We hit the motherload

Pun absolutely intended.

This morning, we were invited by friends to come raid their baby supplies. Their son is almost 3 now, and they want to be rid of things. They did their best to warn me how much stuff they had, but there's no way I could have prepared for the bounty awaiting us.

We left with:

An almost-new Pack 'n Play
A full-sized swing
A vibrating chair
A vibrating ROCKING chair (for the baby, not for me. Unfortunately!)
A gorgeous reclining high-chair
A bath-tub

Plus:

SIX boxes of gorgeous clothes, from newborn to 2 years. (Yes, BOXES. Not outfits. Boxes)
Bath toys
Mobiles
A sling
Breast-pump and bottles
Cloth diapers for baby burping
A food grinder, and home-made food storage set
Numerous hats and socks
Boots and moccasins
Numerous helpful little things, like pads to go under the high-chair, shades for the car windows, and a bottle drying-rack.

All of it in gorgeous pre-owned condition. Right up my alley. I'm still not sure how great a Mom I'm going to be, but for sure this kid will NEVER be naked!

Thank you, Jill and Gregg. And thanks to little Rudy, for being born and racking up such a bounty!

A boring update

Happy Belated Mothers Day, to all you mamas out there!

A very nice day was had here. Stewart got up early and fetched beautiful tulips and breakfast-making-supplies. We ate on the veranda, in the gorgeous weather.

Okay, we ate sitting on our metal front steps, but I can call it my veranda if I want to!

Spent the rest of the day with my Mom, had a walk, and many noshes. I made this apple tort for my mama:



It actually looked better in person! Martha Stewart can kiss my booty.

In inevitable baby news:

Stewart felt the baby kick for the first time last week, and he's definitely getting stronger. It could be the feasting I did yesterday, but today he's kicking much harder than before. I actually felt him in two places at the same time today - a tickling under my ribs, and a kicking near my hip. He's coordinated!!

Still plugging away on the getting-the-house-ready stuff. There was a bit of a lull last week, but I'm all motivated this week.

Boring stuff. I got nothing else, readers! Photos to come soon.

You hear that sound?

You know when your car makes that funny sound, and you drive to the mechanic? And the car makes that sound all the way to the mechanic? And then, the second the mechanic comes out to the car, it stops making that sound?

So I hadn't felt the baby move for a while, and called the doc in a panic. They squeezed me into a morning appointment, and I lugged Stewart and baby E along with me out of necessity. And then, the minute I sat down in the waiting room, the baby started kicking like crazy.

So I did what every responsible person does: I pretended not to feel it. Went into the appointment, and heard the heartbeat and acted reassured. Yes, I'm a weak person.

Ever since then, baby's moving around a lot. When I drink juice, or a carby-meal, he responds a lot. Last night, I felt him a lot in one area, and pushed on it from the outside, and felt a strong movement from the outside! (secret confession: it was really weird.)

So that's the story here. We're calling him Horatio until he's born. It's part of the fun of trying to find a non-horrible "H" name for him (in honor of my grandpa Herbert). Every name we come up with is awful:

Horace
Hymen
Hagar
Herman
Herbert (sorry, gramps)
and on and on. Henry's not bad.

Feel free to send suggestions!

Well?

Okay, okay. The delay was totally my fault, again.

We had the BIG appointment last week. Wonderful news: perfect spine, perfect brain, perfect chubby tummy, perfect penis. Yes, penis. We're having a boy!

Here's our guy:


And, just in case there was any doubt:

birds on lamp

birds_on_lamp
Originally uploaded by QStreet.

Just had to show off my husband's photography skill. Can you believe this photo he took?

Could it be?

I think I felt the baby tonight; just a minute or two ago. It was a tap-tap pause pause tap-tap on my right side. It did feel like gas, so I can't be totally sure, but I think it was the baby. Happy.

Good news

There's a fancy blood test they do to see if the baby might have a spinal problem. Results came back negative today, so great news on that front. It's a relief, since I was often unable to keep the prenatal vitamins down. On to the sonogram!