This is just before Easter, and just before I ODed on a lot of tempura from Sushi Samba. It was so good! But too much fried for this pregnant body. I got a little giddy at the store and bought some things to plant, like lavender, rosemary, and little purple daisies of different varieties. Exciting. Yes, I planted them as a pregnant lady, and yes, that did wipe out my back and hips and sent me straight into recovery aka bath.
Some question this - a pregnant lady on a chair painting a scalloped trim - but I went for it. Yes, it once again wiped out my back and hips, but I just had to do it. I cut out a scallop of the size I wanted, outlined it with chalk, and then painted in the lines. Might try to package this into a little product to sell to add to the stencil market. Was fun.
Yeah, so this is against the rules, but Oliver is used to trying out all new beds when they come in. Mom: You are not allowed to write any comments here in all caps about why this is not allowed. We are aware, and this was a good test run to see what his tenancies are. :) But it was darn cute. Are they going to be like the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp? We'll see...I've been training Oliver for being outside, and he's loving it. Dinah is easier, and she can't jump into things.
This is our seriously pimped out pac 'n play. They are all pimped out now, and it's a matter of what you want on top. David is operating out of the changing table attachment at the moment.
Here's what's been happening:
SHOWER
We had a little baby shower here at the house, and that really motivated us to make things nice. David touched up the chipped paint on the porch, bought a corn toss thing as a game in the back yard, I planted flowers, and we finished hanging pictures and such. We had some maternal belly dancing courtesy of Suzanne Caesar of Maternal Dance (ps, we are redesigning her website!), and delicious food from HomeSpun, our local and delicious cafe in Beacon. We are outfitted now with some childrens book classics, onsies and blankets, mysterious drug store items for me that I guess I'll soon learn about, and other things that make me feel calmer about at least having somewhere for the baby to sit other than the blank nursery. We didn't know that there were so many swings a baby can have - side-to-side, back-and-forth, and the bouncer. And that doesn't include the portable bassinet, and infant car seat that the baby can hang out in. All I can say is, good thing we moved. And darn, cats also like sleeping in these conveniently low to the ground empty baby seats.
STROLLER
This was a source of overwhelmedness for us simply because of the sheer volume of options and reviews. So many reviews! We ended up going with a BabyTrend jogging stroller with snap on car seat (not for jogging with newborn, but for inflatable tires, easy maneuvering, walking through grass and broken sidewalks). It looked pretty snug and safe, so, we shall see how this stroller pans out.
BABY MOVEMENTS
Baby is totally moving around, getting comfortable. The tush is on the right side of my belly, just sticking out like a little booty. I was on the train yesterday, riding into the city for a social networking conference, and was wearing a tight shirt. The baby was just swimming in there, and you could see lots of movement of my stomach! Kind of felt like I was that person in the movie with a secret alien in her stomach, but just pushed those thoughts from my mind. Lots of hiccups have been happening, and for the most part, the baby is in a good position, or so I hear.
HOSPITAL TOUR
So we have two hospitals - the one in the city with the Dr I love, or the one out here for the backup in case things go faster than we think and I know nobody (eesh). Also a point of stress for a few reasons, the main one being insurance. In the city, apparently, the private room may not be covered. But the one out here is, and it's ginormous and has a pretty view of the Hudson River and mountains. Of course the private rooms in the city have different prices for different views. Bastards. Also, apparently, it is possible for a medical person to come into your room, and bill you, and not be on your insurance. Maybe this mainly happens with anesthesia people. Not happy about this, and am making a sign that says: BLUE CROSS BUE SHIELD ONLY - ALL OTHERS KEEP OUT.
So that's the update!