for the babe

i got to go to the first baby shower i've been to since...my sisters' during the summer of 2003. (right? i think they had a joint baby shower since their babies were born only a few months apart. but, that was forever ago, and my pregnant brain doesn't allow for much memory retrieval.) nancy, who is having baby john two weeks before baby h should arrive, had a baby shower today. it was down in elk ridge at her in-law's. it was so nice to be in someone's home, partake of a delicious lemon cake and slush punch, and celebrate that NANCY AND LANCE GET TO HAVE A BABY! i will admit, i am jealous baby john already has his crib assembled and his car seat and stroller ready to go and bedding picked out and a NAME. not jealous for me; jealous for baby h. our poor kid has...onesies and socks and gumdrops. i know we still have 9wks until we meet him, but i feel like we should have a lot more done and ready.

winter nose

did you know this is a legitimate diagnosis? for a dog, mind you, but still...? our cute lil penny's black button nose has been turning pink. cue: eww! so, we did what any good pet owners would do: we googled "why is my dog's nose turning pink?" and at the professor's house, we found out why, and it's called winter nose. now, i tried my best to get a good picture of this phenomena, but of course our sample subject was being no kind of cooperative. this...

...is what we got. see? what a jerk, that penelope jones. any other time we want her to sit still for a picture, she's more than willing to forgo playtime or potty time or bedtime. what kind of child am i going to have if i cannot even teach my dog to smile for the camera?

two things

first and foremost, i must announce that one of my and mor's favorite persons is having her golden birthday today. (if you don't know what a "golden birthday" is allow me: it is when the day of your birth is the same as the age you are turning. guess i missed out on mine way back in 84. oh well.) so, to our one and only schizzy...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LADY FRIEND! WE LOVE YOU!
secondly, i found the camera, remember? it was exactly where mor had left it: behind the driver seat of the honda on the floor under a couple hoodies, a jacket, two 7-11 big gulp cups etc. so, i have the highly-anticipated 30wk pictures to put up. here they is...

from the side

more to the front

view from the top or "where'd my shoes go?"
2mo 9days
10wks
70 days
however you want to say it, i think we're in the homestretch. and it's about. darn. time.

the rundown

yesterday was a full day for the hubs and me. allow me to indulge in capturing all of the details here:
- wake up, drop mor off at DAT prep on campus; picked myself (and penny) up some mickey d's breakfast
- clean, clean, clean
- shower
- pick mor up from DAT prep, go home, eat lunch
- take penelope for a walk (she had just about forgotten what it was like to be outside for something other than a potty break)
- clean out the hon; find the camera! and two pairs of shoes! and a raincoat!
- enjoy driving around in the newly clean hon, going nowhere in particular except...
- babies r us, where we ordered the crib (the girl told us it would be about 2-4wks until it arrived; i asked what the average was; mor said "uh, 3wks"; i felt stupid)
- redo bathroom (read: new shower curtain and liner, rugs, artwork (very simple as i'm not too artistically-inclined; sorry, dad))
- eat at zupa's for dinner; mor lovingly traded his chicken tortilla soup for my white chicken chili after baby h made known his dislike for any kind of chili (i forgot he made me aware of this back at the beginning of our relationship when i made my favorite, my mom's recipe chili, and it revisited me 3 or 4 times thereafter)
- take in the titans basketball game; they were victorious; one of the opposing players--we'll call him tonto as he was of the native american persuasion--attempted to pick a fight with mor while we sat in the gymnasium stands at the local alternative high school; i was told by one of mor's boys that my humor preceded me, so i needed to make sure to live up to it (thanks, lazarus) and also that i am "really beginning to show" (thanks again, lazarus)
- back home to a restless night of sleep that was only made okay because of my dear sweet hubs tickling my legs until long after i'd drifted off; i love that guy

thievery, belated

i know this is coming after the fact, but i couldn't help but record it here to use in like 6yrs when baby h is old enough to participate in the valentine giving. i moseyed over to this gal's blog (no, i don't know her; just found her off a friend of a friend of a friend's blog), where she had posted what she did for her daughters' school valentine's parties. is that not the cutest cleverest idea ever?! i love it! and i don't know as though i'll even wait for baby h to reach elementary age; you may just be receiving these little ditties next yr, care of a slobbery gooey (please, oh please more of the latter than the former) thick-fanning eyelashed babe. and no, i don't mean me or mor.

old men

it's that time of year again to celebrate the old men in our lives: mor's dad and my dad. big mike celebrated on the 19th and big dave on the 20th. we're very blessed to have these guys around to harass us, call us in the wee hours of the morning (dave) or night (mike), and lend us a hand (read: cashola, advice etc) from time to time. baby h is going to be one lucky kid, getting to grow up with both grandpas alive and kickin' (even if not necessarily closeby).
we love you, you old farts, and we hope yours days were full of not going blind or deaf and lots of yummy birthday cake.

29 down, 11 to go

i would like to first off apologize to a special little girly in my life who asked her mommy recently when she would get to see another picture of the baby in aunt weed's tummy (if you don't know about my nickname already, don't ask). too bad mor has "misplaced" the camera for "a minute." so, no pictures this time, painy lady. (maybe you should call uncle mor and tell him to remember where he hid the camera.)
i did have a dr's appt today. i've gained a hefty 17lbs (all in the belly: yea! none in the bum: yea! and none in the boobs: boo!) and am measuring 33cm, 4 more than is typical for a gal at my stage in pregnancy. baby h's heartrate was somewhere around 147bpm, although the poor nurse was having a hard time keeping it for any time at all since the kid was kicking her out of his space; no matter where she put the little magic wandy thing, he would kick it away. hillarious. i also read on one of those "this week in your pregnancy" websites that he should be growing eyelashes this week (i'm praying he takes after his daddy on this one) and blinking at sudden changes in light and dark. he should be about 15-16in long and weigh at least 2.5lbs and filling out fast.
other than that, my heartburn continues to burn holes in my esophagus; i pulled a muscle playing wii bowling this weekend; i'm peeing several gallons a day and night; and sleep is a mere distant memory. oh and connie is telling people we've decided on a name. not so much, mom. i told you we LIKED that name, not that we were USING it. good grief. nothing is sacred. that being said, i'm off to fill my new heartburn rx. i sure do love that dr jones guy.

baby crib? check!

well kids, we're 29wks into this show (as of today), and mor and i finally picked out a crib. drumroll please...

it's the amy coe stamford, and i love it! very simple yet classic. i'm so excited that one big thing is out of the way (even if we still have to order it this next weekend and then wait 3 more wks for it to be delivered). now we just have to decide on a carseat and stroller. i'm thinking this...

the grey part is actually a really fine grey and white pinstripe
or possibly this...

black and grey, what's not to like?
or maybe this...

the detail color on this is really a burnt orange-y-ish
any help from the peanut gallery on favorites would be nice. anyone? bueller?

question of the day #8

why didn't anyone tell me sunkist is caffeinated?

i thought i was doing so well, staying free and clear of my beloved coke and mtn dew, cashing in on the beauty that is fruit-flavored pop (or soda or soda pop, whatever). but, NOOOOO. caffeine is like the fifth ingredient listed on sunkist's label. bastards. if baby h comes out with undescended testicles, we'll know who to blame, won't we sunkist?

surfs up

OUR kid already knows hawaiian sign language
what's YOUR kid got going for him?
oh and sorry about the pic; apparently preview and i are in a fight about how to rotate and save an image

question of the day #7

Q : did my dear loving husband just compare me to a cow birthing a calf?

A : yes, yes he did - "that's how it's going to be, val" is a direct quote