Construction Supervisor & Puppet Master

Friday evening Alexander put the boys to work de-shingling the garage roof in a push to get all the debris to the city dump before it closed Saturday at noon.

(I know, I look horrible! It's because Jenny Brown keeps me up late watching Library DVDs...)

Zander adorned his white Habitat NCAA hardhat for safety, and to let the "crew" know who was in charge! Friday evening Daddy, Stretch & Brad hacked at the roof until nearly 10pm.

After a 7am visit to the dump, the boys returned to the roof to remove the remaining shingles for a second trip to the dump... Unfortunately, no one knew the dump changed their hours, until the crew arrived at the locked gate at 11:30am. We had another Alice's Restaurant on our hands, luckily, no one got arrested!

Shortly after lunch, reinforcements arrived, and Grampa climbed right to work. The rain didn't start until around 6pm...

But Alexander cracked the whip, and the boys kept working!

It was difficult to keep Zander occupied while the other men-folk were hard at work on the roof, but Jenny Brown did her best by putting on a private puppet show, just for Alexander!

When JB & Stretch arrived in Wheeling at the beginning of July, Alexander was just starting to sit up by himself. Now, he sits confidently, crawls like he's on a mission (notice his poor rug burned knees), he can roll to a sitting position from his belly, he can pull himself to a standing position from a seated or kneeling position, and he's cruising around the ottoman & his other standing toys!

Zander's bottom two teeth are also starting to push through, which has added a little more gas to his constant propulsion.

Speaking of gas, Zander had his first tasty guacamole (minus the tomatoes & onions) & it was a big success!

On our way home from the doctor in Pittsburgh, we met up with JB & Stretch (on their way back from J-ville) @ Whole Foods for a horribly expensive lunch & a sackful of frozen organic veggies to puree for our lil' Vegemite. Making our own organic baby food is turning out to be so easy! I started out using a baby food strainer, but then remembered the "Bullet" my parents had gifted us a few years back in Louisiana. It took me all of 15 minutes to make a pound of peas for our Sweet Pea this morning. So fun!

37 Weeks, Full Term & Counting

Little Baby Boris is finally full term. After today he can make his debut as a fully-developed bouncing baby boy! (At least he better be a boy; or I will hunt down that ultrasound tech!)

The cookie monster (I am sure he is the reason all my Christmas cookies are now only remembered as the "month before Christmas cookies"...) is about 21 inches long and weighs about 7 pounds this week. I have no idea how I didn't gain any weight this week... seriously, stuffing my face is my favorite activity lately! I think I've eaten a pint of peanut butter in 3 days! Speaking of peanut butter... time for more peanut butter cookies!

(Last Christmas D's babushka gave us Russian letter blocks... so this is how you spell Alexander in Russian. Aleksandr.)


About 2 weeks ago I started weekly appointments with my OB, who is just the nicest woman! Today I was still only 1cm dilated and contrary to the physician assistant's evaluation last week, I am very "thick" & "high"; so I guess I'm still on track for an early January birth. (Don't forget to bring your catchers mitt for New Years, Blake. And Jenny, you might as well start boiling the water now, cause if you're in town, I'm insisting on a home delivery... :)

The doctor asked me about my feelings on induction again today... and that's a big negatory! She is traveling to the Philippines for the holidays, so I won't see her again until January 2... which, luckily, won't give her too much opportunity to induce me anyway! As I was leaving the office, she called down the hallway "wait for me!" No problem doc, there's no room at the inn until after January 2 anyway!

The Nursery is ready for move-in day! Last weekend Daddy D modified an old dresser into the best changing table ever and the new ceiling fan is ready to cool little Baby Alexander off on those hot summer evening!


D also put our lovely hand-me-down crib together, and I made the best crib skirt ever!


Yesterday I made cushions for the wooden rocker, and I'm hoping my mama can finish hand sewing the cushion back directly to the rocker when she comes to visit next week!

And much to Daddy D's dismay, I found these great green "dots" on super-clearance at Lowes earlier this week to decorate the nursery's pale blue walls. I love them, actually, they are exactly what I was picturing when I decided to accent with green; D isn't sold... yet.


This picture doesn't give the dots justice. There are green and white alternating dots; that look awesome! I might also add a lighter green dot.

Time for more Peanut Butter!

33 weeks @ 3:30am

Let's see... It's 3:30am and I'm watching Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock; but I'm not so sure Baby Boris is enjoying it. I know I'm not!

Anyway, I am 33 weeks prego, with less than 7 weeks until my due date! Whoa Hoo! I finished painting the nursery this week, and now Daddy D just has to finish the quarter round, hang some shelving and install a new ceiling fan & light fixture. I think it seems like we've been "almost" finished with the nursery for a month now!

Although progress seems slow on the nursery, Baby Boris is growing at warp speed. At my 33 week appointment yesterday my belly measured 34 weeks... which, if you are crazy like I am, you'd figure this meant mean that the baby is actually 34 weeks developed. WHICH would move my due date up seven days. WHICH would be January 1. WHICH, although this would be hectic, would also be ideal for the freebie queen (AKA- me!). I think I will have to look into what WV does for the first baby of the year, just in case :). "Push him out, push him out, waaaaay out! Go team!"

Baby Boris is about 5 pounds and around 17 inches this week. He is moving less, but his twirls & swirls are much stronger. He's also had quite a few cases of the hiccups; so cute! D thought it was his heartbeat, a rhythmic pulsing pusHing my belly up & down. I should take a video!

I've gained 23 pounds so far, but I know I can do better! A girl I volunteer with at the Soup Kitchen gained 75 pounds for her first baby; and I cant let her out-do me! So in the next seven weeks I plan to gain approximately 8 pounds/week. That will beat her 75 for sure! Tub-o-lard here I come!

Of course, the 20* weather & daily snow showers here in WV will definitely help me reach my goal. Cause who wants to go outside in this bitter cold? Really, who wants to get out from under the fleece blankets & the 20 pound cat to even move around this old drafty house? Brrrrr!

(Note: Don't forget to bring your long johns & fleece socks when you come to visit this winter. As a matter-of-fact, you might also want to bring an extra snow shovel, some rock salt & a Russian Ushanka Hat. Brrr!)

Unfortunately, I still haven't taken a Belly Shot... but hopefully we'll get one this week! But since I don't have any pictures of my own baby, I'll leave you with two other mother's "special deliveries" this week!

My high school friend Jessie had little Topher this week; don't you love this picture?

No, Jenny Brown didn't pack off to Oklahoma to birth this cutie. Handsome little Eli is Stretch's sister's first little baby. But wouldn't JB make the perfect Episiotomy victim?

And, of course adorable little Galina; Jeanette & Vasya's little girl! She is probably about 3 months now & so far away in Germany. Come home Galina! I promise to turn up the heat!

31 weeks

Only 9 more weeks until we meet little Baby Boris (still definitely not his real name)! D & I have decided on a first name, and we've narrowed our middle name list down to just four family names... Good things we still have 9 weeks to make a final decision!

This week the little guy weighs about 4 pounds and is almost 17 inches long. The little chubby checker probably wont get much longer in the next few weeks, BUT as long as I keep sprinkling chocolate coated Miracle-Gro on him, he will be on track to gain another 4 or 5 pounds before he sprouts. Hoy vey, he could be a BIG baby; but I wont think about that! (Target had all their Halloween Candy on sale this week & I bought about 20 bags of miniatures & fun size candy for just .57 cents a bag! You k now I cant pass up a deal that good!)

Daddy D went to my OB appointment today and got to hear the official 137 beats/minute heartbeat. Unfortunately, D also got to see how close I am to weighing 200 pounds; I think I might stop lying about my age now & start lying about my weight!

I gained almost 2 pounds since my visit 2 weeks ago, and my belly is measuring 32 cm. (Yep, Jeanette, the doc measures in cm & measures from the top of the pelvic bone to the top of the fundus *bump*).

Although Baby Z (the name Jenn has decided to call the baby) could hear sounds before, his hearing should be fully developed this week. He can distinguish voices, and he can even move to the rhythm of our favorite music. (Luckily, D & I stumbled upon some young Louisiana natives, new to WV, who seem to share many of our ideals and have a full collection of current music that they are willing to share with us! Baby Z will finally have something new to dance to!)

While listening to some Simon & Garfunkle this week, Baby Boris' brain will enter another period of rapid growth. D will have to feed me Omega-3 rich salmon 3 times this week; you know, for the sake of the baby's brain!

D & I are also going to torture ourselves with the flu shot on Friday, all for the sake of Baby Boris. Supposedly, my shot will protect the little guy for the first 6 months of his life. The munchkin's immune system is in hyper-drive from now until the end of his incubation, so hopefully this shot makes him the healthiest baby ever!

Hoy vey!

Also this week, D & I attended our second Lamaze class; unfortunately, I couldn't concentration on their breathing techniques at all, because the class was Tuesday night, at the same time the first election returns were coming back. I cant tell you how excited I am to have my baby born under Obama's administration; and then have him spend his first 8 years thriving under Obamas leadership! Yippee! I just cant loose the smile!

Monthly Appointment- week 23

(Blogger deleted/lost/stole this post the first time I tried to post it... and as you know, it is hard to recreate perfection... so here is my mediocre attempt... :)

Mini and I just returned from our monthly doctor's appointment, and we couldn't be much healthier!

Daddy D sent me to the appointment with his little MP3 player so that I could record the little guy's heartbeat. Daddy hasn't heard the heartbeat since our 12 week appointment, so this should be pretty exciting for him (I couldn't decipher the heartbeat at the 12 week appointment, so honestly, this might be the first time D hears Baby Boris' Beat). And I thought I would share this little miracle with all of you as well! The little guy's ticker was going about 145 BPM, which is perfect! The normal range is between 125 and 170.

My swelling belly is perfect size 23 weeks, and the Physician's Assistant said that I am right on track for a January 8 baby! Norah (Jenn's third) was born on January 7, so one day early wouldnt be so bad. And if we are a whole week early, Baby Boris might find himself swimming in freebies for being the first baby of the new year... wishful thinking!

In addition to the MP3 player, I went to the appointment armed with a ton of questions! This was my first appointment with the practice's new Physician's Assistant, and she passed my million question bombardment with flying colors. The PhysAssi, whose name escapes me, gave us the OK to visit one of those strip mall ultrasound centers so that D & the whole fam-damly can see Baby Boris bounce around in 4-D. (Unfortunately, due to a 2 hour delay and a crazy hospital protocol, D had to go back to work before I even got into the ultrasound room for my official ultrasound last month.) The Doc said that as long as we only go once, we wont have to worry about exposing the babe to too much ultrasound badness.

Unfortunately, the PhysAssi also said it was OK for me to keep on painting, and painting and painting. D bought me a *stylish* OSHA respirator, and I guess as long as i keep wearing that, I can keep torturing myself daily... Luckily, I don't have too many more rooms to paint before the house looks somewhat normal! The kitchen is no longer orange, what more can a girl ask?

Because of my O-positive blood type, the PhysAssi said that the doctor/hospital will not be taking my placenta & cord blood for stem cell research. Maybe she was confused or maybe I am confused, but it's unfortunate that that sac of DNA cant be used for something?

My next appointment is October 8 with the *real* doctor, and I will have to do the glucose test- Yuck! I can barely stomach full-octane Coke, I cant imagine how I will feel after their gag-arific sugary swill. I hope it comes in chocolate milkshake flavor. Oh, i do love the ice cream these days! Ooo, and mac & cheese! Yum!