Babymania (30 weeks)

We are in full baby mode.  Chris finished his hard work on the nursery and did an unbelievable job.  I will admit that we didn't share the same vision for the wainscoting on this room.  I just didn't understand how he could turn a bunch of 1x4s  in to a beautiful baby boy's room.  He did it though, and surprised me by doing it during my 36 hour trip to San Francisco.

Love how it turned out!

Chris' loyal assistant.

The crib and dresser have been assembled and we're now in the process of populating all the fun baby stuff that I've been collecting, including Bella's favorite things (the cute little animals below) and the cutest pair of "Uggs" (knitted by a sweet coworker) that you've ever seen. I love coming home to see this boy's room every night. I know Chris does too because the lamp always happens to have been turned on when I get home so I know Chris goes in there and smiles each day when he gets home too.

And this little boy continues to grow (as do I!).  I am now in month 8 and expanding rapidly.  Doesn't he know that I have a bridesmaid dress to fit in to!?!?

The latest series of growth progression:

It is also babymania around here because people are having babies and announcing pregnancies all over the place.  When we found out we were expecting, we didn't know anyone other than Chris' sister who was expecting.  Much to our delight, since then  many of our friends in Boise and across the country have announced that they too are expecting.  Two of the most fun announcements came from two of my friends that I've known since I was eleven and twelve.  Katie lives in Connecticut now and is expecting her second in late August and Artesia lives in Boise and is expecting her fourth in December.  When Katie came to visit, we couldn't resist the picture opportunity!  I had to wait to post it until all the news was public.

In the final baby news, our adorable nephew Ries was born on May 18th.  He has completed the beautiful Whitfield family and we love him already.  We love that our baby will have a cousin so close in age to him and we envision the fun they'll have at the lake, on ski trips, or maybe even attending the same college one day (scary thought).  Welcome to the world Ries, the whole family is so glad that you are here! 

Ries!

San Francisco Surprise

My good friend Becky turned 30 this week - welcome to the club Becko!  Becky makes enough appearances on this blog that you'd think we live in the same city.  We don't live in the same city or even the same state, but Becko is one of those people that really makes the effort.  She makes the effort for so many people that I am pretty sure she is on the "best friend list" of about 15 people.  She is the definition of good and I am so honored to call her my friend.  For this reason, I once again trekked my large self down to California last weekend for a one night birthday celebration with Becko.  The crew rented a trolley in San Fransisco, which was awesome.  While they bar hopped, I pizza hopped (and I wonder why I am a bit on the high end on the weight-gain scale!).  I am certainly not the life of the party these days, but I was just happy to be able to pull off a surprise and celebrate one of the most wonderful people I know.  Happy birthday to my dear friend Becko!

Oh yeah, and the theme of the party was the 80s since Becko was one of the best things to come out of the 80s! Bring on the neon!

I had two other preggos to chat with a bit too.  There are babies blooming all over the place.   Little girl Garber is coming just a few weeks after baby Johnson (Trish Garber above on the right).

I didn't get many good pics with Becko during the trolley tour so we made a stop on the way to the airport for a very windy couple of photos.   Our attempts at pictures make me laugh. 

One more trip planned and then I am am going to be grounded for good.  It is a little scary to think we are that close to a real, live baby - eek!

My Special Women

I don't get the opportunity to blog very frequently (probably for the best as they don't compare to Alison's), but I thought I'd give a quick shout out to the special mom and mom-to-be in my life on this Mother's Day.

Getting ready for a baby really starts putting things in perspective.  You really start wondering how the heck you become a good parent and keep your kid(s) on track to success in life (you also wonder how to change diapers, but I digress).  I don't know how my mom does it, but she has been the most caring and mentoring listener, leader, and friend for the past 30ish years of my life.  I know it's easy to provide lip service and call your mom the best in the world, but I really do think she takes the title.  It's unfathomable having a better mom.

For my lovely mom-to-be wife, I have absolutely identical feelings.  As we prepare for Ali's current growing appendage to become a living/breathing person in our house and all the joys and challenges that come with it for the rest of our lives, I'm comforted to know things will be just fine because I've married another extremely caring and mentoring listener, leader, and friend who's going to be an amazing mother.  My son is going to be as lucky as I've been to have a mother like my mom.

So to my favorite mom and mom-to-be, Happy Mother's Day.

27 Weeks

27 weeks and how many more to go?!? I have reached the point where I cannot imagine 3 more months of growth. I think that I am quite large right now (as does my "tell it like it is" secretary), so fathoming an additional 3 months of growth is a bit hard.

 

Everything seems to be moving along just fine.  My biggest complaint is still my swollen feet, which I think are in large part caused by many hours at my desk. I have taken to walking up the 13 flights of stairs to my office mid day to see if that helps.  I also have found a new use for my legal books, which are doubling as a footrest.  To my delight, my "pretty feet" came back this week.  I never thought of feet as being pretty until mine looked like overstuffed sausages. I've been sure to admire and point out my "pretty feet" to Chris all weekend.

How I look.

How I feel!

We have another ultrasound this week that the Dr.'s wanted to do to check up on something.  To make a longer story short, the baby looked fine in the last one, they just needed to give some more time to check something with me. I was told that since they expect this issue will self correct, this is really just a bonus ultrasound so that is how I am choosing to look at it.  I cannot wait to see our little guy again!

While I tootle around on the Internet and order all of the accessories and fun things for the baby's room (hello Etsy, I love you!), Chris has been busy painting and designing a plan for the wainscoting because he is just not interested in buying the pre-finished pieces for easy assembly.  Although we initially wanted a gray color paint, we ended up with more of a blue-gray, but I love it and think that it is very calming. 

Stage One: Paint.

 

Stage Two: Paint and prepare wainscoting pieces.
(notice Bella with her orange ball, I kid you not about that thing)

I have had a single letter, representing the possible first letter of our little boy's name, in an online shopping basket for about 7 weeks now while we tested out the name. We now think that it is official enough that I am going to bite the bullet and buy the letter tonight.  I figure the worst thing that could happen is that someone we know will end up with a beautiful new wooden letter.  The rest of the world is going to have to wait to find out the name, much to our family's dismay!