26 Weeks

Baby Boris is 26 weeks or 6 & a half months old! He is about 9.2 inches and nearing 2 pounds; while i am nearing 2 extra pounds/week. (Don't try this at home!)

The little dancing fool finally has something to dance to; his hearing is fully developed! I set up one of D's old stereos in the kitchen so that Boris & I can rock out in there... because that is where i spend most of my barefoot and pregnant hours... :) Seriously, I do.

I've been cranking up the Dylan (per Lynn's request), and singing along, just in case Baby Boris cant hear the lyrics through my growing belly. Of course D assures me that everyone in the neighborhood can here it... I'm not sure if he meant the music or my singing???

This week Baby Boris (We really need to pick a name already... I like Dylan... Too bad Jackie is already using it... Then again, do you think Dylan would really mind?) Anyway... This week Baby Boris will also blink his little eyes open and start nodding his head to agree with me. Watch out D, now it is 2 against 1! HA!

The little guy's curly black hair will start to grow in this week also. Don't you think he is going to look just like D? I do, except, I hope he has freckles & blue eyes, like me... I guess we'll see!

So other than Blake, Will and Robert (thanks for the suggestions Blake, Will & Rob!), does anyone have the perfect name suggestion? Not that I don't love Boris, but as Robert pointed out, "we cant call him Bor!"

National Treasure

Although we are so far from all of our friends and family; Baby Boris is rounding up the love from all over the country!

Jenny Brown & Stretch are making sure little Baby Boris grows up just right; as a liberal-hippie-Steeler fan.


(Anyone else wonder how JB is giving me hand-me-downs? When did she have a baby???)

Auntie Lynn is making up for my tie-dyed fashion sense with the most adorable teddy bear jumper! And look at the little sock! So cute!

Jenn sent a bunch of hand-me-downs our way last weekend. Little socks, onesies, a baby swing & her BPA Free Breast Pump! My very favorite is this little hippie wool sweater.

I'm excited for the WV winter, just so i can tote Baby Boris around in this sweater & the little cap that JB made!

JB also crafted Baby Boris' first baby blanket. (When I saw the blanket JB made, i was inspired to finish Jeanette's baby blanket for Baby Galina. Of course, JB's turned out so much better than the one I made, but hopefully it keeps Galina warm during the German winter anyway!)

Sveta also called and said that she was giving us a ton of Savely's hand-me-downs. She will give us a Graco travel system stroller, bassinet, high chair, blankets and a ton of clothes.

Now, if you all could just package yourselves up and mail yourselves to our front door... Jenny, get on that... :)

Thank you so much for thinking about us! We miss all of you so much, but hopefully we will get to see you soon!

25 Weeks... and a few days

Baby Boris is 25 weeks; more than 6 months old! And my belly is growing to prove it.

When Boris (still not his real name) decides to shake his money maker, my whole belly bounces around. His moves remind me of Elaine's dance moves on Seinfeld. Hoy vey (zmere)!

D has taken to kissing the little guy goodbye in the morning; it is cute.

At 25 weeks Boris weighs about 1.5 pounds and is about 8.8 inches from crown to rump. Supposedly D should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat if he puts his ear to my belly; but so far he can only hear my stomach growling...

We still haven't made any progress on the little guy's nursery... Although the guest room is 99.9% complete. I guess Boris can just start out as a "guest" if we don't get our act together!

This week I'm headed to Carlisle for the Fall Car Show; Boris' first big show! Hopefully everyone will notice my huge belly, think i really need the business (what 6-month pregnant lady parks cars?) and decide to park in our yard!

Although D has to work this week, he'll be joining us in Carlisle on Friday evening!

Light em' up!

BPA and babies

This might not seem baby-related, but believe me, it is!

A few of you thought i was crazy when I told you we were trying not to use canned goods, and that we were phasing out our kitchen plastic-ware; but now the mainstream media is also talking about the adverse affects of Bisphenol A, or BPA.

BPA is a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to cancers, early onset puberty, migraines and diabetes. BPA is used in many baby bottles, sippy cups, Nalgene bottles and other hard plastics with recycling numbers 7 & 8.

Even the monster Wal-Mart has vowed to start phasing BPA out of its baby products, including bottles and baby formula containers.

Of course there needs to be more scientific study; but i think i will take the safest route and try to eliminate the majority of BPA that Baby Boris puts in his mouth!

Of course, it might be a little harder to give up my large collection of Nalgenes... they cost 8 bucks each! One step at a time... D and I switched to filling wine jugs with drinking water, rather than the Nalgenes...but the wine jugs might be a little difficult to take on a road trip...

I sure am thirsty for a glass of aqua now!

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/300.11.1303

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-16-bpa-heart_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

24 Weeks

This isn't my little guy, but just an example of what Baby Boris (still not his real name) might look like at 24 weeks! How adorable!

The mini is approximately 8.4 inches from head to rump and weights about 1.4 pounds. He is responding to sounds, like D almost falling through the ceiling, by rolling, kicking or his heartbeat spikes.

My parents came to visit us in Wheeling last weekend and my mama felt Boris kick and squirm one evening. My doctor said that it is great that i can feel the little guy, but that the movements wont become regular until week 28. At that point I should feel the babe moveevery few hours throughout the day. Right now he is most active at bedtime.


Since my mom was here this weekend, I finally got an updated belly shot! (And that is our new couch! Yippee! No more fresh-out-of-the trash couch for us! Blake, you're gonna love sleeping on this one!)

The Cutest Shower Invitation... Ever!

How well does my mother know me? This is the best baby shower invitation envelope... Ever!

I absolutelylove it! My Mama couldnt have done a better job!

Reduce, reuse, recycle! Yeah!

And the invitations? Jenn is amazing! I cant believe she made these awesome invitations... and she has 3 kids! Hoy vey! The little blanket is so cute; almost as cute as the little curl on the top of little Baby Boris' head!

Thank you so much! I love them!

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!

Baby Boris' Heartbeat @ 23 weeks

I cant tell you have excited I am that I figured out how to upload this without D's help! Go Me!

23 weeks

Baby Boris (still not his real name) will be 23 weeks (161 days or almost 6 months old, depending on who you talk to... JB, Dana?) this Thursday! I am still just 25... And I am sure none of you would even try to dispute that... Grrr!

The little Russian is about 8 inches, crown to rump, and weighs about 1 pound... so what about those other 14 pounds that i've gained, well, I am also carrying a 10 pound baby on my butt. Sir Mix-a-lot even wrote a song about me... cause baby got back... :) hoy vey.

Boris has quite the appetite. He seems to love everything unhealthy... especially M&Ms, chips and ice cream. Fortunately, I don't mind helping the little guy out!

We're almost finished "fixing" the guest room, so D & I are starting to focus on renovating the baby's room. We ordered new windows for the room, because the current ones are painted shut, and were probably installed in 1910 when the house was built. We will be ripping the carpet out and re-doing the floors in the next few weeks also. Of course D will be in charge of all of these boring details, freeing me up to focus on the more important color pallet, furniture and design decisions.

Lynn was asking what "theme" we had picked for the nursery, and I think we're probably going to go with a barnyard/Charlotte's Webb-type theme. My mom painted a water color for me when i was a little girl of Fern, Charlotte & Wilbur, and we are thinking of re-matting & framing that for the room.

Of course, I haven't found many nursery items to go with this "theme" so we will see. Jenn encouraged me to start a baby registry at Target & Babies-r-us; and I will tell you what, this was just about the hardest thing about pregnancy so far! What in the world do you register for? And what if no store carries all the items you need? Hoy vey! I am sure that if i was pregnant with a girl, this whole process would have been a lot easier!

I was hoping that since I plan to breast feed, i wouldn't need much for the little guy... but I am quickly learning that this isn't the case.

Jenn, Jackie, Sveta and Christine have all offered some of their hand-me-down's; which is AWESOME! We are so excited to give a few things a new home & keep them out of the landfill a while longer! Between these recycled hand-me-down's and some of our yard sale finds this summer, we've accumulated a lot of what we will need. We have a jogging stroller (I just need to get new inner tubes)($15-yard sale), an Infantino Sling ($5-yards ale), a bathing tub, a changing table pad (I just need to sew up a cover), a bouncy seat, a swing, a boppy pillow ($1-yard sale!) a jumper, a bumbo baby sitter and all kinds of cute little clothes!

We are very open to suggestions about what you think I might need, or what we might not actually need/use. We really don't want a bunch of "stuff" and I am really hoping not to acquire anything that we really wont use. So hopefully all our "mommy" friends can make some recommendations on their "couldn't live without" and "never used & quickly donated" baby gear.

The Baby Blog

Ok, ok, it's taken a while; but I'm finally updating the blog, and I think I'm ready to keep you all posted on our new life here in the hills of Appalachia.

"Baby Boris" (Not his real name) is growing like a weed. The little guy reminds me of Michael Phelps; he is kicking, flipping, diving and blowing bubbles during prime time most evenings. I am sure he is going for gold!

I'm now 22 weeks pregnant, and the babe is about 12 oz and the size of my palm. D and I are working hard to get the new house organized and ready for our new addition. Of course, we haven't even started working on the baby nursery, yet!

And Jenn and my mom are hard at work organizing a baby shower for the little guy. Invitations should be going out soon, so look for yours in the mail!