25 Weeks - On Location

We didn't forget to take our weekly "baby growth" pictures even though we were away. So, here's baby, on location!

Being over 6 months pregnant didn't slow us up much on vacation. It was nice to have the opportunity to get some exercise every day and baby cooperated (for the most part). I think my uterus grew a good bit this week and baby definitely started shifting to enjoy the new-found inch or two. Last Thursday, this "shifting" was quite unbearable for a bit -- I think it struck a nerve in my lower back (almost around my tailbone). Luckily, it only happened a few times and left me pretty sore for just 2 days.

Some things we learned this week:

1. Baby enjoys plane rides! Somersaults & jumping jacks were very common on the plane.

2. Baby's kicks or punches can now almost reach my ribs:)

3. My body is in full practice mode for delivery; Braxton Hicks contractions have truly begun.

Don't forget to scroll down to read about our Southern California vacation!

Alysia

Southern California Baby?

We got back this evening from our beautiful, sunny, Southern California vacation. We had a fantastic time this past week enjoying life, seeing sights, and most importantly - spending time outdoors. Each time we travel, we seek to visit an area that's experiencing better weather than we would have experienced at home. This is an unbelievably simple task for us from about October through May of each year:) We were not disappointed by the San Diego area! Here are some highlights from our travels this past week........

We spent our first 5 nights in a resort in the seaside town of Carlsbad. Carlsbad is about 25 miles north of San Diego along the Pacific coast. It's most known for its theme park Legoland (seen from our balcony) and their Flower Fields which bloom in March each year.

On the first day of our trip, we explored the beach towns up and down the southern California coast: Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solona Beach, Del Mar. We walked through the towns, wiggled our toes in the sand, and captured some great shots.

On Thursday, we spent the day exploring Old Town, the first settled portion of San Diego - well, California for that matter! It was a gorgeous day to stroll through the shops, grab some great Mexican food, visit the haunted Whaley House, and learn about life hundreds of years ago.

That night, we made an impromptu decision to check out the International Baseball Classic being held at the San Diego Padres stadium, Petco Park. We watched Japan beat Korea -- the same matchup that ended up facing off in the finale game in Los Angeles!

On Friday, Mike enjoyed his first round of golf for 2009. I didn't play (regretfully), but enjoyed my role as cart driver, caddy, scorekeeper, and picture taker.

On Saturday, our college friend Sam met up with us in San Diego. He's living out in San Francisco, but flew down to visit his family in L.A. for the weekend, giving him the chance to come see us! We enjoyed the day together, checking out Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma and Coronado Island.

The last two days of our vacation were spent in the heart of San Diego. We got a GREAT deal on Priceline for a hotel right in the Gaslamp District, just steps away from the shopping, dining, and nightlife scene. Our two days in the city were spent enjoying museums and gardens in Balboa Park as well as the world-famous San Diego Zoo.

We come home from nearly every vacation considering why we don't pack up and move to that location. Considering the mild climate the entire year in the San Diego area, we of course asked ourselves that very question again today. I'm sure the baby would enjoy the area too. So, how about a Southern California baby?

Alysia

The Best Laid Plans ...

Since we were excited to make a little more progress in finishing the nursery, we took the time last night to peel off the tape from the wall that we just finished painting on Sunday afternoon. After all of the tape was removed, we looked at the wall and agreed that it looked great. But then Alysia, always observant, noted that the horizontal stripe on the left side of the room seemed to be "higher" than the stripe on the right side of the room.

Of course, I immediately came up with a reason that had nothing to do with making a mistake. I explained that the floor probably drops from one side of the room to the other since it's an "old house"... A quick measurement of the distance between the floor and the stripe proved that I was wrong... and that the stripes really are off-set by about 2".

As it turns out, when I made the measurements for the newest stripe, I made the same mistake again that I had made a few weeks ago. The straight edge ruler that we're using to make the lines has measurements flush against one end, but on the other end the measurements end at 48" about 2" before the end of the bar. So on the right side of the room, the bottom side of the stripe is 40" from the floor, but on the left side of the room, it is 42" from the floor. So the question of the week is, do you think that we should fix the 2" difference, or live with it? (I think that you know my choice.)

I don't think that a normal person would notice this difference, but Alysia picked up on it right away because one of the stripes is just about in her line of sight, and the other was obviously lower than that... I really hope that our child is taller than 4'11 3/4"!

Until next time...

- Mike

An Odd Couple

There are a few specific places that are just awkward to visit with only another guy. A darkly lit restaurant is one good example. Last Wednesday, I discovered that Babies R' Us is another such place.

Our friends Brian and Stacie have a fairly large SUV, so I convinced our friend Brian to help me pick up our crib since our car is too small. The store told us that the box was supposed to be 5 1/2 ft x 4 ft. x 3 ft. - which is huge if you really stop and think about it. We actually expected that the box might not fit in their car, and that we'd have to take out all of the pieces and leave the box at the store.

While in the store, we maintained a minimum 5 foot clearance between us so that the employees didn't mistake us as a couple. We didn't actually talk about intentionally keeping a separation - it was completely instinctual. (We did joke about how badly it would look if we got into an argument in front of everyone.)

As it turns out, the container for the crib was much smaller than advertised - only 4 ft. x 3 ft x 1/2 ft, so we got it home with no problem. As I write this, I'm expecting that the box has everything in it and that we're not missing any other parts, but the smaller size does make me a bit nervous. Since our due date is July 9, I figure that I'll open up the box on July 8 and find out then if we have everything that we need to put it together...

We are quite happy that everything is progressing so well. According to the books that we have, the baby's lungs and eyes are nearly developed now, so the odds of a healthy delivery will continually increase significantly every week for the remainder of the pregnancy.

Until next time.....

- Mike

6 Months!

Wow, we can hardly believe that we've already reached 6 months. We're both very excited to meet our little baby! Here are baby's growth pics for Week 24:

We had our 6-month appointment this Friday and everything looks perfect. I'm measuring exactly the right size for 24 weeks, baby's heartbeat is strong, my recent blood-sugar tests were perfect, and no strange symptoms. I had been asked to take a blood-sugar test early at 22 weeks, and unfortunately will have to again when it's normally requested at 26-28 weeks. I'm not a big fan of the orange sugar water, but I guess I'll live......

Uncle Ben visited this weekend on his Spring Break. We had a good time catching up, watching videos, playing games, and checking out Snakes & Lizards down the road at the museum. Here are some shots from our Saturday trip to the museum:

Ben looks just like a farmer, doesn't he? Can farmer's survive if they get up at noon every day?

Mike and I are off on our final pre-baby vacation this coming week. We'll be spending some sunny days in the San Diego area. Stay tuned for pictures of our fun break!

Alysia

23 Weeks - More Work on the Nursery

Here are the pictures of Baby's growth this week:

Baby is getting much bigger now, definitely weighing more than a pound and measuring over a foot long. Although I still would not call my tummy "big" by any means, baby seems to have plenty of room in there for its acrobatics. Kicks and punches can be felt everywhere: from side to side, top, bottom, etc. Baby seems to be most comfortable in a position where jumping straight up and down nudges me way above my belly button and around my bladder. I secretly hope it finds a different 'favorite' position before its acrobatics reach my ribs:)

We continued to work on the nursery on Saturday. We've finished the vertical stripes on the wall where the crib will be placed. The last touch is the light green horizontal stripe, but you can start to envision the final product!

The stripes weren't quite as challenging as we expected, but definitely tedious. Remember, only the east and west walls will have this accent. We're pretty happy with how they are turning out. What do you think?

Alysia

22 Weeks and Daddy can feel me Kick!

Here are the weekly pictures of Baby's growth:



This was certainly an exciting weekend! We made the most of Mike's Spring Break by getting a good start on the nursery. All day Saturday and most of the day Sunday were spent moving furniture, washing walls, taping, and painting. We managed to get the entire room painted with the background color and will work on the detailed walls next (hopefully next weekend). Here are some pictures of our work:





And here is a picture of the crib we ordered on Friday:

After a long day of work Saturday, we relaxed with our most recent Netflix movie, The Illusionist. Like always, Baby started kicking after about 20 minutes of me idling. But this time, the kicks felt stronger than even the day before. I placed my hands on my tummy and waited for the next one - and I could feel it from the outside! Mike came over and only had to wait another minute to feel the next 4-5 kicks. How exciting! We're choosing to believe that this was the baby's way of thanking us for getting his/her room ready. We think it likes the color:)

Alysia