Tolman Baby visits the city

Well, Little Miss Tolman made her first trip across the state this weekend! We picked up her Auntie Shan in Baker City and Auntie Kimmie in Washougal, WA and trekked into Beaverton for a cookbook signing at the Powell's Bookstore there.

Auntie Shan and Auntie Kimmie

The cookbook is written by a blogger who calls herself The Pioneer Woman. If you haven't perused her site, you should! It's fantastic! She's a city girl who fell in love with a rancher and now lives in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma. She has 4 kids who are homeschooled and she's very in to photography and cooking. She shares wonderful recipes and hilarious stories of the happenings on the ranch.

We arrived at the bookstore plenty early, knowing there would be a big crowd. We were given numbered tickets which would allow us to have our books signed. Thank goodness we were of the first 40 people there! We took our seats (which we were also lucky to have) and waited. People just kept piling in to the bookstore. I think they estimated there were over 600 people there!

The crowd behind us

Once she arrived, Ree spoke a little, answered a few questions, and did her famous Ethel Merman impersonation:

Soon after that they began calling numbers and quickly we were standing in line waiting our turn to have our books signed. I had put together a gift of Adam's teriyaki sauces to give her. She accepted them very graciously and seemed genuinely thankful to be receiving them. She was very kind and sincere. It was fun to chat with her, if only for a minute!

It was a quick trip but well worth it! It was fun to catch up with old friends and do something spontaneous like driving 400 miles to have a cookbook signed by a random woman I've never met. Little Miss Tolman seemed to like it too; on the drive home she gave me a crazy triple-nudge like she never has before. Plus, it seems she's keeping up with her growing. Shan swore my belly was bigger when we got home than when we left. :)

A Start to the Nursery

Now that we know we're expecting a little girl, we can get going on the nursery! Adam and I both shy away from pastels, and aren't real big on princess or frilly themes. We tried finding fabrics that would go with the original "music" theme but were unable to come up with much of anything. So, we finally settled on a pre-made crib set that we think is plenty girly but not too baby-ish and hopefully can last our little one her first few years. We like that it has a variety of bright bold colors. We're hoping to play up the turquoise and orange tones. Please share suggestions for paint ideas if anything comes to you!

It's made by Cotton Tale and is called "Lizzie":

Crib set

Valance

Mobile

Hamper

We also think this little guy will go well in her room: 

Adam found this dino rocker before we knew she was a she. After we found out, he was figured it was too masculine for her. I assured him it's fine for our little girl. She's going to be going camping and fishing and getting dirty (just like I did) and will not be too much of a princess if her mother has anything to do with it. :) Plus, the colors go great with her bedding set!

We have a lot to do before Little Miss Tolman arrives! Luckily most of it is pretty fun! I better start reading "Getting Organized for Your New Baby." (Thanks Mary!) It's sitting here on my desk and I still haven't opened it. Better late than never, I guess!

Her Big Debut

I could watch this over and over and over again...

Enjoy!

The Big Day!!

Today was the big day -- we got to see our Tolman Baby again! We had our "20 week survey" ultrasound at 8:00 am. Adam and I both woke up before our alarms and were out the door by 6:00 this morning! We weren't going to let anything (especially traffic) stand in the way of us and that ultrasound. We drug both Grandmas along and arrived by 7:35!

They got us in a little early and we got to gaze at our baby for over an hour. It was amazing! The ultrasound tech took measurements of everything; head, belly, kidneys, heart, stomach, bladder, femur, humerus, little hands...everything! And everything checked out perfectly. The kiddo is measuring at 21 weeks, 4 days - just one day small of my estimated due date. (Compared with 4 days small at the first ultrasound.)

One of the last details of the ultrasound was finding out the gender. At first baby kept the legs together and was too squirmy to see anything. But eventually toward the end of the appointment we got the right angle and could see very vividly that our baby is a girl!

Adam and I had both convinced ourselves we'd be having a boy and Adam had even referred to the baby as "he" for awhile. So we were both very surprised! Eventually Ad started saying things like, "Well, it'll be easier to dislike a girl's boyfriend than a boy's girlfriend." And, "Oh man, we're going to have to have slumber parties!" I could tell the next twenty years of his life were flashing in front of him in a panic.

Both Grandmas were very excited and enjoyed getting to see their granddaughter up close and personal. There was lots of frantic calling and texting to make sure all the friends and family were informed. We stopped by Babies R Us on the way home and each Grandma purchased a couple of outfits for the little one. She's going to be one well-dressed baby! It's going to take me awhile to get used to saying "she" instead of "it" but already it feels so much more personal and real to use the correct pronoun! We're excited to move forward with the nursery now. We're still choosing the perfect bedding and color scheme but I imagine we'll begin painting in the next couple of weeks!

Rescheduled

The ultrasound has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, the 14th.

Disappointed :(

I received a voicemail at lunchtime confirming my ultrasound and doctor's appointments today. Then after work there was a voicemail saying my ultrasound would have to be rescheduled because there would be no ultrasound tech available in the afternoon. :( I'm so bummed. Of course the office was already closed by the time I got the message. I had already scheduled two other appointments in the morning so as to maximize my day off so I probably won't be able to get in at all tomorrow. We purposely scheduled it on a Wednesday so both our moms could be there, now I don't know what the reschedule timeframe will be. I'll be sure to let you know when something happens. Sorry about the venting, I'm an emotional pregnant woman and was SO looking forward to seeing the little one tomorrow!

On a brighter note, here's a pic of the growing belly:

The belly at 20 weeks, 4 days

Update

I've realized I haven't posted much lately. I guess it feels like I don't have a whole lot to report. Everything is going really, really well. I have had zero morning sickness and little to no other major symptoms of pregnancy. And yes, I do realize how very lucky I am. I feel good, I'm still working full time, going to aerobics classes in the mornings, & Adam and I are still going to ballroom dance lessons. All in all, my life is about the same as pre-pregnancy.

I've started feeling some movement in there. I can't pinpoint exactly when I could definitively say, yep, that was a moving baby and not just my belly rumbling, but it's been in the past week or so. I notice it most when I'm holding still, usually typing on the computer at work. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's sort of like little nudges just behind my belly button. I've read it described as a butterfly flutter or popcorn popping, but for me it's just a little nudge. I like it. It's reassuring.

We go in for our next ultrasound this Wednesday! I'm so excited! This is the big 20 week ultrasound where they do lots of measurements and check to make sure everything is just so. Hopefully they'll also be able to determine the gender. Adam and I decided early on that we'd like to know whether it's a boy or girl ahead of time. We're planners like that. I feel like as soon as I know I can kick it into high gear getting the baby's room put together and painted. Most of the "predictions" we've done (Chinese birth calendar, dangling necklace test, old wive's tales) have said it will be a boy, but there are still a few friends who tell me they're sure it's a girl. Do you have a felling one way or the other? (I sure don't.) Hopefully after Wednesday we'll know for sure! (This is probably the only time in my life that I'll hope my child is not being modest!)

I'll provide the full update after Wednesday. And I know I'm past due for a belly pic! It'll be coming soon!

20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go!

Halfway there today! Aaaah! We have so much to do!!

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)
- http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-20-weeks_1109.bc

Belly pic coming soon!