Hey! We finally did some stuff! And then I got a massage!

We have been slowly (very slowly) working on the nursery, and now that we had the shower and have wonderful things like a crib and a glider, we finally got cracking.

(Slight backtrack -- yes, I know I still have not written about the shower, and I plan to, but a little side note: Jeremy's mom and grandma bought us a crib and crib mattress and then his mom and dad were nice enough to bring both, along with a dresser I had at my parents' house that I wanted to refinish, all the way to our house last night and then stayed for dinner.  We are lucky to have people like them in our lives!)

SOO, since we had some new big things to assemble, today we did THIS!

(Reminder:  We are still renting, so the paint and carpet is out of our control, but I think we got pretty lucky that it looks like a nursery anyway and doesn't have Big Bird yellow paint on the walls like the office does)

Here is the wall the crib is on

Close-up of the awesome crib, the quilt Jeremy's mom made for the baby (!!) and coordinating sheets

This is the window that faces the foot of the crib.  I can't wait to fill the bookshelf with more books, and Jeremy can't wait to play music for the baby!

The glider!  SOOO comfortable!  (Jeremy put this together immediately for me when we got home from the shower!)  Decorated with the beautiful afghan my mom made for the baby.  Bobby hiding out behind the glider.  Baby's First Year calendar hanging on the wall.  This is on the wall opposite the crib, and to the right of the door when you walk in.

To the left of the doorway.  The wall the dresser/changing table will be on when we finish stripping it and refinishing it to match the crib.

We also had to take a big step today ... we had to move MoJo's scratching post out of this room and into the office.  When we first moved in, we really had no use for this room since we didn't have a bed for a guest room and we already had an office, so we put MoJo's scratching post under the window so he could watch birds in the tree right outside the window and just started calling it MoJo's bedroom.  

In the past year, he would really only go in there sporadically.  He would sharpen his claws, make noises at the birds for a half an hour, and then he was on to other places.  However, in the past two months, (after we started moving some baby things in) he has been in this room literally 23 hours a day.  He has made it very clear that he wants to remind us that it is HIS room.  But today was the day to move out.

This is the window that MoJo's scratching post used to be under

Now, his little perch is under this window in the office (notice the Big Bird yellow walls -- they're worse in real life; trust me), which is one of only TWO places in the house where sun actually shines in and animals can lay in sunbeams.  After we took him over to show him his new place, he stayed there for six straight hours! :)  I think MoJo will be okay after all!

After we put stuff together and hauled stuff out and stuffed things in the "closet" (which is really the stairs leading to the attic) that we will later put in the dresser, my sister Tracy came over and gave me a truly blissful massage (she is the BEST!) while Jeremy and her husband and kids went bowling and picked up pizza for dinner.  Then we had a nice evening of watching the kids climb the trees on our backyard while we sat around and talked.  It was an amazing day!

30 Weeks

Today the baby is probably about 16 inches long and weighs a little over over three pounds (and she’ll be packing on the weight at a rate of half a pound per week for the next seven weeks!).  Also growing daily is her brain, which is actually starting to look like the real thing with the characteristic grooves and wrinkles.  And now that she can regulate her own body temperature, she'll begin shedding her lanugo (the downy body hair that's been keeping her warm up until now).  Her eyes are also continuing to develop, even though she keeps them closed most of the day.  When she does open her eyes, her vision is 20/400, meaning she can only see a few inches in front of her face, but she will respond to changes in light.


I have been feeling okay -- just the normal "uncomfortableness" of being huge and waddle-y.  I have had some nausea return and am also having a little bit of heartburn off and on, but nothing too drastic.  The swelling in my ankles and feet have been MUCH better over the last few weeks, and I even found a new pillow arrangement that allows me three hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time before I have to wake up and roll over to my other side to give the current hip a break.  Before, I was waking up EVERY twenty minutes to flip over.  Not ideal.  I did have to steal one of Jeremy's pillows to create this new arrangement, but he seemed more than happy to have the constant flip-flopping stop!


And I just got home from my shower and got a belly picture, but I am much too exhausted to say anything about it.  That will have to be a post for tomorrow.  

Playing Catch-up

There are a couple of fun things to report.  


First of all, last night, Jeremy got to feel the baby hiccuping!  At first I was scared that he wouldn't be able to feel them at all, because I put his hand right where she was, and he said he didn't feel anything. After I gave him a little more explanation as to what he was feeling for and telling him exactly on his hand where he should feel it, he did!  


THEN, as she was wrapping up her hiccups, she got super feisty and was kicking and thrashing around quite a bit, right where Jeremy's hand was resting.  Normally, whenever I rest my hand on my belly, she will kick right where my hand is, but until very recently, she would not do that for anyone else.  Any time I put Jeremy's hand where she was kicking, she would stop immediately.  It's nice that she will now perform for her father.


Today my mom and younger sister and I went to visit my friend/my brother's girlfriend at the Detroit Institute of Arts, where she is interning. We had a lot of fun walking around the galleries.  I'm pretty sure the baby really liked the Contemporary Art, because in those galleries she would kick me so hard that it almost brought me to my knees, and I had to sit a few times.  She probably just wanted me to have more time to appreciate the art.  Our baby is such a genius.

Finally, since my shower is tomorrow (!!!), I thought I should finally post pictures of some of the things we have already received.  


First, we got our awesome travel system (stroller and car seat combo) from Kevin and Ashley (Jeremy's cousin and his wife).  

Jeremy keeps asking if he can try it out by putting the cat in and pushing him around.  For some reason, I don't think MoJo would appreciate that.


Next, we got our high-tech bathtub that gives you a temperature read out and has a reservoir that holds the water until it is the correct temperature.  We received that from Jeremy's older brother Christopher and his wife Molly.  They also sent along a hilarious personalized card.

Yup, that's Jeremy's head on a baby in the tub they got us.  I laughed so hard when I opened this card!!


We also got our pack and play from two of my mom's friends, Sue and Sue (cute, right?).

We were awfully proud that Jeremy got this thing together!  Well done!


We are really looking forward to seeing lots of friends and family at the shower tomorrow.  Any bets on whether or not I will cry while opening presents?

Easter (and a few unrelated items)

Jeremy and I managed to go see both of our families this Sunday, even though Jeremy usually works on Sundays and the museum is usually open on holidays.  It was a nice surprise, and we got good food and lots of laughs.


What we didn't expect was that Baby Dimick would get so much stuff!


The first stop of the day was at my mom and dad's house.  My mom had pulled out all the baby stuff she saved from us, and we sorted through what we could.  I didn't take any clothes, because they were all very gender-specific.  I did get a few books and a bunch of blankets, however.  Also, my mom gave me this onesie:

Priceless!  We couldn't stop laughing about it all day.


Next we headed over to Jeremy's parents' house, where we joined 3 of his 4 siblings.  We had lots of stories and laughs (and too much food!) there too.  On the way out of town, we stopped at Gran's because she had baskets for us.  In my basket was this onesie:

Baby Dimick cleaned up!


On to the unrelated items.


1.  When I was importing the pictures of the onesies, I found a picture that I meant to write a post about.  On March 25, I was in pretty rare form (well, I would like to think it is rare, but Jeremy might have a different opinion) and I NEEDED a cupcake and a shamrock shake.  It is really not too often that I NEED a particular food, and it is even more rare that I give into the craving (Jeremy and I usually talk me down off the cliff, like the other night when I NEEDED a stromboli, even though dinner was all ready to be enjoyed).  Anyway, I NEEDED that cupcake and shamrock shake.

And my wonderful husband obliged.  At 9 PM on a Thursday.  What a guy.


2.  It looks like we have an official date and location for my baby shower!  The shower will be on June 19th, and my fabulous mother-in-law just found an ideal location last night.   I am getting excited!!  How many days left?  My mom gathered up some prizes and favors already as well, so we are on our way.  I can't wait!