Please Share Your Opinion!

I've been pondering nursery themes for awhile now and haven't been able to come up with anything I like until today. I've perused every online baby store I can think of looking at bedding and still haven't found a set that I'm sold on. I've been reminded that I have many talented seamstresses in my family and maybe we could just make something ourselves and I'm beginning to think that's the direction I may go. I was in a fabric store recently and this fabric caught my eye:

I have no idea why I like it, but it has become an inspiration for me to settle on a nusery theme of "music." I'm thinking of choosing a color scheme (purples and browns for a girl, greens and blues for a boy) and doing most of the bedding, window treatments, etc. in something simple like plain fabrics, some with stripes or dots or a combo and then using "music" accents. Guitars, drums, music notes, song lyrics, etc... What do you think? Have you come across anything decor-related that may make this possible? Please share your opinions and ideas! I just came up with this today so I'm still tossing lots of ideas around in my head. Can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Whoa! Look at the size of that belly!

The belly at 14 weeks

I guess it is getting bigger! I hadn't really realized it 'til I looked at these pictures. This is the identical outfit I wore in the week 11 photo. (Sorry about cropping off the head - that double chin just wouldn't do.)

14 Weeks Today!

Today marks the start of my 14th week of pregnancy which also means the start of my second trimester! Goodbye first trimester fatigue, hello second trimester energy! My doctor says once it kicks in, Ad won't be able to slow me down and I'll be "nesting" like crazy. I'm still waiting for it. In fact, I just wish I could go back to bed right now. And when 3:00 this afternoon hits, I'll be wishing for the hammock in the back room of the drug store that I keep asking for. Oh well, one of these days I'll get my energy back! I'm hoping it's soon!

In the meantime, here's a little update of what's going on with the wee one in there:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active. -http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-14-weeks_1103.bc


Well, I'd better get ready for work. Maybe if I'm ready early enough Ad can snap a belly shot for us!

Happy Friday everyone! 

New Toy/New Hobby

Adam gave me a new fancy camera for Valentine's Day! It exciting, and very intimidating! I've always envied the people who take great photos, with the perfect light, the subject in perfect focus, and the cool blurry backgrounds. I now have a camera that should make taking such photos a little easier. However, I know nothing about photography! I keep thinking I should see if the local community college offers any photography classes, but the possibility that they may assign homework has steered me away from that avenue so far. Luckily Adam is pretty resourceful and has already taught himself a few things. Our ultimate goal is to have it mastered by August so we'll be able to take some special photos of our wee one. In the meantime, we're making do with the subjects we have:

 

Adam's goal last night was to get ridiculous or funny shots of these two. (Please note: Cookie was not purposely neglected from these photos, she simply HATES having her picture taken.)

  

  

  

  

  

  

Is it evident yet that this baby couldn't be coming at a better time in our lives? Obviously we need something new to keep us entertained. :)

Oh, and since this is a baby blog and I'm trying to keep these posts pregnancy focused, I thought you should know I had to get up 3 times last night to go to the bathroom! Ugh! And I'm only 3 months along!

Have a happy Thursday!

Dr.'s Appointment Today

We had our third doctor's visit today. It was just a normal check up to see how things are going. Originally I was supposed to go by myself but when I casually mentioned this morning that I might get to hear the heartbeat, Ad quickly decided to join me. Everything was good; I've gained half a pound since my first appointment and my blood pressure was 100/60 mmHg. I was pleased. :) After that stuff it was on to the fun part - listening to the heartbeat! Dr. McQuillan put the goo on my belly and moved the doppler thingie (so very technical, I know) all around for what felt like 5 minutes or more. Occassionally we could hear my heartbeat, but no rapid baby heartbeat. She acted unconcerned, but I felt like her face was getting red. I was feeling a little panicked. After trying for quite some time she said we'd better do another ultrasound. As soon as she got the baby onto the screen we knew everything was okay; that little bugger was kicking like crazy! It's amazing how different it looked from just 4 weeks ago. It has knees and ankles now and looks less like a tadpole and more like a human. It was so cool! We could see the fluttering heartbeat again and she measured the heartrate at about 160 bpm. We still didn't get to hear the heartbeat, but it was evident that everything was okay. We didn't get to bring any of the ultrasound pictures home this time, otherwise I would have shared them here with you. I think that's the meat and potatoes of the appointment. It was pretty exciting, as usual. Adam has decided he'll probably just plan to go to all of the appointments from now on. :) I'm glad. I'm not sure I could have handled that ten minutes of waiting for the ultrasound without him.

Crib Update

The crib is coming along nicely, I think!

 

  

I have a Dr.'s appointment today - will give an update later!

Astrology, dance, and thinking

I don't know much about astrology, but I do find it to be fun from time to time. I decided to check to see what to expect of our Tolman Baby if s/he is born on the August 20th due date. This is what it said:

"The Leo Baby is, above all else, loud! Forget sleep for the foreseeable future, Mom and Dad. This is a baby who must be heard and will certainly let everyone in their midst know what they want. Think center of attention, since there really is no other way for this tot! With a Leo baby as part of the plan, family life will revolve around this magnetic child. The Leo baby adores an audience, so it should come as no surprise that many of these tots go on to become stars of stage and screen. This babe is auditioning early on! To that end, this is a child who is also competitive, so maybe they are prepping for that dog-eat-dog Hollywood whirl from day one. When in a play group or any social situation, the Leo baby will make friends easily and will thrive on the interaction, since being on-stage is where they're at. Even so, they will have a hard time sharing things, such as roles, responsibilities, and even toys. The King (or Queen) of everything they see, they will be the one making the rules, after all. To sum up, the Leo baby is the leader of the pack, loads of fun, and will expect to live in the most comfortable of kingdoms. Pity the parent who won't play along!" -http://community.duematernity.com/babyAstrology.php

Uh, oh. Sounds like we may be in trouble. However, I guess I can't picture our child really any other way. This is probably pretty much how I imagine the product of Adam and me to be. "Center of attention...adores an audience...will have a hard time sharing things." Hmmm...sound familiar? Pretty much a combo of the two of us. Which brings me to my next topic...

Adam and I recently "performed" at a local fundraiser. The Center Ball is the annual fundraising event for the Four Rivers Cultural Center (where we got married.) It's an evening of mingling and dancing. Traditionally, our ballroom dance teacher, Peanuts DuBoise puts together some sort of performance. This year she asked us to join in. We were pretty reluctant at first, but eventually for some reason, (see personality traits above) we agreed.  The theme was Phantom of the Opera and we danced two dances; tango and waltz. Adam dressed as the Phantom (mask, cape, hat, gloves, and all) for the tango and looked great! We really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Dressed for the ball

  

Dressed for dancing

 

 Taking a bow

But then it got me to thinking, once I'm a parent, will I still do things like this? How mortifying will it be for our child that Dad is dressing as the Phantom and Mom's trying to find the perfect red gloves for this silly performance? I can't imagine my own parents doing something like this and I have a tough time imaging how I would have felt if they did. Proud? Embarrassed? I don't know. I'll have to keep thinking on the matter, I suppose. This whole looming parenthood thing sure does have me thinking a lot. :)