Belly shot

In the absence of an up to date photo, here's a shot of Cree from a few weeks back, sporting her limited edition Descendents t-shirt!

One Month!

Etta is a month old now, and we decided to have a little party in her honor. We got her all dressed up in her party dress, but it was SO bizarre because she looked just like a doll. Really Weird. So, Cree made a striped hat and legwarmers (with a red glitter skull & crossbones) to offset it.


Later, we tried on some moustachios.


It's been really great so far, except she is now doing this weird grunty sound at night when she lies down and I can't sleep because I think she's choking. Other moms -- did your kids make weird sounds when they were tiny?

A few individual facts

One month from today, February 22, is my due date and I can barely put my socks on.

I have been wearing one of 3 pairs of shoes every day, none of which require bending down or tying.

The childbirth classes are informative, I am finally becoming desensitized to watching birth videos from the 80s.

Bringing a selection of decaffeinated hot teas to a birth center meeting will endear you to the group indefinitely.

Last night, I tried to make extra dinner to put in the freezer for post-baby-arrival, but then we ate it.

The baby room is almost complete but we still need to pack the hospital bag and install the car seat.

We had a lovely baby shower last weekend and had so much fun. I cried in front of everyone when I read the cards.

34 weeks!

Cree noticed that I've got a few things from The Great Maternity Clothing Gift that I hadn't worn yet, so I decide to sport one of the cute button-ups that I hadn't gotten around to wearing. I put it on, and it's almost too small!!
I guess that happens, but I didn't ever think I'd be growing OUT of maternity clothes! Especially shirts. I've grown out of a couple pair of pants already, actually.

We're big Philadelphia Eagles fans, and for any of you pro football watchers out there, you know that they are (inexplicably) in the playoffs, and doing pretty well. We were watching the game yesterday and Cree was yelling at the tv in her typical fashion and said to one of the players, "Aw, get up you baby! You're not even pregnant!!"

I asked for clarification, "Did you say that because it takes me such a long time to get out of the bed, or a chair?"

Obviously, the answer is yes.

It's hilarious. It really does take me forever to do pretty much anything now. I have become one of those slow-movers which definitely interferes with my perceived efficiency. Oh well. A by-product.

Isn't that nice of me?

I don't know if it's some kind of hormonal thing, but I've been really nice. And I'm feeling really happy. It's kind of weird, actually. Not that I'm some big jerk normally, but I've noticed the past few weeks that I've put priority on doing nice things for people, and Cree is the primary recipient.

For example, I might make her some coffee on a day when I'm already running a little behind because I think she'd appreciate it. This is not earth-shattering, but it is a difference from before. I read in one of The Books that there is something to the happy-pregnancy-hormones, so I'm leaning toward that. It makes up for the crying a few months ago, I guess.

Also, since some of you were interested, I'll give you a Halloween update. I had my costume all ready, and The Burger Baroness came over to get ready for the party. Cree helped her make her costume, and it was killer, by the way. Here's a borrowed shot:


We're getting ready, and then 9:30 (maybe) rolled around and we still hadn't left. It was pretty much curtains from there and I ended up not even going to the party because I was all tired or something. So I didn't get to wear my costume, but I put a variant of it on so I could share it with all of you.


Do you get it?

Work Trip!

Tomorrow, Cree and I are departing for two events for my work. The first is to go to Rochester, NY and the second (possibly more exciting) is to Toronto where I'll be taking a class and Cree will be sightseeing.

I'm excited. It will be nice to get a break from things here, especially for Cree who has seriously been working her ass off.

In the meantime, here's another belly shot. Thank god for Photo Booth! Also, please note the fancy expandable sides on the jeans -- these were in installment two of the Great Clothing Gift Delivery from my lovely sister. Thanks T. I'm pretty much set for the rest of my pregnant or big days.

Happy Halloween!

Cree and I picked up a bunch of good candy when we went the grocery store a few weeks back in preparation for some trick-or-treaters. It's been sitting on the buffet in the dining room since then, and I think we've done a pretty good job staying out of it. I hope that some kids come by -- at our last house we bought all this candy and then no one came. I was surprised at how let down I felt.

With Halloween comes costumes, and I've been thinking about what I'll wear. I sort of have this built-in costume, depending on how you look at it. I could be a pregnant anything: a pregnant nun, a pregnant priest, a pregnant ballerina, a pregnant lady in a fancy dress, etc. Cree had this good idea (which I won't tell you in case I'm able to pull it together) but when I looked in our costumes last night I discovered that I must have gotten rid of the key costuming element, so I need to find a replacement, or go with a backup plan.

There aren't a lot of costumes that will diminish the pregnant part, so hopefully I'll be able to put together something acceptable. I welcome ideas.

Gifts!

My sister, bless her, sent me some clothing. I should rephrase, it wasn't just some clothing, it was a lot of clothing. She sent two Staples paper-size boxes stuffed with Space Bags full of tops. Oh, and one dress.

I am so excited! It is like a giant awesome early holiday gift and now I have all the maternity clothes I will need for a while. She also said she had some pants to send, so I should return the Space Bags and they are on their way!

Here's a low quality photo of part of the stack.

not unlike the jeans problem

In my new job I am lucky enough to work with many people I'd call friends, including the Burger Baroness. We get to spend many lunches together and so we talk a lot about the impending baby. I've gleaned a few memorable quotes from her in the past month, but the best situation was last week, when we went to the Food Court for burritos and a root beer (for me).

She was saying how I barely looked pregnant and I was saying that the particular pair of pants had this wide elastic waist that helped to smooth the belly a little. One complaint I have about these particular pants is that the waistband is a little snug sometimes -- I might be wearing it a little too high or something, so maybe it will improve once I'm a little bigger and it can act as support -- and I conveyed this complaint to her.

She returned this classic: "Oh, that's okay -- it just looks like you have a muffin top."

Amazing.

ahh relief

I went to the mall over the weekend and found two pair of pretty adequate maternity jeans that I think I'll be able to wear for the rest of the pregnancy. They are so much more comfortable that I've already packed my other jeans away.

We were at the mall with our good friends Serra and The Professor and we were talking about how a fetus has a light covering of hair in the womb that helps to keep them warm. I've also been telling them all about my newly found emotionality, which I think prompted this conversation:

The Prof: Oh, that's so sweet.

Me: I think it's kind of icky, actually -- a hairy baby.

The Prof: But what if it was a hairy baby saying really sweet thing?

Me: Mm, no.

The Prof: What if it was a mom thinking about how much she loved her hairy baby?

I start welling up.

She was trying to make me cry!! I totally tattled on her to Cree.

I'm scared of my jeans.

I have these two pair of maternity jeans that Cree lovingly picked up for me at the thrift store. I was so excited to have them, because I knew that I wouldn't really want to spend a bunch of money on pants I can only wear for 6 months or so (I'm that way). I may have mentioned (several times) how I can't really wear my clothes anymore and that's especially true for jeans because they aren't very stretchy.

This may have finally hit me when I went to our friends' house to watch football and found myself in the video rocker, pants completely unzipped, like Al Bundy. Not pretty.


So, I have the maternity jeans. The other night I put them on and they are WAY comfortable, like they should be, and I was feeling pretty good. I asked Cree what she thought and she said something along the lines of

They make your butt look pretty long. Can you pull them down?

Long? What does that mean exactly? We're still unpacking so I had to work my way toward a mirror and then I saw it.




So now what? Cree (again, lovingly) offered to move the pockets down. I think it will really help, but I may have to break down for a pair of 2008 maternity jeans that I feel good wearing out to dinner or something. Or maybe just switch to skirts?