Monday, December 29, 2008

A Short Nap after Dinner


There’s nothing sweeter than a babe snuggling in the arms of her daddy just hanging out except maybe falling asleep while doing it. I’m not sure who fell asleep first but they sure were plumb tuckered out after dinner. It was so cute, they were both snoring too. Sweet dreams my sweets . . .

Saturday, December 27, 2008

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas . . .


And Claire got pink jammies with Hippos in jammies on them. Claire was surprising good at opening presents. I didn’t think she would get it at all but she was opening presents like she had done it before. Hazel got red jammies with sheep on them. She went to bed like a good girl but was very excited for Santa to visit.

And he did! Hazel was the first one to the stockings and was very excited too.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Progress Report: T-10 minutes ‘til Christmas


The stockings were hung by the chimney with care . . . So as you can see not everything on the list was completed . . . here is the progress report.

1. Complete
2. Complete
3. Complete – UPDATE – thought they all went in the post that day but we found a handful of them that didn’t make it. Not sure how that happened but doesn’t really surprise me anymore.
4. Complete as it is going to get.
5. In Progress – Have most things together but need to find time to deliver. Happy New Year’s gifts maybe?
6. Complete
7. Complete
8. Not Complete as shown with photo above. Literally had to hang her own stockings by the chimney.
9. Not Complete – There’s always Christmas Day.
10. In Progress – Not any further than last post.

So I better get to bed so Santa can visit. Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Baby Monitor Theatre . . .

Okay, I'm sitting at the computer and my sweet husband is feeding and putting Claire down for the night in the nursery. I can hear him over the baby monitor telling her sweet little things, rocking her, singing and general merriment. And then I hear "Now Claire, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your father and you can't pick your father's nose." Oh the things a girl should know . . .

UPDATE: I was just summoned to the nursery and I said "So you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your father and you can't pick your father's nose?" and he said

"No, that isn't what I said. I said "you can pick your nose, and you can pick your father's nose but you you can't pick your father."

"Okay" I giggle.

"Wait, there's more, stop laughing these are important life lessons here. Then I told her "You can pick your nose, and you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your friends' noses." What? these are things she needs to know."

I am laughing at this point.

"What?" he says.

"Nothing, very sweet."

I then left the room before I got a chance to ask what he said to do about Mommy's nose. I think he will let me know once he reads this post . . .

Progress Report: T-2 days ‘til Christmas

Time is getting close and the list is still not complete. I think having this public is helping keep the fire under me going to get it all done.
1. Complete – We went to see Santa Claus today. She seemed to like him just fine. She told him what she wanted for Christmas, I hope he understands baby!
2. Complete – Please see previous post
3. Complete – went in the post today!
4. Further Along – Mike went shopping today. Just a few more things to get . . . or not if we don’t do it soon.
5. In Progress – Still need to get everything together and find time to deliver it.
6. In Progress – But not any further than last post.
7. Complete – Sunday was yesterday . . .
8. In Progress – Knitted a dozen rows or so yesterday but still have a long ways to go.
9. Not Complete – Didn’t get a chance to try to get someone to take one yesterday. Maybe on Christmas?
10. In Progress – Finished purchasing said presents, again just need to find the time to deliver them.

Off to knit! I hope to get to the heel tonight.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Progress Report: T-4 days ‘til Christmas

Things are looking up and items on the "Things that must be done" are starting to be accomplished.

  1. Not complete – went to mall sans daughter and tried to scope out Santa (husband said he saw him and he waived at him, he was happy) but he was on break when we went by. Hunh . . .
  2. Complete - We have a picture of Claire in a Christmasy situation and prints have been made and they are in envelopes as we speak.
  3. Almost Complete – Aforementioned envelopes also contain Christmas cards. They are address and stamped but still sitting on the coffee table. Will be mailed tomorrow or Monday.
  4. Further along – We did some shopping on Friday that furthered the progress on the list. Yay!
  5. In Progress – We did a lot of cooking/baking today and we have many of the goodies prepared. There was actually a lot of melting involved . . . wonder what you call that, well besides melting.
  6. In Progress – Quite a few presents have been wrapped but there are still plenty to go. Mainly oddly shaped and small items – the not as fun ones.
  7. Complete – or as complete as it is going to get. Kind of went along with number five.
  8. Not complete – I haven't had a chance to knit on it for several days. I might have to start staying up late at night to complete. But I don't know how to turn the heel so I must have my mother help me.
  9. Not complete – Maybe someone will be nice and snap a shot of us tomorrow and it will be suitable for framing. A girl can dream, can't she?
  10. In Progress – We had brunch at some sweet friends of ours today and we took a hostess present and a present for Claire's friend, Kate. Claire's first Christmas present to give! And I think she quite liked it. Anyway, we have begun and will probably be doing so for a while to come.

 

Progress report complete - I hope to have more to report in the near future.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Ack! Christmas is a week away!

Ok, so I am trying to "post more often" and I am going crazy in the meantime. Not because of the posting but just because of life in general. Christmas is a week from today. TODAY! Ack! (involuntary eye twitch) and I am in no way ready. One, I have a four month old baby that takes all of my free time (this is not a bad thing; I just need to either A. Her go to sleep at 8:00 or B.Get three more hours in the day) Two, I am a woman, mother, wife, daughter, employee. (the other night I was going over what we had for whom with my husband (who has yet to purchase a present) and I was going over the fifth or sixth person on the list and he looked up at me with that "what? Are you talking to me?" look and said "Who, what" and I said "Your Mother! I am going over the list of things that I have gotten for Your Mother." I think he is finally clued in to the fact that Christmas is next week and the crazy lady with the list might need some help. I could have smacked him! (for all of those who know us, you know I have a wonderful husband and really couldn't ask for anything more - I just have to hit the reset button every so often))

Anyway, so I am going to post my high priority list of "Things that must be done" publicly and maybe they will be completed for fear of public embarrassment.

  1. Take Claire to see a Real Santa. (We had a pic at Bedford's but that was really just a fall back plan)
  2. Get said pictures or some nice Christmasy picture printed multiple times.
  3. Send out Christmas Cards (or at this point, quite possibly Happy New Year cards).
  4. Complete my Christmas Shopping.
  5. Make and distribute gifts for our two neighbors (that we know/like).
  6. Wrap the presents in something other than the sack it came in.
  7. Bake/Cook for parents' house on Sunday.
  8. Finish knitting Claire's Stocking.
  9. Take a family portrait.
  10. Visit friends and deliver presents.

So stay tuned to see how far this wild ride spirals. Wish me luck and any help with the list is appreciated. 

Monday, December 15, 2008

Claire updates

I shall list the wonderful and fabulous things that Claire has been up to lately for everyone’s entertainment and admiration . . .

Things she is ahead of the curve on . . .

She is a very happy baby. (She smiles and laughs and just likes to be happy. She’ll be crying for you in her crib and as soon as you pop your head into view she stops and just smiles and does her happy dance – btw, I think she might be a tap dancer one of these days. Oh and we rarely catch this on film. As soon as we get the camera out she gets a curious/skeptical look on her face. I think she thinks the camera is going to steal her soul or something . . . the one here is a rarity)

She has a tooth! (Well sort of, it is not a traditional first tooth nor in the right place and you can’t see it, but it has been around for a while and so she is terribly advanced for her age.)

She blows raspberries! (Well she is trying really hard to – she sticks her tongue out and blows and gets spit everywhere so she is well on her way of a full blown raspberry.)

She makes very loud annoying sounds. (We are thrilled about this one – she likes to make that “I’m gasping for air and making loud high-pitched sounds in the process” one the best. We hope this is a phase. We are pretty sure she is going to be an early talker for as much as she vocalizes. Yakety yak, yakety yak)

She fake coughs. (Mike and I are convinced that she does this from time to time. Silly little girly.)

She grabs for things and gets them. (She has been good at holding toys and whacking at things are a long time but now she is reaching and grabbing for things herself. Her favorite thing after toys? Noses and the spoon.)

She tries to sit up. (She is always trying to pull herself up into a sitting position and can sit up well when propped or in her Bebe Pod (like a Bumbo)

She is really good at growing fingernails. (Her fingernails grow a mile every two days and I can’t keep them trimmed fast enough before she has scratched herself again. Ack! I hate trimming her nails but I do at least twice a week if not more than that but those suckers can grow. I asked her if she just wanted to let me grow and be like that guy in Guinness Book of World Records but she just blew a raspberry at me so I took that as a no.)

Here are some recent pictures -


Claire's First Thanksgiving


Claire's First Meal


Claire's first (and hopefully only) Centerfold

Home Sick

So I guess it is going to take my being home sick to update the blog. I think one of my resolutions is going to be to post more often . . . define more often. Once a week would do it at this point . . . I hope it is more often then that. Claire is doing so many fab things! I need to be more like my friend Jen. She posts to her blog "Meet the McFamily" practically daily. And puts up current pics of her new daughter, Caroline, just one week younger than Claire all the time. She is a super blogger. I strive to be somewhere between the two of us.

So while being home sick sounds like it would be all fun and stuff I am afraid it hasn't been. I have a cold and my head really hurts. I dare say that Hazel is enjoying my being home sans Claire. (Mike's folks kept her today so he could study and I could rest) This is the first day I have been home alone or at least without child since she was born. Too bad I feel like poop. I haven't done anything but wallow in my sickiness. So since I don't have my child here with me, the sicko that I am I am going to blog about her instead, but in another much nicer post. Stay tuned . . .

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Where has all the time gone?

Claire is now seventeen weeks old and I don't know where all of the time has gone. I am about at the point where I don't remember life without her (except when I realize I really miss doing nothing – alone) but I don't know where all the time has gone. Thanksgiving is Thursday and I keep thinking it is September. I have tried for three days to order something on the internet and finally succeed last night only because of internet cookies remembering what I put in my shopping cart from shopping cart contents from the nights I tried before. I don't know how in the world I am ever going to shop for Christmas. I thought the internet was going to be my saving grace but please see a few sentences back. So my apologies ahead of time if everyone gets cash. And I still haven't gotten a picture of my daughter in her Halloween costume. One of these days it isn't going to fit! And I still need to knit her Christmas stocking . . . kaplewie . . . I think my head just exploded.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Stories from the pump

So I went "upstairs" at work (the lactation room) and was about to assume the position when I realized I hadn't cleaned my parts from the morning run. So I quickly gathered my things and hustled down to the 5th floor restroom and proceeded to clean them. I have a bag that nukes them once I have them rinsed which sanitizes them. So I came out of the bathroom and went directly to the microwave and had to kind of go around a woman that wasn't really paying attention or using the microwave, just blocking it and start nuking them. She immediately looks at me and says "What's that." I'm thinking "lady, you really don't want to know and you are just going to get embarrassed." So I say softly and quickly "breast pump parts." And she looks at me like she didn't understand/hear me and says "what?" and I repeat a little more loudly "Breast pump parts." And she gave me a funny look of confusion and says "What!?!?!" And I say "BREAST PUMP PARTS" and the next thing I knew I was making milking motions and sounds. And she says "Oh, I didn't know what you were saying, I thought it was one of those new bag meals like I've seen on TV." ugh.

Why would you ask someone who just came out of the bathroom with a bag and put it directly into the microwave what it was? Who wants to know that badly? If anything I would probably just never use the microwave again.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Things I’ve learned in the past fifteen weeks . . .

1. If the baby has gone to sleep, don’t wait up thinking she is going to wake up at any time because that is the night that she is going to sleep through the night starting at 8:45. (and this is quite possibly the night that the dog throws-up at two o’clock in the morning)

2. There is a difference in diapers.

3. Shout! gets out more stains than you would think.

4. You have more interest in another person's constitution than you ever thought possible. AND you sometimes call your spouse to come look for a second opinion or just to witness whatever it is that you just discovered in the diaper. (Don't let Mike tell you any different, we have both coming running) This also gives more credence to number two above. (no pun intended)

5. Your child will wear the same outfit three times in one week simply because the unfolded laundry is handier than walking five feet to the closet of perfectly good and new clothes.

6. You will run the dishwasher and the washing machine/dryer more than you have your entire married life.

7. That you will probably never complete most any task that you once did in one sitting like say a top ten list . . .

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

If I'm the Queen of Halloween, shouldn't that make Claire the Princess?

Well, our Halloween wasn't all that I imagined and hoped for. Much to my horror, my child did not like her costume. She had a hissy fit when we put the head part on her. Isn't this her birth right? To love Halloween? To relish in the magic and mischief of the night (season). She did like our decorations in the house and loved wearing her Halloweenie themed outfits but she wouldn't have it with the costume. Sooo, much to my chagrin, we do not have a cute picture of Claire the Hippopotamus. Yes, I got a Hippopotamus for Halloween, sort of. So call me a mean mommy if you will, we are going to keep trying on the costume until I get my picture! This is my daughter's first Halloween and I am getting a picture worth framing! Hazel on the other hand has been a very good sport about her costume.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Good Weekend

We had a good weekend. Mike was home the whole weekend and I think Hazel was happy to have us home. Hazel went to the vet Saturday morning for her itching. For those of you who don’t know, she has been scratching for far too long for not having fleas. So we finally decided it was time for the shot they told us to get if it didn’t get better. So she got her shot and some antibiotics and new pills for fleas instead of the Frontline stuff. She hasn’t been scratching nearly as much so hopefully this will work well for her.

Claire was a sweetie all weekend but I think this new schedule that we are trying to put her on is beginning to get to her. Hopefully she will adjust soon. I looked at her yesterday afternoon and it looked like she has dark shadows under her eyes.  I know she probably isn’t getting enough sleep but it isn’t from lack of trying on our part! We love her so much.

Mike and I got a few things done while Claire was sleeping on Saturday so that was nice. We are getting rid of the recliner in the living room that Mike’s folks lent us use while I was pregnant. That has loosened some of the furniture situation up a bit (thank goodness). Maybe we’ll be able to have a Christmas tree! Woohoo!

Friday, October 24, 2008

We're baaack!

We're back. We are going to start posting again. I started work this week and my friends were giving me the business since I abandoned the blog. It isn't that I didn't want to do it but it was part time and part sanity or lack there of. I can't imagine the posts if I had written them after the up til 4 a.m. nights . . . or while I was up til 4 a.m.

So here is a brief update – Claire is here and is 12 ½ weeks old. She is a growing girl and is now pretty much the same size as other babies her age. The doctor did tell her she was a little tall and a little plumper than what the rest are her age but I told her that if she was anything like Mommy, then that would be her life story, welcome to the world. But she is getting more alert and coordinated and beautiful everyday. She smiles when she likes the things she sees and even giggles a bit now. She bats at the toys on her baby gym and likes to swing. She is a good sleeper and pooper and just an all around good baby and a delight to have around. Who knew a crying, pooping, tinkling, eating, sleeping machine (at any given time) could bring so much love and joy into our lives.

Now that I am back to work she is staying with our folks. Two days with my folks and threeish days with Mike's folks. I think Hazel had mixed feelings about my going back to work. On the one hand that thing that Mommy & Daddy brought home that likes to cry all night isn't there during the day anymore and she can get back to her routine. And on the other hand, her days aren't nearly as exciting and Mommy isn't home. The life of a dog.

More to come, we promise!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Claire Elaine is Here!

Well she made it! Claire Elaine Deal Hassler was born July 29th at 10:07 a.m. via Cesarean Section. She is 10 pounds and 2 ounces and 22¼ inches long. I think this confirms it; I really was carrying a watermelon. She was the biggest one around until today when someone pushed out a 10 pound 13 ounce toddler. I can’t even imagine. So far everything is going well. I am on the mend. Today ended up pretty well physically but everyone keeps telling me it is third day that really gets you. We shall see what tomorrow brings . . .

Claire on the other hand is still in the neonatal ICU because of her blood sugar. Basically towards the end of the pregnancy she was getting too much sugar from me and not enough insulin so her little pancreas took care of it. Now that she is out and not getting any sugars from me her pancreas is producing too much insulin and her blood sugar is too low. They are working with her to get her numbers up and we are hopeful it will be sooner than later. Once this is all taken care of it shouldn’t be an issue in the future. So keep your fingers crossed that she gets to go home with me on Friday.

Mike is doing well too. He really likes being a Daddy. I am not so sure how much he likes being my primary care provider at the moment but he does anything I need without complaint. I couldn’t have done any of this without him (so true in so many ways).

Monday, July 28, 2008

The Baby is Coming, the Baby is Coming!

Well in case you haven’t heard, the baby is coming tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. We found out last week and have been scrambling to get ourselves prepared. Big surprise, we still aren’t but I don’t know that we have a choice at this point.

I have to have a cesarean section. When they measured her last Monday they thought she was coming in at ten pounds and one ounce. Quite the big beauty. So the best option for all involved is to have a c-section. We go to the doctor again this morning for one last check. So . . . I suppose Baby Girl Deal Hassler is going to be born sometime during the nine o’clock hour tomorrow morning. Ahhhh!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Baby - Week 37

Not much to report this week except that she is full term! Woohoo! All should be well if she were to be birthed any day now. She is around 6 1/3 pounds and measures the same as a stalk of Swiss Chard (a little more than 19 inches long). Let’s hope she holds out for at least another week or it might be difficult to make it to Uncle Lance’s wedding (we will find a way but still being on maternity leave would make things _much_ easier). If she makes it to her due date then I wouldn’t have to go back until the Monday after Halloween – and we all know that would make a happy Mommy.

First Weekly Visit

I had my first weekly appointment this week. I don’t believe I was quite prepared for the visit. Zounds! And lucky me I get to do it again next week! Anyway, long story short, she hasn’t dropped. We will have an ultrasound next week to see how big she is. He also wants to make sure she hasn’t dropped because her head is too big to make it through. Eek! More to report after Monday!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

The Baby - Week 36

Ok, I thought she felt like she was larger than a honeydew melon. I was a week behind in posting somehow. So she is actually the size of a crenshaw melon which means she is about 6 pounds and 18½ inches. Still seems a bit small for as cramped as we both feel. She is losing her downy covering of hair and her vernix caseosa (a waxy substance that covers and protects her skin while she is in the amniotic fluid.

At the end of this week she will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Woohoo! Her birthday is near!

The Baby - Week 35

So Baby Girl Deal Hassler isn’t a watermelon yet but a honeydew melon. Could have fooled me! She is about 5¼ pounds and 18 inches long. Most of her basic physical development is now complete and will start trying to put on an ounce a day until she is born. She is pretty snug in there and can’t do as many somersaults but she sure can still move and get the hiccups!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Baby - Week 34

Baby Girl Deal Hassler is now about the size of an average cantaloupe (about 4 ¾ pounds). Of all the melons to be the size of, cantaloupe is not the one I would have thought. Large watermelon comes to mind more than cantaloupe. I wonder if that is why I have been eating so much of it lately. I do believe she is almost 18 inches long – how long are watermelons?

Her fat layers are continuing to fill out – rounding her out and making her skin smoother. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well.

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Baby - Week 33

This week the baby has finally broken the four pound mark – about the size of a pineapple. She has also passed the 17-inch mark which I beg to differ; I think she has to be longer than that for the places she seems to hit/kick at the same time. Her skeleton is hardening (and I am still drinking milk and eating other dairy like it is going out of style) but her skull bones won't fuse until after she is born (early adulthood so her brain and other tissue can grow) so she can more easily make it through the birth canal. Some of babies even come out like Coneheads because of the pressure of birth. Let's see, we have already established she will probably have a fairly big noggin so I am guessing I will have a Conehead baby for a few days. Maybe she will speak French ("We come from France")

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Heavens to Mergatroid!

I ran across this article tonight and got a bit freaked out.

NC 'Big twins' tip scales at a combined 23 pounds

Evidently the lady birthed a combine weight of 23 pounds 1 ounce with her twins. And the girl was the 12+ pounder. Oh help me! I know I don't there is only one, but still WOW. For those of you who have seen me, you know this can’t be a small baby . . . lets just hope we don’t set any records.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

The Baby - Week 32

The baby now has hair, or peach fuzz, and fingernails and toenails! She weighs about the same as a jicama (3.75 pounds – doesn’t it seem like she has been in the 3 pound range for a while now?) and is about 16.7 inches long. Lucky for me I can expect to continue to gain weight – about a pound a week but half of that should be going to the baby. She is really porking up now, she is going to gain about half of our birth weight in the next seven weeks. Her skin is getting softer and smoother as she prepares for her big premiere.

Friday, June 6, 2008

The Baby - Week 31

The wee one this week is 16 inches long and the equivalent in weight of four navel oranges (about 3.3 pounds). She will at least double in weight by the time she is born. She can turn her head side to side. She is continuing to plump up and her movement is increasing (Yes it is!). The doctor told me I would gain probably another ten-twelve pounds before she is born – Joy! I've already gained close to thirty! Otherwise all is well with the baby. I passed the three hour glucose test so I don't have gestational diabetes. Hurrah!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Memphis Trip

We went to Memphis for Memorial Day Weekend to visit Lance. We had big plans to go to the Sunset Symphony but I pooped out and we didn’t go. L Carrying around a babe in your belly 24/7 is wearing. Lance was a gem as usual he took us to Super Target and stood by while we registered and then the next day to Baby’s R Us and watched us register. That trip was longer than anticipated. Sorry Lance! That evening he made Pizza Pretzels for us – his own recipe! Monday we came home and it seemed to take FOREVER to get home – rain, distance, stopping at another Baby’s R Us, traffic, people having collisions . . . etc etc. It is good to be home but it is always good to hang out with my old pal Lance. We have been friends for almost fifteen years now. Wow! You don’t realize how much you miss old friends until you are around them again.

The Baby - Week 30

Can you believe we are about to complete week 30? Only ten more weeks to go. Yikes!

She weighs the same as a head of cabbage - about 3 pounds and is close to 16 inches long. Her vision is developing but remains poor. Did you know when she is born her eyesight will be 20/400 so she can only make out objects a few inches from her face but will respond to changes in light. That is why she will have her eyes closed most of the time when she is first born. I can't wait to see her!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Baby - Week 29

Baby Girl Hassler now weighs about the same as a butternut squash – around 2½ pounds (is that all? Surely not!) She is now a long 15 inches head to heel and really not to far from how tall she will be when she is born. Her head is growing bigger (surprise, surprise – the kid is going to have a big head (physically only, we hope) to make room for her developing brain. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature and her developing bones are zapping me of my calcium. Lactose intolerance be damned! We’re drinking milk everyday!

Friday, May 16, 2008

The Baby - Week 28

Baby Girl Deal Hassler is about 14.8 inches long (head to heel) and weighs about two and a quarter pounds this week. Her weight is about the same as an average Chinese cabbage. Billions of neurons are developing in her brain. She has eyelashes and can blink her eyes. She can see light filtering through the womb. AND she is continuing to plump up by adding more body fat. Busy baby! She also seems to have found a new workout routine and becoming more active this week. I still think there is a good chance she with either be a soccer player or Rockette.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Waddle Waddle

I now understand why pregnant women waddle. I first thought it would come on when my belly got so big you had to hold it up by thrusting your hips forward. That may still be to come but I have to say that isn’t why I waddle right now. I waddle right now because every time I stand up and start walking it feels like my legs are going to be ripped from their sockets at any moment. It usually eases and I get going but as the day progresses it takes longer and longer to go away. No one ever tells you about all the things that you are going to go through while being pregnant. When you ask someone about something they just smile knowingly and say things like – just wait, it’ll get worse. Great! So I fear my waddle is going to get worse and my legs might actually rip right out of their sockets. But I’m sure it will be worth it. :)

Saturday, May 3, 2008

The Baby - Week 27

The baby weighs almost 2 pounds this week like a head of cauliflower. She is about 14 inches long head to heel. She now opens and closes her eyes. She is also sleeping and waking at regular intervals – worrisome since I sometimes wake and can feel her moving about. Hope she isn’t a night owl! I should also maybe be able to feel baby hiccups (which I have a lot of hiccups now too for some reason!?!) Her brain is getting more active by the day. Got to be wondering what is going on in there!

The Baby - Week 26

I kind of forgot to do this last week so here is a brief on what happened . . .

She is the length of an English cucumber. (Where do they get these comparisons!?!) Which means from head to heel Her nerve pathways in her ears are developing, and she is getting more consistent in responding to sound. Her lungs are developing now too. More in the next post about the current week – 27.

Friday, May 2, 2008

I Gots No Feet!

I made a fascinating discovery tonight. I lost my feet. I was looking down and realized I can’t see my feet anymore. Interesting . . . I wonder where they went. They were there when I was sitting in the recliner –bigger than life (I am experiencing some swelling this week) but later on *poof* they were gone. Nothing but baby belly as far as the eye can see. So if anyone sees my feet, let me know, I have a feeling I won’t see them again until sometime in August.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

New Questions I Wasn't Expecting

You know how I had previously posted about all of the questions that keep coming when we thought we were all through with them. A little recap for the latest ones and their answers -

What is her name going to be? We still don't know. If had to name her tomorrow I am afraid she would be Baby Deal Hassler.

When are you due? The date has bounced around a little bit but the doc is still saying August 9th for the most part.

What are the nursery colors? The room is yellow and I haven't picked out the bedding yet. Mom and I might make it, but not sure. It will be in the yellow and leaf green family with Classic Pooh accessories. Don't want Pooh all over the place!

Is that most of them?

The new questions that I wasn't expecting are -

Have you had any weird cravings?

Are you going to go back to work?

Answer #1 - Sorry to disappoint but not really. Mike and I talked about it and early on I really liked Macaroni & Cheese but we figure that was because it is bland and Orange Juice. Now, I don't really crave much of anything, not a big huge fan of food because it all tastes so strange. BUT I can always go for cheese dip. I'll let you know if I start going for pickles and ice cream.

Answer #2 - Unless we win the lottery I will be going back to work. Don't want to but who wants to? Necessary evil these days.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Baby - Week 25

I am going to try something and see if I can keep it up or if anyone is interested. I am going to begin reporting on the baby's growth progress. The baby is about 13 1/2 inches long and now weighs about a pound and a half - about the size of an average rutabaga. She is starting to get some baby fat and losing some of her wrinkles. Her hair is recognizable now too. On a womb note, she seems to be getting more active or bigger so I can feel more. there are definitely more active days than others. Mike got to feel her kick for the first time this week. We were very excited. I will try to post for week 26 next week. Keep tuned!

When it Rains, it Pours (and Hails)

Ah, what a last couple of weeks it has been. I've been to Mountain View, CA while FSM had a horrible softball size hail storm and we are now getting a new roof. The contents of the green room are still in the office (front room) and the green room is now primer white. Ugh! Furthermore, the garden/yard situation is dire and we have been to Baby's R Us and realized we really don't know what in the world we have gotten ourselves into. What is a pregnant woman to do? I think we are keeping a pretty good perspective on things, we just don't have enough hours in the day or hours to sleep. I think we would be not quite so frazzled if we only had one part of the house to concentrate on - redoing/rearranging the inside or getting the yard springtime/summer ready. We are plugging away at it but I would like to be moving a little faster. We are hoping to have the green room painted by the end of the week and the new shelves installed. Keep your fingers crossed!

Oh, and one other thing, we have decided Hazel has found her voice. That dog hasn't barked as much in her lifetime (indoors) as she has over the past week. Not sure what it is all about but it isn't really helping the frazzled nerves thing . . .

Saturday, April 5, 2008

The Green Room is turning Beige

I took the day off Friday and Mike and I went out to breakfast and went to the Growing Kids Sale (we didn’t buy anything, I think you probably need to go earlier in the sale). We then went to Lowe’s to pick paint chips and look at things for the green room transformation. I am going hate to see the green to go away. I really love the color in that room. All the paint chips I picked were in the very light beige family. Ick! But it should be good for resale and we might as well paint the room once, right? When are we going to have time to do that again once the baby is here? So I have to pick the color but in the meantime we are trying to empty the room. There certainly is a lot of stuff in there. I am not sure how it all is going to go back in there plus the bed and some other stuff. Ack! So we might be having a really great garage sale one of these days . . .

Doctor Day

Thursday I went to the Dentist and the Baby Doctor. The dentist went well. Nothing much they can do since I am pregnant but clean my teeth. I don’t think she like that much. She kicked a few times as to say “What are they doing to you exactly? What is that vrumm vrumm.?” I think she is going to be inquisitive. Wonder where she gets that from? Then we went to the baby doctor and had my seventh ultrasound. Mike talked to the tech about ultra sound stuff and I just watched the screen. She is still doing well and is on track. She is in the 54% for her gestational age. She is one pound four ounces and her heart rate is strong. Doc said all is well.

Baby Likes Broadway . . .

The rest of the New York trip was not as exciting as the first part because I was in the conference everyday. The conference was good and informative, definitely worth the trip. Monday night we went out the dinner in Hell’s Kitchen at a Thai restaurant and decided to stay in the rest of the night because it was St. Patrick’s Day and the crazies were coming out early. Tuesday night we went the Phantom of the Opera and it was wonderful as always. At the beginning when it get really loud after the chandelier swings to the ceiling the baby just started kicking like say “What’s going on out there?” It was quite exciting. I thought I had been feeling her before then but for some reason this was so definite that I knew what it was. Very exciting! She did the same Wednesday night for Spamalot and Thursday for Young Frankenstein. We really enjoyed all of the shows and I think the baby did too!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Back in the Fort

It has been a while since the last post. My apologies! We were in New York City last week. I had to go for a conference for work and it was Mike's Spring Break so he got to came along too. We really had a good time.

We got there on Friday the 14th and took off walking around down to Times Square. Saturday we took a Gray Line tour of the downtown loop. It was on a double decker bus that was covered. We took the entire loop and the hopped off at Battery Park. We got to see the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero and all the stuff down around there. I didn't last very long on Saturday so we got back on the bus and took the rest of the loop and got off at Rockefeller Center. We walked around there and walked up on the live recording of 30 Rock and saw Tina Fey. If only we watched the show . . . but that was neat to be around there. Watch for us in the crowds, you never know. I don't know how they get anything done with so many people around. That night we got our food from the cart outside our hotel that Ashlee and I discovered the first time we went to NYC for the conference. There is always a line and it is really good. Sunday we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral for Palm Sunday Mass. It was very nice. That afternoon we spent with a brother of a coworker of mine who is a professor at a university there. We walked down 5th Avenue and then halfway through Central Park to the Boathouse for coffee (cocoa) and then to the West Side to an Indian Restaurant. He was a really great tour guide.

Need to stop now, more to come on the New York City trip.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Drum roll please . . .

It's a Girl!

So to answer your next question, no, we don't have a name yet and probably won't for a long while.

We were talking the other day discussing all of the recurring questions that we have encountered over the years of our relationship. When you start to date someone and have been doing so for a while people start asking "When are you going to get married?" Then you get married and think (naively) "no more questions!" Ha! We both agreed that we were pretty sure that at the wedding reception we were asked "When are you having a baby?" Ugh! A new question. And people aren't always crazy about your "We want to be married at _least_ two years before we start trying," you know, because we are both old. So now we are pregnant and everyone asked "What is it?" and the question I don't really understand "What do you want" (A baby? Like I'd say if I had a preference? Which I didn't.) So now we know it is now officially a she and we thought once again that we were done with the questions. Oh, not so fast. Here is the conversation - "It's a girl!" "What are you going to name her?" Ahhh!

So now we are trying to anticipate the future questions. Here are the few we have come up with -

"When are you due?"
"When are you going to give her a little brother or sister?"

I'm sure there are more, if you know them, please share the wealth so we can start to prepare . . .

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Happy Birthday Mike!

Monday was Mike's birthday. He is the big 3 9. We are going to have quite the party next year so mark your calendars! I think he had as nice a birthday. He was a very good sport, he spent the whole day at clinicals (equivalent to work) and then was drug to my ladies' group at church (Circle) for his evening entertainment and meal (not exactly what he was expecting). It was a lot of fun and he had a much better time than he thought he would. We did sit with his podiatrist and briefly discussed feet (low point for me – feet freak me out!) but luckily not the entire time and he and his wife are really nice. There were performances by Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Chubby Checkers, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sonny & Cher, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. AND Marilyn Monroe personally serenaded Mike for his Birthday. It was quite a treat. He was tickled. I didn't know they were going to do it but he still said I set him up. Oh well, if ever there was a guy that deserved to be serenaded by Marilyn Monroe, I would say it was Mike, as long as that is all she tried. ;) So I think/hope Mike had quite a birthday!

Cultural Weekend

Well the baby had quite a culture filled weekend. German was the main theme but we wrapped it up with some Italian. Friday night we went to see The Producers downtown and it was great. (For those of you who don't know, a large part of it is poking fun at Hitler) I saw it in New York last time I was there but Mike and the rest of the family had not seen it. Thorsen Patrick didn't get half of it (thankfully) but he decided that Ms. Taylor, his science teacher, would fill in the gaps. Good Luck Ms. Taylor!

Saturday morning was an Herbal Adventure on Teas. (the leader of this H.A. was our resident German – more German culture). I made tea the entire time and was exhausted by the time it was over. I took at two and half hour nap afterwards.

Saturday night we went to Taliano's with my folks to one of their "Emmy's" nights. Emmy's was a German restaurant in town that went out of business for one reason or another and they were testing out the cuisine to see what kind of interest there would be if they brought it back. Evidently it was popular but we never went and Saturday night I found out why. I don't believe I am much of a fan of German food. I didn't particularly care for most of it when I was over there as a teen and didn't really care for it Saturday night. We did have a very nice evening of dining but I wouldn't choose that particular cuisine again. The pork sausage in the appetizer was the best part – the whole two bites!

And we wrapped up culture fest weekend on Sunday night at the I.C. Spaghetti Supper. We went with Mom and Dad Hassler and Uncle Gene. It was a nice event as always, more my kind of eats too. Spaghetti and mushrooms. Yum! And an ice cream sandwich for dessert. I think the baby liked this night the best too, not that I can feel it but I can only assume.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Icky Sicky

Not a lot to report on the baby front this week. I have been down with a big dose of an upper respiratory infection. Mike took me to get an ultrasound Friday at school. The teacher couldn’t make it so he did it all by himself. It looks like it is doing a lot of wiggling around in there and we watched when I coughed (I have a horrible cough that is the worst symptom I have) and it just jostled around what looked like all over the place. Poor kid, I know it hasn’t been an easy week for it. The cough has been pretty fierce. I haven’t been this sick since I had Mono in grad school.

Hopefully I will be on the mend by Monday. Mike, Hazel and my folks have been taking very good care of me. Next week or so we are going to try the ultrasound thing again to see if Mike can figure out the gender. Can’t wait!

Friday, February 8, 2008

Wocka Wocka Wocka

We went to the doctor yesterday for the monthly check-up. We got to hear the heartbeat. It was so fast and and furious. We didn't record it because of the static but Doc said that as the weeks go on that it will get louder and more clear. So we will record for all to hear in the future. It sounds a bit like "wocka wocka wocka." Not the Fozzie the Bear "Wocka, Wocka, Wocka," but very fascinating and surreal. I have a little bambino growing inside of me!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

We've Created a Monster

Well I have to tell a funny story that is still making me chuckle.

A friend of mine (I guess after this story I should use the term loosely) left me a voicemail the other day. I should tell you she is a bit of a nutter - certifiable even.

So anyway, she left me a voice mail the other day and said -

"I saw something in the bathroom and I got all excited but was ultimately disappointed. But it was a sign that said 'We've created a monster!' and I thought it was an announcement for your baby shower. But I read more and it wasn't, someone was selling cookie dough or something. But I thought what a great idea for a theme for your baby shower. So I thought I would let you know."

So I went over to her desk to see if she had any other brilliant ideas and somehow or another she is now one of the hosts of my baby shower at work. Should be an interesting event. I'd try to get tickets if I were you.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Hazel Pictures

Here are some pictures of Hazel that I thought would be a nice way to start the new blog off right.
Make sure you do a double take on the last picture. Hazel is a little freaked out by the idea. ;)

We are expecting our new arrival on August 9th.