Weekend Entertainment (& Ben's 34 Week Update)

This is what we've been doing around here lately. A lot of pushing around toys in a laundry basket.

If you look closely at the last one, you can make out what toys made the cut today: Brian's old teddy bear (Kaylynn calls it a monkey), a little chihuahua dog (that Kaylynn named "Puppy"), her alligator pull toy, a rubber duck, her new My Little Pony, an orange water glass (Kaylynn orange wa-wa), and her Little People car. She's crazy.

and here's what's up with Ben. 6 weeks til the due date. I'm feeling better about the whole lesson plan situation. In a perfect world, I'd have it all sorted out this week. But it's not a perfect world and I probably won't have it all sorted out this week. Brian's building some shelves for his room this weekend. I've ordered bottle nipples and my new ginormous diaper bag (it's dark gray and from etsy, I'm pretty excited about it.) Thought about buying some diapers, but I'm holding off until the 35 week ultrasound to see how big he is (do I only need 1 newborn size pack or more). With the exception of thoroughly cleaning the house, we're as ready as we'll ever be.

Imagine a picture of a cantaloupe here. I don't have the patience for this computer anymore. Let's hope the Mac fairy visits me this Christmas.

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

In Shape

Conversation overheard on my way to class today:

SMOKER #1: ::puff puff:: Girl, I need to try to get in shape. ::puff puff::

SMOKER #2: ::puff:: You know, you should start taking the stairs.

SMOKER #1: ::puff puff:: Oh, lord! You know my body can't handle that. ::puff puff puff::

My advice? Puff a few more cigarettes (because then you don't have to worry about what kind of shape you're in!).

A New Addition (and Ben's 33 Week Update)

We want to welcome our newest nephew to this crazy world:

Dominic William graced our presence this morning, weighing in at 7lbs 11oz. He took it easy on his mama, which everyone was thankful for. Mama and baby are all doing well and we'll share a pic when we get a chance.

Congratulations, Melissa, Angelo, & big brother Anthony!


and on to boring stuff...the update:
Here's what babycenter.com has to say about Ben this week:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

I start weekly NST's next week. Not sure what the purpose of those are, especially since I'm doing fine with my diabetes, but oh well. Having something weekly makes the time go by fast. All my appointments are scheduled...even 1 past his due date. I'm still hoping for 11/01/10. Keep some fingers crossed that the stars align and God thinks that's a pretty cool birthdate, too. ;)

Nursery: Anthro Letters

Who says Anthropologie is just for girls? Ok, so maybe it is, but these letters are for our little man.

His room is coming along, slowly but surely. We really just need to buy the shelving for the funky corner/hole thing we have in that room, and put up the pictures/artwork. Making letters of Ben's name was something that has been on my to-do list for a while and I finally got to cross that one off today.

Everything has been gray and navy, thus far. I was starting to feel like I was going overboard with the whole color scheme and needed a change. Enter: bright yellow letters, Anthropologie style.

I'd show you the up-close-and-personal shot, but then you'd see all my imperfections and they look pretty decent (to me) from afar.

I followed this tutorial at Prudent Baby (very cool crafty website, fyi). I didn't do the fabric on the back, because, well, I kinda forgot/I'm too lazy for that. It wasn't too bad. The main thing is to make sure you have a big, good dog to occupy your toddler while you work on it. The two were running around like crazy outside, while I went crazy with the spray adhesive.

More pictures coming when the room is actually put together!


Oh, and guess who asked to eat olives with her dinner last night? I didn't even teach her to put them on her finger! (The other stuff are grapes and broccoli bites. The girl loves her broccoli!)

Ben's 32 Week Update

As I write this, Ben, I'm sitting in a hospital bed watching Chelsea and West Ham play soccer while your father lays on the couch in here. Turns out that little stomach bug your sister got last week was passed to me this week and landed me in here with dehydration and contractions. Yesterday, I was afraid they were going to take you early and today I'm annoyed and ready to go home! Hospital beds are not comfortable. And I want to brush my teeth.

So, here's what should be going on with you this week. As I read it, it makes me nervous about you being a big baby when you're born. You are bigger than this right now. I'm going to blame your father.

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb.

As of Tuesday, you were 4lbs 5oz. You'll be my little 8lber, I just know it. Don't worry though, I won't hold it against you too much. :) You just hang tight for about 5 more weeks, ok? I want you to come out when you're fully baked.

Oh, yeah, and Chelsea won.

Kaylynn - 21 months

3 months away from being 2 years old and 2 months away from being a big sister. She has become such a big girl in the past few months. These are just some of our bragging points that we want to remember:

1. Memory! We have noticed for a little while that she is remembering things long after they have passed. For example, just today, we were driving home and she said "Muuu ride. Papa dump the trash. Feed the cows." She was remembering how she got to ride the mule (gator machine thing) this weekend and we used it to dump trash and feed the cows. She also knows her streets in the area, because when we get close to Grandma and PapPap's, she knows their house is near and starts saying their names, and when we drive down another street, she knows she's getting close to Sandra's (babysitter). She'll start talking about how she's going to "play with kids".

2. Books. Yes, again. Except this time, she knows the names of the books she wants to read. The ones she's asked for by name are "Goodnight, Moon", "Barnyard Dance", "Come On, Dudley", and the "Gig'em Aggies" book. The Aggie book isn't the name, but she knows it's all about going to an Aggie football game! Her Papa would be so proud. :) When she wants to read the books, she'll go get them, and say, "Read the book. Read "Goodnight, Moon" or whatever book she wants to read.

3. Moon. Speaking of "Goodnight, Moon", the child is OBSESSED with the moon. During the day, she'll tell you that the moon is sleeping or that the moon is hiding behind the clouds. If it's cloudy out at night, she knows it's behind the clouds, or she will just say "I don't know" when you ask where it is. She and Daddy always go out at night to say night-night to the moon before they read their bedtime stories.

4. Picky. She has become picky about certain things. Or should I say headstrong? Not food, so much, but it's almost certain that if she loves something at dinner, she refuses to touch it at lunch the next day. I'm guessing she doesn't like leftovers? She also requests ice in her water. She usually won't drink it without ice anymore...unless the ice has melted and we're not able to get ice. Doesn't like bugs to be near her. Freaks out about them. Food tastes better if it's coming off my plate. She and I can both have the exact same thing - eggs for example, because I'll make 3 of them, 2 for me, 1 for her - and she sometimes won't eat her eggs, but she'll eat mine. Or like the olives we were eating tonight. Actually, she just wanted to eat both our olives. And I found out last night that she doesn't like me to put my arm around her when we read in the chair. "No pushing" is what she told me. Whatever. :)

5. Vocabulary. This is just expanding so much everyday, it's crazy! I'm sure it's common for the age, but everyday is something new. She knows all her little "friend's" names at the babysitter. I'll randomly hear her talking about them every now and again. Now that she knows her colors (red, yellow, green, blue, purple, orange, brown, black, and pink), she'll put them together with other things she knows. Like bus. It used to just be "bus", then it was "school bus", then it was "big school bus", now it's "yellow school bus". She'll repeat anything, like "Mama's feelings are hurt", which she said today after I told her that it hurt my feelings when she said, "No I love you, too, Mama." Don't feel too sad though, because that's really code for, "I don't want to say I love you, too, Mama." She also says it when she doesn't want to do the "How are you? I'm fine, thanks." bit that we do. "No, fine thanks."

These are just a *few* (ha!) things that come to mind. I'm sure Brian has even more that he'd want to add, but he's not home yet! :) If you think I'm wordy, just wait for him to say something.

Newest Ultrasound

Here's Mr. 4lbs 5oz at 31.5 weeks. The doc told me he should gain 1/4 to 1/2 a lb each week, which would put him anywhere from 6-8lbs, if he's born on time. Kaylynn was the former, so I'm shooting for that (knowing that, for some reason, I'm going to have to suffer Brian's payback, so he'll be huge.)



These ultrasounds are crazy. It's weird to have an idea of what he looks like before he's even born. See that chin? That's Brian's chin. Kaylynn has it, too. That nose looks exactly like Kaylynn's. If I was a bettin' girl, I'd put money on him looking a lot like she did when she was a newborn. I keep forgetting to ask about hair, if he has any or not. I did learn that he has long arms. Not freakishly long, but longer than average arms. Brian's comment was "good pitching arms." Now only if he is left handed...

31 Weeks & Meals (or lack of...)

Here's Ben's 31 Week Update:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

I have another ultrasound tomorrow and have to take a gestational diabetes nutrition class. Kinda funny since I'm like a month into this whole diet/pricking thing. But insurance mandates it, so I'll sit through it. Whatever.

As for meals this week, well, we didn't eat the meatballs and shrimp last week, so we'll just carry that forwrad to this week. Sandwiches & turkey burgers can fill whatever void we might have. It'll make for a very small grocery trip this week, which Brian will appreciate!