Summer is here.

Tomorrow's June 1st.  Summer is here.  These 2 facts thrill anyone who's life revolves around the school calendar and in my household, that's everyone, so YAY!!!  AND not only is the date saying "summer" but so is the weather.  Here's Mike, The Patch, and I swimming today in a local creek/river!  The Patch learned how to swim today so we're very proud of him.  And I guess today was Lena's first time swimming also.  so they learned together. :-)  Here's another shot from today in the creek.  It was great.

Yesterday was also our Philly Baby BBQ! (Think "baby shower" but with guys there and cheeseburgers)  We were so happy to celebrate Lena's eminent arrival with such great friends and some family too!  Here are 2 shots of Mike and I having to play this funny shoe game as entertainment for all guests.  It was just a great time to hang out, celebrate, and catch up with friends. 

So that's the story.  We're at 34 weeks and 2 days down, who knows how many more to go!!  Our baby update lists Lena at 4.75lbs (average cantaloupe) and 18 inches long!!  She's still a mover-and-a-shaker (except for when I want her to perform for friends, it seems...) and we can't wait to meet her.  not too much longer now!!

 and here's a pretty plate of my favorite food from the shower.  I'm SURE it will be Lena's favorite food too.

just what the doctor ordered

 Hi.

So yes, early posting again, I know.  But I have 2 things to write about so rather than wait til the weekend (which will be supremely busy anyway) I choose to write now.... and maybe again on the weekend ;-)

Moving on.  So #1:  I had a doctors appointment this morning during which I was asked by the doctor "Do you like milkshakes?" to which I replied "yes...?" and then got the shock of my life, "You should add a couple of those to your diet each week." !!!for real!!   "AWESOME!" is what I say to that.  Apparently I weighed in at slightly less than would have been "ideal" but since the doc thinks it's nothing a few milkshakes won't fix, I'm not at all concerned :-)  So, here I sit, typing away drinking a cookies & cream milkshake.  yum.

Ok on to #2:  So Mike and I had our "How to birth a baby in the least stressful and painful manner imaginable" class all day on Sunday.  We learned a lot.  But let me add that I also wish storks actually did deliver babies...  And we had to watch videos of like 5 real births.  Now, I know all you moms out there are like "oh Kim, get over it." but seriously, it was slightly traumatizing.  I'd be lying if I said labor is something I'm looking forward to.  Oh well, can't do much about that now, can I?  But anyway, we survived the class, got educated on the facts of life part 2, and are now between 4.5-8.5 weeks away from go time.

At least we get to meet Lena at the end of the whole labor process.  I guess that's why people do this.  :-)  ok bye.

Going green

So.   I know I said tonight was "How to take care of a real live baby" class, but as it turns out they were overbooked so we had to reschedule for 6/8.  Oh well  Sunday still is "How to birth a baby in the least stressful and painful way imaginable" class so at least we'll be getting some sort of education this week.

 

Anyway, I know it's only Thursday but I couldn't resist putting pics up of Lena's tree! YAY!!  Our friends Lauren and Roberto came by for some dinner & painting last night and being as Lauren's an artist, she sketched on the wall and then we banged out a pretty awesome tree.  At least, this is the tree in stage 1.  Who knows what the final stage will look like, but even if we decide to just leave it be, it's pretty awesome, no?!  Yay.  That white door is a door to our bedroom, FYI, perfect nursery set-up.

 This is me & Lauren doing some painting...

and here's me and Mike doing some painting!

Anyway, so yes, the Lena tree.  Its leaves are varying shades of green which is kind of hard to see in these pictures.  Speaking of green I've just realized that almost everything I ate today was green.  I had this weird pea soup for lunch, and guacomole & cream cheese on a bagel for dinner... (I have been obsessed with all-things-avocado this whole pregnancy long... all-things-avocado & chocolate glazed donuts, I can't seem to ever get enough.)  yes, and now I'm eating mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert.  I love going green. hah.

Lena's first party

So yesterday was Lena's first party!  A whole wonderful garden tea party just for her!  The wonderful women in my family threw me & Lena a baby shower at my mom's in NJ this past Saturday.  It was super fun, super beautiful out, and super pink.  Lena got so much great loot!  Thanks, everyone!!  Although I don't know quite what to do with some of the stuff we got yet, I'm sure I'll learn quickly...

Actually, speaking of learning quickly, Mike and I have 2 baby classes this week.  Thursday night is "How to actually take care of a real live baby" and Sunday is "How to birth a baby in the least stressful and painful manner imaginable".  Ok, so maybe neither of them are technically named as such, but you get the idea.  I wonder if they give grades out in these classes & if so, I hope we don't get an F....

and now into the 33rd week (32 weeks completed as of Saturday)...  The food comparison of the week is "weighs about as much as a large jicama".  Jicama?  I know I've eaten it, but can't say that I offhandedly know what a raw whole jicama looks like or feels like.  Jicama, anyone??  Apparently from here on out I'm supposed to be putting on a pound a week.  AND I also found out today that at 37 weeks you are considered "full term" so Lena could be here in as little as 5 weeks!!!!  CRAZY.   (I'm still telling her to shoot for around July 4th, so we'll see)  Anyway, here's me at 32 weeks.

Feeling pretty good these days.  The usual pregnancy woes, but that's pretty much just par for course so I'm ok.  Mike and I are counting down the weeks til school's out for the summer... 5 weeks left now!!  I'll go out on maternity leave for the summer and then start work again in the fall as an hourly staff member and 90% from home- oh yea!!  So excited for that too.  I'll just be doing some grant writing and donor communication stuff whenever I have time (or whenever I feel like it) once mom-life starts :-)

Alrighty, time to go.  Ciao. 

delightful daffodil

31 Weeks Down... who knows how many more to go... 7?  9?  no idea.

and here's the big news:  THE ROOM IS PAINTED!! Woohoo!!  thanks to Mike (who primed the entire room & ceiling & closet himself) and my friend Betsy (who helped Mike and I with the painting) the room is a lovely shade of yellow with white trim.  In fact, in these pics I'm actually standing in her room trying to show off the new color.  The color is called "delightful daffodil" which I think is quite funny... and "delightful!"

In other Lena news, "Lena" is all over the news... as in Lena Horne, the famous jazz singer who passed away today.   The local Jazz radio station is playing her stuff all night which is awesome, I love jazz.  Maybe Lena Roth will have a voice like hers, that'd be really cool :-) 

Moving on, this past Friday was a fun day.  Mike's co-teacher threw him (& me) a surprise baby shower (I knew about it, Mike did not)!  I went to Edison High School and hung out for the morning for the baby shower teacher brunch during 1st period and for Mike's 2nd period class.  Here is a pic of Mike and I showing off our shower gift and one of Mike with some of his 2nd period kids (all the boys are hiding from the camera). 

So there you go.  ALSO I just realized that my due date is July 10 and today's May 10.  2 months away!

One last topic:  this weekend Mike, The Patch, and I traveled to Pittsburgh for the last time as just a couple & a dog.  Next time we do that we'll be a couple, a dog, and a baby Lena!!  crazy.  Anyway, we had a great & relaxing visit with Mike's family.  The only bad part was the Whopper & fries that I got on the drive up gave me major heartburn... oh well.

not too much longer now....

head of cabbage.

So how do you like my poll up there??  fun huh?  I'm winning in the votes thus far but maybe that's because no one can picture a baby with as much facial hair as Mike has.  We'll see.   Anyway, 30 weeks done.  whew.  how many more now?  I really don't know.  I hear that babies are usually born at 38-42 weeks...  so we'll see how that goes, I guess.  I'm pushing for a July 4th-ish Birthday (hear that, Lena!!??) just because then birthday parties are super easy and who doesn't want fireworks on their birthday?!

This week was a rough one.  We survived an intense grad school project, an unbelievably sore back, sleepless nights, and pine mouth.  (Pine Mouth, yes, it's for real, google it.)  Thankfully, all my ailments seem somewhat better now and Mike's semester is over!  yay!  AND Lena's room is now cleaned out!!!!!!  woohoo!!!!  yipeee!  I wish I had a "before" picture to show you, but I do not.  Now begins the spackling, priming, painting, and then the decorating process.  The "after" picture will come once the room is ready.

Here I am at 30 weeks:

Lena is large and in charge.  Apparently this week is "large head of cabbage" week.  Approx 3.5 lbs of baby and lots more lbs of everything else.    I had a doctors appointment on Tuesday and while she was getting her heartbeat checked, she jumped to the other side of my stomach and made the lady start her count all over... and then she did it again because she thought it was funny.  It was.  I laughed.

It has been super hot for the past couple days.  I do not tolerate the heat well these days.  Neither does The Patch:

He just lays upside-down on the cool kitchen floor like he's dead.  Maybe I'll try that.

Also this week while at work one of the kindergarteners said "I see the baby's nose" when looking at the bump my bellybutton makes in my shirt.  HAH!  Good try, kid, good try.  Funnily enough though, a couple months ago a very pregnant friend who works at a different school had a kindergartener say almost the exact same thing to her!  Must be something about 5 year old brains.  I don't understand 5 year old brains very well.  You can't reason with them and they don't understand my jokes.

Oh, and just today we added another pregnant friend to the "Lena's friends to be born soon" list!  Yay.

ok bye.