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!