Annika

Yesterday afternoon, our friends Rick and Kara came up toting along the beautiful 15 month old Annika. Not only was it a fun day with friends, but it was a true test to see how baby proofed our house is. Mostly, our house was perfectly fine. Annika ran around in circles through the living room, through the doors in the dining room, into the kitchen, and back again. She also kept running into the baby room and saying "Hi" to the fishies and the crab. She really like the echo of the empty room, and you could tell she knew the room was for kids.
Things that need baby proofing, as Annika kindly demonstrated for us, are the blinds (we need to install anchors for the strings) and the firewood starters have to go somewhere hidden .

BreastFeeding Class

This morning we attended a breast feeding class. They went over the how-to's, benefits, and trouble-shooting tips. Most of the information seemed to us obvious and very few new tid-bits were learned. The best part was being able to play with all the various breast-pumps with a balloon, and seeing the difference between the way manual and electric pumps worked and their efficiencies. I will definately want an electric double-pump.

Posting Comments Anonymously... A How-To

Sorry to those that have tried to post comments anonymously, the process is a bit convoluted.  Here is what you need to do

1.  Select comments in the topic you would like to comment on.
2.  Type your text.
3.  Select the Anonymous identity
4.  Choose Preview
5.  Click on Publish Your Comment

Looking forward to your comments!

More Mural Pics

Now that all the painting gear is the basement again, the baby room is really starting to to take shape. Dan hung the mini-blinds earlier. Also another Dr. appt is complete and all is as it should be. The nurse said I was a textbook case, and I believe that's a good thing in this situation.

Weekly Appointments!

Today we start Amy's once-a-week appointments, which means that we must be getting closer to the big day!  We are both really excited and I can see this next month or so going very slowly as we anticipate the big event.  To this end we (OK, I) am getting lots of the final house things done.  Tonight I plan on hanging blinds in the nursery...

The Prayer

We had a really nice weekend. Rena came up Friday evening, Saturday morning we had a great breakfast at Cousin Ellens, Dan happily got to ride Marks motorcycle, then back to the house for painting stuff, then fabulous party at Dina's, John yelled at Dan for riding the motorcycle, we all ate Dina's amazing cuisine, afterwards Rena and I finally had a much needed heart to heart, Sunday morning Re finished the mural, and then we had some guests over for yummy lunch and mural show and tell, then off to Mike and Marjorie and Baby Izzy's new house, and finally as the final meal, to Ed and V's house for amazing dinner made by V's mom. The whole weekend was action packed and wonderful.
V's mom bestowed upon me a buddist prayer bracelet for a positive, swift, and easy delivery. While she recited the prayer, I held a piece of fruit, while Dan and Rena supported my arm. Then Dan and I shared the fruit to bind the prayer. It was a very magical experience, and I am so touched by it.

Mural is Complete!!

Wow look what Rena did! We are simply stunned at how fantastic the mural has turned out. Rena has really out done herself. Amy and I are incredibly happy with how the weekend turned out. Check out the fishes, and the crab too...

42 Days

I just realized there are only 42 days until September 2. Yikes! There is still a lot to be done before then.

Baby's First Pics

We had our ultrasound at 19 weeks. It seemed pretty obvious to all in the room we were having a boy, however, the childbirth preparation class teacher is convinced that ultrasounds could be very mistaken. What do you think?

Dr. Bindiya

We have the best Ob/Gyn. She is informed and sharp, very witty and personable. No monotone voice, thank goodness. We had a dr. appt this morning, and Calvin kicked her 3 times while we tried to hear his heartbeat on the doppler. We laughed. So far, all things point to healthy and well. Going forward, we will meet with her once every week until the delivery.

The Mural

Rena was up this weekend and began a coral reef mural in the baby room. This picture is phase 1. She is coming again this weekend to finish it up. The plan is to get baby used to the water and ocean young. Soon he will be a swimmer, scuba diver, sailor, and beach bum just like his parents ;-)

33 weeks

Due September 2, we are getting very excited. Things we have done in preparation so far include...

We painted the base color of the baby room (seasprite) , and the trim (white) on the windows and floor. Rena is going to complete her mural on the far wall this weekend.
We began childbirth preparation classes
We have read many many books, magazines, and web sites
We finally began a registry (target.com) using the baby bargains and consumer reports books
And we started this blog to keep everyone up to date