It has begun...

Just had to share this - This morning I found what is sure to become a daily event: The sharing of the "babies" - babies being Bruce's generic term for all stuffed-animal type toys. Today it was a nice, soft baby rattle out on the foyer floor. When I picked it up and brought it back to the nursery, I found right next to the baby's basket of goodies on the floor, one of Bruce's stuffed ducks. So I suppose it's nice he traded his duck for the monkey rattle, instead of just taking it. James' theory is that Bruce was just getting his trade in before the dealine: duck for monkey plus a "baby" to be named later. I suppose the reality is dog drool will be a big part of Zy's life, just as it is ours!

Nursery and maternity pictures are coming soon. We're putting the finishing touches on the nursery this weekend, still need some art and stuff for the walls, but we did get the glider and ottoman this week (thanks Pat and Jim and Jenn and Nikki!). And as soon as I get the proofs back from the photog, I'll post a few pictures. Yes you're getting the nice staged ones. What? You didn't actually expect fatty-around-the-house candids did you?? :)

Prepared Childbirth

So we took The Class and even watched The Movie! The movie wasn't that bad, she cut to the heavy labor and 2 quick money shots, and it was over. While it was gratefully brief, what is up with the people in those?? I'm no Miss America, but wow are those some unattractive people who allow the filming of their goods! Poor James was expecting Angelina delivering the twins, alas it was NOT quite like that. We spent a full Saturday at Baylor Hospital taking Prepared Childbirth with a licensed doula (sort of a midwife) named Melissa Espey. She was terrific and we actually may hire her to help us through labor and delivery, since in James' words, he's really more of a waterboy than a coach! Personally I think he could do it just fine, but given she's a mom of 5 herself besides being a doula, I think we'd both be grateful for her support and expertise. We also got a tour of their amazing facilities. Baylor did a huge renovation in December and some of the recovery rooms haven't even been used yet. Needless to say I'm pretty thrilled with my own recovery room with flat screen and huge potty! Of course, given that I was there with the class wisenheimer when Melissa wanted a "volunteer" to demonstrate the nifty craftmatic-type labor bed, James got called. Thankfully I got it all on video! It was actually very cool, because you can lay, sit, face forward or back - whatever makes you comfortable. Soooo, while I don't exactly look forward to labor, at least the labor & delivery and recovery areas of the hospital where we'll be are pretty awesome. Enjoy James' highlight reel!


This last one is Bruce - he howls at when the phone rings and I finally caught a moment on film. Such a cutie. (turn it up, the howling is at the beginning, even if you can't really see him.)

Sonogram

So this is the video of the whole sono, we thought it was pretty cool and fun to share! The stills follow in the next post. The sono gets better after a few moments, the beginning is measurements and stuff. I had a doctor's appt last Wednesday (the 4th?) and I'd been a little squirrelly over the weekend, since I wasn't feeling the usual acrobatics. Sunday we went to a movie - "Taken" with Liam Neeson, I loved it, right up my alley - and I barely felt him all day. He did finally kick a little and picked it up a little early in the week. But compared to the activity over the last couple of months, I was a little nervous. So at the appointment, I had this sono plus what they call a non-stress test. They strapped a monitor around my large belly and measured his movements for about 20 minutes. Needless to say, everything was just fine, he moved 18 times in those 20 minutes (10 per hour is the minimum) and as you can see, the sono showed him doing his thing. So all's well!

New Pictures!!

So here are the stills from the sono. Doc says he's measuring 4.2 pounds already, which is about a week bigger than he actually is. Hello Big Boy! Yeah I'm so looking foward to labor.




So he's definitely a boy!


Um is that a snail on his tummy?! (Good one Kate!)


Look at the camera!


Snoozing baby

Supper Club

So we hosted Supper Club in January, since I do believe that will be our last hosting duties for a while - frankly all that cleaning just takes it out of me! Ilene planned to take LOTS of photos since she finally stepped into the digital age and got a new camera. Well she did bring it, however she hadn't charged it - way to go pal : ) So I used my super cool camera because Ilene's right, why don't we have pictures of Supper Club anyway! So here is our fun evening 2 weekends ago. And yes, I know there are none of me, but sorry, they just weren't that flattering and seeing as I write this thing, I also have all photo veto power. And I don't want to hear it - you'd do the same thing!!


Tyler enjoying Bruce's dogbed.

Tyler playing with Bruce's ball. He is interested

in Tyler and hardly barked this time - so that was a big plus.

Ty of course could care less and kept on trying to make friends.

"Is that a kid in my bed!?"

Little man, big man!

"Dude, great party, I'm crashing"