29 weeks

We're getting ready! D & I have registered for parenting classes every Tuesday night in November; D is warming up for Daddy Bootcamp on November 1; and I have my nursing pads ironed and ready for my December 1 Breastfeeding class!

Even Baby B is getting into the act! He has been practicing his breathing this week, getting ready for his big birthday! I've been feeling a fluttering, and thought my little Bruce Lee was rapid punching me. But it turns out that Boris has the hiccups!

And luckily, Jenn will be bringing me her friend's G-Diapers this weekend, because the little guy has started wetting the womb! Although, Im not sure how we'll get that diaper on him at this point...

Baby Boris is nearing 17 inches long, and weighs about 2.7 pounds. At this point the little guy's eyes are blue (fingers crossed that those baby blues come with freckles), and he is able to see bright lights through the uterus. Although, his x-ray vision may not be developed enough to see the light through all my layers of clothing... Can you imagine? I wore 4+ layers in Louisiana, and it is much colder in WV. One lady at church insists that I wear too many layers; and she doesnt even know me! Hoy vey!)

I do uncover the little guy sometimes... like when I am trying to see my toes!

It seems like my belly just popped overnight! I was outside chasing Peanut last night and a neighbor walked by & was shocked that I was pregnant. We had hung out at an auction 2 weeks ago, and she said she hadnt even noticed my belly. The preacher even commented that my belly finally popped this week! Hoy vey!

Of course, I'm sure the fact that I'm still trying to wear my non-maternity sweaters & long-sleeves probably excentuates my growing beer gut!

And speaking of beer guts, construction has finally started on the nursery!

D started working nights this week, but he still found time to tackle the nursery floor! Yippee! He ripped the carpet out on Sunday, spent yesterday morning replacing rotton boards and hopefully when he wakes up today he will finish leveling everything! If all goes well, we will have new hardwood by early next week!

Great Success!

Hopefully, I will get the room primed this week also. Baby Boris is so close to having a nursery! I am so excite! (Can you tell D & I watched Borat this week?)

The only other news to tell this week is that our little Peanut mauled his first mouse while roaming around the back yard. Have I taught him nothing? Just because I am eating some meat now that I am prego, doesnt mean he is allowed! Hoy vey!

I am off to the OB this afternoon to hear Baby B's heartbeat...

Crafty Crew

(Blogger & I are again on the outs. I spent more than an hour paying homage to all of the crafty gifts we recieved in the mail this week, and Blogger deleted it all... Grrr! So here is my second attempt to say thanks!)

Baby Boris received a handful of presents from his krafty krewe this week. Have I ever told you how much I love the perma-smile I get from homemade gifts? The love that goes into them and the time spent thinking/cursing us while you make them! I love it! (Well, maybe not the cursing!)

Jenn made a rag blanket out of a variety of Muppet & Disney flannels. It is so cute!

It's not easy being Green!

My Big Sis also made a swaddling blanket out of the cutest dinosaur fabric! She absolutely picked the best fabric for my tecni-colored baby boy! Jenn is a Huge fan of swaddling; and I think I will follow her down that path... actually, I wish D would swaddle me at night!

Jenn also modge-podged a wild laundry basket, for all those diapers & burp cloths. My Aunt Amy helped Jenn trim the animal pictures out when she was in town for Car Show. I love it! It even has Baby Boris' name on it! It is so great I already filled it up with all of Boris' 0-3 month outfits, blankets, sheets, bibs and socks; I'm just waiting for laundry day!

And Miz Molly, my crafty college roomy, sent a warm & cozy barnyard tie blanket. I've been cuddling up with it all weekend! It is so soft!

I got so excited when I spotted her handwriting as the postman handed the package over to me!

And isn't this patchwork puppy so cute? You cant see it in this picture, but he has a little red tongue hanging out! Hoy vey!

Last week Daddy D was working in Louisiana and snuck off for a few hours one evening to meet his Baton Rouge posse for dinner. Who said a wife can only be jealous of other women? Although Baby Boris & I were stuck at home, alone in chilly West Virginia, at least everyone was thinking about us! Ronnie & Ellen, two of Louisiana's best peace-niks sent this awesome organic "Give Peas a Chance" onsie home to Baby Boris.

And then we received ANOTHER package from Jenny Brown & Stretchy yesterday!

With Stretch's creative direction (he picked out the fabric), JB made little Baby Boris 3 adorable burp cloths! Even Peanut couldn't keep his paws off them!

I really like the barnyard pattern. I think I will try to find a similar pattern to make a changing pad cover & crib skirt with; unless JB just wants to make that too:)!

And then there was Wilbur; the cutest little cotton pigglet for Baby Boris to play with! D really liked him too; D & Wilbur played their first game of "This Little Piggie" last night. So cute!

And what package would be complete without a few pint coasters for Daddy D to add to his collection?

Thank you so much! We love all of your crafty creations!

28 Weeks

We have just 12 weeks to go until Baby Boris (did you guess his real name yet?) moves into his nursery... hint, hint, hint! (Maybe we should start working on that soon? Blake, maybe you could come visit this month?)

I've felt great this week, although a little lazy. D has been working extremely LONG hours this week; he leaves at 4:30am and isn't getting home until nearly 8pm. This has just added to my willingness to spend the afternoon cuddling with peanut on the couch... I haven't had to make dinner or clean all week! The first couple days Baby Boris & I woke up with Daddy D, but by Wednesday D told us to just stay in bed... what a good man!


This week Baby Boris has grown to about 16 inches and weighs almost 2.5 pounds! It must be getting tight in there, because the little guy is punching & kicking to get out! Boris is starting to bulk up, just like mama! D gave me a hug last night, and after a quick squeeze looked at me & asked if that was the baby... it was, but i should have told him it was gas... that would have freaked him out!

Although we've had a dreary, cloudy week, Baby Boris can see light, and he is blinking frequently. Don't worry though, i haven't shown the little guy any of his baby shower presents... i am sure he will like a good surprise!

To keep the little guy busy this week I took him to his first political rally (Biden spoke in Ohio) and we spent Wednesday morning volunteering with the church at the soup kitchen! He liked it so much, we'll probably go back next week... they gave us doughnuts!


After taking inventory of all our shower gifts and hand-me-downs, Boris & I also spent some time this week figuring out what else we will need and doing some online shopping...:) I never knew there were so many cloth diaper choices! Or that one cloth diaper would cost between $17 and $25 bucks! For one! Hoy vey!

Luckily, one of Jenn's friends is willing to sell us her old G-Diaper covers, which would have cost us more than $300 new! Yippee for good friends and recyclers!

Today is D's last long day this week... I hope... so if all goes well we will spend the weekend tearing up the carpet in the nursery. If all goes well (and we don't have to tear the hardwood out), we will have a finished nursery before Baby Boris is 29 weeks old!

Our Super-Sweet Baby Shower, October 11, 2008

My mother & sister thought of a thousand special little details to make Baby Boris' Baby Shower a special memory for me, and a warm celebration for all of our friends and family who traveled to share the afternoon with us.

It is wonderful to see (and feel) how much everyone cares for D and I, and our growing baby boy. It means so much to us, especially because we live so far from all of you! Family & friends came from Brooklyn, Johnstown, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Mt. Joy and from right down the street to eat Jenn's delicious baby cake (not the diaper cake, of course!)



And when Jenny Brown heard that Jenn made white cake... (can you BELIEVE Jenn made that cake? She cut out all those little onsies, diapers and buttons with three kids running loose! Hoy vey!) Anyway, when JB heard that we had white cake, even she showed up with her trumpet! What a great friend!

Like every good baby shower Jenn & my mama organized some games for everyone to play. The first game was to come up with a list of baby names for every letter of the alphabet; surprisingly, no one suggested Baby Boris' real name (yes, D & I have decided on a real name:), but my Aunt Connie did suggest we name him Popeye... Hmmm... interesting!

We also played the what baby food is this game & a quick game where everyone had to choose which features I wanted Baby Boris to pop out with... D's curly black hair & dark skin & my blue eyes and freckles, of course! Someone even suggested he should inherit Jenny Brown's musical talent :) (You thought all those pictures had disappeared, didn't you JB?)

But more important than the games, was the food! Jenn and my mama made little baby-sized cookies, miniature sandwiches and our favorite spinach dip. Aunt Amy made every one's favorite fruit salad and Aunt Connie tested her new peanut butter cup brownies out on us... they passed with flying colors!

Unfortunately, I don't have too many pictures because I misplaced my camera rather early in the shower... hoy vey! Jenn will email me some pictures soon & I will add those to the post!

After the games and the yummy spread, Sarah & Amia helped me open all of Baby Boris' (don't you wish you knew his real name?) presents! Everyone was SO generous!

Baby Boris (what do you think his real name is?) received a stroller, onsies, sleepers, toys, a bigger-than-baby Elmo, a car seat and a million other presents...

Being the dork I am, I organized everything when we got home & laid it out to show Daddy D... Hoy vey, it was slightly overwhelming! With all the big stuff (strollers, swing, bath tub, etc.) in the basement, the little stuff filled our whole bedroom! Hoy vey! ...And of course, i took a picture... what kind of weirdo would I be if i didn't?

After the presents, Jenn and my mom sent everyone home with their own goodies! Jenn hand stamped little packets of Tall Ageratum, Morning Glory & Cleome seeds that my mom gathered from both her garden in Carlisle and my "garden" in West Virginia to give away as party favors. Now Vickie can turn her "wedding" garden into a "wedding & baby shower" garden!

And because we love to give things away so much, my mom also made banana, cranberry and strudel breads and I made peach preserves for everyone to take home. Yum!

After the shower, the men-folk invaded with their sausage & potatoes, (I crack myself up!) and grilled up a delicious meal before everyone began their journey home. Unfortunately, D & mike cooked way too fast, and before I knew it I was hugging everyone goodbye & we were on our way back to Wheeling.

I wish we had more time with my Aunt Bubba & Nora, who made a day trip of their five-hour drive from Rochester; and a few more hours with George & Larry (te-he) who I've barely seen since college; and few more minutes to talk with Lindsey about her wedding planning; and in general a little more time to be with everyone who came to the shower and with everyone who couldn't make it!

Thank you so much! You are the best friends & family that a girl (and her baby) could ever ask for!

27 weeks (although a little late)

We were quite busy last week... D was in Louisiana at a PPG training (and visiting all our friends), while Baby Boris & I were home-bound getting ready for my in-laws visit and our super-awesome baby shower!

And with everything else that we were doing, Baby Boris still found time to grow to about 2 pounds and more than 14 inches long. The babe has started to move his hands, and sucking his thumb to calm himself during the presidential debates. Boris can also cry, but only when he misses Daddy D (because he was gone for a whole week)!

Since I didn't have my photographer in town to take a belly shot at 27 weeks, I did it myself... And i must admit, this is by far the most flattering shot yet!

Look how small my butt is! Wow, it is time for some chocolate cake now!