Trick or Treat!!

Mommy and her sweet little pumpkin. Yes, we went trick or treating tonight. Happy Halloween!!

Inside Out

This is Jennifer's costume for "Inside Out Day" at her school. We made the T-shirt with a sonogram picture on it. It also includes (as a joke) answers to the most frequently asked questions (FAQ's) Jennifer gets from people. Since it's tough to read from the picture, I'll post them here too. What makes it funny is trying to imagine the questions.

A: February 10th or 12th
A: No, it's a boy.
A: Yes, I'm sure there's only one.
A: How do I look like I feel?
A: No, not unless you're a licensed obstetrician.

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Prenatal Costume

Our school was having dress-up day for the fall carnival. The theme was storybook characters. There was only one pregnant story book character that I could think of, so the baby and I got to be the Kevin Henkes Character: Delphinium Twinkle, from Chrysanthemum. It is a very cute story with a character building moral. I have read it to children of all ages, including ones in middle school. Boys and girls both seem to be engaged throughout the reading and able to connect to the story. If you have seen the movie, Mean Girls, then this is the G rated version.

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24 Weeks

The unborn child is covered with a fine, downy hair called lanugo. Its tender skin is protected by a waxy substance called vernix. Some of this substance may still be on the child's skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed. The child practices breathing by inhaling amnionic fluid into developing lungs.
Source

• The little one may put on as much as 6 ounces this week. That is 1/3 of his total body weight. That is comparable to a 130 lb. woman gaining 43 pounds in one week!
• The lungs are gaining blood vessels now, preparing them for taking over the task of getting oxygen into the blood stream.
• Baby is working out his own waking and sleeping periods, and they won't always coincide with mom's. That explains the tap dance routine at 2 am.
• Unborn babies respond to music.
Source

Our baby boy seems to be right on schedule. His tap dance begins around 2:00 pm with the introduction which gradually climbs to full force by 5:00pm and tapers off around 8:00pm. The encore performance begins around 10:00pm and continues until whenever early am. I have learned to sleep through it, unless of course the dance is on my bladder and then wee are both up.
I visited Dr. McDonald again yesterday. Baby's heartbeat is strong and wee have gained yet another 8lbs. Cutting back on the snicker bars and carbs, eating more protein and walking more has been recommended. I didn't offer the snicker bar thing; it was his word choice. I was careful not to correct him by revealing that Taco Bell Burrito Supremes are our weekness. Wee don't plan to give them up!!! I have already worked out. I will use a spoon to scoop out the middle and toss the torilla. That will eliminate some of the carbs, right. LOL

Click on the title of this post "24weeks" to see images of a baby at 24 weeks.

Super Sister

Bailey
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Happy 4th Birthday Big Sister!!!

Piper
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Laptop

23 3/7 weeks from my perspective
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October 5th Sibling Responses

Piper was the first to hear the news. She had been ill and had a doctor’s appointment that morning, so she ended up going to the sonogram appointment with us. She was so sure that she was going to get a baby sister to share clothes and shoes with that she started referring to the baby as her baby sister. A few days before the sonogram, I started to prepare her for the possibility of a baby brother. She protested at first and then agreed that we needed to be happy with what we get and glad that the baby is healthy. As we entered the doctor’s office, I had a brief conversation with her reminding her of this point. She replied; “I know we have to be happy..., but I know it is my baby sister”. When the sonogram specialist announced that we had a baby boy, she kissed my tummy and looked up at the woman and said, “It’s my baby sister!” The specialist was nice and tolerant of Piper’s interruptions. After a while, she asked Piper how to spell her name and then she printed two images of the baby upon which she had typed the words; "Piper’s Baby Brother”. Piper has now come to terms with the idea of another brother and calls him by name. The boys were the next of the siblings to get the news. Christian gave us the response we expected; I told you so. Stefan took the news, as he does most things, with little display of emotion absorbing the news with a contemplative expression. He stated quite matter of a fact that he had thought it would be a girl. Later this same day, Bailey was at the soccer field for a game when she got the news. Cubby coaches her team and he also attends college. He had an exam, so I arrived at the game before him. Upon his request, I did not divulge any information. It was hard, because not only did Bailey ask me a couple of times in different ways, others at the game were also curious. The game was in play when Cubby arrived. At half time, Bailey wanted him to tell her. However, he waited until the end of the game so that he could show her the sonogram images as he shared the news with her. She was delighted. She, like Christian, had predicted a boy.
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Sunnyside Up

I am sitting here tonight wearing a pair of roomy, extra large, bright yellow smiley face boxers that Cubby got at a soccer game. Ironically, only months ago, I had jokes with him and Bailey about the boxers fitting a few people at once. Now, I am wearing them while thinking about my waistline. My waist has grown about 11 1/2 inches and is still growing strong. I can truthfully say that they are quite comfortable. The string is drawn and I am wondering how long it will be before I might have to let it out some more. I am contemplating how much longer they will fit and how many places I might get away with wearing them. You know boxers aren't quite like blazers or a nice denim jacket...they just don't have the same effect, do they?

Lingerie aside, Cubby assures you all that he will have something to post other than our baby's gender identifying sonogram in the near future. He is quite the busy man...being a full-time father, student, employee, soccer coach, and soccer referee and my all time favorite honey-do takes up quite a bit of his time.

OH BOY!!!

Surreal Moments

We are proud to announce that our baby is absolutely perfect; all things are as they should be. We are planning to post the gender once we have contacted our families and have shared the news with them.

The BIG Day

Today's the day! We're off to see the sonogram and hopefully get a peak at the baby's gender. I have to say that I have had mixed emotions about it for the last couple of days. I'm excited to find out, but at the same time I'm going to miss the anticipation. I'm also really excited about getting to see the baby again. There has been a lot of activity in the last few days. I'm getting to feel some of the movement really easily. Jennifer reports that the baby seems really interested in music and is also quite the soccer fan, but doesn't care much for pizza. I can't imagine that! Of course, how good could second hand pizza be? Anyway, tune in later and we'll give a recon report. --Cubby.

Taken this morning, Jennifer and Baby at 21 2/7 weeks.
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What's Going On In There?

I wish we had some exciting news to post today, but it seems we're in a lull. As you know, the previously scheduled sonogram was cancelled and rescheduled for Tuesday, October 5th. We're sure anxious to see the baby again. We tried to listen in again today, but the baby didn't have anything to say. The picture is Piper trying to zero in on the baby with the listener. It was pretty funny to watch. Jennifer reports feeling more movement with most of the activity in the evening. Looks like we've got another "night owl" on our hands. Today makes 21 1/7 weeks, by our calculations, so we're half way there; although, were not quite "over the hump" yet. I'm having some "nesting" urges myself. I'm starting to turn a more serious hand to space preparations and provisioning. --Cubby
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