Happy New Year Baby!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family!!!

This New Year's is a little bittersweet for us. It is officially our last NYE as two married people. No, we aren't getting a divorce! Are you crazy? We are becoming a family this year. And next year our baby will have the obligatory picture in a diaper with a "Happy New Year" sash across its shirtless chest. My cruel parents did it to me and my siblings, but I will spare you the flashback photo and retain some personal dignity.

So what did we do on our last NYE as non-parents? Got dressed up and we lived it up!

Well, as much as we could with Courtney being 34 weeks pregnant. We went to Oregon Grille...a real nice restaurant in the middle of steeplechase country. It was awesome. Mom had the grilled oysters and a 3 lb. lobster! It was huge! Dad had grilled shrimp cocktail and tried something new...a veal chop on the bone. It was delicious. The food and atomosphere are always great at Oregon Grille. We watched the ball drop from the comfort of our couches and I wrote this blog post.

Happy New Year everyone! 2011 promises to be a good one for us! We hope it is for you also.

Eighth Month Round-up

Well, we have officially made it to eight months, and as we near the end of our first pregnancy journey, I can't help being a little sad! This is the last time I will be pregnant for the first time, the last time Brian and I will embark on this unknown journey together. Yet while we have enjoyed and savored the experience of the pregnancy, we are even more excited for the moment when we become parents for the first time!

Brian and I had our final birthing class last night. During the last four weeks, we have learned all about the process of birth- the good, the bad and the ugly. Let's start with the good...you get a brand new baby at the end of it all! The bad? A lot of pain and the potential for scary complications like c-section or episiotomy. Luckily, I downloaded some hypnobirthing podcasts on iTunes to help me relax and enjoy the experience. Haha! I'm sure all of you that have actually had babies are laughing out loud right now. And finally, the ugly...Brian and I both got a little freaked out when we saw the placenta being expelled in the birthing video! But I told him that we will be too engrossed in our new little one to even notice.

We also learned some breathing techniques that may (or may not) be helpful for coping with the pain. Once again, I know all you moms out there are laughing out loud. We'll see what happens...as this is my first experience with giving birth, I am going into it optimistically but with an open mind (i.e. I'm going to try to go natural, but if childbirth is anything like I've heard, Brian will be begging the doctor to give me an epidural! In fact, he is already trying to convince me.)

As Brian mentioned in his last post, we are busily preparing for our new addition. I feel like I should start inviting the UPS man in for dinner since he is at our house every night. Who knew that one tiny person needed so many things? Ok, so it's really me who needs all this stuff, but what's the difference, right? :) We are having a faux painter come in two weeks to help out with decorating the nursery, so stayed tuned for that exciting blog post!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

The Calm Before the Storm

Today we are officially 8 months pregnant. That means the countdown is on. (Actually you can't countdown unless you have a definite end point, but you know what I mean). As I look around our house these days, it looks a little different. For instance, where our kitchen table used to be...it now looks like this...

Thanks to the generosity of Courtney's brother Todd, we have all of these baby toys that used to be Ryleigh and Emily's. Also pictured are a couple of new arrivals thanks to Gigi. They are the infant/toddler car seat and that snazzy stroller you see back there. Let's get a closer look at the stroller...

This thing is cool! I can't wait to walk Baby Stamp around town in this thing...malls, airports, the park...you name it. Best of all, it is a truly one-handed operation to open up and is super light. Thanks Gigi!

Even our nursery is taking shape. We have a crib filled with baby gadgets and a changing table loaded with a wipes warmer and lotions and potions.

P.S. I promised Courtney I wouldn't share pictures of the nursery until the faux painting is done so you'll have to wait for the wide shots.

The point of this post is to:

A) Commemorate the 8 month mark;
B) Show a little bit about how our house is changing; and
C) Just marvel at all that it takes just get prepared for an arrival.

We are no where close to finished yet. Courtney has a hometown shower coming up (date TBD) so this will likely double or triple after that! Next thing you know, my Man Cave will be compromised! ...I hope Mommy doesn't read that.

And you want to be our Godparents?

Courtney and I had some serious discussion (over some delicious Yamato Sushi) early on during the pregnancy about who would be the Godparents to our forthcoming child. Although being a Godparent seems almost symbolic in today's society, we were determined to take this task seriously. You see, we also want to have our child be raised by the Godparents if anything (God forbid) should happen to us. So, being asked to be the Godparents of our child doesn't come lightly in our case.

Next we came up with criteria for our ideal Godparents:

1. They should be a married couple with a healthy marriage.
2. They should be practicing Christians, not saints, but they go to church.
3. They should be young enough to see our child through their teens.
4. They have to be willing to make this more than symbolic.

At our wedding, Courtney gave a touching speech honoring her sister and brother-in-law, Robynne and Kevin. They share the same anniversary as us (July 11th), but have been married for over 23 years. Courtney said in her speech, "They have the best marriage I know of." Sadly, Robynne was in the bathroom and didn't hear a word of the speech! Even more sad, Kevin had to accept Courtney's bouquet instead. It was a comical moment!

The main point is that they have a great marriage and three well-behaved and respectful children. It came down to these points and we consider it a great honor to have Robynne and Kevin step in and raise our child if we could not. They excitedly accepted.

Then I found these pictures:

...And I ask myself, "Are these two really going to be our Godparents?"

Of course they are. Despite any sense of style, 'er lack of style they may have had in the past (yeah, Kevin, I am talking about your sweater!), they will make great Godparents and we would be honored and lucky to have them play that role for us.

To redeem myself and to keep them from rescinding their acceptance, here is a more modern day picture of them:

Thanks Robynne and Kevin!!

Baby Shower Time!!!

Only 10 weeks to go! We are finally in the home stretch...though I have a feeling that Baby Stamp will want to hang out until March :). I am still feeling great, thankfully!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Brian's mother, Sue, hosted a shower for me. How sweet!

I felt guilty since it was two days before Thanksgiving, but she pulled it off without breaking a sweat! We had a dizzying array of small bites like shrimp, hummus, tapenade and crab toasties, but it seems the biggest hit was Kerry's veggie pizza. We ate it all! And don't even get me started on the desserts...brownies with pretzels and caramel? Pregnant woman's bliss!

We played games like matching names to their meanings (which we all failed miserably), guessing my belly's circumference (a close race!) and guessing what my answers would be to certain baby-themed questions. The answer everyone got right? How Dad will react to the birth...tears, of course! Poor Brian, ever since our wedding he is known as a sentimental cry baby! Just kidding :)

Baby Stamp got lots of great presents, but my favorite was the baby food book that Sue bought me, since it was something I wanted but hadn't told anyone. She knows me well! Oh, and the donuts that Aunt Robbie brought...my secret craving!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the shower, even during the busy holiday week. Brian, Baby and I really appreciate all of your love and support!

More Pictures!!!

What if we have an 'ugly' baby?

One of my favorite episodes from Seinfeld (ah heck, they are all favorites!) is when a Jerry and Elaine are begged to go out and visit some friends of theirs in the Hamptons, with the sole purpose of the trip being "You have to see the bay-bee!" Here is a clip:

The parents of this baby think that they have the most beautiful baby in the world. To everyone else...the baby is ugly and frightful.


Awhile back, before Courtney was pregnant, she admitted her fear of having an ugly baby. While there is no guarantee, it can be assumed that parents who were cute as babies, would likely have a cute baby!

Sounds logical, right? Here are Courtney and I when we were approximently 6 months old:

Now, I may be biased, but I think those are a couple of good looking toddlers! Of course our mothers will agree with me. And the rest of the readers of this blog may never have the guts to tell us we were ugly! Based on my logic above I believe our kid will be cute, if not completely good looking!

I'll close this blog entry with the dialogue from that "Hamptons" episode and take note if we happen to have an ugly baby...

Old Wives' Tales

Brian and I have been having fun trying to predict the gender of the baby according to its heartbeat (which as you know has always indicated a boy), so I thought I would write a blog about other old wives' tales concerning gender prediction.

How you carry: They say if you carry low and in front, it's a boy. Wide and high...girl. I think it is kind of hard to evaluate your own body shape, but in my opinion, I am carrying in front, but more in the middle than either high or low. This could be because the baby is currently in a breech position.

Morning sickness: Since I had very little morning sickness, this indicates a boy. Girls make you more sick, some people say due to high levels of estrogen produced by two females.

Physical attributes: Cold feet and dry hands, both of which I have, indicate a boy. A fuller face and acne predict a girl...thankfully, my skin has been AMAZING and I have had at least two people tell me my face looks thinner.

Chinese gender selection calendar: says I'm having a girl...this calendar is based on the mother's age at conception and the month in which she conceived.

Ring test: Brian and I attempted this test today... I tied my wedding band to a strand of my hair and had Brian dangle it over my belly. We tried this several times and all it did was spin in circles. I think that means girl.

Cravings: Craving sweets means girl, craving salty or sour flavors means boy. I have always had a sweet tooth!

So, it's pretty much up in the air! I don't know if it means anything, but my gut instinct has always been that I would have a boy first. Either way, Brian and I will be delighted and are prepared for sugar and spice OR snips and snails!

Do you know of any old wives' tales that I missed? Did the old wives' tales correctly predict the gender of your babies?

24 Weeks!!!!

Who's that expanding their living quarters? Why that's Baby Stamp of course!

Where there isn't room for him to stretch out his active little legs and arms, he is making the room. His active evenings are been spent pushing on the walls of his increasingly cramped accomodations. He stirs about looking for a nook or cranny to grow into, but there just aren't any! (Ironically, Mom has an english muffin every morning.)

The only place left to go is...OUT! Mommy's tummy is getting a little bigger these days. She's wearing her maternity clothes proudly and looking ever so beautiful doing so.

Doctor Appointment Today

Today we went to see the good Dr. Erdman. She said that everything is perfect including the results of the last ultrasound and bloodwork. We heard the baby's heartbeat again today. It was a smooth 140 bpm. Here is what the Baby Gender Prediction thought of that:

For those of you not keeping score at home: That is 3 boy heartrates to 0 girl heartrates.

Dad had to get a flu shot and whooping cough vaccine today. It was his first ever flu shot since he never wanted to take the chance of having it make him get the flu. Mom got the flu shot at the last appointment. Gigi (Sharon) has to get one if she wants to babysit regularly...Doctor's Orders!!!!

My Wombmate

I started to feel the baby's movements at exactly fifteen weeks. I was sitting at my desk at work, when I suddenly felt what can only be described as popcorn popping in my tummy. These small pokes continued for the next couple of weeks. Then, I started to feel the baby rolling around, which is the oddest sensation! Kind of like having a live goldfish swimming around in your stomach.

Now that I am finally half-way through my pregnancy, I can feel the baby kicking everyday. He is very active and strong...another indication that a little boy is in there! He gets excited when I eat. He also tends to get an energy spurt when I am ready to go to bed, of course! Brian is anxious to feel the baby's kicks, but everytime I tell him to come and feel it, the baby promptly falls asleep. Maybe next week, Brian!