Five Boys Happy Home

Well, we went to the doctor's office on Friday for the first of my every-2-weeks checkups.  It was all good news. I am just the right size, and so far he is head down (but I think he still rolls around some so we'll see). I am doing OK, but am on iron supplements for the rest of the nine months.   Otherwise, my other stats are normal. We talked about things we need to make choices on and she gave us some advice and opinions.  We have the first of our decorations up in the nursery.  Grandma Pat brought up a bunch of Scott's artwork from when he was a teenager, and in the midst I found this pastel of Raggedy Ann and Andy he did for an art class.  I thought he did a great job, so we had it framed and now it hangs in Shrimpy's room.  (I think you can click to enlarge the photos) We also have a wooden coat-hanger of a black and white cat Scott's grandmother made which we are going to hang too.  But it's not up yet.  This week I will pick out some fabric or sheets to ...

Here is the recipe we got from the nurse at the hospital. She had some there and they were just as soft but smelled better! 2 cups water 1-2 tablespoons Baby Bath 1 tablespoon Baby Oil 1 roll of high quality paper towel Cut paper towel in half (an electric knife works well).  Remove the center cardboard roll. Place one of the half rolls in a 10 cup plastic container with a lid (Rubbermaid, etc).  Mix the liquid ingredients together and slowly pour over the towels.  Put the lid on and allow it to set for several hours, turning upside down once. Pull wipes from center of roll. An alternative to cutting a roll in half is to buy the rolls with the smaller sized sheets.  You still remove the center cardboard but place the roll in a tall airtight container. A family shared with me they found one at Container Store.

Well, time sure flies when you are trying to figure out if you have everything you need to have before the baby comes! We do have a dresser and Changing table! Our last big item.   This week What to Expect says that baby is still bulking up (yes, I can tell).  Also his brain is growing, which I am especially excited about.  A big brain would be great.  Not so big as he gets stuck coming out, but big enough. Actually, this week is when his brain starts to get all of it's wrinkles and creases.  So the surface area increases, but the actual size not quite so much.  He's also shedding his fur, but he may still have some on B-Day.  That's one for the gene pool.  Oh, and that will be out soon, we are working on questions that can be determined at birth.  We have gone to our third of five baby classes.  Breast-feeding.  It was actually pretty informative and the dad's there had lots more questions than the moms! I was impressed!  The nurse was the same nurse we had last week ...

 Well, I am definitely round now. There is no hiding it.  Some people have commented that I look "small" for seven months, but since the doctor did not say anything I say phooey to them.  It's not like either of us are giants.  And my back would disagree that I am in any way "small".   Shrimpy is really starting to aggravate my arthritis most every day.  But it is a good excuse to take a nap.  So I do. According to What to Expect ,  Shrimpy may be as tall as 17 inches now and about 3 pounds.  He still kicks around a lot, and at the last doctor's visit they said he will still be rolling around until he plumps up.  From now on I'm guessing most of the weight gain will be him, not me. But he was head down at the last visit.  Gotta love gravity and a big noggin.  Otherwise things are moving along at a  steady pace. We've had our second pre-baby class this week: Newborn Care.  It was actually a pretty good class, and there were a lot of us who were new to...

Well,  this has been a busy weekend! We went to the doctor for our 28-week checkup and glucose test. That is one stiff drink!  Otherwise everything was A-OK and we are due back in two weeks.  We got our new crib and dresser/changing table. We have not built the table yet, but when we do we'll add that photo too. Here is our crib!  We got it from IKEA and we really like it. What we like most is that it does not stand too tall. Which is good because we don't either. And I don't have as far to lean over the crib-rail so my back will thank me too. It also becomes a toddler bed, with the top half and sides taken off. So that's handy. If you think you may be confused because  the pictures of the nursery were green and blue you are not crazy. We have the crib in our room for now. Not only because the nursery is where Mom C. will be sleeping when baby comes, but also because the crib is doubling as our bassinet. And with it here, it is only a step or two from my side of the bed...

Looks as if ol' Davy Crockett is our namesake winner!  Well, we will keep that in mind. Nothing like a great American and Hero of the Alamo to be named after!  If you don't know a lot about Mr. Crockett, here's a good book I read:   American Legend: The Real Life Adventures of David Crockett  by Buddy Levy. It's actually a good bio which talks a lot about his early life and his time in US politics. Did you know he was a US Congressman for a number of years?  Yes, he's quite the guy.  Except Shrimpy won't be born on a mountain-top in Tennessee.  Colorado, yes. I guess that's close enough!

Wow, I can't believe the last three months are already here.  It has gone by quickly overall. Some days seemed never-ending, but not too many of them.  We have signed up for our baby prep classes and have most of the stuff we really need from Day 1.  Our crib and dresser/changing table arrived yesterday.  Scott's "Be Prepared" Dad book says that a drawer could have worked in a pinch if the crib was delayed somehow. (Good to know...) According to What to Expect , the average size of a baby this week is about 2 1/2 pounds and 16 inches tall.   And he makes his large presence known often .  His trick this week is blinking.  They say the babies can also have REM sleep. I wonder if his dreams are as weird as mine, or if they all involve darkness and heartbeat sounds.  We haven't taken a photo in a while, but I measured 38" around earlier this week. Scott asks why I keep hiding a beach ball under my shirt. :)  Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the new year. ...

 Happy 2009!  Hope everyone had a great holiday and some sort of New Year's Eve fun.  I could not convince Scott to eat black-eyed peas, so we started a new traditional food - french onion dip and Ruffles. Yum! I feel lucky already! As for Shrimpy, according to What to Expect , he is now measured head to toe, vice head to bottom!  That makes for a "growth spurt" - on average 15 inches long. And a whopping 2 pounds.  We found it fascinating that he has more taste buds now than he'll ever have, so he can tell what I eat.   Cravings : Chinese food, and macaroni and cheese (always) Forgetfulness : Apparently I forgot that fruit gives me a tummy-ache, until after the bottle of sparkling cider we had last night.  When I felt sort of icky I said, "It's like this has juice in it." and Scott said, "yes..apple juice". Oops! :)