Emskyrooney

I read a lot of blogs.  And by a lot, I mean several hundred.  Mostly they are craft, sewing and food related but lately I've been reading some that are more baby and child related (the so-called "Mommy Blogs"- which I guess is what mine is going to turn into eventually...) One of the blogs I've enjoy reading is MetroDad .  He blogs about his experiences finding out his wife was pregnant, supporting her through the pregnancy, and now raising his daughter.  I find it interesting to get a guy's perspective (other than Paul's) on some of this... Yesterday MetroDad posted an entry titled "Use Your Words: How We're Raising a Nation of Pussies."   And I have to say that I whole-heartedly agree with most of what he says... Now I certainly am not an advocate of violence, however I also don't want my child to stand on a playground and let some other kid push him around.  If he's asked the other child to stop and the other kid won't, then b...

So this is where we started with the nursery this weekend. It was full of stuff that had just landed there when we moved in and hadn't been touched. Plus it was full of some of the stuff for the baby. The windows were filthy, the closet was dirty, and it wasn't terribly impressive. So we got to work.  Friday night we cleared out the room except for the armchair and a few other things.  Saturday morning we took down the closet doors and started scrubbing.  And painting.  And scrubbing some more. Here we are in all of our glory.  Lovely.  And another lovely thing is the fact that we have no overhead lighting in any of our bedrooms.  Eventually Paul hopes to install some but for now we're making do with the plug-in and hang lights (at least the outlet is controlled by a light switch by the door!).  So if anyone has suggestions for how to both "baby proof" and "ugly proof" the cord running up the wall from the outlet please...

Yikes.. 25 weeks.. That means 15 to go... If I think of it as "almost 4 months to go" it seems like a long time, but when I say "15 more weeks" it seems like the due date will be here before I know it! We have a lot going on in the next few months too which will just add to how quickly the time will go by!! This weekend my mother came to visit (bringing with her TONS of stuff for the baby) and helped me clear out and paint the nursery and get the crib set up. I'll post pictures later today or tomorrow so that you can all see how fabulous it's looking! In the meantime here's where we are at 25 weeks: " Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga , but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing mor...

Ok here's another one of those fun "MeMe's" (I know you all LOVE finding out new and interesting things about yours truly!) This one is food related, which is rather fitting since I'm currently obsessed with food and hungry most of the time. I'm still not having any cravings except for ice cream. I have to admit though that the ice cream craving is a life-long craving, NOT a pregnancy one... although I'm certainly using being pregnant as an excuse to break my longstanding "ice cream only on Sunday and Thursday nights" rule! Convenient. Anyway, this MeMe is called the Omnivore's 100 and it's all about things I've eaten, not eaten, or would never try. Paul and I like to watch those travel shows where people eat strange things and then debate whether we'd try them or not so I thought this looked like a fun MeMe to take part in. Plus I haven't posted anything in a while and thought that I should! How the Omnivore's 100 w...

I'm now 6 months and a couple of days pregnant- Only 4 month to go! Here's the scoop: "Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long ( picture an ear of corn ), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon."

So Paul and I are totally into the Olympics- specifically men's swimming and women's gymnastics.. The rest we're not as obsessed with but we have sat through quite a bit of synchronized diving and men's beach volleyball... Of course I love watching the amazing athleticism of the participants, and I've totally jumped on board the "I love Michael Phelps" bandwagon... But there's another reason why I love watching men's swimming, and although it's completely shallow of me, I'm going to admit to it publicly. photo from sportsillustrated.com I love their abs. The only six-packs in this house are in our fridge, and it's not something I particularly care about normally but for some reason (pregnancy hormones perhaps??) I'm way into seeing all these cute guys standing around the pool... And apparently I'm not the only one- in fact, NBC has an entire slideshow of Olympic Swimmer Abs! So please, enjoy it with me!

So I now know 3 people who had birthdays on 8/8/08- my brother, born in 1983; my best friend's little boy, born in 2006; and now the baby boy of another college friend... Here's a link to the photos of the newest little one, Henry Thomas .... He's adorable!

Ok so I couldn't stay awake late enough to watch the men's swimming 4x100 freestyle relay race last night... And I heard this morning that the US men came through at the last second in an amazing race to the finish to beat France. But I just watched the video of the race and it made me cry- it's so damn exciting! I've never really been into watching swimming, but this year I'm into it... Go USA! (and the abs on those swimmers definitely make it even more fun to watch!)

Didn't I just post week 22? Wow this is going quickly! Here are the details: "Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound ( about as much as a large mango ), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when she hears them outside the womb." Well, we can't see him squirming under my clothes yet, in fact, Paul still hasn't felt him move. He sat with his hand on my stomach for about ten minutes the other night and I kept saying "there- did you feel him, he kicked!" but he didn'...

.... the US Men's Soccer Team, and Riverdance...... I'm convinced that mini-Paul is practicing his audition moves for one of these... I'd prefer him to go with soccer but hey, if he wants to be a Rockette or a Riverdancer, so be it.. Whatever makes him happy... Seriously, this kid is kicking me like there's no tomorrow and I know it's only just beginning. It's a non-stop tap dance in my uterus... And he's kicking hard enough to be felt from the outside although Paul hasn't felt it yet as it's only happened when he wasn't around or was already asleep... Gabby felt it though. She was sleeping on top of me on the couch last night (which will be stopping soon as it's not terribly comfortable to have 2 living beings lying on top of you at once.) Then the baby kicked and startled her right out of her sleep. She growled and climbed off me, rolled over on her back and went back to snoring... At least she didn't attack my stomach the way she at...

Here's the week 22 update! " At 11 inches ( the length of a spaghetti squash ) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn . His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb , you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily." Teeth, eyes, hair, wrinkles and a pancreas- Exciting stuff this week! In other news my Seminar at work (i.e. my busy season!) is starting tonight so if there are no new posts in the next 10 days don't worry- I'm just busy working and then crashing as soon as I get home! That's th...