The Name Game . . .

I know, I know---everyone wants belly pictures. The problem is this: we lost the camera cord, and the battery is dead. So we're stuck until we have a new cord. They'll be coming soon though---and get excited, my mom & Lisa say that I'm carrying "wide." Isn't that great? Who doesn't like being called wide? (That's part of the reason they think the baby is a girl)

(That's the umpire signal for "wide." I'm just waiting for people to start doing that when I walk down the street.)

So baby names are a hot topic. People are curious, and everyone has an opinion. Here's the thing--I probably don't want to know your opinion. So Dave & I have been talking about what to do with names--should we let our family and friends know about our potential names, thereby risking an influx of (possibly) negative feedback? Or should we keep them a secret, eliminating the potential negativity, but also blocking our family & friends out of the fun? So I've developed a plan, which (for me) is the best of both worlds . . . pay close attention :)

We are happy to share names that we like (which will probably change a million times) with one important rule---NO NEGATIVITY. If you don't like the name, I don't care (and I mean that in the nicest way possible). Should you feel the need to voice your negativity, we will feel the need to no longer include you in any name preference conversations! Even if we say that we're planning on naming the baby Britney Spears Nieder, the appropriate reaction would be a polite nod. Like mom always said "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

***One obvious exception--if we actually ask you for your opinion on a name, then hit me with your best shot! ***

So to summarize, if you're interested in our thoughts on names, we're open to sharing. But one strike and you're out of the naming loop (until the baby is born--we'll tell everyone the name then, and if you don't like it then you can tell the baby to its little face).

My magical bump

Gather round and see Dana's magical baby bump . . .it disappears and reappears before your very eyes!

Actually, I've heard this is very common--but I'm in a strange phase right now. In the morning, I have a small bump--really I just look a little fat. By bedtime, I look undeniably pregnant, with a big stomach bump!

I thought maybe my mind was playing tricks on me, so yesterday I decided to do a little experiment (I'm very scientific and needed to see some data). I measured my stomach in the morning, and then again at night, and the difference was . . .

nearly 2 inches!!!

It seems like a big difference to me! So I've heard that one morning I'll wake up and it won't have shrunk down again. (I measured again this morning and it went down 1.5" overnight, so I'm starting today .5" bigger, for whatever reason).

I'm having Dave take pictures today, so I should have some proof of the growing bump tomorrow.

PS. Don't listen to Dave, the pillow's name is Jimmy, not Julie.

PPS. Laura Nieder is bringing the trash talk about winning the baby pool (although I question her predictions). We haven't picked a prize yet, but we will!

Leftovers

This was our Thanksgiving dinner table yesterday at my parents. Beautiful, right? It looks like we're about to enjoy a lovely meal.

However, I actually took this picture after we finished dinner. These are all leftovers. My mother is a little crazy, and makes enough food to feed the block--but then we all get leftovers, hooray!

Baby Update

I'm 14 weeks along now, and the baby is about as big as a fist, or a lemon (somewhere around 3.5"). It can now suck its thumb and make faces. Its also developing fine hair all over its body, like a monkey.


*New Game*: Check out the "Bet On Our Baby" Game (upper right hand corner)

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!!

I hope that everyone enjoys the holiday, even if the family togetherness makes you a little crazy. Eat up, and join me in getting fat---we can lose the weight together, starting in June :)

(I had 2 great cartoons in this post, but they didn't last long because they weren't supposed to be pasted or something, so that's it for now!)

My new best friend

Meet the giant pillow that now takes up 1/3 of our bed. It's the most comfortable thing I've ever encountered. It keeps me sleeping on my side, since I'm not supposed to sleep on my stomach anymore.

Putting the pillowcase on was so difficult that I had to go primate (that's when you use your feet like a second set of hands, chimpanzee-style). Notice how helpful Dave was (oh that's right, he just laughed at me and got the camera).

Success! (Friends--please keep your dirty comments to yourself, or email them. Keep in mind that family members read this).

This just in

Yesterday we got 2 big phone calls:

1. My first trimester screening results came in, and everything looks normal (it tests for Downs and other trisomy syndromes). We had no reason to think anything would be wrong, but it's still nice to be able to cross some worries off the list.

2. We got the apartment! So soon we will be moving to Riverdale, into the (comparatively) giant new place :) Thank goodness. If we had to stay here, this baby would be living on a shelf in the closet. Here's a picture of the new dining room & living room:

Of course, the stress now begins about the sale of this place. We're hoping that the board loves our buyer and approves them quickly---if not . . . well, let's not think about if not. Just send good vibes to our buyers.

It's SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is one of my favorite moments of the year--first snowflakes! I can't imagine ever living in a place where I couldn't see snow every year :)

What do you do?

If a 5 year old can't mentally picture your job, I have no idea what you do.

Like this---are you a policeman (is policeperson the pc term)? Or a zookeeper? A cashier, a doctor, work on an assemblyline a la I-love-Lucy? No? Then what the hell do you do all day?

Some of my friends explain that they "invest other people's money in hopes that they'll end up with more than they started" . . . ok, but I still find myself wondering "Yes, but what do you do all day?" Sit at a computer? Walk around an office----do you have an office? Or a cubicle? A workspace? Do you look at your coworkers all day? What do they do? Does someone like Dwight work next to you, using a ruler to delineate the territory line between your space and his?

My daily existence this week has been exhausting, but it's at least it's all easy to envision. Here are some tidbits from my life this week:

60: The number of minutes Dave & I spent in our board interview (for our new place). We were clearly the social event of the week for our interviewers, who chatted about eerything from skunks to "that one time I took the subway the wrong way".

537: The temperature in the room that we had to sit in for the above interview.

15: The number of classes I taught this week. The highlight was teaching 10 year olds about how the digestive system ends with flush. They love that crap (literally).

94: The number of paper bags that I decorated and filled with popcorn for our movie party on Friday.

140: The number of kids I teach. Tues & Weds we had parent-teacher conferences, so this is close to the number of grades that I had to explain.

7 years: The amount of data that was accidentally erased from my computer on Tuesday afternoon (not by me, by computer people). Yes, 7 years worth of work-poof!

2: The number of times I went to the hospital to visit one of my kids, who was hit by a car. I have nothing funny to say about that.

1: Annoying tilted uterus. Yes, you read that correctly. My organs are tilted, so when I went to the midwife (Weds) we couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat. Who has tilted organs? I guess this isn't that uncommon, but it's annoying.

13: The number of weeks along I am now :)

Oh yeah, and I moved the blog. That other site I tried out was not really for blogging, although they called it a blog site. This one is a lot easier. If you liked the other one better you can drop me an email at: thenmakeyourownblog@stopwhining.com

Baby Update

The baby is now the size of a peach-about 3 inches long. This past week it's vocal cords have formed, and 20 teeth and sockets have formed in the gums. It finger dexterity has improved, and you could now tell whether its a boy or a girl (even though we're not going to find out!).

If you want to see what a baby like ours looks like (and watch it move) check this out (it's a 4D ultrasound): http://www.ehd.org/flash.php?mov_id=198 (it says 11 weeks because that's the age of the fetus, not the length of the pregnancy. It's confusing, but trust me, that's what our baby is like now)

The blog begins . . .

I have no idea what I'm doing. Do not come here with high expectations of wit or regular updating. We'll see what happens. Lisa has kept a great blog going since she was pregnant with my first nephew, and people (like me) love checking it to see new pictures, etc. So I thought it was worth a shot. Right now the baby is about the length of my pinky finger from head to butt (that's how they measure these things). It's about 2 1/2 inches long. See the new pic below! Now that we're past 12 weeks, I'm starting to feel like this whole pregnancy thing is a little more real, so we're starting here . . .





Here's my pregnancy test from September 12th. You're looking at something I peed on. Hee hee.

This is the baby at 9 weeks- it looks like a gummi bear! That fact made my friend Dan sing the Gummi Bear cartoon theme song, which was stuck in my head for a while. Now it is again.

And here it is now--the 12 week picture. If you're good at checking out ultrasound pics, you can actually see the outline of the face (nose, mouth, etc).