swans and which were the black swans and which were the ducks.

7.) Engagement Cookout -- we stopped at my sister's (Ashley) fiance's (John) house in Gastonia on our way back to Raleigh. They were having a cookout and pool party to celebrate their engagement and let the families meet each other. We had a fun time together, swimming and laughing and being happy for the two of them as they get ready for marriage. And then, as you can probably assume, Nathan slept all the way home!

For more pictures of our fun weekend, click here for the webshots album.

First Day of Preschool

I am going to try not to cry as I write this, because once again (again!) I have been caught off guard by how quickly my child is growing up.

Nathan started preschool today. PRESCHOOL. Not the free-for-all playtime that was mothers morning out last year, but actual legitimate preschool. With structure. And a curriculum. And this makes him seem much more grown-up than he did last week.

Big boy Nathan, leaving the house for his first day of preschool!

He'll be going two mornings a week to our church's Weekday School. (What they miss out on in creativity for that name, they get bonus points -- from me anyway -- for being one of the only things at our church that's named simply what it is, so no one has to guess what the name means or what the ministry does.) There are six -- six!! -- classes of two-year-olds, and he is in the youngest one, so I am no longer worried about him not being able to do some of what the older kids can do -- all of them in the class are within four months of each other.

Like many events at our church, the first day of school was marked by a flamingo flocking. Nathan said, "It's a goose! It's a pink goose! I see it!"

Going up the steps into the classroom building.

Fortunately the dropoff this morning was way too chaotic for me to be emotional. Though it did hit me how old Nathan seemed climbing the steps inside, once we got to his class the efficient and logical part of my brain took over from the sappy camera-wielding side. There were crying kids, clingy parents (why are the parents more clingy than the toddlers? come on, people) so I just left him with his teacher, said a prayer of thanks that mine was the only one not pitching a fit, and made a quick exit while he found a truck to play with. And then went to Starbucks for some mommy-juice.

Nathan with his teacher, Mrs. P (at orientation a few days ago).

And didn't dwell too much on the fact that my baby, my tiny newborn son whom I'm pretty sure I pushed out like ten minutes ago, is now a walking talking person who will be in school following rules (I hope), and sitting in a circle to read stories, and taking turns on the slide on the playground. Because if I dwell on it, I will cry.