Nesting

Now I know we are only going to be in Iowa City for 2 months or so after the baby is born, but that hasn't stopped me from going all out with our nursery (other than painting the walls, Ben put his foot down there).  We spent the weekend cleaning, painting shelves, and organizing our little guys soon-to-be home.

Harlan is still wearing the cone of shame, but his foot is healing.  He is going a little stir crazy since we can't take him on walks or let him go to daycare until the wound has closed, but lucky for us he is a very lazy dog and is mostly just sleeping.

Eventually the dresser will also serve as the changing table, but for now it's pretty bare.  We bought the dresser from Target and then replaced the silver knobs with really cute polka dotted ceramic knobs (that you can't see in the picture unfortunately).

The shelves are from IKEA, we painted them 'Jalapeno Green' to spice things up :)

Jumping foxes painting... how much do I love this...

In February Karen and I are going to sew curtains to replace the plain ones that are up now-- I'm thinking either orange or yellow-- and solid, or maybe a chevron stripe.

Custom made birdie mobile from Etsy

Brian Andreas print framed by the crib...

 All of his friends waiting in the crib (it is going to be hugely devastating to Ben and I if our son doesn't like stuffed animals... since we are obsessed with building a plush toy zoo...)

31 Weeks

31 weeks!  Only 9 to go!  This week our little guy is the size of a pineapple, and holy cow does it feel like it. Things are getting pretty cramped in my belly, with this weeks new challenges being putting on my right shoe and sitting at a desk all day (no matter how much I wiggle, I cannot get comfortable).  Other than that, things are going swimmingly.  Ben I are assembling our "go bags" -- so far we have one, Harlan has one, and there is an entire bag full of snacks, so hopefully we are prepared for labor when it starts.  Also new in our world, we purchased a vehicle the week before Christmas to accommodate our growing family.  We drove our new minivan to Minnesota for Christmas, and are both quite pleased with our decision to go for a van as opposed to an SUV.    Harlan is also very happy with it, he can now lay down comfortably and isn't hitting his head on the ceiling like he does in the corolla.  

We had a great Christmas in Minnesota, spending time with dad, Joleen, Mal and Josiah in Mankato and Ben's whole family in Roseville.  Congratulations again to Caleb and Allie on their engagement :)  It was a very merry holiday weekend.  

The only bummer was that Harlan ended up getting injured at some point (the exact cause is not known).  We brought him to the vet Wednesday afternoon when we returned to Iowa, and they ended up needing to sedate him to take a look at his paw.  The picture below is Harlan completely passed out on the vet floor (after the sedative).  He has an abscess that is now being treated with antibiotics, pain meds, and of course, a cone of shame.

Success!

Just wanted to write a quick blurb about a double victory today at the hospital.  We had back-to-back appointments with obstetrics and rheumatology and both went perfectly.  Our OB doc said everything looks perfect, and we heard his fast little heart beat through the doppler for confirmation (150 bpm).  I had labs done following my rheumatology appointment, and everything looks great, nothing requiring follow-up or further monitoring (not a common occurrence in my world!).  Cheers to a healthy baby and mommy!

"I've got bump in my trunk"

Oh Week 30...

It is hard to believe there are only 10 weeks to go!  Ben and I both let out deep sighs yesterday while walking Harlan as we realized how fast the next ten weeks are going to fly by for both of us, and how much we have to do before we meet our little guy.

Ben's dissertation is now pretty much done, he is just putting the finishing touches on before sending it to his thesis committee (and still waiting for it to be cleared by the government).  He is working in the lab when he isn't writing, and has an experiment all planned out that he is excited to start on. This will likely end with him writing another publication, so my stint as "in-house proofreader" will continue on :)  We have not heard 'officially' from Sandia, but know that all materials are now in and have been sent to HR, so we expect that Ben will get word this week or next.  His dissertation defense is set for February 6th, and if all goes as planned, he will be heading to New Mexico shortly thereafter for orientation.  I've promised to not have our baby early (due date is March 1), so we'll see how much control I have over that when the time comes.

It's been decided that I will continue to work for Iowa City Hospice remotely as a consultant at 50% FTE when we move.  Which is great!   It is going to be a busy few weeks though,  I'll have to train the person we hire to assume the other 50% of my job on-site, and come up with a work plan for maternity leave.  I will be working as an independent contractor (not an ICH employee) after having the baby, so I need to start my own company and fill out all the tax forms and business plans (and probably a bunch of other stuff I don't know about yet).  I'm still doing consulting work for Dr. Beglinger at the University of Iowa as well, and we are in our 'final hurrah' for that work now, so I feel kind of like Ben... working all day, then coming home and working in the evenings and on the weekends. 

Is it possible that both Ben and I will feel like we are getting a break when the baby is born??  From what I hear, the answer to that is no :)

Speaking of the baby-- he is an extremely active little guy, and I relish his "awake" times when he is kicking up a storm.  I haven't posted many 'bump' pictures, but right now I am so much enjoying being pregnant and my kicky, magical belly that I wanted to put one up. 

And here is a picture with my other baby-- Harlan has been very snuggly lately. 

Have a great holiday everyone!!

Baby's First Ugly Sweater Party

We just had a great weekend at the 4th annual Ugly Sweater Party, hosted by the Lowry's in Mankato.  Unfortunately, we did not bring home trophies like last year, but it was still a great evening.  

The father of my child...

We ended up getting snowed in after an unexpected storm, so we spent Sunday at dad and Jo's, putting up the tree, watching a whole lot of football, and taking some superb naps.

27 Weeks + New Pictures

We had a very successful appointment today-- our little guy is doing great.  He weighs 2 pounds 4 ounces (which is the 56th percentile) and was moving all around during the ultrasound.   I'm also happy to report that I passed my glucose test (e.g. no gestational diabetes) and I'm not anemic.  So both mom and baby are healthy and doing well!  And Ben is doing good too, whenever we have an uneventful appointment it is a victory for him too :)  

Other good news from the last 24 hours: my supervisor met with our executive director and it sounds like Iowa City Hospice is going to keep me on as a consultant (at 50% FTE) when we move to New Mexico.  So I will be able to keep working...but from home...in pajamas... with a baby in my lap and a dog by my side.  Not a bad set-up!

Below are pictures from Harlan's daycare day this week.  I love the great dane in the picture-- look how huge he is, he is standing on all fours and his head is the same height as Harlan who is up on his hind legs.  It takes a BIG dog to make Harlan look small.

26 Weeks

Almost 27 weeks pregnant!  We are in the third trimester now (hard to believe, this has flown by...).  We have an appointment tomorrow with an ultrasound, so I'll have a better update then, but for now here is the 26-27 week update:

What is happening with your baby?

*Baby is over 13 inches long and weighs about 2 and a half pounds
*Around the 27th to 28th week babies can open and close their eyes, and has eyelashes
*You can feel the baby hiccuping
*Your baby has also developed a regular wake and sleep cycle


We had a great Thanksgiving holiday in Minnesota, splitting our time between Mankato and the the farm in Wisconsin.  Ben and I are making a Thanksgiving dinner tonight as well, we just didn't get enough from TWO thanksgiving dinners apparently :)   The picture below is from the burn at the farm.  My guess, from the looks on our faces, is that we are watching Harlan and Thina do something rather unintelligent down by the fire.

25 weeks!

One week to go until we start the 3rd trimester!

My baby app is telling me that our little boy is the size of a cauliflower this week, being 13.6-14.8 inches long and weighing anywhere from one and a half to two and a half pounds.  I believe that he's that big, his kicks are now visible from the outside and I'm feeling a lot more of them, I think he's getting cramped in there. 

Our next appointment is November 29th, I'll do the dreaded glucose test and we'll have our 4th ulstraound at that visit.  We are really looking forward to another sneak peak at our little guy :)

Harlan at Daycare

Canada!

I just returned from a lovely visit with Carly.  It was my first time in Canada, and I must say I really enjoyed Winnipeg.  There was no snow when I landed on Friday, and we ended up with over a foot.  The first blizzard of the season is always the best (especially when you don't have to drive in it!).  Carly surprised me with a spa day on Saturday, we got massages, facials, and manicures while drinking tea and eating scones.  We went to dinner with her friends Saturday night, Brian and I watched bits and pieces of football games, and we spent time with her dad on Sunday.  It was really a lovely trip.

We had similar boots and thought it would be fun to take a picture of them, but  my center of gravity is off (I'm quite front-heavy these days) and I started to fall... this is definitely an action shot...

Heading out to dinner

Not sure what the quizzical look is for-- this was at a place called Un-Burger.  We had bison burgers, sweet potato fries, and truffle aioli...DELISH.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

This is from dinner tonight (back in Iowa).  Both Ben and I are sick, and I decided that the only thing that sounded good to me was... wait for it... not chicken soup, not tea with lemon, not something soothing and warm... I wanted thanksgiving dinner.

Good call me.

24 Weeks

Happy Friday!

Our little boy is now 24 weeks along, which makes him a foot long and anywhere between 13 and 20 ounces.  (The fruit equivalent is a cantaloupe, although he is anything but round... all the fattening up is in the weeks to come). 

Ben returned from New Mexico this week after a successful round of intense interviewing.  He had great things to say about the people he currently works with, and was very impressed by the never-ending supply of "toys" that Sandia possesses.  He will likely receive an offer for the Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Fellowship in 4-6 weeks. 

I let my supervisor know yesterday about this opportunity, and it has yet to be determined if they will keep me on staff to work remotely from New Mexico.  If it doesn't work out, I'm sure I'll have my hands full :)

This weekend I get to visit Carly and Brian in Winnipeg!  They are getting their first blizzard of the year tonight & tomorrow, with 8 inches of snow and temperatures in the teens.  Looks like winter starts now!

23 weeks

I had an appointment today, just a short and sweet check-up, that went really well.  This time there were no oddities, red flags, or surprises-- which was a nice change of pace!  In fact everything looked, in a word, perfect (to use the word of my OB, not me).

We were able to hear his heartbeat after some battling.  The punchiness we observed during the first ultrasound was very apparent again today.  At first when she would push on my belly with the doppler, you could hear the "swish swish" of him squirming away from it (baby does not like being poked).  A couple of times she came down right on him and when that happened he would punch/kick the doppler and a loud crashing sound would come out over the speaker.   Finally we were able to pin him down and hear his heartbeat, 150 bpm, strong and fast... I now believe that sound is the greatest thing on the planet.

Let the nursery building begin!

Ben and I decided to start putting together our nursery tonight.  It meant packing up a whole wall of bookcases and then assembling the crib.  After a little more than an hour, we had successfully completed our mission :)

Handmade mobile (from Etsy) to hang above the crib

Ben getting to work

Ta da!  

All of his friends are waiting for him :)

22ish Weeks!

So many things to report!

First and foremost, Harlan has a cousin.  Jarod adopted a 4 year old golden over the weekend named Thina, and we cannot wait to meet her :)  It will be nice to have Harlan romp with someone his own size (which as you can see below, does not always happen-- picture from doggy daycare).

Second, I just returned from a great trip to Chicago with Karen and Allie.  It was a fantastic girls weekend full of shopping, eating, and talking (what else would you do on girls weekend?).  We did enter the art museum, but only to peruse the gift shop :)  The highlights for me were the great conversation and ENORMOUS piece of carrot cake from Grand Lux.  I get screened for gestational diabetes on Thursday, and I'm pretty sure I will still have sugar in my system from the piece of cake.  But it was worth it ;)

Third, our little boy is 22 weeks and 3 days along.  Last Thursday Ben and I felt his first kick/karate chop.  I had been feeling little bubbly bursts from the inside, but we were watching TV together and I had my hand on my belly and felt this "pow!".  I grabbed Ben's hand and luckily there was another jab right after that he was able to feel.  It was pretty amazing.  Then we both realized there is a living thing inside of me trying to kick his way out, which is so bizarre.  

Our little boy weighs a pound and is over 11 inches long.  He is about to start putting on fat and getting chubby, which is fantastic. He also has little tooth buds forming in his gums, which is surreal.

We also got our crib and mattress delivered over the weekend, so nursery assembly is about to begin.

Ben leaves Sunday for New Mexico, so he is busy preparing for his presentation and is also in an absolute writing frenzy; but overall, seems to be doing quite well with such a high stress time.  

Baby Boy is 21 Weeks Along!

Our baby is now almost a foot long (10.5 inches) and weighs over three quarters of a pound (about 13 ounces).  Some fetal development trivia for you, he now has eyebrows and eyelids.  We have yet another ultrasound in a month, so we should have more pictures to share at the end of November. 

This is one of our rare weekends at home together, so Ben and I have big plans to sit around and do nothing :)  Well, we may hop over to the Hawkeye tailgate for a bit on Saturday, but that is very weather-dependent. 

The only other update on our end is that Harlan got bit THROUGH his ear at daycare on Wednesday (like a piercing).  I was furious, but Ben is pretty convinced he did something to deserve it... (which is probably true).

Looking Back...

I thought I would post pictures from back when we first got Harlan-- these are from his photo album when he was 'Puppy of the Day' on the Daily Puppy website... because he was so stinkin' cute.

 

St. Louis Weekend

I just spent the weekend in St. Louis.  It was a great trip, and it was wonderful seeing everyone.  Friday night I logged some extra time with Ben and Harlan since it is always difficult being away from my boys.   

BEST PICTURE EVER.   Harlan fell asleep half way off the couch.

Harlan and Ben watching TV.

Look at those jowels.  

Now on to the other cutest boy :)  Josiah is a speed demon on his big wheel.

Carving Pumpkins.

Punkins.

Big Wheel Video

This is a leftover since I forgot to add it before... When the Olson's were down visiting last Friday, this was how we told them we knew that we were having a boy.  We added blue food coloring to the cake, so when Karen cut into it, the cat was out of the bag.  

 

Mallory's Fabulous Red Hair + Josie