28 weeks!

Well, we are in our third trimester little one. You continue to get stronger; your gentle nudges have turned into some pretty strong kicks. I sometimes call you my little ninja. You can't seem to sit still for long, you must get this from me.

You are also getting bigger..and so am I. You have started to feel heavy this week and I've noticed a slight shift in my balance. My bigger belly has thrown off my posture, and on top on that, the hormone relaxin is loosening up my joints- so I'm trying to be more careful reaching for things and I'm also holding on to the elliptical machine at the gym. (Because let's face it: for a former gymnast, I'm surprisingly kind of a klutz)



I passed my Gestational Diabetes test this week (wahoo!) and I have to admit that overall, I feel really good. My hips do hurt a little, but taking a warm shower before bed, doing some stretches and propping myself up with pillows at night seems to be helping. I make a sort of pillow fortress around me each night- one behind me, one between my knees and one in front of me. David has almost given up on a) having any space for himself in the bed and b) a kiss goodnight. Instead, we've been giving each other a high-five over the mountain of support pillows strategically placed around me. The space issue? Well some things are just not my problem :)

I'm really looking forward to our long weekend in Chicago. Of course we are going to NJ and NY for Thanksgiving, but this will be our last vacation as a couple before we become a family.

Cute Maternity T-shirts

I have seen a lot of really cute maternity t-shirts recently and while I didn't find this one early enough to order for Halloween this weekend, the rest of the ones below might be just too funny not to get:


I found all of these at CafePress and you can customize a lot of them with your due date, etc.

I think this one is my favorite....



Followed closely by this one....


Because let's face it, I'm not trying to impress anyone.

Improvements (mostly) around the house

We've been busy acquiring furniture and making some home improvements around the house. I will probably stop taking pictures of each and every little project soon, but for now I'm enjoying it and David (incredibly) still tolerates it.

This weekend, we hung up a door knocker we received as a housewarming gift. This project requited the use of power tools and excellent communication. We made it... somehow.


Powertools in action.
You can also see the mirror we hung that morning in the hallway behind David.


making adjustments to the door


come on in!

We've also started to work on the nursery. Last weekend we began paining the baby' room. We decided to cover up all the the blue with a nice neutral tan-ish, beige-y color. (I bet we will we feel silly if it's a boy!)


Painting over the blue walls

David did all the climbing on ladders but I helped out in the lower spots. And don't worry, it is low-VOC paint and we had every window wide open for extra ventilation!


The color is called 'Calm Air' do you feel calmer looking at it?


Step stool and drop cloths and paints and rollers and brushes...


Making progress

The job isn't complete yet; we have a few areas to touch up. Still, it seems to have calmed my intense nesting need for a few days. I will post more pics when we put up the rest of the pictures, etc on the walls.

Two weeks ago when David's parents were here, we bought an area rug for the living room. As I can't exactly lift furniture, Dov was able to help out with this project... while Fran and I supervised of course. Supervise and snap way too many pictures of their manual labor.


bringing in the rug


moving the furniture


unrolling the rug


moving the couches back


mission complete... happy wife... big thumbs up

That weekend we also put up some curtains in the living room.


curtains

The rod and hardware was left by the previous owner and it's a bit too high... we are going to lower it so the curtains reach the ground soon.


finished (for now) product
You can also see some of my Halloween decorations :)

So that's the progress we've been making on the house. I know we still have lots to get done, but it's all heading in the right direction and I'm very pleased. We've been to Home Depot A LOT and I think we could both use a break. I'm really looking forward to next weekend in Chicago with Brian and the Baeckers!

26 weeks (three months to go)

Three months from today (depending on whether or not you take after your parents and their propensity for being prompt) we will finally get to meet you. I can't wait to kiss your cheeks and tell you how much I love you. I want to count your little toes and look into your sweet eyes.

You can hear now, so we've been saying goodnight to you before we go to bed each evening. I feel you kick and move all the time now- you are so active! You change positions often so I never know where your little nudges will show up next. Your favorite spots are to be way low in my belly just to the left of my belly button, and up high on my right side. It seems that you don’t like to keep one position for long and I wonder what kind of stretches and flips you are doing in there. I can feel you most when I am laying still on the couch or sitting at my desk at work.

You're on my mind constantly- I wonder if you will look more like me or your your daddy. We are so excited to meet you, but we know that you aren't quite ready and have lots more growing to do. So keep growing strong and stay snug and warm and comfy for these next three months. Keep those little nudges coming and just know that we love you so much!

You totally know what I’m talking about… right?

You know those lines you sometimes have on your face/legs/torso when you wake up in the morning? The ones left by the folds in your sheets? You totally know what I’m talking about, right?

They usually go away in a few minutes, but recently mine are lasting last through my shower, teeth brushing, hair drying and getting dressed routine. I assume they disappear eventually because they are gone by the time I get home from work and change back into casual clothes… but seriously how much water am I retaining?

Is this normal? I’m trying to watch my sodium intake –I don’t usually snack on really salty food anyway. And I’m not sure where I read this… I might be making it up completely…. but I recall reading that retaining too much water sometimes means high blood pressure or preeclampsia, but so far my doctor has been happy with my blood pressure. So I guess this is just an odd quirk of pregnancy. Hmph.

David's Birthday / Columbus Day Weekend

This weekend we celebrated David's Birthday. It was also Columbus Day Weekend and with both of us lucky to have a 3-day weekend, David's parents came down to see the house and spend some time with us.

(Note: We just got a fancy new camera and we're still figuring out all the settings and gizmos- so sometimes the pictures are going to look awesome and other times they might look a little... off. Please be patient as we work out the kinks and get to know this new piece of equipment.)

As this falls right after our wedding anniversary, our house was already festive with cards and flowers.



Fran and Dov arrived Friday night (thanks for the bagels!) and in the morning, we got right down to the business of celebrating with more cards and presents.


Birthday Cards and Coffee. David is a happy guy.

Then it was off to The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport. This is the companion facility to the Air and Space Museum on the National Mall, and it's a pretty neat place.

Built to display the thousands of aviation and space travel artifacts that cannot fit into the D.C. museum, it showcases famous aircraft, spacecraft, rockets, and satellites, and a wide assortment of other space exploration memorabilia including the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (the fastest jet in the world) the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay (which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima) and the Space Shuttle Enterprise (which flew landing tests for the shuttle program in the 1970s).


Heading into the museum


One of the many planes on display


family pic

Although you have to pay for parking, admission is free. I would highly recommend getting a (free!) docent tour. There is so much to see, it's helpful to have someone answer questions about the exhibits and steer you towards the highlights.


shuttle pic


We stopped in the gift shop and I had to try really hard not to buy several of the cute items there. This Curious George book was almost the end of me. I settled for a photo with it...for now.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the gorgeous weather and while the boys watched the Yankees game at home, the girls did a bit of maternity shopping. We celebrated David's birthday that night with his favorite take-out wings at home.


birthday Bon Chon chicken and beers

It was a fun and action-packed day. Even Jerry was in a good mood, patiently sitting on the couch letting me practice with the new camera.


you lookin at me?

On Sunday, we spent the morning at the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival in Gaithersburg. There were a lot of vendors selling pottery, sculptures, jewelry, clothing, home décor, furniture, items for the garden, and photography. We bought a few things and did a LOT of walking.


With Fran and Dov at the festival




craftybag


On our way from the festival- it was a great way to spend the final warm and sunny days of fall.

That evening we went downtown for dinner at Fogo de Chão. We've been there a few times before- I even blogged about it here and here. On our way to the restaurant, we passed a statue of Benjamin Franklin, so the two colleagues posed for a picture.


printers

One picture outside the restaurant...


...and another inside


I am going to do a separate post about our weekend home improvement projects later, but on Monday we bought an area rug for the living room and put up drapes. Here is a preview of what's to come....


schleppers (also known as area rug placement in progress)

Overall we had a great weekend, perfect weather, excellent guests, great food and good times. Thanks again to Fran and Dov for coming down, for dinner(s) and for being good sports thoughout my activity-filled weekend. Happy Birthday David... I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

"On the doorposts of your house"

We finally started putting up mezuzah's around out house. I know this probably (definitely) should have been done weeks ago, but hey... it's done now. We've received several beautiful ones from family and friends- and we tried to hang them where they would be seen the most.

We're not done yet... but we're getting there. I even found the appropriate prayer for the occasion:
.בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשַׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָנוּ לִקְבּוֹעַ מְזוּזָה

David's parents bought us this one in Israel on a recent trip.


It now hangs in the entryway between the sun room and the kitchen. Because we almost exclusively use the garage to come in and out of the house, we pass by it every day.


Hanging up the mezuzah in the doorway from the sun room to the kitchen. (And in case you are wondering... yes, David is getting used to doing all the work around the house while I snap annoying photos around him.)

The Stricklers bought us this one on a recent trip to Italy. It now hangs on the door to our bedroom.


I like how the colors match the hallway and pick up the brown and gold tones in our room. You can't really tell from the photo so you are going to have to trust me on this one. It looks great.



My grandparents bought us this one on a trip to Israel several years ago.


It now hangs in the front hallway entry to the kitchen.



So that's all I have for now. We will put up a few more in the coming weeks as we continue to settle into the house.

Backdated post- October 8, 2010: 25 Weeks! (Ovo and Acid Reflux)

25 weeks! (Also known as the Ovo and Acid Reflux post)

I'm almost at the end of these backdated posts. Last weekend we went to see Ovo, a Cirque du Soleil show at the National Harbor with a David’s coworkers. The show was really cool – the following pictures are not my own but can give you an idea for the beautiful costumes and acrobatic performances.


The promotional poster for the show



The "butterfly" act


This was my favorite act, the ants! "The hardest working insects in the community are the bright red Ants. As soon as they’re awake they spend their day gathering food: On the menu today – kiwis and corn. But it’s not all work. They play with their food, too – with their feet – in an astonishing display of precision juggling that climaxes with ants juggling ants."



Acrosport


Slackwire

As far as how I’m doing… overall everything is great! I’m starting to experience some heartburn/acid reflux which I’m not thrilled about but I am also not exactly surprised. I’ve had it so easy… something was bound to come up sooner or later. I have been reading that the extra progesterone in my body can relax the valve that separates my esophagus from stomach, allowing gastric acids to seep back up- thus causing a rather unpleasant burning sensation. And the fun doesn’t stop here- later in the pregnancy, the growing baby basically crowds the abdominal cavity, pushing the stomach acids back up into the esophagus. So Tums are my bff for now. C'est la vie