Carpet is in

We got new carpet in the 2nd bedroom, so we were able to final clear out the kitchen of baby furniture. Still need to put some things together, but at least we don't have cribs and dressers in the kitchen any longer... Should be able to knock that out this weekend. Once we have the crib, and furniture all together, it's just some final decorations and we'll be all ready for the baby to arrive.

If anyone has some inside information on where I can buy 30-60 Records (yeah, the music kind) for $1 a piece (or cheaper) let me know... doesn't matte what they are, or what shape they are in, as they are going to be decoration, not used for music.

4D Miracle

Okay... so in case people aren't familiar, I am sure you've all seen the traditional 2 dimensional ultrasound (if not you can go back in this blog to see some images from earlier in the pregnancy). This morning we went in for a Four Dimensional ultra sound... I HIGHLY recommend it... It's a bit pricey $100+, and most insurance companies don't cover it. But being able to see the images in 4D (Width, Length, Depth, and Time...i.e. movie) is so amazing. It's another step in that realization that this is real (if Melanie's growing stomach isn't enough of a daily reminder).

10 more weeks to go!

So here are a few shots (3D, sorry no movie, maybe later) from our ultrasound. Mary Lou is one fine looking baby!

Here is one of the baby all scrunched up.. the head is just out of view and you can see her arm/hand/legs.

This next one is what I call Mary Lou Karate Chop... stand back when she gets fiesty! You can see her arm in front of her face getting ready to give a nice backhand chop. You can also see the embilical cord going across her stomach.

We've got a bunch more, but I'll provide this last one... it's my favorite. Mary Lou, naping away!

Babymania Expands

Okay... so I think I've talked about all the people we know having babies... and that list seems to keep growing... Here's a run down... I am sure I am forgetting someone... so sorry in advance! :)

- Jesse/Holly - Mid-July - Owen Alexander B. arrived on July 19th...
- Ryan/Kara - Mid-Sept.
- Brent/Janet - Mid-Sept.
- Tony/Emily - Early Oct
- Melanie/I - End Oct.
- Scott/Stacy - Mid-Nov.
- Jason/Julianne - Mid-Nov.
- Matt/Anna - Mid-Nov.

New Additions
- Brad/Brigitte - Early Feb.
- Ryan/Jen - Late Jan.

Pretty crazy, and exciting... it's very fun that we'll have all these other families to hang out with, and certainly will be helpful to hear how things are going with others as they embark on parenthood... Obviously every family and every child is different, but it certainly will be nice to know that we're not the only ones that can't seem to get our baby to sleep for more than a couple hours at a time :)

Mary Lou Visits Michigan

Mary Lou continues her traveling ways this weekend. She has yet to leave the womb, and she's already been to Las Vegas (twice), Austin, Chicago, Cleveland. This weekend she'll head to South Haven, MI. Should be a nice weekend, and the weather looks great.

I've been to Michigan a couple times, but that really consisted of a couple trips in College to Detroit/Windsor, and a trip up to see the Bengals/Lions game... so this should be a much different experience, on the western edge of Michigan along the lake.

First Baby Shower

so this weekend marked a milestone for us. my first baby shower. i would say OUR first baby shower, but we all know how joe feels about being included in the shower part of having this baby. and just so we're clear, joe got to walk around in the hot afternoon sun, hitting a tiny white ball with a club while i was inside in air conditioning, sipping punch and opening gifts. somehow i think i got the better end of that deal.

anyway, it was my first baby shower. joe's mom and sister hosted it, and i have to say it was wonderful. everything was fantastic, the food, the decorations, the games, the company. it's nice to be surrounded by family and have everyone wishing you well. (and we got a lot of great gifts for the baby too.)

but i have to tell you the funniest part of the shower (besides when it turned into a christmas like frenzy when i let three little girls under 6 "help" me open my presents). the funniest was that we played a game where there was a baby bottle full of pink jelly beans, and the game was to guess how many jelly beans were in the bottle. my mom asked my niece hannah, who is 5, if she knew how many jelly beans there were. hannah said yes, and wisely pointed to the markings on the side of the bottle that indicate how many milliliters of formula. the top number said 260, and hannah pointed at this number. hannah was very confident that those numbers OBVIOUSLY indicated how many jelly beans there would be. so my mom took hannah's advice and wrote down 260. and wouldn't you know it, there were 262 jelly beans. leave it to a 5 year old....

thanks so much to kay and tina for a wonderful shower, and to everyone for coming and all the fantastic gifts. this baby is so very lucky.....

28 Weeks - Third Trimester

This Tuesday is I guess officially the end of the first week of the third trimester, with 12 more weeks to go. So Mary Lou is about 15 inches and 2 pounds (as averages go). I think this is where excitement meets shock. I am sure that ratio will fluctuate over the next 12 weeks as we go from thinking about how awesome it's going to be to have a baby, to thinking about the fact that they're going to hand us a tiny little baby and tell us to take it home with us!

The beginning of the third trimester is also the beginning of the prep around the house. So we've got the crib and dresser, but it sits in a box in our kitchen, as we wait to get new carpet installed in the baby's room. In the meantime we've cleared out the baby room, and put together new furniture for our room.

Some funny stories there... We have a queen bed in the baby room that we are looking to put upstairs on the third floor. Getting the mattress up there was a bit heavy (since Melanie can't help too much with the baby in tow), but it went up pretty easy. The box spring was another story. We got it about 75% of the way through and tried the 'shove' real hard method to get it the rest of the way. Well that resulted in about a 5 inches of ceiling plaster to come crumbling down and a box spring no closer to going up.... so we tossed that one out to the garbage and went and got a Queen Split box spring...

I also put together an armoire for Melanie's close (she was previously using the closet in the baby room), two dressers and a night stand. Then took a night stand and dresser from our room, and a night stand and bookshelf from the baby room up to the third floor. All in all my back is sore, but the house is pretty well prepped... just need carpet in and we can get the crib/dresser for the baby ready and then clean up the rest of the house... 12 weeks to go, we should have plenty of time!

Baby Shower Season

So... With our due date fast approaching (a little over 2 months away), baby shower season is in full swing. Melanie has four of them (my mom is throwing one, her mom is throwing one, work is having one, and she's got one for friends). So that fills up most of August/early Sept.

In addition we've got several friends with babies on the way... unfortunately some of our showers overlap, so Melanie won't get to go.

I'm not complaining though, because all these baby showers really mean we'll get some of our baby items knocked off the list, and I get to play more golf.