3....2....1....

So here we sit in the final trimester....

Rebecca is doing very well even though she is getting tired more easily. We have been busy getting the nursery ready, even though it has a long way to go. Rebecca is making some decorative pillows as we speak. However, I came up with the coolest idea---you'll see it soon enough--one hint--mobile!

Here is something that confuses me---you tell me if you agree. For our nursery, we would like to get a stuffed chair from Babystyle.com. It is Pascal the Pachyderm stuffed chair and it is cute as you can tell from this picture.



However, it is out of stock. So I call babystyle.com yesterday and ask them if they are going to get some more in. The customer care agent said, "No...unfortunately we are not going to be ordering that item again....We've been getting a lot of requests for that." To that I responded," So, you're saying that you are not going to order it again (even though you are getting a lot of requests for this item)?' "No...(nervous and confused laughter follows)." So that makes a lot of sense, right? Anyway, if anyone sees this chair, please let us know....it is a vital piece of our nursery...ok, its not that dramatic, but it would be really nice in there.

Let's see what else is going on? Oh yeah, Hardy ate Grumpy Bear's face. I don't want to discuss it any further :(

Ok, here is Rebecca from the last 2 weeks:

Week 26



Week 27



Week 28

(Haven't taken it yet---tomorrow)


Doesn't she look great?

Well, that is all for now.....

SEE YA LATER

She Ain't Heavy...

Well, I think we are now in the third trimester, if not then we will be on Saturday. Anyway, I bring this up because Rebecca is starting to lose all of that wonderful 2nd trimester energy. For example, the other night as Rebecca and I were going to bed I asked her, "can I get you anything?" She replied, "could you just carry her for a day?" Well, of course everyone knows that I can't--I haven't grown a proper uterus, but that is besides the point.

The question as rhetorical as it was got me thinking about how easy of a part the guys play in the pregnancy. I mean our main duty in the process is at the very beginning and is actually pretty fun [Truffle, when you read this in the future, I am sorry for the picture of your parents that I have put into your head :( ]. However, I guess our continuing duty is to provide support (both emotional and physical). The physical support is easy. Help her up when she sits on the floor, help her pick up things when she drops them, tell her what color shoes that she is actually wearing--you know, easy stuff. The emotional support can be harder. One area that I have tried to work on is how I respond to her. Emotional support can come in the form of not making rude comments---for example: when she sits on the sofa next to you, don't jump up on the air like you have been thrown off and yell "whooooa". Also if your pregnant wife wears red and says that she looks like the Kool-Aid man, don't immediately say "Oh Yeah!" These are just a few examples----everyone feel free to write in and give me others so that I can be a better husband.

Updates---the little girl is kicking up a storm these days. She particulary enjoys when I read to her and Rebecca at night. I actually felt her "move" for the first time the other night. Let me clarify---I have been feeling her kick and punch for a little while, but the other night was the first time that I actually felt a large entity "slide" across Rebecca's belly from one position to another. That was pretty cool.

Also, Hardy has been getting some needed time with infants these days. We would like to thank Nathan and Katie for agreeing to be guinea babies with Hardy. I am happy to report that although Hardy was very interested in both babies, all he wanted to do was sniff and lick them. I am very happy with the test results. Hopefully, test subjects Nathan and Katie will come back soon and we can go into phase II of our test plan----isolation---Hardy and the babies by themselves. We will see how both the babies and the dog respond when left unattended together for several minutes. I'm very interested in how this test will turn out.

Also, if you would like to write in and give me suggestions on how I can help "ease Rebecca's load", that would be awesome--I'm betting she would appreciate it as well. Talk to you soon.

Does God Endorse the Metric System?

Hi all,

Today as I was driving home from my wife's doctor's appointment, I thought of something--I believe that the metric system must be better than the imperial system, in fact, I think it is heavenly endorsed. Here is my rationale: After about 20 weeks, practitioners will measure a woman's fundal height to see "how far along they are." For women that are not overweight and have not popped out too many kids, the fundal height in centimeters (a metric unit) is compatible with number of weeks of pregnancy. For example, at 21 weeks, 5 days, Rebecca measured 22 cm. Today at 25 weeks, 4 days, she measured 26 centimeters. At 30 weeks, we expect that she will measure at 30 centimeters and so on and so....This correlation is well known and doctors/midwives/practitioners actually get a bit concerned if one does not "measure" within 2 cm of one's current date. Therefore, it is obvious to me---if something as awe-inspiring and complicated as growing and forming a human life uses the metric system, then goodbye "slugs", "foot-pounds, "bushels", "pecks", and "pounds" and hello "Newtons", "meters", "pascals", and "kilos".

Now some updating. Rebecca's appointment went well today. The doctor was very pleased with her progress. All of her stats--blood pressure, weight, and FUNDAL HEIGHT were normal and looking good. The baby's heart sounded great----it went something like this: thump, thump, thump, thump, thump....

Ok, we have made some progress on the nursery. We cleared out pretty much everything in the former guest room and moved in some of the baby's stuff. On Friday I put together the crib with the help of Rebecca and Hardy. It is pretty sweet. Take a look:



Other things that come to mind--hmmmm----oh yeah, last week we received the first baby gift from our registry. It is great. The baby will have tons of fun playing with all of its little parts. I bet she will spend hours and hours on it, climbing all around and seeing what kind of noises it makes. Thanks Joe, Heather, McKenna, Kyle, Nick, and Ryan!



Oh, this is not what you sent us??? Well, this is what was in the box when I got my camera---Rebecca is now telling me that this is not a Baby Einstein activity center, but in fact, a siberian husky. I hope that the receipt is inside the box b/c we already have a siberian husky and we do not need a second one.

Well, I think I will go to bed now. Just so you know--as I write this Hardy is having a dream beside me and he growling at something????

So that I can catch up, here are week 24 and 25 pics of Rebecca:

Where Did I Go?

Sorry that I haven't posted for some time :(