A funny little encounter

I met the sweetest little girl Tuesday night who cracked me up. I was killing some time before a work dinner (an annoying late one, might I add). I was waddling out of a shoe store and this little girl, probably about 8, was leaving with her mom and her little sister. When she saw me coming toward the door, and I'm hard to miss really, she ran back to hold the door open for me. It was precious. Our brief interaction went like this:

Me: Thank you!

Her: You're welcome. (without even a breath of pause) Is there a baby in there?

Me: Yup, there's a little boy in there.

She looked at her mom like I was the first pregnant woman she had ever seen for reals. Dude, you would have thought she had just made the first confirmed unicorn spotting.

Her: Whatcha gonna name him?

Me: I don't know, maybe Carter. What do you think- is that a good name?

She contemplated this and decided it must have been acceptable, but apparently not as good as some other ideas she had.

Her: Yeah, what about sketch?

Me: Hmmm, sketch (I was just trying not to die laughing at this point). Maybe as a middle name?

Her: Or Thomas? He could be Sketch Thomas Whatever-your-last-name-is!

I don't know who this little girl was or what kind of baby name ideas conjure up Sketch and Thomas in such close succession, but I want to adopt her.

One of those weeks...

It has been a rough week all around. It's just one of those weeks that starts out and seems like it will be good, but turns out not so good. Kind of like these:






I love that second one. I think my week just got a little better laughing at these.

WHAT is going on in there?!

From the first moment I truly felt this baby, there was never anything I could describe in soft, fluffy language. No "flutters," no "bubbles popping," no "butterfly wings," no, nothing even sort of resembling that. It has always been like "HEY, I'M STILL IN HERE! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" (He must get that need for attention from his dad). I most fondly think of him as a very feisty hockey puck, sliding around and slamming into whatever various bones and organs happen to be in his way.

Actually, I was in the doctor's office and she was listening to his little heart beat when I felt him move for the first time. And felt him I did. I had just been telling her I hadn't felt him at all and she reassured me I would and he was fine, blah blah blah. When I felt that kick, you could even hear it loud and clear across the doppler. She felt him push away the doppler wand. My doctor looked at me and asked if I felt it, and I'm pretty sure if I'd say no she would have promptly signed me up for some testing because I couldn't have ANY nerve endings if I'd missed that kick.

As he's getting bigger and running out of room, it's pure entertainment... for Seth. He laughs as he feels (and sees) hands flail, elbows crash around, feet pounding. The other night, he did something that was the strangest sensation ever and Seth and I both kinda screamed it was so weird. I find it less amusing at times when I'm in serious meetings and trying to keep my entire body from jolting at the force.

I've come to the conclusion that there's only one logical explanation. Somehow a pinball machine got stuck in there, and the regular, shiny little metal ball was replaced with a bowling ball.

I have been full since Easter. probably longer.

Somewhere inside my womb a little boy is begging his mother to lay off the jelly beans. If you listen really closely, you can almost hear a faint voice... "come on lady, it's already cramped enough in here without you single-handedly depleting the west coast of its sugar supply!"

When you obsessively love your dog...

From USA Today- "Honda Japan has designed dog friendly car, termed as the WOW concept. WOW stands for Wonderful open-hearted wagon. The car will be unveiled later at the Tokyo Motor show. A special crate for dogs in the glove apartment allows owners to interact with their pets while driving. A bigger crate pops up from the floor in the back seat area and can be folded back into the floor when it's not needed. For even bigger dogs, just buckle them up with a special seat belt to the floor. The big danger for pets riding along in cars is that they get thrown out during a crash. The W.O.W comes with removable, washable, roll-out flooring and has wide sliding doors to keep dogs happy."

Could this debut anywhere else? No.
Is the glove compartment kennel completely ridiculous? Yes.
Do I want a conversion kit for my own Honda Pilot? Yes. Resoundingly so, I must admit. I won't lie, I would totally talk to Stella in traffic. I talk to other drivers, why not her? Plus, the mental picture of Stella in the glove compartment kennel is almost too much. I'm sure she wouldn't fit, but a girl can dream.

3rd Tri is the charm!

How far along? 29 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I think like 20 pounds, but I really don't know for sure. I feel like a boat. (to which my husband would add "a beautiful, pregnant boat")
Maternity clothes? the bad news is that I'm OUTGROWING my MATERNITY clothes! Oh sweet mother of pearl, it's going to be a long two months ahead. I blame my freakishly long torso, which put me at a disadvantage from the beginning.
Stretch marks? none yet, and I continue to coat myself in lotions and potions (even though it's probably all genetics)
Sleep: my dog and husband seem to sleep pretty well, and I often lie awake envious of them
Best moment this week: multiple- new carpet! surprise-ish baby shower at work! and a really good appointment last week (see previous post).
Movement: More than a hockey puck.
Food cravings: everything. Fruit- strawberries, apples, tangelos.
Gender: Still a boy.
Labor Signs: Just a few contractions here and there.
Belly Button in or out? in, but shallower
What I miss: good, quality, wonderful sleep.
What I am looking forward to: Easter! and Easter candy! oh wait, I already started eating that... so just Easter I guess.
Weekly Wisdom: The receptionist at the doctor's office needs to watch herself. She makes these snippy little comments and one day I may not be in the mood to smile back.
Milestones: the nursery is coming along. it now has new carpet, a new door, and half the closet is baby-devoted.

Baby Jobin update!

We just got home from a very good 28-week scan. I could not be happier to report that everything looks great. There were a few things that have popped up along the way that the doctors were a little concerned about and wanted to keep an eye on, and all of those things seem to have gone away and the doctor thinks everything looks good.

Highlights from today's appointment:

• Baby J is cute! we got to see a really good shot of his face, before he promptly began to hide it with both hands. We think he has his dad's nose.
• Unfortunately for mama, he also has his dad's head. the exact words were "wow, this baby has a really big head!"
• Unfortunately for baby, he also appears to have his dad's ARF (angry resting face). of course, that could have something to do with him being annoyed at us and trying to hide.
  
• He has 10 little fingers and 10 little toes, which was so sweet to see.
  
• He's measuring in the 80th percentile (again, bad news for mama). He's just 2 ounces shy of 3 pounds. And the way I'm eating, someone is about to go through a growth spurt. It better be him and not me.
  

In other news, happy birthday to the woman who birthed me! My mom is 50 and fabulous today.

Ode to a wonderful husband

I actually considered writing an ode to my husband. That lasted about 5 minutes and then I realized that I realistically have zero time to devote to iambic rhyming (if that's even how you write an ode; all I remember is something about 10 line stanzas).

So I'll stick to regular prose. My husband is great. I don't know how I could make it through this pregnancy without him. He is amazingly supportive and helpful and a darn hard worker. In general, this time of year is pretty insane for me and Seth has been more than supportive of my crazy hours and the stress I try not to bring home. This weekend we had to pack up the most of our house in preparation for our new carpet. "We" did none of that, as I ended up being pretty sick all weekend and I can only lift 10 pounds as it is. He did not once complain (except to tell me that I have too much junk and compare me to my mother).

I love that guy. And it's ridiculous how much the dog loves him. I can't wait to see this little baby with his daddy, because I know he will love that guy too.

What's in a name?

We have spent hours upon hours trying to pick a name for this kid. Boys names are just so much tougher than girls names for us. I think we've narrowed down the list. I do, however, reserve the right to completely scrap these and start over (and it's happened before).

And now, we're taking our top choices to the masses to further complicate our decision!

Kiss me I'm (admittedly very diluted) Irish!

I really have no right to claim any Irish heritage, but there are McCoys in my lineage and my sister has a cute Irish look to her (freckles, faint reddish tint to her hair, I just got the less-endearing Irish ears).

Nonetheless, I love this holiday. Last year I was in Boston for St. Patrick's Day weekend. That, my friends, was an experience! I froze my dunkin donuts off watching the Southie parade with my mom (of course, who else would embrace the craziness with me?). I drank baileys served by the cutest irish bartender. We ate authentic Irish food at Irish pubs.

This year, I am boring. No baileys, no parades, no brashers. Today, I am just a boring pregnant lady. I hope our kids will someday love this holiday too, though the chances of them looking anything resembling Irish (or me) are quite slim. My gut tells me they will be little clones of Seth and maybe we'll learn about some Polish or Lebanese holidays.

Enjoy the day! I hope you're wearing green and maybe enjoying some Irish soda bread or a guiness, depending on how you roll. And if you ever can make it to Boston on St. Patrick's day, I highly recommend it.

Some pics from last year:


Boston PD:
Mi mama y yo, freezing (with Froganna, long story):

Froganna enjoying some Baileys: