Saturday, December 26, 2009

Fletch's First Christmas

With Fletch in the lead for number of presents under the Christmas tree, he was ready to go when he woke up Christmas morning.We all sat down in front of the Christmas tree to prepare for the fun. Fletch did amazingly well at opening his first present.
After the first present was opened, he sort of lost interest. Mommy had to help him out with the rest of his gifts. By the look on his face, he seemed to love everything he received. It was a wonderful day for all three of us, regardless of what was under the Christmas tree. Fletch is our favorite gift this year!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas from The Shocks

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Fletch's First Snow

Fletch experienced his first snowfall last Saturday. I think he is a little indifferent at this point, but I'm sure he'll enjoy it when he can actually play in it. We attended Sammy's birthday party at the clubhouse, so while we walked over I snapped a shot of Fletch with Daddy in the snow: I put the sweater Uncle Chris gave on Fletch. It's pretty darn cute and he'll be growing into it this winter season. I even found some small mittens at BRU that fit Fletch. Unfortunately Fletch doesn't have any fur on his face to keep it warm like Daddy (but I'm okay with that).

Friday, December 4, 2009

Our Little Elf


I took Fletch to see Santa during the day today, to avoid the catastrophe of holiday weekend mall madness. Santa was on break...er...I mean feeding his reindeer when we got there. However, it was only a short wait until the man himself came "Ho Ho Ho"-ing around the corner. Fletch did great and didn't freak out when I handed him over to the big guy. His-Jollyness was quite fond of Fletch as well. I wonder what Fletch asked for? I'm hoping it wasn't for his two front teeth. Mama is still breastfeeding :) It took us a total of five minutes. I purchased the smallest package, which also included a free ornament for $20. Not bad in these over-inflated times. Hopefully it will arrive in time to hang it on the tree this year. Here is a preview of the ornament:

Saturday, November 14, 2009

The Shock Circus Goes to Atlanta

Fletch, Mama and Daddy went to visit friends and family in Atlanta last week. We decided to drive since Fletch can't have a flu vaccine yet and we don't want him breathing in cooties from sick people on a plane. Yup...we were crazy enough to drive hundreds of miles with a four month old. Luckily, Fletch was amazing in the car (as long as Mommy sat in the back with him). He slept most of the way and was calm while he was awake. I think he handled the trip better than we did. We stayed with Grandma the first few nights:While we were staying with Grandma, we drove into the city to go to The World of Coca Cola. On the tour we saw a ton of Coca Cola memorabilia, some pop art, a short animated movie, and a giant polar bear. The best part of the tour was at the end when you get to try all the different drinks that Coca Cola makes from all over the world. There was only one that I would never sip on again and that's a drink named after my mother, Beverly. It tasted pretty nasty. We got to take a picture with the huggable polar bear: We then moved on to Grandpa's house. This visit was Grandpa's first time seeing Fletch, so he was super excited (as you can tell in this pic): On Saturday night, Grandpa and Gammy Gena babysat while we went out with friends. The previous night, Fletch got to meet his future wife Quinn. I think Quinn rocked Fletch's world: For grown-ups-night-out, we all went bowling. For the record, I won. It wasn't an impressive score, but I won nonetheless. Here is a group shot of the gang: We found out Kim and T-bone are expecting a baby in May. We're excited for them and can't wait to see how T-bone reacts to living with a baby. Congrats again guys! Sunday was game day, the whole reason behind this trip to Atlanta. The Redskins played the Falcons in the Georgia Dome and we gathered everyone together to tailgate and watch the game. We all had fun eating yummy food and drinking tasty beverages. I got a shot of all the Shock boys (minus Uncle Chris who couldn't make it): Too bad the Redskins were beaten by the Falcons, but we all pretty much expected that. On Monday, we went to take a tour of CNN. It was a pretty cool tour. We got to look in on the newsroom floor and where the news is filmed. We got to listen in on the control room. It was very interesting to learn how it all comes together. After the tour we decided to dine at The Varsity. This place is an Atlanta institution. It's a greasy spoon, but it was oh-so-yummy. We dined on cheeseburgers, chili dogs, onion rings and orange freezes. We were on vacation, so a little extra calories are part of the package. We even went to Sonic since we don't have them in our area. I love me a good corndog! We were sad to see our week come to an end and thanks to Tropical Storm Ida, we had rain and wind to drive back in. We had a great time with everyone and hope to get back to Atlanta next summer.

Monday, November 2, 2009

New Menu Item - Rice Cereal

Fletch's 4 month well baby visit was last Friday. He received his second round of vaccinations, which is exactly like you would imagine it. The good part of the visit was getting the go-ahead to start trying solid food. We are starting off with some rice cereal. Mommy preemptively bought some last time she was at Wegman's, because she was excited to feed Fletch his first solid meal. When we got home from our appointment, we put Fletch in his new high chair and mixed up a bowl of ricey-goodness. Here is the result:


He is getting better at it every day. Once he gets the hang of it, Mommy will be making some veggies just for Fletch.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Baptism

Fletch received the sacrament of Holy Baptism on Sunday. This also happened to fall on All Saints day as well. Aunt Lisa and Uncle Steven came down from New York city to help celebrate. We also had some great friends come to mass to help us celebrate as well. After mass, we all went out to eat some yummy BBQ.
Here is the video of the baptism:

Home Movies: Fletch's first bath [REPOST]

We finally got around to splitting Fletch's first bath video into two so that we could upload it and not violate the  maximum length of 10 minutes. I embedded both videos in the original post found here:  Home Movies: Fletch's first bath.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I...am..BATMAN!

We saw this in the Halloween store and couldn't resist. That's right...Fletch is BATMAN! Fletcher Owen by day, and Batman by night. Bruce Wayne better watch out!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Baby Talk

As of yesterday, Fletch has grown increasingly vocal with us. This morning we had a long conversation while he jumped in his bounce-a-roony.

Monday, October 12, 2009

3-Month Photo Shoot

We purchased a baby plan with the photographer who took Fletch's newborn photos. She will take pictures of Fletch at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. This past Saturday we went into her studio for Fletch's 3 month photos. She emailed us 4 sneak peeks from the session. So far we are extremely happy. Here they are:
(FYI - those are not leg warmers, they are babylegs)



Our sweet baby is getting cuter every day!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

1/4 of a Year Old

Fletch is now 3 months old! Our once tiny newborn is now officially an infant. He has grown by leaps and bounds, both physically and developmentally. I am greeted with a huge smile every morning, which is the best way to start your day (especially since it is usually quite early). Fletch has found his hands and they are now in his mouth 90% of the time. His constant drooling has us wondering if he's going to sprout some teeth a little early. Considering he is still breastfeeding, I am hoping that he can delay that milestone for a few more months. We got our first giggle last Sunday, and we are constantly trying to get more out of him with silly faces and noises. I decided to put the bounce-a-roo together a few weeks ago, to see if Fletch would fit. We have to put a phone book under his feet so he can bounce, but he really seems to love bouncing. He is growing so fast, but still remains the cutest baby ever! Sorry to all the other parents out there, but we are a little biased. His 4 month appointment is coming up at the end of October. I'll give an update then as well as a picture of Fletch in his Halloween costume!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Our Little Sports Fan

We are planning a trip to Atlanta in November to go see the Redskins play the Falcons, as well as to visit friends and family. The stadium there is indoors, so we are not worried about the elements. As you may know, we are Redskins season ticket holders. We've been contemplating taking Fletch to a home game, mainly because it is an outdoor stadium and we want to avoid baking our child in the sun or turning him into a Popsicle. The weather forecast for Sunday was phenomenal - lower 70s. We decided to take the baby to the game. We dressed him up in his team apparel:Then we made sure he had proper sun protection: Before we left, we had to get a picture of Fletch with Daddy in all their Redskins glory: We used our Ergo baby carrier to tote him around all day. Fletch did great around the crowds and noise. I was actually able to breastfeed him in my seat inconspicuously! It is amazing how portable babies are. We were all exhausted after our long day.

Friday, September 18, 2009

The Amazing Fletch

As of today, Fletch has now been sleeping through the night for a full week! I don't know how he figured it out, but it just magically happened. The first night it happened and we woke up in the morning, Atom and I both looked at each other and said, "Did he not wake up last night?" Now Atom can get some normal rest, since he doesn't have to pull middle-of-the-night bottle duty.

Fletch is also mastering his hand-eye coordination. He can find his hands and is becoming a champ at putting them in his mouth to chew on. It may be the reason he stays asleep through the night, since he can self-sooth. Watching him develop is amazing. I'm so glad I get to spend every day with him watching him accomplish these milestones. Here is a video of him chewing on his hands and showing his method of getting them to his mouth:

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

2 Months - Long and Lean


Fletch had his two month appointment yesterday. He is still growing like a weed. He weighed in at 12 pounds 4 ounces and he is now 23 3/4 inches long. Fletch is long and lean. His percentiles are getting higher and higher (not that those are really even that important). Unfortunately along with the two month appointment came his first round of vaccinations. The first shot only irritated him slightly, but the second shot got his little face beet red and the howling began. It didn't last long once I picked him up. No more poking until his four month appointment, but we also get to talk about starting solid foods at that appointment...EXCITING!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Stayin' Cool in the Pool

Yesterday evening we attended our church's Young Family Ministry's pool party. We enjoyed some pizza and goodies and then we decided to see if Fletch would like the pool. Earlier that day we hunted down some swim shorts for Fletch, but alas we couldn't find anything small enough for his little hiney. We finally did find a cute pair of orange surfer shorts for $1 at Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the rubber pants I bought were too big. When we put Fletch in the water, his super-absorbent diaper filled up quickly! He did actually enjoy the water for the 10 minutes we were in the kiddie pool.

It was a great party, but there were TONS of bugs! The number of flying ants that were out was kind of gross, especially since they all landed in the pool. We didn't stay in the kiddie pool very long because it was starting to look like an ant death-trap. We may do some evening swimming at the pool in our complex where the kiddie pool isn't an ant soup.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Some New Fletch Footage

Here's a little footage of what Fletch has been up to...

He's holding his head up spectacularly:


Here he is multi-tasking - hiccuping while bouncing in the bouncy seat:


Here he is rockin' the pacifier:


I know this is all too exciting, but its a riot to us :)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Fletch's Photo Shoot

A week after Fletch was born, we had a fabulous photographer come out to the house to take his picture. She came with good recommendations and was running a great special, so we splurged. As part of the package, we'll have 4 more photo shoots at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year. I was able to get all the proofs from the newborn photo shoot and I uploaded them to Flickr for everyone to check out. This is the picture we chose for the big print:

Here is a slideshow of all the shots:

Thursday, July 30, 2009

365 Days of Fletch

Last year I had started a 365 project of myself. For those who don't know, a 365 project consists of taking a photo of yourself every day for a full year. I started off strong, but after I got impregnated and my energy levels were at an all time low, I kind of gave up.

Looking at how many pictures I've already taken of Fletch and per a friend's suggestion, I decided to start a 365 project for Fletch. So I'll be taking a picture of him every day for the next year of his life. You can check out our progress HERE

So if you see me slacking off, shoot me an email and chastise me for not keeping up with the project.

Making things easier - www.shockfamilycircus.com

The Shock Family Circus blog has a new web address! We registered domain www.shockfamilycircus.com. The old web address (aka URL), http://shock-family-circus.blogspot.com, will still work and will be redirected to the new URL.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Our website gets a makeover


We've given our website, Chronic and Shock dot com, a makeover. It's the one-stop-shop for everything us. It's now powered by Google Sites.

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1 Month!


We have managed to keep Fletch alive for one full month! We had our one month appointment today and learned that Fletch has gained one and a half pounds in two weeks. That's right people...my bewbs work just fine! I no longer have to worry whether or not he is getting enough to eat. We knew he was getting bigger, but we didn't know he was an over-achiever. We're so proud. Fletch has already outgrown some of his outfits and he doesn't look as tiny as he used to when we put him in his car seat. Everyone said to enjoy him while he's small because babies grow so quickly, and they were not lying. So to answer everyone's main question...we are doing great. We have gotten into the groove as a family and every day gets better. If anyone else woke me up at six in the morning I'd be very irritated, but when I look down into that crib and see Fletch's cute little face I completely forget what time it is.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Fletch's 1st Bath at Home


Since Fletch's umbilical cord came off during our second hospital visit, we were cleared to give him a bath. We weren't sure how Fletch would like the bath. He seemed to like the one in the hospital, but that was handled by trained professionals. This time it would be carried out by two rookies, but we were hoping the home field advantage would bring us some luck. It seems like Fletch might be a fan of water! He didn't get too fussy and we were in and out of the bath in ten minutes. He really liked being snuggled up in his hooded towel too. We hope he continues to enjoy bath time, but I'm sure once he gets older we may not have it as easy :)

Friday, July 3, 2009

Our Golden Child

We got home from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon with our new bundle of joy. It felt so great to be home with baby. Our pediatrician requested we come in for a follow up visit the next day to check Fletch's bilirubin levels, because they were a little high. We had a pretty rough first night, but in hind-sight it was probably because baby was hungry and was not getting enough to eat. So we woke up a little frustrated that day and when we were told at the follow up appointment that Fletch needed to be re-admitted for light therapy for jaundice, it was pretty discouraging.



We decided to look at this time in the hospital as an opportunity. I had a chance to consult with a Lactation Specialist, which I was in desperate need of. Hopefully I can take what I learned and help Fletch get back on the boob without assistance. When people say breastfeeding is not easy or comes naturally, they are ABSOLUTELY correct. It definitely has to be learned, by both mom and baby.

Once I got pumping in the hospital and filling Fletch's belly with the good stuff, he seemed to be able to sleep longer and that means WE got to sleep longer. We are still exhausted, but we've started to get our wits about us. After two nights in the pediatric unit, we were able to come home this afternoon. We'll go back to the pediatrician on Monday to get a final check on Fletch's bilirubin levels and we should be done with all this craziness.

We have Aunt Donna and Aunt Lisa here visiting and helping out, which we appreciate immensely. Daddy is trying to convince Aunt Donna to come be our nanny, but I'm not sure it's in the cards. More visitors are on their way, including Grandma and Uncle Bubba and family. It's gonna be a madhouse!

Monday, June 29, 2009

So Nice, I'd do it twice

I'm much too excited to sleep right now. So I am going to give all the details about Fletcher's birth now, otherwise it could be weeks before I have the time.

I had been having contractions all last week, intermittently throughout the day. So when I woke up with a few on Saturday, I didn't think it was a big deal. Atom complained about my long razor-sharp toenails and told me to "get thee to a pedicure!" Happily I obliged and had all my claws grinded to reasonable lengths and painted a lovely shade of green. When I got home, I put my pretty little feet up and started reading. Just as I started to relax, I started feeling contractions regularly and these were a bit more intense than any I had before. So around 5 o'clock I had Atom start timing my contractions.

After an hour and a half of contractions that were five minutes apart, we decided to call the doc and see what he wanted us to do. He told us to come on down to the hospital and find out if we're in labor. So we packed up the Xterra and headed over to Fair Oaks Hospital. We left everything in the car to bring up later when I would be put in a labor and delivery room. Well, I never made it there. They examined me when I first arrived and I was still at 1 centimeter! They had me walk around the maternity ward for over an hour to see if we could get things moving. So at 9 o'clock they checked again, and I was still at 1 centimeter. The doc told me not to be discouraged and that I'd still probably have a baby within 24 hours, but I should go home and get some rest. They even gave me two Ambien to help me sleep. I was seeing double and slurring my speech half-way home, but managed to eat some dinner and then tried a warm bath. The warm bath wasn't helping and I figured I'd just try to sleep. I think I was sleeping in between contractions, but by 3 am they were too strong to sleep through. So back to the hospital we went.

We were put back in the triage room and they checked my progress. I was STILL at 1 centimeter. Dr Hodges decided that they were going to admit me and give me something to take the edge off and give me a few hours. Whatever they gave me helped me relax and I got some really great rest. Unfortunately, my contractions slowed down. So at 6 am, they decided to go ahead and break my water and just go for it. Well that got my contractions moving again and holy mackerel they were intense. I got my epidural soon after and then I was sitting pretty and pain free. I was really nervous about having a needle put into my spine, but let me tell you it was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. It didn't hurt at all! Once the epidural kicked in, they hit me up with some Pitocin to get my cervix a-movin'. The doc came back a few hours later and I was finally progressed to 4 centimeters. He said I would probably dilate at the rate of one centimeter per hour and that was just about right. At 5 o'clock I was at 9 centimeters and opening more with each contraction. So we decided it was time to push this baby out!

After some brief explaining of how to push, the nurse told us to expect to push for one to two hours as a first time mom. Apparently I took this as a challenge to break some records! After 20 minutes of pushing, baby was already crowning! It only took me a total of about 40 minutes to push baby out. I felt like a super star. It was absolutely painless and I had minimal tearing (only one little suture - whew). So at 5:44 pm, Fletcher made his way into our life.

Giving birth was an amazing and empowering experience. I had no idea what to expect from this experience, but I can honestly say that I would do it all over again. It was so easy, it must be nature's way of tricking me into having another. Fletcher is truly a blessing in our life and we can't wait to share our blessing with all of you.

He's Here!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Stork Is Coming!

Jennifer went into labor early this morning. Everything is going well. She is really enjoying the epidural. We're at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. Give us a quick call, send us a text message or check my Facebook page for status updates. I'll do my best to keep everyone updated.

Note from Jenn: Hi ya'll. I'm doing great, just relaxing with my epidural. Last check at 11 am I was finally to 4 cm and the next check is at 1 pm. Wish us luck...think BAGELS!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Week 38 Update

We just got back from our 38 week appointment. I've gone from zero to one centimeters. The doc was able to poke the kid in the head! I was hoping for bigger numbers, but apparently the biggest hill to get over is from zero to one. Some women walk around dilated for weeks before they go into labor, other women go from one centimeter to labor in a few days. So what does this tell us? Absolutely nothing. Here's a handy chart to give you a nice visual (and probably make you not want to eat a bagel ever again):

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

All I wanted was a towel rack

A few months ago, Atom finally decided to repaint our upstairs bathroom. It was purple. I like purple, but the room that it was in was a deep tera cotta. So I was never very fond of the color combo. We found a nice bright citrus orange and decided to brighten it up. It was a pretty long process because we had to cover up a pretty deep purple with a light orange, but after a few weekends of painting and touching up it was all done and it was beautiful. "Was" you ask? Well...let me explain.

There is no hand towel rack near the sink. In fact, the only towel rack was behind the door on the opposite wall. So we bought a round towel rack to put up near the sink. Today Atom asked me where I'd like it hung, so I put it up and he made the marks on the wall. I left him to install the towel rack so I could start vacuuming. Next thing I know, I hear screaming. I turned off the vacuum and Atom was screaming my name. The first thing that came to mind is that he hurt himself, but after I bolted up the stairs I found him getting sprayed in the face with a powerful stream of water. While he was drilling a hole, he accidentally hit a water pipe.

There was some initial panic on my part, but then I had to think fast. While Atom held a bucket up to the jet stream of water, I ran over to our neighbor's house. He came over and showed me where the main water line cut off valve was. Unfortunately, it wasn't the main water valve that Atom hit. He actually drilled a hole into the emergency water sprinkler pipe. The water was coming out with such force, it sprayed across the bathroom and into the shower. It was just a tiny hole as you can see:


We had to call 911 to get the fire department to come out and turn off the sprinkler valve. That also included setting off the fire alarm in the entire building, which is incredibly loud and ear piercing. Luckily I had just put the dog on the porch, otherwise we would have had a freaked out doggie howling and cowering in the closet. Here is the aftermath:

You can even see the root of all evil, aka the towel rack in this picture:


This just happens to be the bathroom in the guest bedroom. One of the reasons we decided to paint it, was because we have guests coming and we wanted it to look nice. Thank goodness we have three bathrooms in the house. So after all the commotion, this baby still refuses to make a move and get out. Hopefully we didn't scare him from coming out :)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Large and in charge

We went to our 36 week appointment this past Monday, and just as I suspected Baby Shock measured ahead of schedule again. The doctor felt around my belly and says to us, "That's a big baby in there." Thanks Doc. So today we went in for an ultrasound to try and determine just how big our little boy is. There is not much room in there, that is for sure. I did get a glimpse of that cute chubby baby face, but the pictures they gave me make him look like Skeletor. After some measurements, it looks like baby boy is already 7 1/2 pounds! I'm currently 36 1/2 weeks and he measured in at the size of 37 weeks and 6 days.  He's supposed to be around 6 pounds, according to all the books I've read. Supposedly at this point in pregnancy, baby should be gaining 1/2 a pound a week. Doing the math I have 3 1/2 weeks left, which means I may have to push out a 9 pound baby. All I can say at this point is thank goodness for modern medicine. 

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Final Four

It's hard to believe we are down to the final four weeks. I'm pretty sure the baby has dropped, considering my acid reflux has reduced drastically and I can breathe a little easier. I have been experiencing a very wide range of emotions lately. One minute I'm laughing hysterically about things that are not that hilarious and the next I'm in tears because someone looked at me the wrong way.  I think the time has come that everyone warned me about..."just wait, you'll want him out of there," "the last few months are a nightmare," etc.  I can honestly say I want this baby to make his way out. All anxiety about giving birth has been filed away back in the recesses of my now fragile mind, and all my brain keeps saying is "when is this kid going to get the hint?" Of course I am excited to meet this little guy and that is another major reason I'd like him to make his way into this world. Mom and Dad are getting a little antsy to see all the cute little fingers and toes. It is still not 100% real to us yet, but once we hear that first cry in the hospital I'm sure it will hit us like a ton of bricks.  The next doctor's appointment is tomorrow. Wish us luck! I'm hoping to see some small sign of progress that this ball is rolling.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Shower #2

Grace and Cheryl so graciously decided to throw me a shower for the few wonderful friends I have that don't work with me. They did a wonderful job and we had fun playing all kinds of crazy games....and the food! Oh baby, there were tons of yummy things to munch on. I got some great recipes of the dishes that everyone made. We are so thankful for all the loving and generous people in our life who wanted to help make sure Baby Shock was well taken care of after his grand entrance. We can't wait to meet him and introduce him to everyone so he can thank ya'll personally for all the great gifts.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

34 Week Appointment

Our 34 week appointment was yesterday. As usual, it was a routine visit. When the doctor measured my fundal height, he said that the baby is at 35 centimeters and he should be around 34. Apparently I'm growing a mutant giant baby! At our next visit, if he is still larger than expected, we'll do another sonogram to get a better idea of his size. Personally, I want a look at that noggin' of his, because if its as big as daddy's, I may opt to be knocked out completely...j/k. Hopefully baby comes a little early, so I don't end up with a linebacker in there. If that is the case, the doc said they probably wouldn't let me go past my due date. My appointments are every two weeks now and next week they start (how do I put this politely) checking on my progress. We're in the home stretch! The eviction notice has been put on the uterus and baby has less than 40 days to pack up his things and make his way into the world.

34 Weeks Pregnant

Monday, May 18, 2009

My Fabulous Work Shower

Last Friday I was showered with lots of love and gifts for baby Shock. My friend Loree (who used to work with me) asked if she could throw me a shower. Knowing how amazing she is, why would I say no? She definitely knows how to treat a pregnant woman. I guess it helps that she was recently in the same boat. We had it in the break room at work, and all the decorations really made the place look much more inviting. We played some crazy games and they even created an ad-lib for me. Apparently my baby will be 33 pounds and 1,000 inches long, but luckily my scooter will be dilated to 100 centimeters. I am blessed to work with such amazing and giving friends. We really were spoiled with gifts for baby. It is kinda hard for me to sit and open gifts with everyone watching in anticipation, so I think that is why I have some funny looks on my face in some of the pictures. The best part of opening presents was my cooling foot spa...yeah, you heard me. I got to soak my feet and cankles in some cool lavender water with rose petals. Thank you so much LoPo for a great shower and making me feel so loved :)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

T Minus 50 Days

Today marks the 50 day countdown to Shock Jr's due date.  I swear it was just yesterday that I mentioned it was 100 days away, but wow...time flies when you're having fun.  Yes, pregnancy is fun. There are a few annoyances in the 3rd trimester, but nothing a few Tums and putting my feet up won't fix.  My attitude may change in a few weeks, but so far everything is pretty manageable. Yesterday was my work baby shower, hosted by the fabulous Mrs. Posey. I will post all about it when I get my hands on the pictures that were taken. I'll just say it was amazing and I felt very loved and pampered.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Monday, May 11, 2009

Last of the animals

Saturday I was on a mission to finish painting all the animals in the nursery. We had our child birth class until 3pm, but when I got home all I could think about was taking a nap. So after nap-time and dinner, I peeled myself off the couch and got to work. I added a meerkat at the doorway:
I put a silly turtle under the window:
And daddy got his hippo that he requested:
I wanted to add animals closer to the ground so baby Shock would be able to touch and explore when he starts crawling around his room. So that does it for all the animals. I still need to add some grass around the giraffe. Once I do that and clean up the room, daddy is going to videotape the room and post it online.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Cheeky Monkeys

I finished the second monkey tonight. I can officially put the ladder away....phew. I've finished all the animals that I sketched on Saturday, but now I'm on a roll and plan to add a few more critters. I'll get those sketched tonight. Who knows...I could be completely finished this weekend if I keep up this pace.

Here are the monkeys together, hanging out in the corner:
Here is a close-up of Mr. Chimp:
This is the wall with the crib: Baby-daddy is going to video tape the nursery once I'm completely done so you can get an idea of what it looks like.