Inevitably Keely

Our awesome friend Mel was in town this weekend and did us the honor of taking some pics of us: "36 weeks, 2 days" Now we have some cool photos of us so we can look back at all of this and see photographic proof of us and my huge belly - and how excited we were to become parents. I think the pictures clearly show that. I am SO happy with how they turned out, I just had to share. Thank you so much, Mel! :)

(in the nicest way possible while in pain and trying to breathe) to Daniel as we drove home this evening while I was having a Braxton Hicks contraction: "While your talking to me can be somewhat relaxing, your musical scat* is not." By the way, these Braxton Hicks things are pretty crappy. Daily, concentrated pain with no promise of getting to have Zoe any time soon sort of sucks. This is my body "preparing", (the doc says) but it's been "preparing" this way for almost 3 weeks now! Other signs that it's almost time are presenting themselves daily, but I'm hoping we'll be able to hold out a bit longer. I definitely am excited to meet her, but I'd love to have our friend Mel (who now lives in Houston) take some pics of me and Daniel this weekend to show that we were actually together during the pregnancy (he's always taking photos of me and vice versa but we have only a couple of us together). Also, there's rumor that a baby showe...

Last week Daniel and I decided we wanted to purchase Planet Earth (the BBC DVD) . We’d missed it on television because we don’t have cable but we had heard good things about it. After seeing a fifteen-minute preview last Thursday, we decided we needed it for our DVD library. We were going to buy the DVD set because we wanted to share it with Zoe. Zoe needed us to buy this DVD. Um, yeah. We seriously discussed this at great length. How we thought Zoe would think it was cool*. How it would be a learning experience for her. We completely justified making the purchase because we were doing it for our baby - Our baby who will not be watching Planet Earth for years to come, but whatever. We were also buying it because we wanted to watch it, so we watched the first episode last night. The views were gorgeous. The camera work was amazing. The animals were intriguing to watch. And I didn’t cry once. Well, I almost did, but I toughened up. - I did squeal (seriously, I did) when the mama polar be...

So. Things seem to be progressing rather well: There is certainly no shortage of belly or love in our house. This has been an amazing experience. Every day I am in awe of what is happening... and just how hard this chicky can kick! Jocelyn was right: "Oh, Baby!"

When Jen posted her last blog offering to interview fellow bloggers, I jumped at the chance. I thought - Cool. Easy blog post. I won't even have to think hard about this. I was ready to share silly things, but Jen got down to business. Jen asked questions I didn't think she would. Jen made me think. Oh, Jen. It was fun. Thanks. OK, lovely Keely. Here are your five questions: 1. If the government suddenly enacted a one-dog-per-household policy, which dog would you keep and why? (No one said these questions would be fair!) Yikes. My first instinct is to say Daniel and I would put in for a transfer with his company. Canada (along with other countries) is an option than I’m willing to use if it lets me keep both of my dog children. If giving one up was unavoidable, I think we’d give Max to my parents. Out of their two “grandchildren”, I’m pretty sure Max is their favorite. They actually have held off from getting another dog just in case we find we can’t handle both dogs and the b...

Ever since Daniel and I first started talking about wanting to start a family, our family and friends have drilled it into our heads delicately told us that our lives would change the moment we brought our baby home. This excited us. We liked our lives just fine the way they were, but we were happy to get to add an extension of us into the mix. We’re looking forward to everything that expanding our family will bring. Ok, maybe not so much with the late night feedings, lack of sleep, lots of dirty diapers, etc. but we think all of those things are worth what we’re getting. That said we have taken all of the advice people have given us into advisement. We have welcomed their input and as we see fit, we’ll use what we want and disregard the rest.* Being a parent is being a parent. We expect to make mistakes. We expect that we’ll make some decisions and then go back and say “Oh, no. We’re not doing it this way again.” That’s life. It’s actually one of the parts I like best about it. The...

I knew pretty early on that I wanted to be a mom someday. Sure, there were the outside influences: television, movies, baby dolls, my own mom and my aunts. As a little girl, I loved the idea of being in charge of a person. Getting to dress them and tell them what to do; this sounded fabulous to me. But I grew bored with my baby dolls and it wasn’t enough to “help” take care of my baby cousins or friends babies. I wanted a baby of my own and since I couldn’t have one, I put in a request with my parents. Now, my parents had had a hard time conceiving me. They didn’t think they would be able to have a child and when I was conceived there was doubt about how healthy my mom and I were/ would be. As it turns out, everything turned out well but my parents would not be having more children. They couldn’t just give me a baby sister or brother on demand. When they explained this to me (I think I was eight) I had the perfect solution: Adopt a baby! They told me they didn’t think that was such a g...

As discussed previously, the sectional has been gone for over a month and the new sofa and loveseat were delivered. We got a fabulous deal and good financing on this leather set. It will get scratched, but the dogs nails shouldn't poke holes in it. While it is completely chewable, the digging shouldn't be an issue. We, of course got the warranty that covers bodily fluids and punctures. Our sales person told us that if something cuts the leather for some reason, it is fairly easy to replace (the sectional was NOT easily repairable) and most likely covered under the warranty. Last year I rallied for the red sectional because I love red (and hated the old sleeper sofa). Daniel agreed so we made changes. This year, Daniel rallied for the leather. He likes the look of it and was convinced that it would be more durable. I think he's right, but since I took some convincing and a little bit of time to warm to the idea of leather he knows he's in for some major teasing if this s...

Yesterday afternoon I realized that I sometimes speak to Bailey and Max differently: "You're a good girl! Yes, you are! You are!" I said this to Bailey earlier in the morning. I had a huge smile on my face that seemed to match hers, only my tongue wasn't hanging out and I can't get my smile quite as wide as say.... an anaconda. Thank goodness. My voice was full of praise and excitement. "You're a good boy! Yes, you are! You are." These same words were used just before I left the house to run a couple errands and head off to meet Daniel for my 32-week check-up. I was smiling in a hopeful way as Max stared at me indignantly. A round monkey face staring at me, wondering why I was not offering up the treats instead of wasting his time with idol chit chat. My voice was full of hope that he really would be a good boy. He would not bring stuff in from outside. He would not find something in the house to destroy. He would not hurt the couch. I was trying to...

I just got home from our 32* week check-up with Dr Y. Everything is moving along at the normal pace. Zoe was kicking and fluttering about. Her heartbeat sounded normal and was the right speed. I measured (fundal height) right in line with where I should at this point in the pregnancy, so Doc expects she's between 3.5 and 4 pounds. Right on target... at this point we're not having an Amazon baby. Yay us. Yay me, too. Since my last appointment two weeks ago, I have lost another pound. Basically that means that even with the weight of Zoe, the placenta, and all the extra blood I'm producing - I've only gained one pound since getting pregnant. I'm pretty happy with that. Keep in mind; my lack of weight gain is only safe because I was no skinny minnie prior to Zoe being conceived. I had plenty of meat on my bones already. Also, I've maintained a pretty healthy diet. I'm definitely not starving myself (I eat three meals and three snacks per day at minimum) and me...

I like to get things done early. I like to be prepared. It's in my nature and I get anxious if I have not planned something out or prepared for an event. If I don't plan or get the prep work done well in advance, I tend to run around freaking out and trying to do everything at once. Daniel helps and he tries to tell me we have plenty of time, but it doesn't stop me from trying to get everything done all at once. It's just one of my quirks. So the crib was purchased and built when I was 20 weeks pregnant. By the time we had reached 22 weeks, we had the bedding, glider and changing table all set up. We had the butterflies too, but we put hanging those up off because it just didn't sound like a fun job. In the past month, my motto has been "Tick, Tock." When I get really stressed about the lack of time we have until Zoe gets here, I announce it to Daniel. "Tick, tock, honey. Tick, Tock!" This makes him laugh, but he says he's not laughing at me....