Shower Invites

I really need to get to work on addressing the invitations for the baby shower. We intended to send them out early (party is in July), so that we catch people before they make other plans for the prime July weekends. I just haven't had any motivation! I look at the stack of invites that know I need to get it done... but then I find yet another way to procrastinate. You know, like writing a journal post about it!

The invites did turn out quite well, if I do say so myself. Angel sent me some sample invitations that she found and liked. There were a few that we agreed on. We started talking over how much information had to go into the invites. We both liked the invitations that had ultrasound pictures and we thought the mini-newspaper was clever. Suddenly, I was struck with inspiration. Combine all the elements and make an actual newspaper!

Front page news announced the baby and the baby's sex with a nice ultrasound picture. The second page was an "ad" for our baby shower, a Dear Baby (Abby) column, and a classified section (where I listed registries and other important info). The third page was a crossword puzzle, a word search and a scrambler. This page is serving as our door prize entry... bring it to the party completed and get into the drawing. The last page was a Top Ten list of baby songs, a recipe for babies and comics. The few invites that have already been handed out are getting rave reviews. In fact, one of Ross' friends said he couldn't give it to his wife because she'll be upset that ours is so elaborate compared to hers!

Registries and Floors

Well, we determined two things yesterday...


A. Wal-Mart sucks. Well, we knew this a long time ago, but we have yet another reason. They no longer do in-store registries. This may be just a regional thing, but it is still quite a boneheaded move. Ross and I went in yesterday to flesh out our registry with some of the items that our not available online. There were several items we saw in the store that I couldn't find online. It was very frustrating. If it were entirely up to me, I wouldn't have even bothered with Wal-Mart but I know that a huge majority of our shower guests shop there. Target, on the other hand, is awesome. We even got a reusable canvas goody bag of coupons, diapers (those will be for our sitters to use if the cloth diapers scare them... LOL), samples and a book showing off their baby stuff. We added about 25 items while in the store... things we hadn't thought of or things that looked cuter in person.

Wood Laminate

B. We have finally decided on a floor for the family room/ playroom/ office. This project has been going on for about a month or two. Picking a floor has been tough, because we have plans to completely renovate the house over the next several years and eventually that space will be expanded and become the master suite. We wanted to put in a durable floor that we didn't mind tearing up in a few years. At first we considered linoleum. The word conjures up horror stories, but it's cheap and we wouldn't have been upset tearing it apart. Then Ross thought we should consider doing a cheaper stone because the area will be getting a lot of activity. Turns out there is no such thing as cheap stone. So we browsed about, chatted up a few employees, and eventually we decided on a wood laminate. We end up with a durable floor with a convincing wood look and texture at a cost comparable to linoleum. I also think it will complement the stone of the fireplace and the woods of our furniture quite nicely. It should also brighten up the space a bit compared to the odd brown carpet that was originally in the space. They will also be adding a moisture/ insulation barrier under it which should help with keeping that level of the house warmer. Can't wait to schedule installation!

Baby's First Pictures

The Money Shot

We had our ultrasound yesterday. I had no idea these things could take two hours! Our tech was very thorough... checking for every major bone in the body and pointing out the ten fingers and ten toes. The coolest thing, to me, was seeing the heart beating. That was the point when Ross drew up closer to the bed and took my hand, which was so sweet. He really leaned in when the tech asked if we would like to know the sex of the baby. The ultrasound went right up between the legs from below and there was our shot... it's a BOY! We have our Xander.

Profile View

It took some work to get the profile shot. Xander was not cooperating with the plan. He had his face buried against my spine and a hand covering his head. The tech first tried poking a bit harder and running the wand in odd places to encourage him to move. That didn't work, so I had to roll on one side as the tech probed again. Then over to the other side. Still no luck. Half an hour later and back on my back, we finally got the shot. You could clearly see his heart beating, his mouth opening and closing and his hand waving (the hand wasn't caught in the picture).

Pregnancy: Week 20

Our 20 week appointment on Wednesday went very well. The baby was not happy to have the Doppler poking around his domain. Every time Marijke would find the heartbeat, he would go swimming away to the other side. After a few moves back and forth, we all got a sudden surprise when the Doppler was kicked clear off my stomach! That was the first noticeable kick I had experienced... for the most part it had felt more like rolling and tumbling.

Thursday evening, Ross and I were curled up watching TV and he had his hand on my stomach. The baby seems to react to his hand being near my stomach... I always feel him move toward wherever Ross' hand is resting. This time, Ross got a good kick right in the palm of his hand. He wasn't quite sure if he felt what he thought he'd felt until I told him that it was a kick. Since then, he's been purposely taking time out every night to curl up with me with his hand on my stomach. It's very sweet.

Yes, I do keep referring to the baby as "he," but we don't know for sure yet. Our ultrasound is scheduled for Friday morning. I'm strangely nervous. This will make it all that much more real. I'll also find out if my gender-detecting instincts are right. Everyone is so convinced this baby is a boy that we'll all have trouble switching to "she" if it's a girl. We already have names picked out, so I think we'll jump right to using the appropriate name once we know the sex. Now, join us in sending baby the message to turn and give us a nice clear shot on Friday. LOL