Halloween Fun

  I think that our party last night was a success.  S even stayed up until 1:30 am!  Pretty darn good for a lady who is 7 months pregnant.  Not much to say about it other than it was a blast.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night.

S was Gumby and her friend Cam was Pokey.  It was pretty much the funniest thing ever.

I was a plant/Mother Earth, which was really just a lame excuse to buy the pretty green flowery dress that I wore.

Our spooky bathroom.  The giant bug's name is Frank, he is creepy.

     There were lots of other great costumes, but I don’t feel like I can post pictures of them without asking everyone’s permission.  We also on Saturday got almost all of the letters for our ABC wall, we are only missing a few.  They are all so amazing, I can’t wait to show them all to you.  I’ll have to reveal it one letter at a time, because they each deserve their own blog post.
Happy Halloween everyone!
-Liz

Pushy Little Baby

            We learned this week a little trick that our sweet baby Jude will do.  If you push lightly on S’s stomach, if Jude is awake, he will kick/push you back!  It is so crazy that he is now aware enough to respond to something like that.  And his baby kicks keep getting stronger and stronger.  I can pretty much always feel him know if he is up and at it, and I just love it.  I can’t wait to meet this little baby!

            Our Tulsa baby shower is next week and I’m getting excited.  I’m hoping that the turn out will be alright, we haven’t gotten very many RSVPs back yet.  And we are a little less than 5 weeks away from our Austin baby shower, which is going to be even better than the Tulsa baby shower.  So much to look forward to, I’m feeling very blessed.

            We are having a Halloween costume party tomorrow night and I have LOTS that I need to get done tonight and tomorrow before it happens.  It’s weird to think that this will be the last big party we have for quite a while.  We normally every year throw at least a Halloween and New Year’s party but this year New Year’s Eve will be so very close to Jude’s due date that it would be just craziness to try to have a party.  It’s even possible that he will be born by then or close to then (He would only have to be about 2 ½-3 weeks early for that to happen).  I’m hoping he will be a little bit early, but not that early, more like a week early, just because I’m so excited to meet him.  I’ll post pictures from our Halloween party on Sunday or Monday.

            Have a happy weekend!

                        Liz

Yesterday's Tiny Scare

     We had a small scare with Jude yesterday.  S had called the doctor to ask about a few things for her next appointment and at the end of the call she mentioned how Jude sometimes felt like he was shaking really hard and was wondering if that was normal.  They told her they’d get back to her and little bit later a nurse from the office called and said that they wanted her to go in for an ultrasound that afternoon to be sure there wasn’t something wrong with Jude, which naturally freaked S out.  Luckily I was able to get off work and go with her and her work was accommodating enough to let her come in late after the appointment.  We were so scared.  The thought that something could be wrong with our little boy had us both in tears at different points.  We went in and they did an ultrasound and measured everything again on him and everything looks fine.  Whew.  Totally normal looking according to the tech and no issues.  He is weighing in at 2.5 lbs and is the perfect size for his age.  I could not have been more relieved.  It was nice after we realized nothing was wrong to get another look at our boy.  I was joking with S afterwards that if Jude could talk he would say, “Can’t a guy get any privacy around here?  Geez,” because including yesterday’s scan we have now had 6 ultrasounds and still have one more, another 3D/4D, scheduled for December, which will bring the total to 7.  I’m pretty sure most people only have 2-3 ultrasounds for a normal, non-issue, no multiples sort of pregnancy, so it has been nice to see our little dude so often.  They only gave us one picture this time though and honestly it doesn’t look like anything at all so I’m not going to bother to post it.  I think in the end S and determined that the shaking she is feeling is probably him coughing or hiccuping.  Just so glad he is ok!

Hello 3rd trimester!

Come one, come all to feel the amazing acrobat Jude!  I am unsure of what he is doing in there, so I have to guess he is practicing his acrobatic and tumbling skills or doing baby aerobics.  About 3 days a week, he goes NUTS!  I mean, rippling and popping out my belly.  It looks like my belly is under attack!  People can now not only feel his little kicks, but also can feel him shifting around.  He will punch and kick and go crazy and then he does a crazy shaking thing that feels kind of like he is having a tiny seizure in there!  It it nuts.  Liz got to feel it last night and this morning.  People at work have been able to feel him moving all around now.  The reactions are funny.  I thought a few of them were going to cry and then a few of them just looked at me like I had an alien in my belly.  New flash people- there is a little dude in my belly! :)

I have been busy with baby prep today.  I called my insurance agent about life insurance rates.  Not something I have ever thought about, but our lawyer suggested it and it makes sense.  At least enough to cover the mortgage if something happened to one of us.  I also called about signing up for a breast feeding class.  I have still not found an infant care class that is at the right time for us, but I am working on that too. I am almost done with the first bit of lawyer paperwork for our will and such.  So much to think about!

Our first baby shower is in a few weeks and I am super excited!  Not only do we get to go and celebrate Jude, but it is in Oklahoma, which means seeing a lot of our friends that we do not generally get to see on a regular basis.  Liz’s mom just bought us our car seat and stroller combo.  We are working on getting the invites out for the Austin baby shower.

Latest craving- Dijon mustard!  Yum!  I love tangy flavors still.  I also had a bowl of broccoli cheese soup yesterday that was delicious, so I guess that still tastes good to me.  I also have wanted salty fries lately.  I am not really a fries person usually, so it is strange.  I have only given in twice because I am sure the salt is not good for my swollen feet.

My poor little feet are so swollen after work!  They are fine when I am not on them, but when I am for 9 hrs, they become fat little feet and ankles.  Liz gave me a nice foot massage yesterday because they were so big.  It made them feel so much better!

The third trimester is going to be a doozy I am sure.  I am so very tired all of the time already.  If I don’t get a short nap in the afternoon, it is hard to survive until 10pm for me.  Unfortunately, most days do not come with a nap, so I drag thru the last part of the day at work.  When I work until 10pm, I am fighting to keep my eyes open.  Working an hour away from home is not great right now.  I feel very unmotivated most days.  I am currently working up the motivation to do the dishes:)

I have my bathing suit at work so that I can swim after work, but most days, I am just dragging my feet to the car to go home!  Building a little human is hard work!  I think he stole all my energy since he seems to not have any problem doing his baby aerobics in there!

My belly is big!  Well, it feels big to me.  I will have Liz add a photo soon.  It is only going to get bigger.  I am also starving all the time!  I guess it is time for Jude to grow.  It is strange the days I am starving, but nothing sounds good to eat.

I told Liz that I am unsure of this whole birth thing.  She said I have 3 options: 1. I can stay pregnant forever 2. He can burst out of me like in the movie aliens or 3. I can give birth.  I guess the 3rd option is the best one on the list:)

We are having our annual Halloween party on Saturday.  Last big throw down until Jude is here.  i will be Gumby.  My friend and I got matching Gumby and Pokey costumes at the sales last year.  I guess I will actually be pregnant Gumby, but the costume is big, so it should not show all that much.  I will have Liz post pics of our costumes too because it is sure to be funny.

-S

3D Ultrasound

    This has been a baby filled few days around here.  My mom came into town late Wednesday night to spend a few days with us and it was great.  We went on Thursday morning with her to a 3D/4D ultrasound to see little Jude.  It was really cool, but of course he wasn’t being very cooperative and was breach, meaning his face was turned towards S’s spine and he had his hands up on his face just about the whole time.  I guess his hands are the most interesting thing in there right now.  The lady doing the ultrasound was funny, she tired really hard to get some good shots of him.  She had S lay in a few funny positions, jiggled and lightly smacked S’s belly and had her get up to do some stretches and had her eat tiny piece of chocolate.  He moved some eventually and we got 1-2 shots of his face.  There is only really one though that looks all that great in photo though.  We got a CD of the pictures, a few printed out and then a DVD of the whole thing.  The DVD is pretty cool.  Here is the best picture from it.

Isn’t he a cutie?  We have another appointment set up for the beginning of December when S’s mom will be here for our Austin baby shower.  He will be pretty big then and the ultrasound lady said that then we will get some really good shots.  Very exciting.

       While my mom was here we also did some baby shopping.  We got S some new maternity clothes and a few outfits for Jude.  We also tried to get a glider but were unsuccessful.  They are just either super ugly, uncomfortable, or $800.  I think that we are going to keep our eyes open for something used for the next few months and if nothing comes up I think we are just going to get a rocker chair from Ikea and have my mom get us the travel system instead.  Also it was annoying to go to every baby store ever pretty much and they just don’t have much cute boy stuff.  It was all so full of girl stuff, but the boy stuff was either nothing or just pastel blue sports themed or pastel blue cars and trucks.  I want a few more crib sheets and our nursery is all about bright colors and there just isn’t much of anything out there that is bright.  I think that’s weird too because babies can’t really see pastel colors, they like bright high contrast stuff anyway.  I think I’m going to have to just make my own crib skirt and possibly learn how to actually sew and make my own crib sheets.  I have a sewing machine, I just don’t know how to use it (also not sure if it works, it’s old and I’ve never looked under the case).

    Our Tulsa baby shower is only two weeks and a day away, I’m so excited!  It will be so nice to see everyone we love and have a quick weekend away.

Time to clean the kitchen.
-Liz

Fall is here!

The wind is blowing and the weather is cool.  Fall is officially here.  To Jude fall means he is rearranging his house.  That’s what Liz and I say when he is moving around all crazy like.  The past 2 days he has been moving my whole belly around, doing multiple kicks or punches and just moving in new ways.  I think he flipped upside down, decided he didn’t like it, moved back and then decided he did like it and moved upside down again today.  He has been testing out his space.  He usually hangs out on my left side with his feet down low.  The past few days he has moved to the right and then the middle.  I do not know what has prompted all this movement, but I am loving it!

I am currently obsessed with cherry lime gum.  It is so tart and delicious!  I did forget to get some more if it at the store today…sad day:(  I am currently out because I keep sharing it…I need to stop doing that;)

We met with the lawyer this last week.  She is a little goofy, but seems to know what she is talking about.  We will set up a “Partner package” in the next few weeks.  This includes wills, rights of attorney(i think that is what it is called), and all kinds of legal stuff for not only the house and such, but also little Jude if something were to happen to one or both of us.  We then will start the adoption process for Liz to be able to adopt little Jude.  It will not finalize until after he is here, but we can start gathering papers and get set up with a social worker.  I think that is a little freaky to have a social worker in on our babies life at all, but it is a necessary step for Liz to be able to adopt him.  I think my fear stems from the whole lesbians in the state of Texas fear.  I always assume the legal system will blast us for that fact alone.  The lawyer knows the different social workers, so I am sure she will not set us up with one that will care about that.  She also said we have to go to San Antonio court as the are more likely to pass it.  Here, it just depends on the judge and after all the work, we don’t want to take the chance to get one that is move conservative.  Sigh..such work just because we are both women!

I have been starving lately!  I think he must be growing in there because some days I cannot get enough to eat!  On the flip side, I have thrown up 4 times in the past few weeks.  I am not sure why my belly is unsettled again, but I am pretty used to it at this point.  People at work are already starting to try and feed me.  A girl came up to me and said that a group of them were talking and decided that baby Jude and I needed a cookie an employee brought in and put it on my desk.  It was cute and strange at the same time.

Guests are starting to notice I am pregnant.  I still have not had anyone come up and touch my tummy when I don’t know them, but I think I will in the next month.  My belly feels so big!  Liz says it is still small, but it is a change for me and feels huge some days.  It is so packed full!  It is funny how firm it is.

Jude is going to be here so soon!  Granted, I am not even in my 3rd trimester yet, but the next few months are packed full of stuff and will fly by!  Liz’s mom is coming into town this week and shopping for baby stuff.  We are going to do a 3D ultrasound while she is here and I am so excited to see our little boy’s face!  Hopefully he will cooperate.  He is known for being stubborn about things like that, but we will see.  We will have our annual Halloween party at the end of October.  Then, our first baby shower is on Nov. 6th in Tulsa…that is only a few weeks away!  Then it is Thanksgiving.  Our second baby shower is on Dec 4th here in Austin.  Then it is Christmas and New Years and Jude’s entrance!!  Packed full last couple of months before Jude gets here.

I am really loving our birthing class.  It is so focused on Liz being a huge part of the birth, which makes me feel so much better about the birth process.  I always looked at it as a very independent thing that I would have to go thru.  Now it seems like a process we will both be a part of.  I feel much better about it knowing Liz will be there supporting me and encouraging me every step of the way!
 
-S

Photo-palooza

   It seems like I have so much to update you all on, our second birthing class, our visit with a lawyer about estate planning and second parent adoption, S’s pregnancy….but instead, because it’s Saturday and because I’m in the middle of making a birthday cake and cleaning my house for a small dinner party tonight, I think I’ll just share some pictures of what we have been up to this week.  Oh, and S officially has less than 100 days till Jude’s due date!  Can you believe it?  I was telling S last night that it seems like just yesterday that it was May and she was telling me she was pregnant.  Time is going by so fast, I just can’t wrap my mind around the fact that she is almost 7 months pregnant and I’m going to get to see my little baby boy’s face in less than 100 days.  Yay!
    Back to pictures.  I’ve been wanting to hang a mirror in the nursery to open it up a bit and reflect some of the light from the window, but I’ve been having a hard time finding anything that wasn’t like $150.  Then I realized I had the perfect mirror already hanging in our guest room.  The mirror actually used to be my friend Brandon’s in high school and then when we lived together I ended up with it.  It used to be black and I spray painted the frame red to match the room better.

  Another awesome update to the nursery is my friend Jason made an amazing lamp for Jude’s room.  Jason has a knack for lamps and I couldn’t love the one he made for us more, it fits the room perfectly.

In case it’s hard to see, it’s covered in plastic dinosaurs!  Jude’s going to love it!  I also made some more art for the nursery last night that I think turned out pretty good.

Lastly, I will leave you with a picture of S this week, looking very cute and pregnant!

-Liz

Baby Shower Invites!

My mom is throwing us a baby shower next month in Oklahoma where I mostly grew up and where S and I met and went to college.  It's going to be filled with lots of old friends and family and I am so excited.  My mom ordered our baby shower invites last night and I thought I'd share a sample of what they will look like.  Of course, this is an edited version with all of the exact details taken out, but you can still see how cute they will be!

I love them! 

-Liz

Jude’s kicking debut

 Jude has now kicked 2 people other than Liz and me.  The other night, we were at a friends house when he had a good kick fest, so I laid down and let her feel him kick.  She was delighted and he put on a good show for her.  A few nights later, she kicked B-man 2 solid times.  It was really funny because each time he did it, B-man jumped back like he was burned.  I think he was really shocked by how well you can feel the little guy.  He was kicking like crazy earlier when I was debating on taking the dogs for a walk and is even kicking now.  Note to self- maybe not take dogs for a walk on trash day.  The whole neighborhood is stinky.  We even got behind the trash truck at one point and yuck!

Jude is a very active boy and he is growing!  There is no doubt that I am preggie any more.  My belly is always out and round:)  We have been doing a relaxation technique at night where I tense a muscle and then release (part of our Bradley training) and Liz always says, “now tense Jude’s house” meaning my belly, but honestly, at this point, my whole body feels like Jude’s house!  This little baby has taken over.  The other night, I had my first charlie horse…that was not fun and my calf is still a little bit sore.  My feet have been very swollen at the end of the day, my breathing is restricted if I eat a full meal, and my belly is out a proud:)  My whole body is taken over by baby Jude.  I am 6 1/2 months now, so I am 2 weeks away from the famous 3rd trimester.  I think it is going to be a doozy with how nuts it gets at work and me already feeling pretty full of baby.

The only craving I have been having is salads (I think for the tangy dressing) and pumpkin things.  Liz let me pick out any recipe I wanted and she said she would make it.  I picked out pumpkin bars from Joy the Baker, and man o man, they are delicious!  They are like pumpkin pie with a delicious crust and chocolate chips on top.  I am at the point where I am starving all the time and cannot get enough to eat.  I  did gain 2 lbs. this week.  It is time to grow, so I am not too worried about it.  That brings my total weight gain to 15 lbs. now.  The dr. at my last appointment said I should gain an average of a pound a week at this point.  Oh little Jude-you are going to get so big!  Right now he is about 2 lbs.  It is very strange to carry his 2 lbs. self and all his stuff on the front of me all the time!

I really like the Bradley class.  It is very informative and I like the exercises.  It makes me feel like I am doing something now for the birth later on down the road.  I have been pretty good about them, but did slack off a few days because I was just too tired after work to do anything other than put my feet up.  Liz says I am still doing more than I was, so it is good:)

I am not looking forward to my next Drs. apt.  This is the one where they do the diabetes test.  I am not worried about the test, but I have to fast from 12pm-10am the next day.  I go in and they make me drink a sugary drink and then I have to stay there for 2 hours and they draw blood every hour.  I am not going to feel very good not eating for that long.  Plus, I am not excited to hang out in their waiting room for 2 hours!  I guess once this one is done, as long as the results come back fine, I won’t have to do it again, so that is good.  I am going to bring the computer with some shows to watch, so I am hoping the time flies!

I am still enjoying being pregnant.  I love his little kicks.  I am happy to grow our little baby inside of me.  Liz is a good partner and gives me foot rubs and thanks me for growing our baby all the time.  She is encouraging and sweet and loves me pregnant.  She even likes how forgetful I am and says it makes her feel more together which is funny.  I am looking forward to our baby showers and Liz and I are both excited to meet our little boy.  I keep telling her to quit telling him that so that he stays in for a few more months, but I am just as excited about his arrival as she is.

I am a little nervous about the birth, but the Bradley class is helping by educating me on what is going to happen.  I also had one of my employees the other day say that by the end, you are so ready to not be pregnant, that birth becomes less scary.  I still have time to settle into the idea of how he is going to enter the world:)
-S

Bradley Birthing Class and A Belly Pic!

         Wednesday was a big day in our pregnancy filled world.  Wednesday morning S had a doctor’s appointment, the last monthly doctors appointment.  Dang, can’t believe that starting next month she will be in her 3rd trimester and going to doctor’s appointments every other week.  It all goes by so fast (yet at the same time, not fast enough).  This was the first one that I haven’t been able to go with her to, which made me a little sad.  She got to hear Jude’s strong steady heartbeat (this time he did not kick the machine) and they did all of the normal measuring the belly sort of stuff and everything looks good.

      Then Wednesday night we had our first Bradley Birthing Class and it was awesome!  If you are unfamiliar with the Bradley method, here is a tiny quote from the Wikipedia page, “The Bradley Method emphasizes that birth is a natural process: mothers are encouraged to trust their body and focus on diet and exercise throughout pregnancy; and it teaches couples to manage labor through deep breathing and the support of a partner or labor coach.”  So basically, there are 12 classes and we meet every Wednesday for two hours each time.  In order to be a Bradley teacher you have to have had a “Bradley” birth yourself, do tons of academic work and go to a week long Bradley teaching seminar amongst other things.  One exciting thing about it is that just by coincidence our teacher (who teaches out of her house) lives about two blocks away from us.  We drove to the first class just to be sure we knew where we were going, but I think that weather permitting (and it’s Austin, so I’m sure the weather will allow) we will walk to and from the rest of the classes, which is cool.  We don’t get to walk to anything, we live in a rather suburban part of Austin, so the only thing we could really walk to is a gas station, which isn’t that exciting.  There are 3 other couples in the class (but only two of the other three were there for this first class) and so far everyone has seemed pretty fine with us being in the class.  We really enjoyed the class, it was fun to hang out with other couples expecting their first baby and of the three of us couples that were there this week we are all expecting boys.  This first class was more of an introduction, so we didn’t do too much but we got sent home with homework- mostly exercises for S to do and a few relaxation things for us to practice each night together.  Over all I think it’s going to be a really good thing for us and I’m excited to keep going. 
 

      And I’ve been meaning to post a new belly shot of S for a week or two now, so here is her most recent photo, though it is a few days if not almost a week old at this point.  Gotta love that beautiful round belly!

-Liz 

Jude’s Jams

Well I’ve been working on a mix CD for baby Jude for quite a while now and I’ve finally made it.  I was feeling a lot of pressure (from myself) to make the perfect mix and have just the right songs with just the right messages and it was too much, so I went a different direction.  I decided to make a mix of some of my favorite songs, after all the point of this CD is to introduce Jude to the music I love in hopes that he will love it as well.  So I just sat down and pulled up what I have today available in my itunes and this is the mix I came up with.  I’m sure it’s not to everyone’s taste, but I really only made it for one person and well, he can’t exactly complain about it yet.
Jude’s Jams
1. Lucky Star- Madonna
2. Sparks- Coldplay
3. Wonderwall- Oasis
4. Home- Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
5. Hello Goodbye- The Beatles
6. Flashdance- Irene Cara
7. Fortunate Fool- Jack Johnson
8.  Young Forever- Jay-Z
9. Stay (I Missed You)- Lisa Loeb
10. Cherish- Madonna
11. Kids- MGMT
12. Clocks- Coldplay
13. Sweet Surrender- Sarah McLachlan
14. Bitter Sweet Symphony- The Verve
15. A Rush of Blood to the Head- Coldplay
16. Hold On- Wilson Phillips
17. Hey Jude- The Beatles
So there you have it.  And by the way, did anyone watch Glee tonight?  The end with them singing Coldplay- Fix You totally  made me cry.  Anyone else?
-Liz