4.30.2008

Brothers





So our babies for the last 4 years, Gus & George, seem to realize something is going on. We tell them all the time they are going to have a new baby sister soon, and they tilt their heads and look at us as if they are trying so hard to understand what that means. We let them sniff around in Annie’s room so they get used to all of the new baby stuff. I’m worried that they are in for a rude awakening, poor guys. They're used to being the center of our lives, so I'm afraid they're going to be a bit disconcerted when they meet the new center of our lives.

We can somewhat predict their reactions. George (the big one) is a clumsy sweetheart. We think he'll be solely interested in loving up this baby whenever possible--following her around, constantly sniffing and licking her. He follows me everywhere now and his favorite thing to do is snuggle with me, so I think he'll be great company to Annie and I during those nighttime feedings. While he is sweet and means well, it does get annoying to have a tall, 90-pound slobbery ox constantly under your feet (or on your lap). I am really hoping that I won’t get too fed up with him when I’m overtired and trying to take care of a crying baby. I hope I can remember that his world is being turned upside down too, and that he can’t help his curiosity/clumsiness. And what I really hope is that someday he and Annie will be the best of buddies. I hope he snuggles her like he snuggles me, because that kind of unconditional love is the best feeling in the world. Plus, he's an excellent pillow!

Gus is another story. He can be very, very sweet. He loves to snuggle and he loves his Daddy. Yet he can also be pretty bratty. He’s been Paul’s baby since the day we brought him home, and he didn’t hesitate to let George know that when we brought him home when Gus was 6 months old. Since Gus is a small dog, he has to use his attitude to let George know who is boss. Our concern with Gus is that he’ll be jealous, especially when Paul is snuggling the baby. He’s not a biter or anything, so I don’t think we need to worry about anything like that. But we’ll definitely need to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn’t act out by chewing up the couch (more than he already has) or get growly with her. On the other hand, he can be pretty independent--he’s happy just laying on the back of the couch in his spot, so he might end up just enjoying some alone time when we’re wrapped up with taking care of the baby. It will definitely be interesting to see how he is around her!
In any case, they will still be our babies, and we will do our best to make sure they aren't neglected over the next few months. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let that happen anyway!

4.26.2008

The Home Stretch


36 weeks
Originally uploaded by porkchop & paul

Holy crap, 4 more weeks to go. I can't believe it! And I must admit, it's driving me a bit crazy not knowing whether it's really going to be 4 weeks or if it will be 1, or worse, 6! The planner in me is going nuts. But I'm trying to relax, there is really nothing I can do about that. Just hope we get at least a few more weeks to get the essentials wrapped up (the car seat, a place for the baby to sleep--the crib has no mattress and our cosleeper is missing the bassinet insert, the hospital bag packed), and also hope that this baby doesn't keep us waiting around for a few extra weeks!

We're having a bit of trouble getting the car seat installed. We need to use the LATCH system since the infant seat has a 5-point harness, but our Cherokee doesn't have the hooks we need. Paul's coworkers have been trying to call dealerships this week to see if we can get some sort of kit to get the hooks installed, but they've been saying we're out of luck. Paul's thinking they might just be too lazy to look though, so we're going to spend this week looking around. If we can't find anything we'll take it to the fire department, see if it's possible to install it with just the seat belt. I'd rather not have to exchange this one for a car seat without the 5-point harness, so hopefully it will all work out! Man, baby stuff sure can be complicated.

Happy things:
I've read that it's harder for the baby to move around now since she's running out of space, but man alive is this baby active! She seems to be moving more often than she used to, and her kicks are stronger than ever. Mostly she pushes on the right side of my belly, I see it bulging out of the corner of my eye every once in a while. During meetings at work she goes particularly nuts. Maybe she finds them boring and is thinking she better give me a swift kick to keep me awake. If so, it's working! She made me jump a few times, her kick was so hard!

At my last midwife visit, she said Annie is head down. Now hopefully she'll stay that way! I was kind of hoping she'd tell me I was dilated a bit, just a centimeter or two so I'll have less work to do later. But alas, nothing. I'm starting my weekly visits now though, so maybe when I go Wednesday I'll have some encouraging news! The best part about our visit was hearing how much stronger her heartbeat sounded. Very exciting!

My coworkers are throwing me a work shower this coming Friday, I'm very excited! And seriously, how sweet are they? I'm a lucky girl!

4.22.2008

Progress





Lots of progress on Annie's room this past weekend. We picked up the crib on Friday night. Saturday and Sunday we shopped and then worked on cleaning up the floor (lots of paint splatters) and arranged the furniture. We're still not set on how it's arranged, but it's a start, and such a relief to have it all in there finally! Paul put the crib together on Sunday in record time. We were nervous because our friends had been telling us horror stories about missing pieces and confusing instructions. So Paul was very conscientious about making sure we had all of the pieces before he started. He got it up in about an hour and a half, very impressive! It sure is pretty too, we're really happy with it.


I spent the day on Sunday unpacking and organizing all of the baby shower gifts. I decided to take a picture of each person's gifts so Annie can see what sorts of things people bought her before she was born. It will be nice for us to have that too, since someday when our kids are older everything will be given away! I had a ton of fun looking through everything again, it's all so cute! I can't stop peeking in her room either.


So we had a great weekend, and even took some time out to watch two movies: Best in Show and Bee Movie. Both highly entertaining!


This weekend we're doing our final shopping trip to get the rest of the things we'll need right away. That will be fun. I'm hoping I'll have time to take pictures of all of the baby things that we bought and all of the things my mom bought this weekend too, to complete the set of baby present pictures. It will be fun to go through all of that stuff too, since it's been packed away for a while now! We still have to decorate the walls at some point too. I'm hoping that won't be too hard, I'm indecisive when it comes to that sort of thing. I sure can't wait to see it when it's done though!


Oh, and another project this weekend will be giving Paul some much needed "fun time." Poor guy has been working like crazy--side jobs at work for extra money and all of this work on getting the baby's room ready. He doesn't want me to help so much with that, he's very nervous about paint fumes and lifting things and all of that. He's already such a good daddy though, he really is working so hard to get ready for his daughter to get here!


It's really hit us this week that this baby could really come at any time now. We're 36 weeks now. I think we're ready though. We need to pack our hospital bag and get that car seat in, and then we'll be all set. So exciting! I really can't wait to meet our little girl!!


4.14.2008

6 Weeks to Go!

34 Weeks

Lots of news from baby land:
We finished our childbirth classes and then took our breastfeeding class last night. We learned how to bathe and swaddle the baby in our last class, so now we are fully prepared. Or something! Our breastfeeding class was great, we got so many good tips, and learned a lot of stuff we didn't know. It was a bit weird when we had to "practice" by holding the baby dolls up to our breast, but it really did help to have her check to make sure we had the positioning right. I feel much more confident about feeding her now!

The baby shower was last Saturday! I had so much fun. My mom, sisters, and Tara threw it for me. We had chocolate fountain, punch, and cheese & crackers, plus the most adorable rubber duckie cake. We played a few games that were not lame, and then opened presents. I was amazed at how tired I was after the present opening--there were a lot of presents and I was nervous with all eyes on me. We got so many great things for Annie though, and everyone's cards were so sweet. As Mom and my sisters noted, I really do have the sweetest friends. I feel very lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life (and in Annie's life).

Yesterday we drove up to Ikea in Canada. We bought a cute rug and lighting for the baby's room. I also finally convinced Paul to buy a coffee table. He had been adamantly opposed to them up til now. We got a new rug for the living room too, since the dogs had destroyed the last one. We got a real cheap one this time, just in case it happens again. Probably won't, since the last one went through puppydom and this one won't have to. We shopped for about 6 hours and were both a bit worn out when we left, but we really had a great day looking at everything together, and had a lovely drive home. Probably one of our last road trips as non-parents! Paul was nervous the whole time we were up there--he was convinced my water was going to break and kept pointing out hospitals, just to make sure he knew where the closest ones were. I think he was seriously convinced we'd have a Canadian citizen for a daughter!