Myrtle Beach with Calvin

A few weeks ago Paul and I decided that it would be a good idea to go to the Tanger Outlet Mall in Myrtle beach to buy me some postpartum clothes since I was no longer able to keep my maternity pants up and my old jeans were still too tight.  I love outlet malls and the beach so it sounded awesome.  It wasn't.

Calvin hates the car for some reason and cried almost the whole day.  We got some dirty looks in Banana Republic as I hurriedly carried his screaming head out of the dressing room, followed by Paul and our humungous stroller.  Calvin also gets really scared at loud noises and screamed his head off when I was changing his diaper in the mall bathroom and someone dared to dry their hands with an electric drier.  Poor baby.

When we got down to the beach after shopping Calvin managed to fall asleep in the stroller so we did get to enjoy the boardwalk a little.  It was pretty cloudy.

The drive home took us more than 3 hours because we had to stop and soothe him practically every 5 minutes. 

On the bright side, I now have jeans that fit me and a pretty cute top to wear with them.  And I think (3 weeks later) that we might be figuring out how to keep Calvin from freaking out in the car.  Maybe.

Sumter County Fair

Calvin has had his fair share of outings for being such a little guy.  He's been to several restaurants, grocery shopping, out to Swan Lake, to church, and just this weekend we took him to the fair!  Yup, it's fair season again!  Talk about sensory overload for the little babe!  There were so many sounds, sites, and smells to take in but he handled it like a champ. 

Paul and I had a good time as well!  This time around we bought deep-fried Oreos and deep-fried Rice Krispie Treats.  I wasn't a fan of the Oreo but I looooooved the Rice Krispie Treat.  I think it was even better than the deep-fried Reeses that we tried last year at the State Fair.

We thoroughly enjoyed walking the midway, perusing the exhibits, and seeing all of the animals.  Calvin is always really good when we take him out but I think he especially liked the fair.


And for those craving more news about the little guy . . . He really likes being swaddled and rocked.  He also loves being outside.  At his appointment last week he weighed 10 lbs 14 oz, and I'm sure he's gained a ton since then.  He likes his bath only every other time and he's losing some of his hair.  He also tricks us into thinking he's responding to or smiling at us when in reality he's just filling his pants.  We love being his parents though and feel lucky that he's fitting into our lives so nicely!

20 days

Calvin will be 3 weeks old tomorrow.  It is hard to believe that 3 weeks have gone by since he was born and it has sure been an interesting 3 weeks so far!  My mom and dad were here, then Paul's mom was here, and we've had numerous visitors and several outings already.  Paul's been back to work so I've had 3 days alone with Calvin and I have a feeling we are going to get along just fine. 

I took this video of Calvin yesterday right after we had some tummy time.  He is so darn cute and tiny I can't believe it. 

 

 And for your amusement here's a picture of him going crazy for his fist:

 And one of him with his I-think-I've-had-too-much-to-drink face:

We love him so much!

Baby Boy

Our baby Calvin Paul made it to us on Friday, August 24th, 2012.  He was 8 lbs 10 oz and 21.5 inches long.  It was 8:43 in the morning. 

 

He is the sweetest thing and Paul and I love him immensely! We are so grateful to have him in our lives and feel so lucky that he made it to us safe and sound.  All I want to do now is kiss his cheeks over and over again.

Almost There!

39.5 weeks along and I feel like a lucky lady.  I haven't had any back pain and I'm moving around relatively comfortably considering my size.  The worst symptoms in my 3rd trimester hardly compare to the misery that was morning sickness.  Maybe this is my body trying to trick me into thinking my pregnancy was easy . . . 

My biggest complaint right now is the all-over itching, which has been going on about 2 weeks.  The second worst thing is the swelling of hands, ankles, feet, and face (which is why you only get to see my belly in this picture), but honestly those things are very manageable.  I would add heartburn in there as well except that I discovered the miracle of Zantac and have been heartburn free for about 6 weeks.  yay! 

So, I'm feeling pretty good and feeling ready for baby to come!  2 days until my due date!

21, 25, 28, 31, 35, 36 weeks

 

And I think I'm still getting bigger!
Click on the picture to see it bigger!

It's a boy!

and I totally had Paul convinced it was a girl.

and we no longer have to call the baby "it"!

The ultrasound was more fun than I expected.  He (hehe) was positioned with his feet up by his head so we got a clear shot of his tiny baby feet (that will soon wear tiny baby socks.  baby socks are SO CUTE).  He was also holding his tiny hands in tiny fists.  He has all his fingers and toes.

We also saw his heart (all 4 chambers) beating at 150 bpm, his brain, spine, stomach, and yes, his parts.  We also got a nice view of his face and he looked like a creepy alien.  I'm sure he'll turn out cuter after a few more weeks.  He is 15 oz, so a little ahead of schedule, but everything looks good!

I feel very lucky and super excited!  Hopefully 19 weeks will be enough time to pick out a name!  In the meantime I'm painting his room blue!

Baby News

Well, since I posted it on Facebook I guess it has been officially announced: I'm pregnant!  There's a baby in the oven!  Alert!  Alert!

I am 16 weeks now, due on August 16th.  And for those of you who want TMI on how I'm feeling, read on!

Morning sickness was a big fat bother until about week 14, and since it's over let's just forget about it.

Now that the nausea/vomiting has subsided and I'm into trimester 2 my only complaints are that I have to go to the bathroom all the time (all the time, people) and that my arms fall completely asleep (completely) when I sleep on my back.  Also, I have fiery heartburn.  And I feel like I'm hungry all the time, but that's not really a complaint, eating is fun.  Other than all that I feel awesome.  There's a baby in me.  It's weird.  and exciting.

My bump isn't quite a bump yet.  I can tell it's there and my jeans can tell it's there but I'm sure no one else can tell if I don't want them to.  So no "bump" pictures yet.  I'm actually still at my pre-pregnancy weight because of the morning sickness.

At about week 7 we got an ultrasound and got to see the tiny speck that was the baby.  That was when I finally understood why people like to post their ultrasound pictures online for everyone to see.  To anyone else it's just another weird, black and white baby profile, but to the parents it's a weird, black and white baby profile of their baby.  So yeah, I sent that picture of my speck baby to its grandparents ASAP.

The internet says the baby is an avocado now.  or a starfruit.  and I'm thinking we should pick a name out of all the fruits it becomes when it's growing.  I personally like Prune for a boy and Rutabaga for a girl.  Or maybe the other way around?

Yes, we are going to find out the baby's gender around 20 weeks.  I'm not sure what I think it is though.  At first I thought it might be a girl, then Paul convinced me it was going to be a boy, but now I'm back to thinking it's a girl.  But it doesn't really matter to me.  What do you think?

If we didn't find out the gender I don't think the baby would have a name for months.  We're having a tough time coming up with names we actually like.  Mostly we just come up with names we know we won't use and laugh about how funny it would be to use them.  Top picks include Champion, Thor, Boonter, Zarblat, Leonard, and Sheldon.  If you have any suggestions (real or funny) we'd be happy to hear!

And, well, that's that.  The alert has been sounded!