My first baby purchase

I don't believe there is anyone who doesn't revel in getting the mail each day. The only exception might be my Grandma Pete, who receives no less than 100 catalogues a week. The rest of us look forward to sifting through the bills to get to the good stuff like the late Fall Pottery Barn issue, coupons, or the occasional invitation, letter or card from a friend. I admit I'm no exception and I love that somehow I've been magically added to the mailing lists of Baby Style and Pottery Barn Kids (we recycle after their use.)

This week I arrived home to find my first Pottery Barn Kids catalogue waiting for me. I didn't actually open the catalogue until Friday evening, primarily because PB is so expensive, but I flipped through (past the kid stuff) to the baby section in the back. There it was, the Pottery Barn Ultimate Diaper Bag. Instinctively I envisioned myself pushing the stroller, purse on one arm and this bag on the other. I'm not much of a "girly" girl and like a clean, simple look so to me this was the perfect find. Add to that the fact that it was on sale for only $39.99 and how could I turn it down? I did wait a day, thinking I would wait for Tage to get home so I could ask his opinion, then I realized he absolutely could not care less about our baby's diaper bag and would be just as content strolling about town with a large Barney and Friends purple and green tote.

So last night I called PB and ordered the bag, only to discover that it was not available. They were sold out and not making any more. The representative offered to look to see if any stores in my area still had the bag in stock. Not only were there no stores in Spokane (not really shocking) that still had the bag, but no stores on the West coast! I was given the number for two, yes TWO Pottery Barns locations that were still showing they had the bag in stock. The first store, in Massachusetts, showed as having three but alas, they were sold out. The only other store the PB computer reported the bag being in stock was in New Jersey and they supposedly had seven. I placed a call to New Jersey and sure enough, they had one left. ONE! They took my credit card number and the black Pottery Barn Ultimate Diaper Bag is on it's way. Further research showed me these bags were already a hot item on eBay as they were "no longer available" from Pottery Barn. Who knew?

Here is a link to this coveted item, in case you're interested: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/sw1220/index.cfm

24 Weeks

As you can tell from the picture, my belly is growing steadily. The doctor told me today after measuring from the public bone to the top of the uterus that our little guy is content in taking up as much room inside my torso as possible. He has yet to extend himself outward a significant amount so it really just looks like I have a thick waist.

While my Bella Band is still performing miracles on my work pants, I broke down and purchased a pair of maternity jeans from Gap online and a couple of tops. Why don't women wear these things all the time?! They are amazingly comfortable although since I barely have a belly to keep them up they sag a bit after a while. Since I don't think there are any men who read this blog I'll share one other little purchase I had to make and that was a new bra. I thought it was fantastic until the helpful Victoria's Secret clerk finally convinced me to let her take my measurements (after asking her to continually bring me an assortment of sizes and styles) and I discovered I now wear a bra size I NEVER would have imagined. Not only that, but my breasts now sag. For someone who has never had breasts large enough to sag, I have to admit I'm finding this part of the pregnancy bittersweet. From what I hear, it's all downhill from here in that area (so to say.)

We do have a baby shower update. Tage and I will both be home the weekend of January 16-18. My incredibly talented and thoughtful girlfriends have taken charge and you should expect an invitation in the near future. In the meantime save the date. Tage is in Iowa until Sunday visiting family, hunting pheasant, and mostly golfing, but when he gets home we'll finish our registry at Target. Remember, suggestions are always encouraged and appreciated. :)

One last thing to share, I have been able to feel the baby moving for a couple of weeks now but before he left Tage confirmed that he could feel movement when he placed his hand on my belly. It was an awesome experience for both of us and I was thrilled to be able to share something tangible with Tage. There is no doubt this child is Tage's but now we have evidence... the baby responds most actively after I eat any kind of cheese and especially chocolate (just like his dad.) Surprise Tage with a package of mini chocolate donuts and you'll see what I mean.

We'll share more as we go, I can't believe we're already at six months. February will be here before we know it.

P.S. Astro is doing well although he has missed getting to play with Tage this week. Thankfully he gets me up in the morning to take him for a walk so I'm guaranteed exercise 5 day a week whether I like it or not!

Astro

Our newest addition...

21 Weeks Photo

Frustratingly between maternity clothes and my own...

Ultrasound Pictures

Baby's profile

Another profile picture
4D view of his head and arms

Ultrasound pictures are difficult to make out anyway, and these are photographs of the ultrasound pictures so I won't blame you if you can't make them out.

21 Weeks

To help us practice for the baby, we adopted a puppy last weekend! There were 40 dogs seized from a home in Spokane and brought to the animal shelter the weekend before so we thought it couldn't hurt to at least go see and play with them. There were several puppies, a few of which were friendly and sociable, and a couple that weren't. The particular puppy we were drawn to had the saddest eyes out of all of them and wouldn't come out from beneath a bench in the kennel. That was enough for us to want to give him a loving home. We were sure the other sociable pups would find homes. We don't have a name for him yet; I am leaning toward "Chicken" but Tage isn't a fan of that name. The sad-eyed dog is about 3 months old, weighs 34 pounds, and is some type of German Shepard mix. We anticipate he is going to be quite a large animal!

We've been careful in trying to potty train him since until we find a kennel he is going to be an indoor dog. So far he has only had one accident (good training in preparation for a child.) Saturday night Sad Dog nearly drove Tage crazy with his howling and whining when we put him to bed in his crate downstairs (again, more good training as we prepare for a baby.) He has become much more playful and obedient in the two short days we've had him, although on our walk yesterday we discovered he does not yet play well with others. Sad Dog is nervous around other people and does not hesitate to growl ferociously and bark at other (much larger) dogs. It makes for a lot of explanation, "He was rescued from an abusive home and is still not well socialized..." What you really want to say is, "Please don't think I'm a bad mom because my dog is barking at you!" More lessons learned to prepare me for actually being a mother I suppose.

On the baby front, I can feel the little guy moving around quite a bit now. I can only compare it to the butterflies you get in your stomach when you're on a rollercoaster that drops suddenly. He is particularly active in the evenings when he hears Tage's voice. It is an incredibly strange feeling... for those of you who have been through this, do you ever get used to it?

Thanks to Taina (Tage's sister) Baby Valone is enrolled in preschool! Ms. Betsy's class in our hometown neighborhood is highly sought after, I'm told, and Taina suggested I call now to get him on the list. She was right! Ms. Betsy (who could not have been sweeter and more excited for me on the phone) explained that she only accepts 16 toddlers and that our little guy is already #8 on the list for the class of 2012. Add that to the list of things I never expected to do in 2008...

I promise to upload some pictures this evening (after yoga of course) so check back.

20 Weeks

Today was our second ultrasound during which we found out Baby Valone's gender... it's a boy! Tage had a dream Tuesday night that it was a boy so he wasn't surprised. Most of our friends and family, however, suspected it was a girl so I was a little shocked. When I asked the technician how she could tell she replied, "He has parts!" We were prepared with a girl name we liked... now back to the drawing board.

The baby is growing just fine and all systems appeared healthy and in proper working order. We counted 10 fingers on each hand but he was too squirmy for us to count the toes. We came away with a roll of ultrasound pictures (most of which are unidentifiable) but the good ones we'll attempt to upload so everyone can see. We got to see his profile clearly and Tage says the baby has my mom's nose.

Now for the fun part in picking out registry items! We actually went to Target last night to check out strollers and car seats and found ourselves a bit overwhelmed. We could certainly use all of the experience and expertise of those of you who have done this before so please feel free to share those items (or contraptions) you love or hate. I think we've chosen a stroller and car seat... but do you really have a need for a play pen, bath tub, baby monitor, vibrating chair, swing, baby wipe warmer, and the miriad of other assorted baby paraphernalia???

I suppose many people have done this successfully before us and will continue to long after us and we have significantly more resources available to us than our parents had so we should be just fine. Right?

Now that the best part of the pregnancy is here (at least that's what I'm told) I'll be better about writing more often. Here's to being half way there!

How many days until February 24th?