Bye bye belly button

Last night Tom noticed that there is a very faint ring around my belly button. We took a closer look and determined that yes, my belly button is slowing popping out. It still has a ways to go before it becomes an outie, but the process has begun.

Good news, contract! They ratified 'ya.

I was in the middle of making my bookmark at Stamp Camp last night when Tom called. He says, "I've got bad news about the house..." [My stomach dropped. I really really wanted this house.] "...they ratified the contract. Just kidding!" What? Just kidding about the bad news or the contract? What a prankster I married. So now we're one step closer to becoming homeowners. Bring on the inspections! If all goes well, the house will be ours by September 19. So mark your calendars, boys and girls, we'll need help painting, cleaning and moving. Joe, you know you owe me BIG TIME, Mr. I Move Every Other Year. Maybe I can put Peter to work before he has to go back to school.

19 Weeks

We're almost 1/2 way there! The baby's busy tumbling around and practicing all of its gymnastic moves. It better take advantage of all the space it has now while it's small. It's about to get a little more cramped in there every day. Here's what thenest.com says the baby's been up to:

Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature.

19 Week Belly Picture


thenest.com

whattoexpect.com

Differences

How To Shower Like a Woman:
Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.

Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown. If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.

Get in the shower.

Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.

Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.

Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.

Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced with real passion fruit.

Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.

Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.

Rinse conditioner off hair.

Shave armpits and legs.

Turn off shower.

Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.

Spray mold spots with Tilex.

Get out of shower and stand on bath mat.

Dry with towel the size of a small country.

Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.

Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.

If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

How To Shower Like a Man:
Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.

Walk naked to the bathroom.

If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the woo-woo' sound.

Look at your manly physique in the mirror. Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your ass.

Get in the shower.

Wash your face.

Wash your armpits.

Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.

Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.

Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.

Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.

Wash your hair.

Make a Shampoo Mohawk.

Pee.

Rinse off and get out of shower.

Avoid bath mat.

Dry off forearms and butt only.

Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.

Admire wiener size in mirror again.

Shake it to watch water fly off.

Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.

Return to bedroom with towel around waist. If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the woo-woo' sound again.

Throw wet towel on bed.

i'm the cutest!

i squirmed around as much as possible today to show off for mommy and daddy. i wanted them to see all of my olympic moves.

The Big Ultrasound

What an awesome day! We went for our first ultrasound this afternoon and had a great time. There was a TV in front of us so we could watch the baby instead of twisting around to see the ultrasound tech's screen. I couldn't believe how active the baby was. They say babies usually sleep during the day - all the walking around "rocks" them to sleep. Well, this is the second time the baby has been wide awake when being checked. The baby checked out great and is estimated to weigh about 9 oz, which is right on track for 18 weeks, 5 days. The tech looked at just about everything - brain, eyes (including the lens), heart, legs, feet, arms, spine, hands, stomach, kidneys, umbilical cord, lips and nose (I'm sure I missed something on this list). Our baby really made her work to get all of the images - it was positioned upside down in a ball! At one point the baby was sitting on its feet. I think our baby might be a future Olympic gymnast. Luckily the baby stretched out (which was adorable) and allowed her to get some good pictures. We got to see all four chambers of the heart and the blood pumping. The tech even did a couple of 3D images to get a better look at the baby. I think the 3D images are a little creepy, but it was cool to see what they are able to do with technology. She could "peel" back the layers of the uterus to see the baby and then she peeled back the baby's skin all the way to the skull. Like I said, kind of creepy, but cool. We also saw that the placenta is at the top of my uterus (the fundus) so in a couple of weeks I'll really be able to feel all of the baby's movements. We were so happy to actually see our baby and really loved seeing how active the little booger is. The tech printed out 7 images for us to take home. I wish we had gotten a shot of the baby's spine because that was really neat, but we ended up with some fun images of our baby.

Baby's profile, what a cute nose!

Another profile pic, chin to the chest and legs curled up

A little foot!

3D image of the baby's face

Baby's chin to its chest, curled up tight

Another profile shot (the bright white is the skull)

Baby's little arm

Tomorrow's a big day

Tomorrow we go in for our first (and only) ultrasound. I'm surprised at how patient I've been since I usually count down the days to each appointment. We won't find out the sex of the baby, but we'll be able to see our little bean move around. And we'll definitely scan the pictures in to share with everyone. That way you will all see just how cute our baby is. =]

MakeMeBabies.com

I couldn't help myself when I came across this website. You can see what your baby will look like with different celebrities, too. Have fun!

Baby names, continued

Tom's mom brought up a great girl's name so we've changed our choice. We both like that the first and middle names will be family names.
Girl Names:
Anastasia Lee
Boy Names:
Thomas _______

House update

We've finally agreed to the bank's counter offer and are waiting for them to officially ratify the contract. In the meantime, we started researching appliances this weekend since we'll need to get a refrigerator, washer and dryer. I think I've figured out which refrigerator and dryer we'll get, but am still researching washers. Originally I was thinking of getting a front-loader since they are more energy and water efficient, but there's a lot of work that's involved in their upkeep. Since the tub is on its side, the water doesn't completely drain after a wash, which means you need to leave the door open to allow the water to evaporate. Then every month you have to wipe down the interior and door seals and run a bleach wash through to prevent mold and mildew. It sounds like a lot of work (and is), but it could potentially save us a lot of money in the long run. So I'm still on the fence.

We also started looking at paint colors for the house and settled on the living room and nursery colors. In case you forgot what the living room looks like now, here's a refresher:

We'll keep this room two colors, but we're going for more muted colors. Here are the colors we've chosen from Behr. Popcorn ball will be the top color with cracked wheat on the bottom. We'll probably continue the Popcorn Ball into the eat-in kitchen space, hallways and family room.

We've decided to go with a light and airy blue for the nursery (and no, we still don't know what sex the baby is). I think this color will be nice with the zoo theme and will work for many years so we won't have to paint again and again.

We're still deciding on colors for the master bedroom and other rooms. The guest room will probably be a light yellow, like it is now.

As soon as we close on the house, we'll get started with the painting. If you're an expert painter (Tom's meticulous) come on over to help and we'll feed you.

My first gift

when i came home yesterday there was a package waiting just for me! i was so excited, i ripped open the box and found my first gift! thank you, aunt jennifer! mommy says we should name him harold. something about aunt jennifer loves that name because that was the name of her blow-up easter rabbit and her car.

my rhino, harold

18 Weeks

I can't believe I'm almost at the halfway mark! This week I've noticed that my belly is getting a little bigger each day. Luckily the rest of my body isn't following suit and hopefully it'll stay that way (knock on wood). My back pain is starting to ease up (or I'm just getting used to it) and I'm still waking up each night, thanks to the baby, my bladder or the cat. Tom says that's just my body preparing for what's to come. Note to body: I'd rather sleep!

Now, more importantly, here's what the nest.com says the baby's been up to this week:

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccupping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.

And now the weekly pics...
thenest.com

whattoexpect.com (baby's starting to look less and less like an alien)


This week's belly shots

My favorite books

dear daddy,

thank you for reading me the story about the straw ox. maybe tonight you'll read one of my favorite olivia books?

love,
your little scholar

Pondering thoughts

I've been doing some research on Cord Blood Banks and am trying to find a public one that works with the hospital we'll be using. Here's a bit of info about cord blood donation, if you're interested (http://www.nationalcordbloodprogram.org/index.html).

Each year, thousands of patients are diagnosed with a disease that might have to be treated with a hematopoietic or blood stem cell transplant. Traditionally, these stem cells have come from bone marrow donation, from either a relative or from an unrelated volunteer donor. Most patients, however, have no relative that matches their HLA tissue type. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 of patients cannot find a donor that is a sufficiently close match among the millions of volunteer donors listed with registries around the world. Other patients don't have enough time to find an unrelated bone marrow donor due to the rapid progression of their disease. Cord blood is now another option.

On a lighter note, I found this website where you enter your due date and it spits out fun information about your baby. Here's mine:
You are in Week 18 of your pregnancy and your baby is 16 weeks old.
Your Third Trimester will begin 10/24/2008 125 days down, 155 to go!
Your baby's birthstone will be Garnet (Loyalty, Constancy)
Your baby's Astrological Sign will be Aquarius
Your baby's Flower is Carnation or Snowdrop (Black, Dk. Blue or Red)
Your baby will be born in the Chinese Year of The Ox
This time next year your baby will be 30 Weeks Old!
Your baby will start kindergarten in 2014, be old enough to drive a car in 2025, finish high school in 2027, and will graduate from college with the class of 2031, give or take a year.

Stelllllllaaaaaa!

Happy birthday, Stella!

Build a Boat pictures

Most of my team:

You already know what an awesome time I had with my team building boats. Now here are the pictures to prove it. I hope you don't get too jealous!

Vince's house, location of the Build a Boat event:

Bill's Beauties, building our boat:

Bill's Beauties speeding along:

The Booz Cruise (note the drink holder in front):

Big Red going under:

Big Red's second try:

Orca (can you even see Vince?):

Disposing of Vince (our fearless leader):

Get off my back!

I think the baby is hammering nails into my spine - my back is KILLING me! I've tried sleeping in different positions, soaking in a bath, stretching, but nothing is helping. =[ And then yesterday I read this (which doesn't make me feel any better):

Week 18 of Pregnancy: As Your Posture Shifts
Something else you may be feeling is back pain during your pregnancy. Your growing uterus shifts your center of gravity, and your lower back is pulled forward while your abdomen is thrust out (Oh, fun!). Couple that with the changes that the pregnancy hormone relaxin is instituting — namely relaxing all your ligaments (including those that attach your pelvic bones to your spine) and loosening joints — and that leaves you with backaches and pains. You can reduce back pain by using a foot rest to elevate your feet slightly when sitting. Even when standing, placing one foot on a low stool (Seriously? How am I supposed to carry a stool around with me?) can also take some pressure off your lower back. A long, warm bath can also do wonders for your aching back (LIES!). If you have back pain that just won't quit, be sure to talk to your practitioner about it.

Wonderful, right? Not so much! So for now I have retired my ball chair that I love and am sitting in a normal (boring) office chair that can be lowered so I can put my feet up. At least I haven't started swelling yet (knock on wood).

The counter offer

We received a counter offer from the bank on the Sterling house. I think it was a pretty fast response time considering it's a foreclosed property. Their counter offer wasn't too far away from what we'd like, but it could be a little better. We're mulling over the details now and coming up with our own counter offer for them. Hopefully we can all come to an agreement on the terms and be homeowners by the end of September! So keep your fingers crossed for us.

Purrrr

Don't you just want to curl up with her? She really has the life - spends her entire day sunbathing, eating and sleeping. That's the kind of life I signed up for - how did I get roped into working 5 days a week? Sheesh! Kitty bootcamp starts today! She's going to join the workforce and I'll be the one sunbathing, eating and sleeping all day. A girl can dream, right?

dear aunt jennifer,

are you going to buy me a $30 dog cake, too?

love,
hungry hungry baby

17 Weeks

Today we hit the 17 week mark - we're getting closer and closer to being 1/2 way there! I'm feeling pretty good, just tired at the end of the day and I'm still getting heartburn at the weirdest times. I'm convinced the baby is having a party in my uterus every night around 2 AM because I end up waking up with the need to pee. And now the cat's in cahoots with the baby - she's been waking me up around 4 AM every morning by sitting on my bladder. What a loving family.

I've been feeling these weird movements low in my belly late at night. I chalked it up to indigestion or my stomach just being strange, but when I saw my doctor on Monday she said they were flutters! And I could feel them when we heard the baby kicking on the sono. I'm actually feeling the baby moving! I can't wait until Tom can feel it, too.

Okay, here's what baby's up to according to thenest.com:

Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

And here's what baby could look like:
thenest.com:

whattoexpect.com:

And finally, this week's belly shot (I'm going to look great in a bathing suit this weekend):

Names

I've been pestering Tom to come up with a name for a boy and he doesn't like anything I've suggested. I know it's early, but I like to get things done. So, here are the ones I've come up with so far:
Girl:
Sasha Lee

Boy middle names - they would all go with Thomas:
Alexander
Andrew
Christopher
Christos
Elijah (the one name Tom suggested)
James
Joseph
Matthew
Oliver (someone at work suggested this - then his initials would be TOM)
Theodore

Any ideas?

16 Week Appointment

I went to my 16 week appointment today. Before I left, someone at work commented that I haven't gained enough weight and that the doctor might be mad at me. Well, I went in, peed in a cup, got weighed and had my blood pressure taken. I also waived the testing for Down's. We said that we'll take whatever God gives us, so the test wouldn't change anything for us. I've only gained 1 1/2 pounds in 4 weeks, but Dr. Gopal said that's great. She wants me to gain 2 more pounds in the next 4 weeks, which should be easy. She said to ignore everyone saying I need to gain more weight - they're just jealous. We listened to the heartbeat (the coolest sound ever!) and it was a healthy 155. Dr. Gopal predicts it will be a boy (no surprise with Tom's family history of all boys), but you can never tell by heartbeat alone. We could even hear the baby kicking and moving as we were listening to the heartbeat. Really, really cool. I set up the next 4 appointments through November and the big ultrasound appointment for August 27. I can't wait to see the little bugger on screen! I also have to sign up for breastfeeding and childbirthing classes for December - Tom's going to love those. I'll see a different doctor at my next appointment - time to rotate through them so we can become familiar with each other. Just hearing the heartbeat today put me in the best mood - I can't stop smiling!

I Love Lucy

dear mama,

get ready to hear my amazing heartbeat today! it might even be to the tune of I Love Lucy thanks to daddy.

love,
baby

Surprising Sterling

We spent the day (9:00 AM - 3:30 PM) looking at about 11 houses in Sterling today. I wasn't really sure about Sterling, but was pleasantly surprised. Of the 11 houses, Tom and I liked 4 and really liked 2. We talked out the pros and cons of our top 2 and decided to put an offer on one. Okay, here are the pros and cons of our #1 house.
Pros:

• 5 nice sized bedrooms
• 2 1/2 baths
• recently upgraded kitchen and bathrooms
• all bedrooms on 2nd floor
• layout of 1st floor (kind of shot-gun style)
• large workroom (for beer making and tool storing)
• quiet cul-de-sac
• clean neighbors (the next door neighbor was washing down the windowsills outside)
• move-in ready (just needs a bit of paint - they had some weird colors on the walls)

Cons:

• non-existent front yard
• small backyard (would need to tear out a lot of plants)
• no garage
• HOA
• no natural gas (but it's in the neighborhood, so we can look into getting it connected to the house later)

Here are just a few pictures I took of the house. 3 of the 5 bedrooms were painted a neutral white and the other 2 were a shocking pink and a bright blue. The kitchen has a neat little greenhouse window over the sink that could be used to grow herbs. It also had a nice built in pantry with pull-out shelves. There's a nice open area upstairs that could be used as a play area for kids. And there's plenty of space downstairs for Tom to have a "Man Cave".

Front of the house (the front door is off to the left side); view of living room from the front door:



View of the kitchen from the eat-in area; upstairs hall bathroom:

One of the 5 bedrooms:


Our back-up house is a rambler/rancher style, also in Sterling. It is move-in ready, has a large yard, 5 possible bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It also has a good sized driveway with a one car garage. The kitchen was small with not a lot of counter space and everything is on one level. We're keeping this as our #2 house in case our #1 doesn't work out.

This was definitely the best house hunting day we've had so far. It was worth spending the majority of the day looking at houses in one area. Tom even found a bar/restaurant nearby with something called Hog Wings - he seemed to really like them. Both of the houses aren't very far from Tom's office and I would just drive in with him and take the shuttle to my office. So, keep your fingers crossed for us that everything works out with our top choice. We'll definitely be calling on you all for help with all of the moving and painting. It's payback time, Joe. Get ready to pony up.

16 Weeks!

We've made it to the end of 16 weeks. Only 24 more weeks to go! Here's some pics of what baby could look like now.

thenest.com - size and density (And no, Joe, you can not use my baby to make guacamole.)

whattoexpect.com

Here's more on what baby's up to:

Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And, if you're interested, an ultrasound might be able to determine gender.

Now that baby can hear, we'll have to start singing Hail to the Redskins more often. Get the baby prepared to be a Redskins fan. I expect all you Taves to furnish us with Redskins clothes for the baby. Except Peter, he'll probably give us an Eric Moulds jersey for the baby.

I'm really starting to notice the bloat disappear, but it's being replaced with the baby and all of my shifting organs. I wish my bladder would shift away from the baby and give me a good night's sleep. Just wait until Thanksgiving - I'll be nice and big. How weird is it going to be when my belly button pops? At least I'll get a chance to really wash the inside of it - how many of you can do that? I'll end with this week's "classy" belly shot. Tom told me I need to take classier pictures of my belly.

Build a Boat!

Tomorrow's a fun day at work! We have an offsite team meeting that I organized and we'll spend the majority of the day building boats with Adventure Associates. I'm so excited! I mean look how much fun you can have.


You're jealous, right? I knew it! I'll post pictures after the event. Hopefully my team will win. I ordered little sailboat trophies for everyone and we have fun awards to give out to each team.

• Best Wow Factor
• Speed Demon Award
• Most Torpedo Proof
• Most Elegant (most like a cruise ship)
• Best Engineered
• Titanic Award
• Gilligan's Island Award (for the Crew you'd most like to be marooned with)

We've kept the whole day a surprise for the team, so they have no idea what they're getting into. All they know is to bring an change of clothes and a towel. Plus we invited everyone's kids to come, too. They'll play in the pool with the lifeguard while we build and then they'll test our boats for us. Fun fun fun!

My ears are in place!

don't forget to talk to me! i can hear now and love being read to. especially the olivia books, right mom?

love,
baby bigfoot

Another house

We saw another house in North Springfield tonight - off of Ravensworth. The location is great and the neighborhood looked nice...BUT...the house needs a LOT of work. We would have to gut the entire kitchen and strip down a lot of the walls. Plus one of the bathrooms was in the same room as the furnace and the closets were really strange. Weird. There are some pics of the place below. We're looking at places in Sterling this weekend. I know, it's far, but it's also affordable and we could get a place that's move in ready. Unless Jennifer has made enough money to buy all of her friends fabulous places in LA???

I'm applying for the flexwork program at work. I'm hoping to only work four 10 hour days a week and have the fifth day off. We're hoping this will help us save on childcare. I'm thinking we should start a childcare fund that people can donate money to. For now just send donations to our house (we accept all major credit cards). =]

I also think it would be fun to have a pool to guess the sex, weight and birthdate of the baby. Let me know what you think and I'll post some info about it, like our family history, my estimated due date, etc.
And you know what? Someone actually accused me of pushing my belly out to make it look bigger than it is. Yeah, I wish that were the case. Then I'd be able to still wear my old clothes. I must say I love LOVE love my Secret Fit Belly jeans. They are the most comfortable pants I've ever worn. I might even wear them for every Thanksgiving meal from now on - they're what my friend Geraldine calls "all you can eat" pants.

Front of the house and view of the living room/dining room:

One view of the kitchen and one of the weirdo closets:

Registry and other baby stuff

Thanks to Aunt Peggy, I finally got my act together and started our registry at Babies R Us. Good thing, too, since I have a lot of research left to do on different items before I add them. We spent Saturday doing fun girl things while the boys were in Ohio watching Art and Darrell get inducted into the Hall of Fame. We went to Buy Buy Baby and learned a lot about the different types of cribs. I decided to pass on the drop side cribs since they were pretty wobbly and really hard to work one handed. How are you supposed to get baby down quietly? We both really liked the solid cribs - much more sturdy. My favorite crib has clean lines and any side can be put against the wall, which would give us a lot of flexibility in the room. Of course we also learned there can be up to a 16 week wait after placing the order for the furniture. Yikes! At least we have a month to make a decision. I did make one important purchase - my snoogle! It makes sleeping that much better. I also started crocheting my first baby blanket. It'll be white cotton, trimmed in yellow. The yarn is so soft, I might have to keep the blanket for me. =]

Snoogle:

dear mama,

why were you and daddy singing yellow submarine? now it's stuck in my head!

love,
the new merkel

15 Weeks

Yay! We've made it to 15 weeks! My next appointment is on August 11 and then we get to make our appointment for the BIG ULTRASOUND! We won't be finding out the sex of the baby, but I can't wait to see the little booger! I'm still exhausted at the end of the day and can barely get off of the couch when we get home. Tom's been patient so far and has been making dinner every day (even on my weeks). I really have no other symptoms except heartburn, which comes and goes no matter what I eat. I feel like the bloat has started to go away and now my stomach is getting a little firmer each day. It's a little unerving to not feel or look really pregnant, though I'm sure I'll regret saying that when I'm 30 weeks and uncomfortable. So here's the 15 week belly picture - there's not much difference between this one and last week's.