Barefoot and Pregnant

I now completely understand where the phrase "barefoot and pregnant" came from. Between the recent heat and being pregnant, all of my shoes feel tight and I'd rather be barefoot!

My 32 week picture:


Also, I don't think I've mentioned that I have a time frame for getting braces off! Dr. Olsen says my teeth will be ready at about the same time as the baby (August). Since lying on my back in a dentist chair for 2+ hours at nine months pregnant is not really an option, I will be getting the braces off once I'm ready after the baby comes (I'm thinking late September or sometime in October). I can't believe that phase of my life is almost over, and with so much less pain and money than originally thought!

We worked on painting the baby's room this past weekend. It's almost complete, just some cutting and another coat on the closet to go. I can't wait to post before and after pictures of that room - its' going to be gorgeous!

30 Weeks!

Only 10 weeks of pregnancy to go (give or take a couple of weeks). I can't believe I'm 75% there! Definitely feeling pretty large these days:

Sleeping is getting less comfortable, but so far I'm getting a good amount of sleep each night. My lower back is also starting to ache, mostly in the evenings. Nothing too major. Overall, I'd say that pregnancy has been very good to me. Thanks, little one!

I can definitely tell that Norman Jr. is getting bigger and stronger in there! I'm feeling stronger kicks, and I can feel body parts pushing against me. Norman Jr. also seems to not enjoy getting squished AT ALL. There have been a few nights where Ray is resting his arm across my stomach and Norman Jr. kicks Ray until he moves his arm. Lol! Stinker!

My First Nephew!

Steve and Keri had their baby... and it's a boy! He's quite the cutie and he was very alert when we went up to see him today.

First, here's a picture of Keri and I about a week ago. I told her it might be the last chance for us to finally get a picture of our pregnant bellies together!


The picture Steve sent out this morning:



Bennett with his uncle Ray:




Bennett with his aunt Becky:



So, is Bennett going to have a boy cousin or a girl cousin his same age to play with???

Ten Fingers and Ten Toes, Unless You're a Chicken

Last Tuesday, we got to see Norman Jr. on ultrasound! He/she has grown so much since our 8 week ultrasound!



The ultrasound technician verified what my midwife had guessed - I do have an anterior placenta, which is why I haven't felt Norman Jr. much. I have been feeling him/her more now, and Ray even felt him/her on Thursday night!

Babies seem to be the theme of the month of April. My dad has been wanting a new farm critter ever since Silky died this winter. He finally settled on twelve new farm critters:

They're cute now, but they'll be ugly chickens in just a few weeks! I think my dad called them "jumbo fryers", so that tells you a little about their fate :( My mom is pretty excited about having organic chicken this fall!

As if a dozen baby chicks weren't cute enough, Daisy out at my parent's place wasn't about to be left behind. Four more cute babies arrived this week!


Babies everywhere!

22-Week Bump and Cloth Diapers

I feel like my belly has gotten a lot bigger these past two weeks:


Ray thinks Charlie's belly has gotten bigger:


We also made the final decision to go with cloth diapering. I guess I'm really becoming a hippy: using a midwife instead of an OB, planning to give birth at home, drinking organic milk, and now cloth diapering!!! At least we're not planning on joining a commune (although....) ;)

Anyway, I have a Craigslist search saved for cloth diapers and was able to get a really good deal on these used ones:


I'm pretty excited because cloth diapers can get expensive! I know it will save us money in the long run no matter what, but I still like the idea of trying to minimize the upfront cost.

My plan is to get one or two of a bunch of different kind of diapers and see what works for us once Norman Jr. is born. Then, I can stock up on what I like and re-sell anything that doesn't work for us.

I've also started going to rummage sales. I haven't had great luck yet, but I'm excited that I have the whole summer ahead of me to search out those deals!

20 Weeks!

We're halfway there!


Can you tell I have a limited maternity wardrobe?!? :)

Right on Schedule

I had my monthly midwife appointment today and everything's looking great! I took my mom along this time, which Mom really enjoyed. She got to meet my midwife (one of them), check out the office and birthing rooms (though I won't be using them, they are sooo nice!), and, most importantly, hear Norman Jr's heartbeat (currently 156 bpm).

Jill, one of my midwives, measured my stomach and said I am exactly on schedule. I've been a little annoyed with Norman Jr. because I still haven't felt him/her moving around in there, and Jill thinks I might have an anterior placenta. I'll find out if that's the case when we have our big ultrasound in about three weeks.

Jill is big on nutrition, and I proudly told her that I tried asparagus for the first time in my life... and it was pretty good! I've been doing really well with getting my vitamin C fruits/veggies in each day. Some days, I get my greens in (like when we ate asparagus), but I'd like to continue working on that.

She did say that since I drink so much milk, I should consider buying organic. It makes sense to me that the things I consume the most of should be as healthy and natural as possible, so I picked up a gallon today. I haven't tried it yet, but it cost $6!!! Yikes! I can't wait to hear what Ray has to say about that ;)

Next time, I'm finally scheduled with the other midwife, Marijke. Ideally, I'd see each midwife equally as often, but it just hasn't worked out like that. I'm really glad I'll be able to get to know Marijke a little bit better.

And on we roll to the halfway point. I plan to post a 20-week belly picture on Friday!

Baby Update: First Belly Picture

I've been putting this off, but I guess I'm ready to post my first belly picture! I still feel like it doesn't look like a pregnant belly as much as an "I've been pigging out on cookies" belly (which I haven't!). I feel like Norman Jr. is pushing up more than out. He/she is quickly going to run out of room in that direction, though, so it probably won't be too much longer before the belly looks more like a pregnant belly. I am 18 weeks, 4 days pregnant in this picture:


I also bought my first piece of baby clothing since becoming pregnant. I bought it at a thrift store, and it's from The Children's Place!

I figure when I find something cute and clean that's gender neutral, I'd better snap it up :)

Big Announcement!

I finally get to announce that Ray and I are expecting our first child in August 2010!!! We're pretty excited, and quite a bit nervous, about becoming parents.

The pregnancy test came up positive on December 13th. We kept quiet all through Christmas, which was really hard. Right after Christmas, we told our parents and swore them to secrecy until we had our first ultrasound. Our ultrasound was on January 11th and all looked well!


We told some family and friends at that point and then it was just waiting to hear the heartbeat again at our midwife appointment last night. She found the baby's heartbeat with no problem - yay!

We are not going to be finding out the sex of the baby ahead of time, so until he/she is born we are calling him/her Norman Jr. Ray came up with the name, of course :)

Can't wait to meet you, Norman Jr!

Being An Aunt is Fun!

My little niece, Malia, is now over a year old and she's been walking for a few months now. She is getting to be so much fun!

Yesterday, Ray taught Malia a new game that made her squeal with excitement:


The dog, Phoebe, does not like this game nearly as much as Malia does. Lol!

On another exciting note, my second niece/nephew is on his/her way. We found out a couple of weeks ago that Ray's brother, Steve, and his wife, Keri, are expecting their first child! Yay!

A New Baby: Kaylee

Congrats to my friend Julie for her firstborn child, Kaylee, born last Monday on Julie's own birthday! So exciting and very cute :)

Little Kaylee is only about nine hours old in this picture, still exhausted from her big adventure!

I'm An Aunt!!!

Malia Jane McKnight was born on Saturday, August 2nd, at about 3:20pm. She weighed 7 pounds, six ounces at birth. She's tiny and absolutely adorable, but she has really long feet! She definitely doesn't take after her Aunt Becky in that department. ;)

Malia with her mom, Julie.

Malia with her Uncle Ray.

Malia's Almost Here!

Way back in March, I mentioned that Ray's sister, Julie, was going to have a baby. Well, she's almost here! The baby's name is going to be Malia Jane McKnight and she is due on August 7th.

Ray's family had a baby shower/picnic for Julie and Duke last weekend. At that time, Julie had just had a doctor's appointment and found out that Malia was breach. Not good. Well, Julie had an ultrasound yesterday to check on Malia and she's back to the correct position! I'm thrilled for Julie as a breach baby makes for some difficult decisions for Mommy.

I'm really excited to meet Malia. I am sooo looking forward to being an aunt!

It's a Girl!

Ray just told me that his sister, Julie, is having a baby girl! I'm going to have a niece!

We've know that Julie was pregnant since right after Christmas, but she just now found out that it's going to be a girl.

I'm just realizing that a new chapter in my life is opening. All of our friends and siblings are getting to be that age, and we'll probably be getting a lot of baby announcements over the coming years. At least babies are more fun (and less expensive for me) than weddings!