Baby Halo-Halo's crib

My dad, the handy woodworker that he is, offered to build Baby a crib when we found out we were pregnant. He has been slaving away (he just built us a window seat, too!) and he is ready to stain. Here is a preview of the crib and some pictures of the finished window seat. What a lucky kid already...

Before (crib):

After (crib):

And here are a few of the cedar-lined window seat he just built us:


Thanks, Dad!

Baby Appointments (3rd Ultrasound Pics)

Yesterday was a big day of appointments. I went to my OB to be checked (everything looks good), then we went for another ultrasound (cervix still same=good, Baby's measurements look good). Then we went to tour a birthing center that I am interested in (loved it).

I wouldn't say that our ultrasound experience yesterday was disappointing... it's probably more appropriate to say we were completely spoiled by the last ultrasound tech we had. She spent an hour showing us as many things as she could and we got to watch Baby Halo-Halo in 3D for awhile. Yesterday the tech flew through all her measurements in half the time and didn't really let us see anything too fun. But any day we get to make sure Baby is ok and see him kicking around a bit is a good day. Here are a couple of pics that we did get:

These are his little shins - knees to the right and feet together on the left:

This is the tech trying to get his face - he had his hands up again covering his face!

Those are his elbows toward the left and his fists covering his face:

Here is the top view of his head and his hands in front of his face -

if you look carefully you can see his individual fingers in his fists:

And a profile shot - any guess who he looks like yet? :)

July winding down & halfway to Halo

I feel like nothing significant has happened to write about lately... odd considering that it has been a fairly eventful month. Here are some of the highlights of our current day-to-day:

* We found out we are having a little boy
* I turned 30 (*GASP*)
* Ikaika snorted another foxtail and had to have his annual emergency surgery
* Ray enjoyed his last 4-wheeling weekend pre-baby
* My mamma went to Brazil on a mission trip
* Ray's BFF Chris & his fiancee Maria had a bridal shower
* My 2 BFFs Traci & Laura are each going to have a baby next month
* We interviewed and hired my "maternity replacement" at my biggest client
* We started our childbirth classes
* I decided to switch doctors again...
* Our baby is now a cantaloupe
* I have been frantically trying to take continuing education classes because I need 120 hours to renew my CPA license in September
* Ray has developed pregnancy symptoms which mostly include cravings (sauerkraut?! vitamin water? who craves vitamin water?)
* Our neighbor backed into our new little tree and killed it (which was replaced after she backed into it the first time!)
* I finally went to the DMV and changed my license to my new last name & address
* We are now 20 weeks pregnant and halfway to the finish line (I fervently hope)

We have another ultrasound tomorrow, so with luck I will have some more Halo-Halo glamour shots to share with you soon!

xoxo

Halo-Halo: An Explanation

Our affectionate name for our little-unborn-one may seem odd to some and I get a lot of questions, so here is an explanation from our friends at Wikipedia:

"Halo-halo (from Tagalog word halo, "mix") is a popular

Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and milk

to which are added various boiled sweet beans and fruits,

and served cold in a tall glass or bowl."

I realize all babies are a mix of their parents, but you get the idea...

It's a...

*******BOY*******

We had our second ultrasound yesterday and found out that Baby Halo-Halo has boy parts. I think this is a good thing because I am terrified of raising a girl and since I grew up with brothers I feel like I am a little more prepared for "boy stuff." We'll see.

[A sidenote, I am so relieved we went back to our original doctor. I don't care if I have to eat ramen for a year to pay for her, her practice is so much better and I trust her so much more. So, drama over; I am sticking with her.]

I was blown away by this ultrasound place, they have a big TV so we can watch everything the tech was doing and she spent an hour with us showing us Halo's heart (you can see all 4 chambers!) and spine and fingers and toes and face and everything. Way cool. Then she asked if we wanted to see him in 3D, so we got to see him running a marathon in there (at least that's what it looked like - arms and legs swinging!) He seems to like his fists by his cheeks, so we may have ourselves a little Muay Thai fighter. He is also due on Bunkerd's (our instructor) birthday, so he also has that going for him. Best part of the place is that they gave us a CD of the ultrasound pics - how cool is that?!

Here are some of my faves:

Arm above head:

Little leg:

Halo in 3D guarding his face:

Halo's heartbeat:

Halo wigglin around:

My little science experiment, er, I mean pregnancy

Being the information junkie I am, I had read several pregnancy books before getting pregnant. I read about all of the random symptoms you can have and was gearing up to be nauseous for 8 months (they say you will likely take after your mother in that, which thank GOD I have not!). Here are some of the things that the books did NOT prepare me for:

1. Sticky boogers. I have heard that you can get stuffed up because of swollen nasal passages or something, but my problem is more of the stubborn, sticky booger variety. They are there and they will not come out and all I can hope is that they are temporary and resume normal booger consistency after baby is born.

2. Cellulite. I know I am supposed to gain weight. I know that my body will never be the same (people LOVE telling me that). I did not know that cellulite would take over my arms and inner thighs. Inner thighs, fine, they don't see the light of day anyway. But arms?! Is that necessary?!

3. Insomnia. I have never been a good sleeper, so maybe I should have expected this, but not being able to sleep is MADDENING. I honestly don't think I have slept through the night in over three months, sometimes no more than 3 or 4 hours. Yes, I realize that after baby I will be sleep deprived, but I don't think it will help prepare me by depriving me of sleep so that I am harried before the baby even arrives. And I think the pregnancy edginess is not hormones, it is the fact that I am uncomfortable and hungry all the time and I am not sleeping. That would make you crabby, too.

4. Clear skin. What. The. Hell. From 13 on I have struggled with crappy ass skin and as soon as my hormones go wild it... clears up?? I am not complaining. In fact, I think I want to keep having babies if this is going to be a side effect for me. Cheaper by the dozen?

5. Unclear skin. So, I mentioned that my FACE has cleared up, but now I have little red dots all over my neck and shoulders. It seems like it might be more rash-like than acne-like, but to an average person on the street, it just looks like I am crazy broken out everywhere below my chin. Weird.

6. Food costs. You all know I am crazy about my Excel spreadsheets and had a detailed baby budget and savings plan before there was even a baby involved. What I did not figure into the budget is that our food bill during pregnancy would double. Not only am I hungrier, but I have aversions to almost everything I used to eat. I am trying desperately to give this kid some nutrients so I just try and get whatever doesn't sound disgusting and is closer to carrot than doughnut on the health spectrum. Funny enough, I have no aversions to eating out (EXCEPT the closest and cheapest and pre-baby favorite taqueria around the corner - what luck).

7. Hiking up the pants. Now, to clarify, I do not do this while standing/walking around...but when I sit down and am wearing stretchy pants, I find it more comfortable to have the pants OVER my belly than to have my belly hang over the pants. This means that the pants can get hiked quite high. Ray tried to make me feel better (after laughing himself to tears) by telling me it's cool until I start getting deodorant marks on the waistband.

More to come, I am sure...